101/ McB:
Blanche objects—overruled.
Next, about how busy Cohen was in Oct 2016.
Weren't you busy all the time, not just then? Correct.
Were you too busy to finalize the payment? Were you too busy to get Trump's approval to make that payoff? No and no, ma'am.
102/ McB:
Q: Why wasn't there a retainer?
A: There was no legal work I was to be paid for, there was no representation agreement.
Q: Did the reimbursement have anything to do with a retainer agreement?
A:No ma'am.
103/ Just throwing this in here, via Acyn::
It is decidedly not cold.
Quote
Trump: I was supposed to be in a different state this morning and the judge actually decided to call it early…. I’m not allowed to have anything to do with politics because I’m sitting in a very freezing cold courtroom. It’s very unfair
104/ McB:
Did the $420k reimbursement payments have anything to do with legal work you did for Trump or his family? (No ma'am.)
Now to the consulting agreements: did you ever tell Trump that you'd work for only him? Objection—overruled.
No ma'am, Cohen says.
105/ Adding this from Phang for clarity:
HOFFINGER: did you ever send weisselberg a retainer agreement? COHEN: No, ma’am, there was no legal work to do or representation to send to them
106/ McB:
Back to RedFinch, we get more info on why Cohen hired them: a CNBC poll regarding the most famous businessman "in like the last century"—at the beginning of this poll he was polling toward the "very very bottom." Through the acquisition of IP addresses, RedFrinch said they 👉🏼create an algorithm to raise Trump in the polls.
107/ McB, more:
Trump wanted to end up as number 1, but Cohen and RedFinch thought that would be too suspicious, so they settled on Top 10.
👉🏼Kind of like when you're cheating on a test, everyone knows to flub some it to make it believable.
108/ Maddow:
The prosecution has started its redirect examination of cohen. it is fast paced and punchy. hoffinger moving cohen quickly through...
-- the $420k was not for legal services
-- cohen spoke with trump about the stormy scheme in october 2016
-- payments to redfinch for artificially boosting trump in a "famous business people" online poll at CNBC
Ongoing. Jury's heads are all up, watching Cohen closely.
109/ McB:
CNBC canceled the poll anyway, so Trump didn't want to pay RedFinch because he didn't feel he got the benefit of what the funds were supposed to go to despite achieving #9 in the poll thanks to RedFinch.
110/ Klasfeld:
The prosecutor asks Cohen about stealing the difference on the RedFinch expense in his Trump Org reimbursement.
"Why did you take that extra $30[,000]?" Hoffinger asks.
Cohen says he was angry about his bonus being cut and it was "almost like self-help."
111/ McB:
"I was angered because of the reduction of the bonus," Cohen says, who said keeping that extra cash was "almost like self help." Though he admits it was wrongful.
112/ McB:
Hoffinger asks Cohen about the 2/8/18 letter, which Cohen says omitted Trump's involvement and was intentionally misleading.
113/ Klasfeld:
Analysis
In one of the many paradoxes of the trial, Michael Cohen's admission, under oath, that he stole $30,000 from the Trump Org may be damaging to the defense.
It was a falsely claimed reimbursement, and Team Trump's position is that the money wasn't a reimbursement. In fact, with grossing up, Cohen acknowledged that he stole significantly more than $30,000 from the Trump Org.
114/ Klasfeld, more:
But Trump's lead lawyer Todd Blanche spent a significant amount of his cross suggesting the money was all for legal work—and said that explicitly in his opening. To be clear:
Cohen admitting that he stole from his employer hurts his credibility — but it also is entirely inconsistent with the theory of Trump's defense about what the money was and how Cohen got it.
115/ Sidebar: Via Acyn:
For some reason, Fox chose not to air any video of Donald Trump’s surrogates speaking outside of his criminal trial
116/ Sidebar via Ron Filipkowski re Trump toadies' press gaggle today:
We were ready for this nonsense today. No peace for the propaganda shows from now on.
Quote
Jacqueline Sweet:
Hard to hear anyone speaking over the hecklers and cowbells
117/ McB:
As we wait for sidebar to end, the RedFinch figure keeps changing.
Exact figure aside, it seems that if your boss is known for not paying his bills, everyone under him will get what they can while the getting is good. Tone at the top kinda thing.
118/ McB:
Hoffinger highlights the sentence: "The payment in question does not constitute a campaign contribution..." and Cohen says this is not true.
Merchan instructs the jury that Cohen pleaded guilty to FEC violation, but that should not be used to determine Trump's guilt.
119/ McB:
Another line from a Cohen statement—"The payment to Ms. Clifford was lawful, and was not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone"—which Cohen calls untrue.
120/ Klasfeld:
Cohen agreed during cross that NDAs are perfectly legal.
On redirect, the prosecutor asks whether "the circumstance surrounding this NDA" were "perfectly legal."
After an objection is sustained as to leading, she tried again — successfully. Cohen answers that this one wasn't.
121/ McB:
Hoffinger begins to ask a question, but Blanche objects—sustained.
Under the circumstances of the Daniels NDA, was it perfectly legal?
No ma'am, says Cohen.
She again brings up Cohen's guilty plea FECA violation.
Objection—sidebar.
122/ Bower:
Justice Merchan announces that the objection is sustained, but then Hoffinger asks to approach again. Sidebar, again.
McB:
Hoffinger resumes, then asks to approach again.
At this rate, I'm beginning to doubt Cohen will be able to leave the stand for good by lunch.
123/ McB:
Now to the question about whether the outcome of the trial affects Cohen personally:
"It may feel like you're on trial...but are you on trial here?" Hoffinger asks. Objection—sustained.
Is your liberty at stake? No ma'am. Is your wife's liberty at stake? No ma'am.
124/ Pagliery:
Hoffinger seeks to steer this ship back in the opposite direction.
"I know you may feel like you're on trial here, but are you actually on trial here?"
Trump's team tries to interrupt.
Cohen: "No ma'am."
"Are you charged with any crimes in this case?"
"No, ma'am."
125/ McB:
😂Snooze Alert 😴 Though it is no longer news: Trump's eyes are closed.
Q: When you submitted each of your 11 invoices to the Trump Org for services rendered pursuant to the retainer agreement, was that true or false?
A: False.
We lather, rinse, repeat for the vouchers and stubs.
126/ Phang:
Katie’s Sidebar:
Prosecutor, Susan Hoffinger, is giving a masterclass on how to conduct a Re-Direct Examination of a witness. She’s cleaning up Cohen’s answers from cross only in the critically important areas and moving things along at a great pace.
127/ McB:
Cohen signed a waiver agreement and submitted it to SDNY prosecutors in 2019, and we see that waiver agreement displayed on screen now.
Cohen reads from it.
At the time, Cohen had waived his attorney-client privilege w/r/t communications with Costello, though at the time he didn't really think such privilege existed, in order to answer questions.
128/ Via NY Daily News Molly Crane-Newman:
😴It appeared Trump was fully out a few minutes ago and just woke up. His head was tipped back so far that he would have been looking at the ceiling when he opened his eyes.
129/ Bower:
Now Hoffinger asks about the time when Cohen caused his attorney to submit fake cases in his filings for early termination of supervised release.
McB:
Now back to when Cohen provided fake cases to his lawyer thanks to hallucinations made by Google Bard, which he had to use bc he didn't have access to Westlaw. ...Who among us.
130/ Bower:
Cohen explains, again, that he went on the AI site Google Bard to research cases. It gave him cases that looked legitimate, and he sent the cases to his lawyer to incorporate into the document.
131/ Klasfeld:
Prosecutor Hoffinger turns to the most damaging part of Blanche's cross: Michael Cohen's conversation with Keith Schiller.
But before Hoffinger can get to this, lunch break.
132/ Via Weissmann:
woah: prosecution has a photo that shows on 10/24 Trump WAS INDEED with Schiller just minutes before the call Cohen said he had with both of them! Which Blanche had sought to refute.
133/ Wow! More happened after they broke for lunch. McB:
Jury excused, Merchan wants to discuss whatever matter they were addressing in sidebar.
Steinglass discusses 417A and B, photos of Trump and Schiller on evening of 10/24/16 to dispel any doubt that they were together then—evidence which defense objected to admitting.
134/ Me: This is what Andrew Weissmann was referring to above.
McB:
Blanche is up to push back: we never asked or implied that Schiller was or was not with Trump on that day, instead we argued that the phone call that was made to Schiller was about a different topic.
Further, Blanche says, both photos have the same hearsay problem—"That was argued and that...your honor didn't go with us"—it's inadmissible hearsay, he repeats.
135/ McB:
Steinglass and Blanche are locked in argument about how to characterize parts of Blanche's argument—whether he was making a relevance argument or something else.
It's a meta-argument, and it's grinding on.
Merchan says he's not concerned about the relevance issue, but wants to look into the hearsay issue (the discussion of which we'll pick up after lunch).
At long last, we are dismissed for the long-promised, slightly delayed and deferred, lunch.
136/ Pagliery:
Phone logs proved a Cohen-Schiller call took place.
Cohen testified he spoke to Schiller then Trump.
But was Trump with his bodyguard?
Asst DA Joshua Steinglass says prosecutors found CSPAN video taken Oct. 24 at 7:57pm (just 5 min before call) showing "they were together."
Blanche is trying his damnest to say this evidence is not relevant, hearsay, etc.
Judge says this is absolutely relevant. He'll decide whether it's hearsay later.
137/ Via Henry Rosoff:
Good analysis here...
"Cohen stole from Trump" is a great headline... but Trump has argued these payments were for legal services NOT reimbursement.
Little bit of throwing things against the wall and seeing what sticks.
NFL - Really do not see how this helps the defense at all.
@GottaLaff @mastodonmigration I have to suspect they're playing to their client and not the court for these missteps.
Trump says "IDGAF whether you think it's a good idea, I'm the boss!" and another lawyer's reputation gets thrown in the toilet by the world's worst client.
Laffy
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