LaffyWhen does he NOT look “glum”?
Via Adam Klasfeld:
#Trump enters the courtroom for the start of his $250M civil fraud trial.
He's flanked by his lawyers, looking glum, and taking slow, deliberate steps before sitting at the defense table. 1/…
2/ Klasfeld, cont’d:
Key piece of context:
Justice Engoron just noted in court that "nobody asked for" a jury trial, which is why he'll be presiding over Trump's $250M civil fraud case without one. #TrumpTrial #TrumpIndictment #NewYork
3/ Klasfeld:
NYAG's opening statement is about to begin.
Counsel Kevin Wallace takes to the podium.
Wallace trumpets the AG's recent win out the gate:
"At this point, the People have already proven that the statements of financial condition of Donald J. Trump" were false each year from 2011 to 2021.
4/ (I forgot this one, sorry):
Engoron notes that he had vowed to kick off trial today "come hell or high water," and quips that, "meteorologically speaking," we've had the "high water."
Any New Yorker gets the reference to our massive flooding on Friday.
6/ Klasfeld:
NOW
The NYAG plays footage of Eric Trump's deposition in court, saying that he denied responsibility for the statements of financial condition.
7/ The NYAG then queues up footage of Donald Trump Jr.'s deposition in court, also denying responsibility for the statements of financial condition.
The Trump family's lawyer Clifford Robert objects to it being played.
Engoron denies.
NYAG plays Trump's deposition, also avoiding responsibility for the statements of financial condition (SFCs).
Q: "Was Allen Weisselberg responsible for that?"
Trump: "I would say yes."
8/ Sidebar. THIS.
Via Sherrilyn Ifill:
The judge should ask Trump to rise and repeat before him the words he uttered outside the courtroom. “I understand you have a concern about this court and about the prosecutor that you wish to share? Is it something you wish to tell me directly?”
9/ Via @emptywheel:
Nice that Trump has family in the court room today; he rarely has had family support as he faces accountability.
Mind you, it helps that the Sons are co-defendants.
10/ Oof.
Klasfeld:
NYAG plays a deposition of
Michael Cohen, testifying that Trump wanted to be higher on the Forbes list.
He says that Allen Weisselberg and Cohen were tasked with inflating the numbers for that purpose. and Michael Cohen
NYAG displays a slide of testimony by Patrick Birney, a Trump Org exec.
It's titled: "Donald 'Likes to See It Go Up,'" referring to his net worth.
11/ Wallace asks why Trump and his co-defendants sought in their SFCs "[b]eyond just a place on the Forbes billionaire's list."
He answers his own question: Trump used the SFCs to "secure favorable terms" on loans.
12/ Wallace targets Trump's lack of harm theory:
"These are not victimless crimes."
Trump forced the banks to take unnecessary risks based on false SFCs, the NYAG's lawyer says.
13/ 🙄
Defense opening statement begins.
Chris Kise hits the NYAG's "story."
"We think the evidence is going to establish a few things: First that President Trump has made billions of dollars" making one of the most successful brands in the world.
14/ Kise says that the loan transactions were "successful" and "profitable."
"The banks made well over a hundred million dollars," he says.
15/ Earlier, Kise slammed Michael Cohen as a "serial liar," noting his conviction for lying to Congress (for Trump) and arguing the government's conspiracy case rests on him.
Just earlier, NYAG's lawyer Kevin Wallace said that Cohen's account is backed by documents and witnesses.
Kise said that the individuals involved in the loan decisions will testify.
16/ We're back:
Alina Habba addresses the court, going after NYAG, whom she says set out to "go to work, get Trump and go home."
She also swiped at Cohen as a "liar."
17/ (All my reporting is coming via Klasfeld, btw, unless otherwise attributed)
Habba said that Justice Engoron found that Mar-a-Lago was worth $18M.
(Note: He didn't. He cited the appraiser's valuation from 2011, not its current value, and noted that the estimate rose incrementally for a decade.)
18/ Habba added, accurately, that government valuations for appraisals are different from market values.
19/ Sidebar.
Via Rupar:
Trump's Truth Social feed today is a relentless attack on the officials involved in his fraud case
[I won't post the word-slaw here, but it's what you think]
20/ Lol, more like trying to understand them. He's an idiot.
Klasfeld:
During Alina Habba's address, Trump looks at her directly, paying close attention to her remarks.
21/ Justice Engoron responds to Habba's attack on NY State
AG, noting that he denied Trump's claims of political motivations.
At the time, Engoron said not investigating Trump would have been a "blatant dereliction of duty."
22/ Klasfeld:
The judge also noted that his rulings advancing the case to trial have been affirmed on appeal.
BTW, I'll be boosting @[email protected]'s additions to my thread. He's providing great info that aren't included in my stuff.
23/ Final defense opening statement comes from Clifford Robert, an attorney for Trump's family.
He says he'll be brief and that he echoes Chris Kise's opening remarks.
📌He said the judge will hear testimony by ex-President Trump, Eric Trump and Don Jr.
Robert describes Cohen as a "linchpin" of the state's case, joining onto the chorus of defense attacks on Trump's ex-fixer and key witness for the government.
24/ Via Acyn (I won't provide the video):
Trump continues to attack the judge and the AG before heading back to court
25/ Via Ron Filipkowski:
This is a judge who is going to decide how many millions you are going to have to pay. He just added a zero to the end of it.
Trump: This is a judge that should be disbarred. This is a judge that should be out of office. This is a judge that some people say could be charged criminally for what he's doing. He’s interfering with an election
26/ Via Jonah Bromwich NYT:
We’re back in the courtroom and Trump is back at the defense table. It remains to be seen whether lawyers for the attorney general will bring Justice Engoron's attention to the former president’s comments saying he should be disbarred.
27/ Now
Witness testimony in NYAG v. Trump will begin with testimony by Donald Bender, his ex-accountant at Mazars.
Eddie the Bulldog@GottaLaff it's malpractice not to.
Elizabeth Loves DEI@GottaLaff , I am so happy that D.T. has to sit there for hours, bored, without his beloved t.v. sets. Boredom for people like him feels unbearable.
@GottaLaff , I am so happy that D.T. has to sit there for hours, bored, without his beloved t.v. sets. Boredom for people like him feels unbearable.
sOlOw-NH...and I would never ever in a million years think to stoop so low!
Semi Sentient AI Cooling Water@GottaLaff It's the equivalent of being stopped for running a red light & repeatedly kicking the cop in the nuts while they write you a ticket.
Very stable genius.
@sentient_water Right?? Yet he skates every time.
LibertyForward1@GottaLaff Ah, the old "some say" trick
@LibertyForward1 His default
Tom Maxwell@GottaLaff Trump’s Season of Consequences is utterly delicious.
William Conner@GottaLaff Megalomania at its finest. I must do this. I am not a loser. Only the best people (lawyers in this instance who forgot to check the box for a jury trial). Proclaim Trump is a loser at every chance!
Stacey Campbell@GottaLaff Trump, always projecting.
@stacey_campbell Years ago I coined this, and I think I post it daily at this point:
Everything out of his mouth is a lie and/or projection/confession.
Jenny Fx@GottaLaff it sounds like Team TFG are performing TV style lawyering for the benefit of their client despite there being no jury.
Nihl L'Amas@GottaLaff "Everything that guy just said is bullshit, and it goes double for me."
M.S. Bellows, Jr.@GottaLaff Holy cow. They're gonna hang Alan W. out to dry even knowing it won't do them any good.
@msbellows Nobody is spared
FinchHaven sfbaGoing to bring this over here too:
"“There was no intent to defraud, period, the end,” Habba says. She said that the AG is setting a dangerous precedent for #business owners in NY"
Why do I think that
"This is high-end commercial real estate and high-end commercial real estate financing and we all lie and we all know we lie."
is not quite the defense that #Trump and #Habba and #Kise all seem to think it is?
OldFartPhil@FinchHaven @GottaLaff Really? "There was no intent to speed because everyone does it" won't even get you out of a speeding ticket in traffic court.
Edelruth, PBS Passport Holder
RazzleDK@GottaLaff It's like Trump's lawyers are at a different trial....one with a jury they can convince that Trump is actually a victim.
@RazzleDK @GottaLaff These arguments are also for public consumption as one of the defendants is the presumptive Republican nominee. Fox "News" needs their talking points.
Coach Pāṇini ®@GottaLaff the “audience of one” vibe, but in-person
Kevin Leecaster@GottaLaff
It seems to me that the reason that orange chump is paying Alina Habba millions of dollars is because he likes to look at her.
It seems to me that the reason that orange chump is paying Alina Habba millions of dollars is because he likes to look at her.
@GottaLaff
According to @jimstewartson Habba may be Trump's lawyer because she has ties to the Knights of Malta, which is possible perhaps but idk.
According to @jimstewartson Habba may be Trump's lawyer because she has ties to the Knights of Malta, which is possible perhaps but idk.
joe•iuculano 
cakemix@GottaLaff Mmmm Cole slaw....
oh. Wait. WORD slaw.
lolonurse@GottaLaff
I don't want to sound mean or bitchy, but at some point, I would very much like to hear testimony from Ivanka. She has some brains, & I thought she might distance herself from Dirty Daddy. (Then again, she did marry Jared...😖. I guess mob princesses get used to the lifestyle.)
I don't want to sound mean or bitchy, but at some point, I would very much like to hear testimony from Ivanka. She has some brains, & I thought she might distance herself from Dirty Daddy. (Then again, she did marry Jared...😖. I guess mob princesses get used to the lifestyle.)
@GottaLaff Habba is Lauren Boebart with a bit more intelligence - but just spouting lies for an audience of one.
@GottaLaff "You really gonna believe a lawyer who worked for a piece of scum like my client?"
SpartyGirl@GottaLaff How about all those businesses who couldn’t get loans due this a-hole tying up their cash?
Gatekeeper..LOL, all his brands have failed miserably..To brag he made Billions....bad mistake IMO
Moonglum
Toni@mwayne0013 @GottaLaff He’s been up all night crying.
@billclassified@mwayne0013 @GottaLaff Roflmaoooooo
Translation:
The End justified the Means
Catherine McCarthy@GottaLaff “Successful brand” 🤣