#TrumpTrial 🧵 Tues 21 May 2024
Testimony may conclude today in Trump’s #criminal NY #ElectionInterference trial, after 5 weeks & 22 witnesses.
Yesterday the jury was introduced to #RobertCostello, a #Giuliani associate & #lawyer who acted as a “back-channel” for #MichaelCohen to #Trump in the summer of 2018.
Yesterday, Costello behaved so atrociously on the witness stand that Juan Merchan cleared the courtroom to admonish him & the defense attorneys. Costello is due back on the stand
Per Maggie Haberman:
Some of Trump's team, since the start of the trial, have been noticeably confident of a #HungJury. #Blanche, Trump's lead lawyer, shared his thoughts about the idea w/a NY Magazine reporter who wrote a cover story about him as the trial kicked off.
The prediction that the trial will end w/that outcome has been striking, particularly since hung juries, in which jurors cannot agree on a defendant's guilt or innocence, are relatively unusual.
#Trump's *guests* today in court:
#DonaldTrumpJr
Fmr Acting AG #MattWhitaker
Fmr Florida AG #PamBondi
Sen #EricSchmitt
#US #House Reps
• #DanielWebster
• #DanMeuser
• #RonnyJackson
• #TroyNehls
• #DaleStrong
• #MariaSalazar
#SebastianGorka
#ChuckZito
#JoePiscopo
#BillWhite
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics #GagOrder #StochasticTerrorism #StormyDaniels #KarenMcDougal #NodFarter
#SebastianGorka, Trump’s fmr White House *adviser*, walks in w/ a silver case bearing what appears to be a presidential seal.
With his legal team & Secret Service agents in the mix, #Trump’s group numbers more than two dozen. #WitnessIntimidation #JuryTampering
#RobertCostello is on the stand.
Justice Merchan reminds him that he’s under oath.
#Hoffinger, one of the prosecution’s leaders, is expected to continue her cross-examination of Costello.
#RobertCostello’s attitude is already *brusque* under cross-examination from #Hoffinger.
Hoffinger asks Costello about his relationship w/ #RudyGiuliani.
Costello confirms that he is close to #Giuliani & has known him for 50 yrs. Costello & his law firm recently sued Giuliani for unpaid legal bills.
👀 Hoffinger reads an email Costello sent to #MichaelCohen in which he described his relationship w/Giuliani as potentially being “very useful to you.”
Prosecutors have argued #RobertCostello was part of a pressure campaign on #MichaelCohen in 2018 as Cohen was considering flipping on #Trump after a federal investigation into his #HushMoney payment to #StormyDaniels opened.
Defense tried to muddy that story on cross -examination of Cohen. But by calling Costello, they have given prosecutors opportunity to reinforce the story, & emails shown yesterday & this morning suggest that they have ample evidence to support.
#Hoffinger asks #RobertCostello if an email in which he offers to provide a “back channel” between #Trump & #MichaelCohen “speaks for itself” [Costello used the phrase while #mansplaining to her yesterday].
Costello says it does not because there was more context, & offers to provide that context.
“That’s all right,” Hoffinger says, moving on to her next question. 😊
#misogyny #criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics
#RobertCostello wrote to #MichaelCohen that there had been positive comments about him from the White House & that he had “friends in high places.” Hoffinger gets Costello to say it “definitely referred to President Trump.” 👀
The emails corroborate prosecutors’ story, suggesting that Costello was manipulating Cohen at the direction of #RudyGiuliani & #Trump, while misleading Cohen so that he would not understand what was happening.
#RobertCostello testifies that “sometimes” his emails speak for themselves. Sometimes, the implication is & as he said earlier, they do not.
[🙄 more #mansplaining]
🚨🚨 Costello wrote in an email that his mission was to “get Cohen on the right page without giving him the appearance that we are following instructions from Giuliani or the president.”
The jurors are paying close attention, much more so than they did to the end of #MichaelCohen's cross-examination.
#RobertCostello has asked several times to offer additional context, & Susan #Hoffinger has made clear she does not want that context, cutting him off & moving to her next question. In doing so, Hoffinger shows that she believes she has the jury on her side after the way Costello treated her & the court yesterday.
#Trump atty, Emil #Bove just insisted there was a “pending question” from Hoffinger when there wasn’t, forcing Justice #Merchan to once again correct him.
#RobertCostello seems to be more of a witness for the prosecution — albeit a hostile one —than the defense. The emails couldn’t possibly be viewed in any way other than how prosecutors want jurors to view them: They show Costello misleading #MichaelCohen, saying something to him directly & another thing behind his back.
#RobertCostello has just denied that, once he began to believe that #MichaelCohen was in turn misleading him, he was angry or upset. He was, he says, “informed.”
Another email from Costello to his law partner shows that in fact, Costello was very angry at Cohen, contradicting his previous answer.
“What should I say to this asshole?” Costello asked his partner. “He is playing with the most powerful man on the planet.”
#RobertCostello answers “no” when asked if he has animosity toward #MichaelCohen 😂. #Hoffinger points out that Costello went to Washington last week to testify before Congress about Cohen, & made aggressive comments about him. Costello says he didn’t know his comments would be reported in the press [seriously?].
#Hoffinger’s final question is an accusation: whether #RobertCostello’s testimony to Congress was meant to #intimidate #MichaelCohen as he testified in this trial. Costello asked her to repeat the question & then denied the accusation. “No,” he said. “Ridiculous.”
#Trump atty #Bove, is on redirect. Costello testifies that Cohen said in April 2018 that he would be “eternally grateful” for the help & guidance that Costello had given him in those difficult days.
Per a pool report, #Trump confirmed that the defense will be resting today, as expected, in remarks outside the courtroom in the hallway. “We’ll be resting pretty quickly,” he said. “Resting meaning resting the case. I won’t be resting. I don’t rest. I’d like to rest sometimes but I don’t get to rest.” #NodFarter
#Bove, in his questioning, tries to reargue that #RobertCostello was not concerned about having failed #Trump but rather not being hired, & paid, by #MichaelCohen.
Bove makes it clear that Cohen, in 2018, used the back channel to Trump that he had been provided by Costello, communicating through the lawyer to #RudyGiuliani & presumably, Trump. [yeah, and?]
There are objections, & lawyers confer w/Justice #Merchan who made clear he does not want this testimony by #RobertCostello to turn into a “trial within a trial,” aimed at attacking a witness — #MichaelCohen.
After the sidebar, Costello says he was giving Cohen “options” & waiting for his “instructions”
#Bove: “Did you ever pressure Michael Cohen to do anything?”
Costello: “I did not”
Bove: “Did you ever have control over Michael Cohen?”
Costello: “Clearly not”
#Bove continues to ask about #RobertCostello’s meetings w/ #MichaelCohen. Prosecutors have objected a few times, & Justice #Merchan has sustained the objections.
Costello hits on a point that defense lawyers has sought to emphasize: that he was motivated by money.
After one of Costello’s answers is stricken, Costello shakes his head. Merchan wasn’t looking.
Bove’s re-direct ends w/an objection sustained.
“Nothing further,” says Bove.
The defense rests, Todd #Blanche says.
#Testimony in the first #criminal trial of Donald J. Trump has concluded.
. #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #MobTactics #GagOrder #StochasticTerrorism #StormyDaniels #KarenMcDougal #NodFarter
#Hoffinger, in a brief, final series of questions & answers, again confirms that #RobertCostello was never officially hired as #MichaelCohen’s lawyer. Costello steps down from the witness stand.
Justice #Merchan turns to the #jury & explains the upcoming schedule. Closing arguments will take a day & his instructions to them afterward will take at least an hour.
Court will be adjourned, for jurors, until a week from today.
The judge reminds #jurors that they should not discuss the case or read the news about the trial in the meantime.
Court is adjourned until the afternoon when it’s expected that prosecutors & defense lawyers will srgue for their preferred versions of the #JuryInstructions during a “charging conference”.
Justice #Merchan may also rule on the defense lawyers' latest attempt to #dismiss the case, which they made in a motion yesterday.
With defense resting their case, we now know definitively that #Trump did not #testify in his own #defense of 34 #criminal charges.
As he exited the courtroom, & raised his hand in a fist, Trump did not answer reporters’ questions about why he had not testified in the trial.
#law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics #GagOrder #StochasticTerrorism #StormyDaniels #KarenMcDougal #NodFarter
Tues afternoon, the #TrumpTrial will go into some dry legalities, as prosecutors & defense present to Justice #Merchan how they want the court to instruct the #jurors as they deliberate.
The 2 sides will lay out their arguments for #JuryInstructions as it prepares to weigh the charges against #Trump — 34 #felony counts of falsifying business records.
#Jury instructions are meant to translate #legal doctrine into intelligible language for the 12 laypeople who will decide the case.
#JuryInstructions give jurors guidance for applying the #law to #facts they ascertained from #witnesses, docs & other #evidence.
Each side filed drafts of their proposals w/the court.
Arguments before Justice #Merchan occur w/o the jury.
Acc/to the NYT, Prosecutors’ instructions will ask the judge to give the jury “unusual flexibility” in determining whether #Trump was actively involved in the false record scheme.
#law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
Prosecutors will argue that even if #Trump didn’t personally create the records, the #jury can find him responsible if the creation of the false records was “a reasonably foreseeable consequence of his conduct.”
[this is NY #law]
Defense’s proposal is reportedly less focused, much like their witness questioning & opening statement.
#law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
The afternoon session is beginning.
#Trump is back w/his posse, including #DonaldTrumpJr; #ChuckZito, the fmr #HellsAngel ldr; & the actor #JoePiscopo.
Justice #Merchan asks the defense to argue on behalf of one of its many requests: to add the word “willfully” in 2 places to the #JuryInstructions on a federal #ElectionLaw which isn’t charged.
Defense proposes #JuryInstructions on campaign finance law “#FECA” (federal election campaign act) must include the word "willfully" to specify a #criminal violation.
The 34 falsifying business records charges against #Trump are #felony charges bc prosecutors say he used the false records to try to conceal a 2nd #crime.
That 2nd crime, prosecutors specified, is a violation of a state #ElectionLaw that forbids a person from seeking election by “unlawful means.”
Defense & prosecution debate what types of #UnlawfulMeans apply. Defense asks for additions that to make it clear only #crimes should count, while prosecution suggests #civil violations should apply, too.
#Merchan rejects defense’s request to tell jurors that candidates weren’t limited in 2015 & 2016 — before #Trump's election —— from contributing funds to their own campaigns. Prosecution called it misleading & Merchan determined it was unnecessary to explain it to the jury.
Judge #Merchan says he’ll allow the defense to argue the issue on limits to individual’s contributions to their own campaign during their summation, but he won’t include it in his instructions.
Merchan reserves his final decision on the argument over the word “willfully.”
Defense argues the instructions should include the phrase “for the purpose of influencing an election” but that it should specify it’s in reference to spending related to the election.
Prosecution says that the jury needs less, not more, & that the phrase “for the purpose of influencing an election” is straightforward.
Judge #Merchan proposes this sentence:
“If the payment would have been made even in the absence of the candidacy, the payment should not be treated as a contribution.”
#Trump atty #Bove agrees the sentence is an accurate recitation of the “irrespective rule” (found in #FECA’s § on personal use) but defense wants examples included for the jury from the #FEC’s prior application of the rule.
#law #TrumpTrial
https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/making-disbursements/personal-use/
Using campaign funds for personal use is prohibited. FEC guidance on which expenses are considered to be personal use and which expenses are considered on a case-by-case basis, including charitable donations, gifts, candidate salary, meals, vehicles, travel and legal expenses
After arguing for 5 mins, a word in the #JuryInstructions is now plural — “crime” is now “crimes”
Defense & prosecution debate if the instructions should be available to the #public & #press.
(#Trump is asleep — #NodFarter)
Justice #Merchan jokes they’ll next address “the most challenging issue” — how to pronounce a word.
He spelled out “eleemosynary,” which means having to do w/charity.
“Why do we even have it?” Merchan asked. The lawyers don’t know, & it’s removed.
There’s a long back & forth about prosecutors’ proposal that the #JuryInstructions include language suggesting it was “reasonably forseeable” that false records would be created as a result of #Trump’s conduct.
Justice #Merchan says that he’s inclined NOT to include it.
— that is not good, it’s specific to #NY #law.
But he reserves judgment for now, as he did on “willfully.”
Justice Merchan hears arguments re the expanded #intent #JuryInstructions.
He indicates agreement w/the defense on causing false entries when those false entries are “reasonably foreseeable” to the defendant based on his conduct.
This is related to “#intent to commit or conceal another #crime” — the 2nd crime issue.
Prosecutor #Colangelo argues case #law supports the prosecution.
#Trump atty Bove says the DA’s theory is = to "causing the causer."
(Seriously, no idea wtf he means)
Prosecutor #Colangelo argues that “acting in concert w/someone” is separate from the concept of “cause” & is not redundant.
(That actually helps, so maybe it should be in the #JuryInstructions, right?)
Defense may lose a key argument:
They wanted jurors to be told that they HAD TO find #Trump had some #intent to enter the #conspiracy w/ David #Pecker ( #NationalEnquirer) & #MichaelCohen.
Justice Merchan points out that the #felony charges of falsifying business records #Trump faces includes an #intent to conceal another #crime. The #law doesn't require prosecutors to show that Trump intended to orchestrate a #conspiracy, but rather that by falsifying business records, he intended to hide said conspiracy.
#Merchan says he will leave that instruction as is – a win for prosecutors.
Prosecution & defense argue whether the evidence at trial supported the idea that #Trump did enter a conspiracy w/ #Pecker & #MichaelCohen in 2015 to suppress negative stories during his presidential campaign.
(isn’t that for the jury to decide?)
Defense suggests that there was nothing #criminal about “participating” in that meeting, & that meeting w/ The #NationalEnquirer was simply “standard operating procedure” for campaigning. (Um, no)
Justice Merchan asks, if there’s nothing wrong w/ #Trump “participating” in the meeting, why not just say he did?
Good question.
Merchan again reserves judgment on the wording addressing Trump’s participation in the #conspiracy — though it sounds like he’s going to side w/prosecution.
Defense argues that to reach a #guilty #verdict jurors MUST not only to agree #unanimously that #Trump had falsified records to conceal a #conspiracy to win an election by unlawful means, but also jurors must be unanimous on what the #UnlawfulMeans are; making reaching a verdict nearly impossible.
Trump's attys argued that while that unanimity is not required by #law, Justice Merchan can use his discretion in asking for it.
Nonilex
JoanP