NEW #TrumpTrial 🧵 starts HERE. #Trump #legal
Please remember I don’t reply while live-posting. Plz use NFL (Not For Laffy, but no hashtag) so I can ignore those replies.
1/
McB:
...At 2:14 p.m., Trump walks in, entourage in tow.
Boris Epshteyn just handed a piece of paper with a photo on it to Kaitlan Collins.
I thought he maybe said "Conway" to her, but I'm not exactly sure.
2/ McB:
Two minutes later, the prosecution enters through the side door.
Once and future witness Longstreet had arrived a bit earlier with another paralegal to set up a few documents.
Merchan enters and retakes the bench.
"Witness entering," a court officer announces, as he holds the door open for Rebecca Manochio.
She retakes her seat on the stand, and Justice Merchan calls in the jury.
3/ McB:
The jurors are back, Merchan gives scheduling update: We're going to break today around 4pm, a bit earlier.
Necheles begins cross. Manochio's aunt works at the Trump Org as well, says it's a nice place to work.
Q Was Trump the only person who could sign his personal checks?
A Correct
Q All the checks for all his personal expenses were the ones being FedExed? No business expenses?
A Correct
Necheles wants to make a point that Trump was uninvolved in running the business once president.
4/ McB:
Q: You testified that you got return envelopes after a few days?
A: Yes
Q: These were bills that needed to be paid promptly, so getting them back promptly was important to you?
A: Yes
Q: Was it the practice for legal expenses to be booked in his personal account ledger?
A: Idk.
5/ Wow! As quick as Trump's attempted sexual acts/ assaults, apparently.
McB:
It was a very quick cross — Manochio is already off the stand.
"The People call Tracy"—but I didn't catch the last name. She'll be up momentarily and will spell it out once on the stand.
6/ Pagliery:
Necheles tries to establish Trump Org would *always* send personal bills & checks to the Trumps while DJT & Ivanka were at the White House. Weisselberg and he weren't really in touch. All was normal.
"Yes."
"Yes."
Takes right hand, moves a lock of hair out of her face.
"Yes."
Necheles: "President Trump was verrrry busy and out of the office, correct?"
Manochio: "Correct."
The junior bookkeeper is off the witness stand now.
7/ McB:
Mangold is back at the lectern, so I assume it's another records custodian witness.
The side door cracks open, then shuts, then opens...then shuts.
"Witness entering," we hear, and a woman in black jacket and pants walks up to the stand and takes the oath.
Her name is Tracy Menzies, from Monmouth Co. NJ.
8/ McB:
Menzies works at HarperCollins book publishing, as SVP of Production and Creative Operations. First time ever testifying in a legal proceeding. She's a custodian of records for HarperCollins, which was compelled to testify pursuant to a subpoena.
9/ McB:
Q: How involved are authors in the publication of their books?
A: At HC, authors have a partner who works with them to approve cover designs, etc.
Q: There are multiple points authors have input in their books, including content and cover design?
A: Yes, they are very involved.
10/ Pagliery:
Keep in mind, many of the main characters in this saga have written books about this.
In his case, it's Trump's "Think Big, Make It Happen In Business and in Life."
McB:
Q: What about when there's more than one author, do all authors have to sign off on the content?
A: Yes
Mangold asks her about the book, "Think Big, Make It Happen in Business and In Life."
11/ McB:
We see People's 415: it's the cover of "Think Big" with TRUMP emblazoned across the top, and Trump pointing straight at the viewer with his mouth open as if mid-sentence.
He wrote it with a man named Bill Zanker (not pictured on the cover).
12/ McB:
We see the title page, and 👉🏼Trump's name is just as big, if not bigger, than the title itself.
Think Big was originally published in 2007, but the version we're looking at is from 2021.
13/ Recap from Weissmann:
Trump Org junior bookkeeper testifies that the checks that Trump signed (that the state alleges were the reimbursement for Cohen for the hush money payment) were mailed to Keith Schiller to his home address in DC, per instructions from Rhona Graff, as opposed to sending to Trump at the White House. Schiller is the bodyguard who Daniels testified was outside the suite in which trump and she had sex.
14/ McB:
In Think Big, Zanker and Trump have distinct voices, distinguished by different fonts (serif for Trump, non-serif for Zanker) and dedicated sections.
👉🏼From Trump's section, a sub-hed: DO NOT TRUST ANYONE "hire the best people and don't trust them" Trump advises.
15/ Klasfeld:
Context: Prosecutors want to show that Trump was a micromanager, boasted about being a micromanager and wrote many books extolling the virtue of micromanagement.
McB:
👉🏼Pg 160: "I value loyalty above everything else—more than brains, more than drive, more than energy."
Two pages later: "the reason we have so many loyal people is that 👉🏼we reward loyalty...It has become part of the corporate culture of The Trump Org...people like Weisselberg"
16/OOF!
McB:
Another excerpt now, along the same theme: loyalty.
👉🏼"This woman was very disloyal, and now I go out of my way to make her life miserable."
Another: "When somebody screws you, screw them back in spades."👈🏼
17/ Klasfeld:
"My motto is: Always get even. When somebody screws you, screw them back in spades." [...]
"Getting even is not always a personal thing. It's just a part of doing business."
Cross-ex by Todd Blanche:
Q: Were you part of the publishing of this particular book?
A: No, I was not.
18/ McB:
Q: Is it fair to say that covers of book are designed in part for sales, to help sell the book?
A: Yes, but they're done very closely with the author.
Blanche points out that she was shown only 6 redacted pages out of over 300, chosen by the prosecution.
19/ Weissmann:
Witness from publisher Harper Collins is reading excerpts of a Trump book talking about how loyal Weisselberg is and how Trump Org prides itself on loyalty. This will undercut the defense that Weisselberg issued the reimbursement checks without telling Trump what he was doing.
Smart move.
20/ Pagliery:
"Get the best people, and dont trust them. Do not trust them, because if you dont know what you are doing, they are going to rob you blind."
Presumably, this is so prosecutors can later show that he wouldn't let Cohen milk him for money. This $420k was reimbursement.
21/ McB:
No further questions, no redirect, and the witness steps down.
"The People call Madeleine Westerhout."
Recall, Westerhout was Trump’s executive assistant at the beginning of his presidential term, and when Trump met with Cohen at the White House.
22/ McB:
She is dressed in all white, and looks eerily similar to Rebecca Manochio.
Mangold begins her direct examination. Westerhout is the chief of staff to the chairman of a geopolitical consulting firm.
23/ McB:
Q: Do you know former Pres Trump?
A: I do.
She was compelled to appear by subpoena, and this is her first time ever inside a courtroom.
Q: Are you nervous to testify today?
A: I am now yes, (she says as she laughs, well, nervously.)
24/ Weissmann:
witness Madeleine Westerhaut- expect more info about how the checks used to repay Cohen were sent to DC/signed by Trump/sent back to Trump Org.
McB:
Westerhout says her counsel "graciously agreed" to take her case on pro bono.
She began her career in DC at the Republican National Committee, working for the finance director.
25/ Klasfeld:
Questioning turns to the "Access Hollywood" tape:
"At the time, I recall it rattling RNC leadership," Westerhout says, confirming that there were conversations about how to replace him as a candidate "if it came to that."
Supposedly Madeleine Westerhout was pushed out of the White House for making comments about Trump's Daughter Tiffany https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=kstvEN28HRw NFL @GottaLaff
She resigned in Aug 30, 2019
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-personal-assistant-madeleine-westerhout-abruptly-resigns-n1048166
#TrumpTrial
#MadeleineWesterhout
@GottaLaff NFL
Broke: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer
Woke: Hire the best people and don’t trust them.
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