It’s crunch time for Trump – but will he be convicted or walk away as a free man?

The former president is set to learn his fate in the hush money trial this week but, writes Jon Sopel, should he walk free, there is one thing we can be certain of — he will do so with neither humility nor grace

Trump has spent the majority of his time as a criminal defendant sitting nearly motionless, for hours, leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed (Justin Lane/Pool Photo via AP)

This week, 12 New Yorkers will potentially play a major role in determining the outcome of November’s presidential election. For weeks they have had a ringside seat at the circus that has come to town: the Donald Trump hush money trial.

For weeks they have found themselves immersed in the colliding worlds of a sometime playboy, sometime property tycoon and – of course – one time and one term president. It’s been golf tournaments a go-go, bottoms slapped with rolled up magazines, a one night stand (denied by Trump) with Stormy Daniels, and the fixers and sometime friends whose job was to make things go away. Edifying it hasn’t been.

Some of the greatest drama has come at the end with the testimony of Trump’s one time lawyer, Michael Cohen. He has been on a journey from lapdog to attack dog. The person who did all Trump’s bidding as his Mr Fixit to sworn enemy of the president; someone who in the most profane terms possible has described how he wanted to see his former boss put behind bars.