#Trump has his posse again. Today it’s more #Republican elected officials. Today, Trump will be joined by the #House speaker, #MikeJohnson, as well as #NorthDakota’s governor, #DougBurgum, a contender to be Trump's running mate. Also present will be Representatives #ByronDonalds & #CoryMills of Florida, & #VivekRamaswamy, who was one of Trump's primary rivals this year. Both Donalds & Ramaswamy are longshot hopefuls to be Trump's running mate.
#Republican#LizCheney, the fmr congresswoman, #Jan6 cmte co-chair & #Trump critic, assailed #House Speaker #MikeJohnson for his impending appearance outside the courthouse where Trump's #ElectionInterference / #HushMoney trial is taking place. “Have to admit I’m surprised that SpeakerJohnson wants to be in the ’I cheated on my wife with a porn star’club,” she wrote on X. “I guess he’s not that concerned with teaching morality to our young people after all.”
Word has gone out to #Trump allies over the past few days that Trump wants to see a bigger show of support inside the courtroom. Trump's entourage is big enough today that they’re having trouble arranging themselves in the 2 rows of seats set aside for supporters of the defense's side.
It’s worth noting that lawyers w/the defense are allowed to have phones, but members of the general public are not. The #Trump team has been pressing the rules on this for weeks now, & political allies live-tweeting from the courtroom is a new thing.
#MichaelCohen is called back to the stand.
Prosecutor #Hoffinger, will resume direct questioning.
Todd #Blanche, is expected to begin cross later.
#MichaelCohen describes meeting w/ #Trump in the #OvalOffice in Feb 2017. He says that Trump asked him if he needed money, & that he said no, he didn’t need any extra. He said Trump asked him to “deal w/ Allen,” meaning #AllenWeisselberg, who arranged the repayment plan for the #HushMoney. Trump also said, Cohen testified, that he’d receive a check for both Jan & Feb.
Prosecutors display a picture of Cohen visiting the #WhiteHouse at the time.
That was a key piece of testimony — in prosecutors’ own statement of facts, this is the only time that #Trump is said to have confirmed the repayment plan, which involved the payments being illegally disguised. But Trump only explicitly acknowledged it to #MichaelCohen, (at least per court testimony) Trump knew about the 2 checks that Cohen would receive in Jan & Feb.
Cohen is now explicitly testifying that the invoices he was sending to Trump were false docs.
#MichaelCohen is going through check stubs for the first 2 checks & saying the descriptions of them were “false.” Cohen says both #EricTrump, who is sitting in the courtroom, & #AllenWeisselberg signed the first 2, from Trump’s revocable trust account. At some point, it switched to #Trump’s personal account.
Cohen is now testifying about checks Trump started signing himself, from his personal account.
Back in the courtroom, jurors are seeing the documents that prosecutors say are false. Yesterday #MichaelCohen described the Jan meeting w/ #AllenWeisselberg, when #Trump heard Weisselberg say that the monthly payments would be a retainer for legal services It is that single line from a witness— the word “yes” —that most directly attaches Trump to the alleged #crimes. And the signatures on the checks from his personal bank account.
Prosecutors are arguing that #Trump’s sign-off on the repayment plan, along w/his knowledge that #MichaelCohen would be falsely reimbursed for “#legal services,” indicates that he approved of what they say was a #crime.
There’s mountains of documentary #evidence that #Cohen was paid for legal services he didn’t actually provide, & that these were reimbursements. The question of what Trump knew relies mostly on Cohen’s testimony.
Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, Speaker #MikeJohnson just accused prosecutors of advancing a “sham” trial against “one president to provide cover for another.” His comments come 1 week after Johnson escaped being removed as speaker of the #House by Rep #MarjorieTaylorGreene, who criticized him of not doing enough to defend #Trump. Guess this is penance to the false idol.
“I came here again today, on my own, to support President Trump, because I am one of hundreds of millions of people — & one citizen — who is deeply concerned about this,” #MikeJohnson said.
Note — #Trump, mins AFTER the vote happened, had encouraged #HouseRepublicans on social media not to oust Johnson —yet: “We’re not in a position of voting on a motion to vacate. At some point, we may very well be, but this is not the time.”
#MichaelCohen is asked about additional work he did for the #TrumpOrganization, some of it #legal work, including for the #Trump Organization’s general counsel, Alan Garten. Cohen is saying he didn’t expect to be paid for that work & did not send invoices for it. Trump’s lawyers have indicated that they may argue that Cohen was doing real legal work, & was being paid for that. This may be an example of the prosecution seeking to air an argument before the defense can.
#MichaelCohen is asked to estimate how many hours of #legal (or quasi-legal) work he did for #Trump in 2017.
Cohen: “Less than 10.”
Cohen is now saying he did some legal work for Trump in 2018 in response to #StormyDaniels wanting to go public, & Trump wanting an arbitration action filed against her over her NDA. He says he was contacted by #EricTrump, as well as by Trump himself.
#Hoffinger reviews #MichaelCohen’s testimony from yesterday about “monetizing” his role as #Trump’s personal atty by using it to attract other clients. Cohen confirms. This is inoculation against cross-examination.
Trump turns & whispers to his lawyer Emil #Bove as Cohen talks about how much money he made by monetizing his relationship w/him. Trump clearly mouths “four?” And Bove clearly mouths back: “$4 million.”
#MichaelCohen is asked about his #House testimony on the #Russia investigation. This will lead to questioning about him lying to #Congress re plans to build a #Trump Tower in #Moscow. Cohen has said that he did it to protect Trump.
Cohen testifies that at the time the #TrumpOrganization was paying for his lawyer, & he was part of a joint defense agreement. Cohen testifies he felt he “needed” the protection of Trump at the time & to protect him in return.
#Trump looks directly at Cohen on the witness stand as he says that he lied for Trump “out of loyalty & in order to protect him.”
#MichaelCohen says that he was under a “tremendous amount of pressure” when he lied to #Congress but he was happy to have a lawyer paid for by the #TrumpOrganization. This is useful for prosecutors, many witnesses are still loyal to the TrumpOrg. Cohen underscores for the jurors those witnesses' possible motives.
#MichaelCohen has reached the part of his story where news of his payment to #StormyDaniels has broken into the public sphere. This was the beginning of the end for #Trump & Cohen. All of Cohen’s previous testimony has concerned a time when they were still allies.
#MichaelCohen, reads texts instructing #KeithDavidson, lawyer for #StormyDaniels, to “write a strong denial” from Daniels, saying that she had not had an affair w/ #Trump. This is a statement that jurors have seen— & that Trump wrote nonsense about on social media & was fined $1k for violating of his #GagOrder.
Prosecutor #Hoffinger brings up the joint defense agreement #MichaelCohen was part of, which meant the atty defending him was aligned w/Trump. She makes sure Cohen tells the jurors it was an advantage for #Trump, as well as for Cohen.
Cohen testifies about the#StormyDaniels statement in which she denied having had a “sexual &/or romantic affair” w/Trump. Her lawyer, #KeithDavidson, testified this statement was technically true, bc they didn’t have a full affair.
#MichaelCohen said that he made sure to tell #Trump that he got the denial from #StormyDaniels “to get credit that I was continuing to ensure he was protected.” He wanted Trump to know that he had “stayed loyal.”
Prosecution shows texts that Cohen was trying to get Daniels booked on #SeanHannity’s #FoxNews show on 18 Jan, 2018, to deny that she'd had an affair w/Trump.
These texts from Cohen to #KeithDavidson, Daniels's lawyer show Cohen’s relentless work on #Trump’s behalf.
Cohen is asked about the complaint letter he received from the #FEC about his payment to #StormyDaniels, which was filed by a good-government group after WSJ published an article revealing the payment. He says his response to the FEC wasn’t false, but misleading.
#MichaelCohen continues to testify about #StormyDaniels’s statements to the press at the time the #HushMoney payment became public knowledge, he has admitted to lying a number of times — he just said he knew one of the statements was a lie because he helped “craft it.” This could be helpful to the defense once cross-examination starts. But, Cohen has long admitted that he was lying for #Trump.
Prosecution shows #MichaelCohen texting the NYT’s Maggie Haberman — who is sitting in the courtroom — as he sought to spread the news that he made the #HushMoney payment himself, & that neither the #TrumpOrganization nor the #TrumpCampaign was a part of it [note: he didn’t include Trump personally]. He also said that he was not reimbursed for the payment. He says that he had planned to give Haberman the statement first, & that he had received approval from the “big boss.”
Prosecution shows that as #MichaelCohen continued his denial tour in regard to the #HushMoney, he was texted by Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for #Trump. The text says “Client says thanks for what you do.” Cohen leaves no doubt in his testimony that “client” in the text refers to Trump, thanking Cohen for the denials.
Cohen testified earlier that he had shared his misleading statement about reimbursements w/Sekulow.
Cohen testifies he continued to deal w/ #StormyDaniels in early 2018 w/Trump’s backing & blessing. He says that the president asked him to get a temporary restraining order against Daniels.
#MichaelCohen describes the #FBI’s raid on his Park Ave hotel room in April 2018. He says federal agents took his cell phones — including the one w/the recording on it that jurors already heard — & many of his documents. He says he was frightened, despondent & angry.
This was a major news event at the time, & now Cohen can reflect on his feelings about it in front of a courtroom full of reporters. He says he received a call from #Trump after the raid.
#MichaelCohen testifies that #Trump said: “Don’t worry. I’m the president of the United States. There's nothing here. Everything’s going to be ok. Stay tough. You’re going to be OK.” It was the last time they spoke.
Cohen is now reading tweets from April 2018 in which Trump defended him & attacked reporters, including Maggie Haberman. Trump says in the tweets that he doesn’t see Cohen lying or making up stories, “despite the horrible Witch Hunt & the dishonest media!” #criminal#law#TrumpTrial
These same tweets were among the potential instances of #obstruction of #justice that were reviewed by Robert #Mueller, the special counsel who at the time was investigating the #Trump campaign’s possible ties to #Russia.
At this point in the narrative in 2018, #MichaelCohen was looking for reassurance that Trump was going to take care of him. He would soon lose that sense of security, as the #TrumpOrganization stopped paying some of Cohen’s #legal bills.
#MichaelCohen testifies that it was his understanding that #Trump wanted him to refrain from cooperating w/the government — you know the one he was in charge of — & “certainly not to provide information or flip.”
#MichaelCohen is testifying again after the court took a short break. “Distraught, nervous, concerned” are the emotions he describes having felt as he met at the Loews Regency on Park Ave w/a new lawyer, Robert Costello, a #criminal defense lawyer who Cohen had been told was very close w/ #RudyGiuliani. This was immediately after the #FBI raided his hotel room there, & so Cohen’s emotions were in tumult.
Costello has said that Cohen appeared suicidal at this meeting.
#MichaelCohen says he was told #Costello had worked for #Giuliani at #SDNY. By this time, Giuliani was about to become a lawyer for #Trump on the #Mueller investigation. Cohen testifies that Costello told him this would be a way to have a “backchannel” to #Trump.
In the middle of this Costello backchannel between Cohen & Trump, Cohen says, was Rudy Giuliani. [no bueno]
#MichaelCohen testifies that #Costello told him not to reach out to Trump directly. So while Costello & #Giuliani formed a link between #Trump & Cohen, they also acted as a buffer, which may have grated on Cohen, particularly given that he used to report to Trump directly — & loved it.
Prosecution shows an email from Costello to Cohen from April 2018, in which Costello informs Cohen that Giuliani has just joined the Trump legal team.
The emails from #Costello go a long way toward supporting #MichaelCohen’s description of their meeting. Cohen said that Costello recommended he hire him because his relationship w/ #RudyGiuliani would help him access to #Trump.
In 1 email, Costello tells Cohen that his relationship w/ #Giuliani could be useful to him. In a 2nd, he talks about a “back channel” for communication. In a 3rd, the not-so-subtle msg: “Sleep well tonight, you have friends in high places.”
#MichaelCohen just testified that the #Costello emails came in perfect synchrony w/ the #Trump tweets is support of Cohen.
The NYTimes wrote an article in 2019 about the awkward role Robert Costello served here. He had intended to be Cohen’s lawyer, & spent countless hours on the phone w/him, but was never formally retained.
We still haven’t had anything directly tying #Trump to the structure of the false business records outside of #MichaelCohen’s testimony on the stand, which the defense will aggressively challenge. But the risk for the defense is that the jury holds Trump accountable for all of the various mucky conduct that is being described here, & has been described throughout the trial.
#MichaelCohen did not say that #Trump personally falsified the records, or even that he explicitly instructed someone else to do so. He did, however, testify that Trump knew the records would disguise the reimbursement as ordinary #legal expenses.
Importantly though, under NY #law, the concept of #AccessorialLiability does a lot of heavy lifting for the prosecutors, they only have to show that Trump intentionally aided his employees to falsify the records.
Prosecutors can argue that if #Trump knew about the false records & did not stop them, as #MichaelCohen says, then he aided the #crime.
The synchronization of the Trump tweets & Robert #Costello's outreach to Cohen helps to reinforce the idea that Trump was no longer communicating w/ Cohen directly, but he was still trying to make sure that his embattled fixer was under his thumb.
#Costello came to despise #MichaelCohen & testified before a grand jury last yr in hopes of undercutting Cohen’s credibility. The grand jury nonetheless indicted #Trump.
Cohen testifies, w/emails on the screen, that Costello continued a fierce pressure campaign to keep Cohen loyal. Cohen says he understood Costello to be telling him not to cooperate w/ #law enforcement after the FBI raid.
The message from the then president of the United States was “stay in the fold, don’t flip, don’t speak.”
#MichaelCohen was in the midst of testimony about weighing whether to retain loyalty to #Trump, painting it as a very difficult decision, as he considered whether he would be loyal to his family, his country or Trump.
As he spoke, #VivekRamaswamy & a several other politicians supporting Trump walked back into the courtroom.
Never seen a display like that in proceedings — several ofcls marching in during testimony — it was indisputably disruptive.
#MichaelCohen looks down and takes a beat before turning to the #jury & talking about his family. He says he discussed w/ his family what he should do & they said: “Why are you holding onto this loyalty? What are you doing? We’re supposed to be your first loyalty.”
Cohen looks like he’s struggling to hold it together here as he recalls talking to his family about whether to stay #loyal to #Trump or to cooperate w/ investigators.
#Hoffinger, the prosecutor, asks #MichaelCohen why he paid the money to #StormyDaniels. Cohen says he did so to #influence the #election, & that he did so at #Trump’s direction. This is a summary of the key themes & may signal that direct examination is coming to an end soon.
Trump’s lawyers are on edge thru this part of Cohen’s testimony. #Blanche & #Bove pass notes.
Trump, however, appears to be dozing peacefully. #NodFarter
As #MichaelCohen repeats that he worked w/David #Pecker & others at his company to do so, he again repeats that he took action at #Trump’s direction. The prosecutors use that testimony to lead into Cohen’s #guilty pleas in the federal case against him in 2018. Some of the charges against him were related to the #HushMoney payment.
#MichaelCohen reads aloud the tweets #Trump put out when Cohen pleaded guilty, saying that he felt “very badly for #PaulManafort & his wonderful family” & praising #Manafort for refusing to “break“
“Such respect for a brave man.”
A sitting president was tweeting these things.
Also shown: Trump's tweets attacking Cohen saying if anyone wants a good lawyer, he doesn’t recommend Cohen. He contrasts Cohen & Manafort, a #loyal ally, & criticizes Cohen for “breaking.”
Prosecutor #Hoffinger asks #MichaelCohen about committing federal #crimes, she also emphasizes the key themes of the prosecution's case, having him testify that he committed them on Trump’s behalf.
Prosecutors had to have Cohen address his crimes — if defense brought them up first, it may have looked as if prosecutors were hiding them. Hoffinger managed to use that part of testimony to restate the DA’s case, reminding jurors why they’re here: To assess #Trump’s guilt, not Cohen’s.
#MichaelCohen testifies about his 2019 testimony before the #House of Representatives, one hearing of which was televised. During that hearing, he sealed his split w/ #Trump, calling him a #racist & a #ConMan who was #unfit for office.
Cohen recaps his apology to the public during that testimony. Cohen is one of the only Trump allies or advisers who actually served time in #prison.
#MichaelCohen’s testimony at the Congressional hearing is certain to come up during cross-examination, including his assertion that he didn’t want a job in the WH.
Cohen is now discussing his meetings w/ Robert #Mueller, the special counsel investigating the #Trump campaign's ties to #Russia.
#MichaelCohen is asked, over an objection by the defense, about how he was sent home on furlough from federal #prison in 2020, during the height of the COVID pandemic.
He was ultimately returned to prison bc he was planning to publish a book later that year & refused to sign a letter from #Trump AG Bill Barr saying he wouldn’t publish. A judge later called the move “retaliatory” by the federal govt, & he was freed.
#MichaelCohen, for only the second time this trial, is getting angry as he remembers what he clearly sees as an #injustice. He testifies that not only was he sent back to #prison, he was put in #solitary confinement.
#MichaelCohen testifies about meeting w/various #law enforcement agencies, including the Manhattan DA’s office. His story is coming full circle as he talks about cooperating w/the prosecutors in this case.
#Hoffinger, the prosecutor, takes him all the way to March 2023, when Cohen testified in the grand jury. #Trump was indicted later that month.
#Hoffinger asks if #MichaelCohen has sought a reduction for his sentence, & if he asked the DA’s office for help.
The answer to both questions is yes. Hoffinger makes clear that the Manhattan DA’s office was willing to provide a letter to help him in 2021, if federal prosecutors at the SDNY would accept it as a reason to reduce his sentence. But the federal prosecutors — who deeply dislike Cohen — wouldn’t accept it & no letter was provided.
#Hoffinger makes clear that #MichaelCohen chose to testify & help the case despite not getting what he wanted.
Hoffinger, preparing for the defense's cross-examination, asks Cohen about the cell phones from which #evidence was pulled. The defense has tried to raise questions about when those phones were obtained & whether the evidence on them may have been manipulated.
Hoffinger asks if Cohen altered or modified the recording he made of #Trump.
He responds: “No, ma’am.”
In 2023, during #MichaelCohen’s testimony at #Trump’s #civil#fraud trial, the defense was able to trip him up while asking him about one of his federal guilty pleas. There, he seemed to suggest that he wasn’t actually #guilty of one of the #crimes he had pleaded guilty to. Ever since, Trump’s lawyers have accused him of perjury.
#Hoffinger asks #MichaelCohen about that now. He says now he did not dispute the underlying facts of the case, but BELIEVED — & still does — that he should not have been criminally prosecuted for that specific offense, #tax evasion. He says that he felt pressured & felt that he was charged w/that particular #crime, which was not related to the #HushMoney payment, unjustly.
#Hoffinger is going through a lengthy list of all that #MichaelCohen has lost financially. This is similar to something #StormyDaniels said, when pushed on cross-examination about whether she had money to gain by telling her story about #Trump. She said that she had also lost a lot.
Cohen also acknowledges that he has been #disbarred.
#Hoffinger asks #MichaelCohen to explain why he lied to this person or that person. She’s doing it to prepare the jury for what will likely be a brutal cross-examination. Thing is, that’s what #Trump paid him to do & the jury heard how happy Trump was w/Cohen at various points & how he couldn’t have been unaware of what Cohen was doing.
Cohen says he now works in media & entertainment & started a podcast while on home confinement. He says he discusses news as well as Trump.
Under prosecutor #Hoffinger’s questioning, #MichaelCohen decribes how he has made money from his story of #Trump’s betrayal.
He says that he wrote a memoir in #prison, called “Disloyal,” about his life & experiences working for the #TrumpOrganization. He says his next book, “Revenge,” was a “forensic dissection” of the corrupt prosecution against him.
Cohen addresses the fact that he had #StormyDaniels on his podcast. He says it was time to apologize to her.
#Hoffinger, the prosecutor, is now detailing a lawsuit that #Trump filed against #MichaelCohen in Florida, well after the presidency. Ultimately Trump decided not to be deposed [wonder why¿] & the case was dismissed. That suit was widely seen as #WitnessIntimidation.
Cohen reflects on his time w/Trump:
“I don’t regret working at the Trump Organization.” But in order to stay in Trump’s good graces & obey his orders, “I violated my moral compass, & I suffer the penalty.”
Trump is back in court after lunch, carrying a stack of papers. His entourage of elected ofcls appears to have mostly left, though #VivekRamaswamy, remains.
#Trump is seated at the defense table reading through his stack of papers, which are usually positive news articles about him or negative ones about President #Biden. [pacifiers]
Todd #Blanche, a #Trump defense lawyer, is on cross-examination of #MichaelCohen. He begins by asking Cohen whether or not they have spoken before. Blanche says Cohen went on TikTok & called him a “crying little shit.”
[petty mf]
Cohen says that it sounds like something he would say, but the prosecutors object and the judge sustains it.
#Blanche asks #MichaelCohen if he’s been following the trial. Cohen says yes, to some extent. Blanche asks if he knows details about the jury selection process.
Objection from prosecution, & it's sustained.
Blanche asks Cohen if he recalls saying on TikTok, while David #Pecker, the fmr publisher of The #NationalEnquirer, was on the stand, that Pecker was corroborating everything he'd been saying for 6 yrs.
#MichaelCohen has so far remained calm, sitting w/his hands clasped in his lap.
He's taking a beat before answering his questions & appears to be choosing his words carefully. #Trump is sitting w/his eyes closed at the defense table.
#Blanche is almost certainly trying to get under Cohen's skin.
#Blanche asks #MichaelCohen about another damning quote, in which Cohen said that #Trump belonged in a cage, “like an animal,” using an expletive that makes the sentiment even more forceful. “I recall saying that,” Cohen says.
Blanche questions Cohen about how he & his fmr lawyer Lanny Davis interacted w/the media, suggesting that Cohen clashed w/Manhattan prosecutors by repeatedly commenting to the press about their investigation.
#MichaelCohen is asked if he has continued to talk to reporters about the case. Cohen offers a partial answer, saying that that "sounds correct."
#Blanche, #Trump's lawyer, frustrated pushes Cohen to confirm that it "is" correct.
Cohen acknowledges that it is.
Blanche is trying to drive a wedge between Cohen & the Manhattan DA’s office. He’s also trying to illustrate to the jury that Cohen is a rogue agent, whom prosecutors cannot control.
#Blanche gets to his point: that #MichaelCohen says he doesn't "recall" having had multiple conversations w/the DA's office about not going on TV, but he can recall w/pristine detail conversations he said he had w/ #Trump in 2016.
"I remember all the phone conversations w/Mr. Trump at the time, yes," Cohen says.
FYI, Cohen is under no obligation to “recall” anything. He is not on trial.
#MichaelCohen continues to testify about the times prosecutors have warned him not to talk about the trial.
#Trump smiles at one of his lawyers, Susan #Necheles, who smiles back.
#Blanche is now making it clear that Cohen defied prosecutors’ wishes by talking to reporters. The idea, again, is to show Cohen is capable of going off on his own & doing what he wants, which the defense will likely say he did while working w/Trump.
#Blanche asks #MichaelCohen if he has gone on TV several dozen times. “I have gone on television,” Cohen says. Blanche asks him if it’s >20 times. “It could be,” Cohen concedes. Blanche asks him if he has any doubt that he has gone on television >20 times, & Cohen allows, that no, he has no doubt he has gone on television >20 times.
After testifying about these appearances & his podcast, #Blanche asks #MichaelCohen if it’s fair to say he talks about #Trump in every single appearance & episode. Cohen says yes.
Blanche goes into Cohen’s podcast schedule, tallying up 4 podcasts a week for many months, suggesting he’s done hundreds in which Trump has been a steady refrain.
Cohen says he’s been making TikToks for about 6 weeks, about 6 days a week.
#Blanche seems to be seeking to show the jury several things about #MichaelCohen thru this line of questioning: That he can’t stop talking to the media, that he defies orders from prosecutors not to speak, that he remains obsessed w/ #Trump, that he hates Trump, that he still makes money off of Trump, & that he can perfectly recall conversations from years ago that are harmful to Trump but has trouble recalling more recent conversations that may be harmful to himself.
#MichaelCohen is still calm, but focused, & turning around #Blanche’s questions wherever possible. He’s not being defiant, as he was during his shaky cross-examination in #Trump's #civil#fraud trial. Some of his answers, perhaps unintentionally, are funny, which could be taking the sting out of some of Blanche’s insinuations. The jurors look amused. One is smiling.
The #jury is shown a picture of a t-shirt that #MichaelCohen is selling on his website. [think I’ll go buy one now] It’s an image of #Trump behind bars & wearing an orange jumpsuit.
#Blanche is suggesting Cohen is in it for the money, showing a shirt he sells that says “Convict 45” — during #StormyDaniels’s cross-examination Necheles attacked her for “shilling” mechandise online. Daniels responded it was very much like Trump's own tendency toward self-promotion.
As #MichaelCohen testifies, #Trump has dropped his head repeatedly & appears to be struggling to stay awake. #NodFarter
Blanche asks Cohen questions about the properties he has owned in Trump buildings. Prosecutors told a story about Cohen loving Trump until he felt he was betrayed in 2018. Blanche emphasizes that indeed there was a time when Cohen was devoted to Trump.
#Blanche & #Trump atty Emil #Bove are both fmr federal prosecutors, & both have struggled at times to make arguments. Because prosecutors are the ones looking to prove #criminal charges, they often have a built-in advantage when making arguments. But defense lawyers have to explain the point they are making as they ask their questions. Blanche, who is speaking quickly as he seeks to corner #MichaelCohen on various points, is not consistently landing his points.
#Blanche is trying to portray #MichaelCohen as obsessed w/ #Trump. It was already shown that when he was w/the #TrumpOrganization Cohen sought approval from Trump, & then Trump went out of his way to humiliate Cohen, so Cohen wanting Trump to face justice seems like a reasonable reaction.
Blanche asks if Cohen was lying when he said Trump cared deeply about this country, & he's a man who tells it straight.
Cohen: “I was knee deep into the cult of Donald Trump."
#Blanche tries trapping #MichaelCohen by repeatedly asking if he lied. Cohen repeats over & over “I wasn’t lying. I believed it at the time”
Blanche emphasizes a counternarrative about Cohen, asking him how he felt when he was cut off from the Trump family. The defense appears to want to make him look like he has an ax to grind against #Trump.
#Blanche turns to Aug 2018, when #MichaelCohen decided to cooperate w/the special counsel who was investigating the Trump campaign's possible ties to #Russia.
Cohen is asked about the infamous #SteeleDossier, a compendium of opposition research put together by various people looking to stop Trump in 2016, filled w/salacious allegations. At the time, Cohen was enraged about allegations about him that were in there, which he said were false.
#Blanche questions #MichaelCohen about his testimony to federal prosecutors in 2017 concerning his discussions w/ #Trump about a possible Trump Tower in #Russia.
Blanche gets Cohen to admit that he lied to federal prosecutors about Trump’s Moscow project. But doesn’t make it clear what exactly the lie was, so not sure what Blanche gained in the exchange.
#Blanche tries, for a 2nd time, to contrast #MichaelCohen’s inability to recall his conversations w/prosecutors to his very clear recollection of the important conversations w/ #Trump.
Blanche reviews Cohen’s #criminal history & his 2 separate pleas to federal #crimes, the 1st in Aug 2018 & the 2nd in Nov. In the 2nd, he pleaded guilty to lying to Congress.
After the break, #Blanche continues the a line of questioning meant to portray #MichaelCohen as self-serving. Blanche displays notes in which Cohen wrote that he wanted to know how he would “benefit” by helping the DA’s office. Defense can try to use this to suggest Cohen is not simply looking to right wrongs.
Blanche asks Cohen about his curiosity of the investigation into #Trump, suggesting Cohen’s cooperation w/prosecutors is driven by self-interest, & therefore tainted.
#Blanche jumps around as he describes different investigations into #Trump involving #MichaelCohen. This gets confusing in a hurry.
Cohen has thus far kept it together on the stand. As a lawyer-albeit disbarred, he is familiar w/legal methods & courtrooms, & it shows. He’s giving short, basic answers. He's also leaning on one response in particular - "Sounds like something I would say," a phrase that leaves wiggle room.
#MichaelCohen uses the phrase to defang #Blanche when the defense lawyer asks him about the colorful insults he has lobbed at #Trump. Blanche asked Cohen if he had called Trump a "boorish cartoon misogynist" & "Cheeto-dusted cartoon villain." Cohen responded to both questions w/a version of "sounds like something I would say."
After running through some of the insults Cohen has called Trump on his podcasts, Blanche again emphasizes that Cohen makes money from those podcasts.
#Blanche quoted the list of desires #MichaelCohen included in one of his books,
"Disloyal." He said he wants, in order:
"power, the good life, public acclaim, big deals, fast cars, private planes, the excess & glamor & zest for life."
"Is that what motivates you?" Blanche asks.
Cohen acknowledges that they are his words.
#MichaelCohen testified that he has never met the Manhattan DA, #AlvinBragg. Pretty surprising considering Cohen is the star witness in the biggest case of Bragg’s career & all signs indicate that Bragg has supervised this investigation closely.
Court is done w/the first day of Cohen's cross-examination.
Blanche indicated to Justice #Merchan that he may finish cross-examination end of day on Thurs. Cohen is the prosecution's final witness.
#Blanche, #Trump's lawyer, began his cross-examination of #MichaelCohen today, by asking Cohen if he’d called him a “crying little shit” on TikTok. After an objection, there was a sidebar, out of earshot of jurors & attendees.
According to a transcript, Justice #Merchan asked Blanche: “Why are you making this about yourself?”
Blanche protested, but the judge stood firm. “Just don’t make it about yourself,” he said to conclude the conference.
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