Humanize a Baboon...

Trump’s lawyer seeks to humanize him while discrediting prosecution’s case: “He’s a person just like you and just like me.”

From CNN's Michael Williams

In his opening statement on Monday, Trump attorney Todd Blanche tried towing a delicate line: acknowledging his client was once the most powerful person in the country while also trying to humanize him to the jury of 12 regular New Yorkers.

Blanche noted that Trump’s defense team would refer to their client as “President Trump” out of respect. He earned that title, Blanche said, “because he was our 45th president.”

But he added: “He’s a man. He’s a husband. He’s a father. He’s a person just like you and just like me.”

Blanche told the jury that they would find “plenty of reasonable doubt” enabling them to acquit his client.

“The 34 counts, ladies and gentlemen, are really just pieces of paper,” Blanche said. “None of this was a crime.”

He acknowledged Stormy Daniels did in fact sign a non-disclosure agreement in October 2016 - just before the 2016 election - in exchange for $130,000. But he said entering into an NDA is “perfectly legal.”

He suggested the payments to Cohen “were not a payback,” noting the lawyer was paid $420,000 - much more than the hush money for which prosecutors allege he was reimbursed.