NonilexDuring the #TrumpTrial morning break, POS #MattGaetz posted an obvious reference to #Trump's Sept 2020 command to the #ProudBoys by writing “Standing back & standing by Mr. President.” 🤬
#WhiteSupremacy #StochasticTerrorism #GagOrder #criminal #law
After the break, prosecutors are arguing that #Blanche, early in his questioning, asked questions that seemed to suggest that #Trump's #indictment was still sealed on March 30. The indictment was unsealed that evening, after NYT broke the news. The unsealing allowed the DA’s office to confirm that the news was true.
Prosecutors ask Justice #Merchan to explain this sequence to the jury. Merchan agrees that the jury should be advised.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
#Merchan decides that #Blanche can do it in his own questioning. But prosecutors, Matthew #Colangelo & Joshua #Steinglass, argue that it it should come from Merchan because the questions were so misleading.
Merchan tells prosecutors that they can draft a version of an order that the judge himself would give if Blanche’s corrections end up being insufficient.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #Trump #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics
Justice #Merchan announces court will not be in session as usual next Wed, bc jurors won’t be free.
#Blanche, asks #MichaelCohen to clarify that he has met w/several sets of prosecutors & testimony about their conversations can be confusing. “Help the jury understand that,” he says. “There’s 2 separate prosecutors?”
Cohen confirms that he met w/both the #SpecialCounsel’s office in DC, during the #Russia investigation, & Manhattan federal prosecutors, where Blanche used to work.
#Blanche adds a third set of prosecutors #MichaelCohen met: the Manhattan DA’s office (the prosecutors at this trial) the NY state prosecutors.
(Not sure the point—that Cohen cooperates w/the #law?)
Next Blanche questions Cohen about his efforts to have his sentence reduced based on his cooperation w/prosecutors working for the# Russia investigation special counsel, #Mueller.
What person in jail wouldn’t ask this? what matters is he didn’t get it & cooperated anyway.
#MichaelCohen is receiving nothing in return for his testimony, other than personal satisfaction if #Trump is #convicted.
Defense lawyers often attack cooperators by highlighting the benefits they are receiving from cooperating, suggesting that they are acting in their own self-interest & their testimony is tainted. But Cohen hasn't gotten anything.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #Trump #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics
#Blanche tried another line of questioning that didn’t land, having to do w/whether #MichaelCohen sought a letter in 2018 requesting leniency from federal prosecutors. Cohen says he told his lawyer that he “wasn’t interested” in such a letter, so “let’s not even talk about it.” It didn’t seem as if Blanche got the answer he expected during that exchange.
It seems to be an attempt to show that #MichaelCohen didn’t have a cooperation agreement w/SDNY prosecutors when he pleaded guilty in 2018, because he was unwilling to disclose everything he knew about any possible wrongdoing. He would have had to do so in order to get the letter. #Blanche may have wanted to point out that Cohen wanted to keep some things hidden even as he pleaded guilty.
#Blanche asks #MichaelCohen if he wanted a job in the #Trump WhiteHouse. Cohen testified to the House in 2019 that he didn’t want one. But other witnesses, like #KeithDavidson, #StormyDaniels's fmr lawyer, testified that Cohen was interested & sad he was being left behind.
Blanche: “You really wanted to work in the White House, correct?”
Cohen:“No sir.”
Blanche says that Cohen specifically wanted to be WH chief of staff, & Cohen again denies it.
None of the texts were definitive, but there were a lot of them, & they clearly show that #MichaelCohen was at least interested in the idea. When #ReincePriebus was finally named chief of staff, Cohen told his daughter he was disappointed, Blanche shows. Cohen admits here that he was disappointed.
Defense is showing Cohen was again rejected, this time for a job, & is seeking payback. It also shows he lied under oath.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #Trump #CatchAndKill #ElectionInterference
#MichaelCohen responds: “I wanted a hybrid position, one where I would have the access to President Trump but not be a White House employee.” It’s a helpful answer for prosecutors, underscoring, as they have said, that Cohen was bent on being close to Trump.
#Trump, who has had his eyes closed through much of this so far, is now glaring at Cohen.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #Trump #CatchAndKill #ElectionInterference
#Blanche seems to have gained some traction here, & notes that #MichaelCohen had said he wanted to be chief of staff. “That was for my ego, yes,” Cohen admitted. But now Cohen is reiterating that he wanted to be Trump's personal attorney.
Cohen, is 5 hours into his cross-examination, & is remaining calm, even as Blanche implies there was a series of slights & humiliations that Cohen suffered after #Trump’s election in 2016.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #ElectionInterference
#Blanche shows that #MichaelCohen was less than candid when he said he didn’t want a job, as he goes thru all the people Cohen complained to about being left behind. But it also shows that #Trump went out of his way to abuse him.
Blanche asks about an embarrassing episode when Cohen used an AI program to generate legal citations for his previous lawyer. The cases listed by the software weren’t real.
It’s totally irrelevant & seems like it’s brought up just to humiliate him.
#MichaelCohen easily & calmly explains what happened. Vohen expected the lawyer to fact-check & edit before submitting the doc to court & the errors were quickly corrected. It was not intentional nor malicious.
#Blanche moves on & brings up a phone call that Cohen talked about during direct, when he spoke to #Trump over Trump’s bodyguard's cellphone. Cohen said that during the conversation, he told Trump that the payment to #StormyDaniels had been made.
#Blanche is trying to cast doubt on #MichaelCohen’s account, saying it was the first time he had mentioned the call.
Prosecutor #Hoffinger objects again, & asks to approach.
After the sidebar conversation w/the judge, Emil #Bove, one of Trump's lawyers, returns to the defense table, sits down & whispers something to #Trump who shakes his head & scowls.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics
#Blanche starts a long series of questions about whether #MichaelCohen received harassing phone calls from a 14-yr-old prankster in Oct 2016. [WTF?] He seems to be suggesting an alt reason for Cohen's call to #KeithSchiller, #Trump’s bodyguard.
Cohen had testified he made that call to inform Trump of the #HushMoney payment to #StormyDaniels. Blanche is suggesting to jurors that Cohen lied about the call's purpose.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Defense: You asked Schiller who to speak to on harassing texts & he says call me, then you call him back at 8:02 for a minute thirty... then you text him the number of the 14-yr-old... You said the Oct 24th call was not w/ #KeithSchiller …. “That was a lie."
Blanche suggests that Cohen was not reporting the #HushMoney payment to #Trump but reporting that he was being pranked by a teenager. (Seriously?)
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #MobTactics
#Blanche, emphasizing his point, raises his finger & his voice gets higher. He is suggesting it is ridiculous that #MichaelCohen might have simultaneously reported a prankster to #KeithSchiller & told #Trump that a #HushMoney payment had been made.
(This whole thing is ridiculous)
Blanche is trying to get Cohen to crack, but he’s holding firm. “You can admit,” Blanche says, that you lied. “No sir, I can’t,” Cohen responds, sticking to his story.
#Blanche scolds #MichaelCohen: “You did not talk to President #Trump on that night. You talked to #KeithSchiller about what we just went through.”
Cohen, calmly: "I'm not certain that is accurate." Adding, "I believe I spoke to Mr. Trump about the #StormyDaniels matter."
Blanche shot back: "We are not asking for your belief. This jury does not want to hear what you think happened."
Justice #Merchan recesses the court for lunch until 2:15 PM US ET.
Meanwhile …
Chaos ensued when elected #Republicans who #Trump beckoned to NY for his #criminal trial.
Demonstrators — both pro- & anti-Trump — crowded in w/reporters inside the protest area designated by the NYPD as several of Trump’s allies in Congress made statements.
One man shouted throughout, deriding their support for Trump & calling them out by name.
Another group shouted in support of the #Congress members.
#MAGA #criminal #law #TrumpTrial #MobTactics #GagOrder #StochasticTerrorism
A man w/a sign reading “GTFO of NYC” on one side & “Bootlickers” on the other was removed by police.
Another man approached Rep #LaurenBoebert & handed her a “Beetlejuice” program, & asked for her to sign it — poking fun at when she was kicked out of the musical for outrageous & disruptive behavior — was blocked by security.
Across the street, someone else could clearly be heard yelling “Matt Gaetz is a pedophile.”
#MAGA #Republicans #law #TrumpTrial #Trump #GagOrder #StochasticTerrorism
Almost a dozen #HouseRepublicans showed up at the courthouse on Thurs, including #FarRight trolls Reps #MattGaetz & #AnnaPaulinaLuna of #Florida; #LaurenBoebert of #Colorado; & Rep #BobGood of #Virginia. They said they were there to speak on behalf of #Trump because a #GagOrder has barred him from speaking for himself.
“We are here of our own volition [ok], because there are things we can say that President Trump is unjustly not allowed to say,” #Gaetz said outside the courthouse.
#Republicans control the #House by such a slim margin, 217-213, that just 2 defections can sink #legislation even when all members are present — just a few absences can erase their majority altogether. The show of support for #Trump from such a large group meant that for much of Thurs, the GOP handed the majority to #Democrats.
#HouseRepublicans had a vote scheduled for Thurs to rebuke President #Biden for pausing an arms shipment to #Israel & compel his admin to deliver weapons.
The #Republican bill was designed to divide #Democrats & embarrass #POTUS #Biden, & had no chance of passing the #Senate or becoming #law. But w/so many #Republicans off campus demonstrating their fealty to #Trump, they left open the possibility that the party’s own messaging bill gets defeated. Democratic leaders in the #House had advised their members to vote “no,” calling the measure “another partisan stunt by Extreme #MAGA Republicans who are determined to hurt President Biden politically.”
The #Republicans that showed up to the #TrumpTrial today in Manhattan were *lawmakers* who are all about disrupting legislative business & have no issue w/embarrassing their own party on the #House floor. It included many #HouseFreedomCaucus members who have frozen the chamber for days on end, most recently voting down their party’s own rules as an act of *protest*.
Idiots.
#MAGA #law #Trump #GagOrder #StochasticTerrorism #RepublicanDysfunction #VoteBlue #governance
#TrumpTrial resumes
#Blanche, #Trump defense lawyer, picks up w/ trying to clean up the indictment unsealing timing w/ #MichaelCohen as directed by Merchan earlier. The prosecution objects to a follow-up, & the judge tells the lawyers to approach.
So Blanche isn’t quite getting it right.
Blanche tries again to remove the implication that the DA gave Cohen advanced info ahead of the NYT story.
The DA sought to have the original line of questioning stricken.
#Blanche admitted into evidence #MichaelCohen’s texts w/ a 14-yr-old harasser, which occurred on 24 Oct, 2016 until roughly 7:24PM, when Cohen wrote: “Please have your parent or guardian contact me before secret service reaches out them.”
Blanche is now driving home that Cohen threatened to turn the Secret Service on a prank caller who said they were 14 yrs old.
Totally irrelevant.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #Trump #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#MichaelCohen is now speaking directly to the #jury about his longstanding relationship w/ #journalists.
#Blanche is going back in time, asking Cohen about positive stories he had planted, not just about #Trump but also about himself.
He says that reporters would often call him or the #TrumpOrganization asking for comment. He said he would immediately go to Trump’s office & they would come up w/a crafted response that he would take back to the reporter.
#MichaelCohen adds that it was his routine to advise #Trump about these matters, because if the resulting story was not to his liking, “it would cause him to blow up at me” & “it would probably be the end of my job.”
#Blanche is trying to get Cohen to say that while working for Trump, he gave statements to reporters w/o checking in w/his boss. Cohen is refusing to concede this, & says that he would always talk to Trump about every story.
#Blanche is trying to establish the idea for the jury that #MichaelCohen was a rogue agent who did things w/o consulting w/ #Trump -- which defense says is what happened w/the #HushMoney payment.
Blanche notes that Cohen often frustrated campaign ofcls w/statements he made to the press during the 2016 campaign. Cohen parries that by saying Trump had told them that Cohen reported to him.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Per Rebecca Shabad:
Earlier, prosecutor Susan #Hoffinger raised an issue w/ Judge #Merchan saying that on Tues, some of #Trump’s *guests* filed into the courtroom in the middle of direct examination w/their security detail in tow.
"And I noticed that some of his guests are already here today w/their security detail," Hoffinger said, acc/to the released transcript. "But we would just ask that they not be allowed to file in, in the middle of Mr. Blanche’s cross-examination."
#Blanche continues questioning #MichaelCohen about his relationships w/ reporters over the years naming Maggie Haberman of The NYT & Katy Tur of MSNBC.
Cohen confirmed that he communicated w/ reporters over the phone & via text, & he would occasionally record phone calls w/ members of the press w/o their knowledge, including former CNN chief Jeff Zucker.
(reminder NY is a one party consent state)
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #Trump #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
#Blanche also gets Cohen to say that he sent a recording of somebody else to Haberman when she was reporting on a story.
#MichaelCohen said he sometimes gave scoops to Haberman, who has covered #Trump extensively for years & wrote a biography of him.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics
Meanwhile …
🤬 Sen. #JoeManchin says #TrumpTrial #HushMoney case 'doesn't make sense'
#Manchin, supposedly a Democrat from West Virginia, told reporters today that #Trump's #criminal trial "doesn't make sense."
When asked whether he believes Trump should be convicted in any case, Manchin responded that "there are 2 really solid cases: January 6 & Georgia."
"Everything else doesn't really make sense," he added as a reporter directly asked about the case in NY.
JFC! Manchin, get out of the way!
#Blanche asks #MichaelCohen having specific memories of calls from 8 yrs ago. Cohen responds that the reason he remembers them is because he’s been talking about the conversations for 6 yrs.
Blanche digs in, asking if Cohen has been talking about the specific phone calls he has been testifying about for 6 yrs. Blanche is performing for #Trump & the jury laying his mock disbelief on thick, his tone is derisive & he’s acting as if Cohen's testimony is ridiculous.
#Trump’s eyes are glued to #MichaelCohen & they’re open for once.
#Blanche is trying to damage prosecution’s argument that Trump’s team orchestrated the #HushMoney payments to #influence the 2016 election. Blanche has already gotten Cohen to confirm under oath that Trump was worried about the #KarenMcDougal story IN PART because of his wife & children.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics
Importantly the falsified documents at issue in the #TrumpTrial weren’t to hide Trump’s affair #KarenMcDougal, but the #StormyDaniels #situationship.
Blanche asks about the story about McDougal: “President Trump at least initially, did not think it would hurt him, correct?”
#MichaelCohen: “Initially, yes.”
Though, Cohen concedes that ONE of the things Trump was worried about w/that story was his wife & *children* — that was a nearly year long affair while Melania was preggers so yeah.
#MichaelCohen previously testified that in June 2016, he was negotiating w/ The #NationalEnquirer & #KarenMcDougal over her story about having had an affair w/ #Trump. On the stand now, as #Blanche digs in about whether he can remember a specific call from that year, Cohen says that seeing prosecutors’ other evidence has jogged his memory about calls he had back then. (That’s memory for ya)
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics
#Blanche asks #MichaelCohen about what it meant for #Trump to pay in "cash," noting that it did not necessarily refer to green paper money, but to a payment that was made directly & not through financing. Blanche is referencing the recording heard earlier in the trial in which Trump directs him to “pay in cash.”
Blanche asks Cohen if Trump often made deals to pay cash for buildings or properties.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
ChicletRemember when Alina Habba got him to seemingly contradict himself once, and then the defense gasped in performative outrage and immediately called for the judge to dismiss the case as if they had a Perry Mason moment worthy of declaring Trump innocent. It was extra funny since it was a case about damages, and Trump was already found liable in a long past ruling.
I'm willing to bet that Blanche is just looking for a moment to theatrically declare Cohen to be the real murderer that just confessed on the witness stand, as he turns to the Judge for an immediate dismissal of all charges.