Someone really needs to kick #FoxNews#nepobaby#PeterDoocy's head off his narrow shoulders. This guy is a smarmy, dishonest prick whose entire job seems to be instigating irrelevant #gotcha moments in the #WhiteHouse press room. This is a perfect example...
The letters were sent hrs before #GOP-led #House Oversight & Judiciary cmtes were to advance a #contempt resolution against AG #Garland for defying a #subpoena demanding the recordings, which include hrs of Special Counsel Hur interviewing #Biden. #DOJ also sent #HouseRepublicans a letter Garland wrote Biden on Wed requesting he assert #ExecutivePrivilege bc releasing the tapes would “damage future #law enforcement efforts," as investigators request voluntary cooperation from #WhiteHouse ofcls.
#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.
#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.
A fmr White House aide who worked closely w/ #Trump returned to the stand to testify about a significant meeting between Trump & #MichaelCohen his personal lawyer that is at the center of Trump’s #criminal trial.
#Westerhout who worked for #Trump in the #WhiteHouse is back on the stand. Trump atty #Necheles —whose day ended yesterday w/the judge harshly criticizing her, saying she did not object as she should have to some of #StormyDaniels’s testimony— is back questioning this witness.
The prosecutors called Westerhout to testify about Trump’s behavior once in the WH, specifically whether he met w/ #MichaelCohen & how he dealt w/checks.
The prosecution asks that the defense be precluded from asking #StormyDaniels whether she was arrested. Justice #Merchan agrees w/the prosecutors, saying that “anybody can be arrested” & that it “doesn’t prove anything.”
The people call Stormy Daniels back to the stand
#Trump atty #Necheles begins questioning by saying that in 2011, Daniels denied having had sex w/Trump.
#Manochio testifies about her involvement in the sending of checks between the #TrumpOrganization & the #Trump#WhiteHouse. This is important for prosecutors as they seek to tie Trump to the repayments to #MichaelCohen, which came in the form of checks, including many signed by Trump himself. The jury has heard a lot of testimony about how Trump was careful to keep an eye on his money.
#Manochio says that at some point the person she was sending checks to changed from Schiller to John McEntee.
Asked who that was, she said, "Couldn't tell ya." #McEntee was a #Trump adviser & ally who was brought back to the #WhiteHouse in early 2020 (at the end of his term), as Trump tried to restaff w/ loyalists who would assist his attempt to retain power illegally.
The people called #MadeleineWesterhout. #Westerhout was Trump's executive assistant in the #WhiteHouse. She was fired after she spoke out of turn about the Trump family at an off-the-record dinner.
Westerhout went on to write a book in which she extensively praised #Trump. Prior to his presidency, she worked for the RNC. Trump is watching her, pursing his lips at times. He smirks when she says she is nervous to be here today.
Madeleine #Westerhout was one of #Trump's most trusted aides in the early #WhiteHouse years. She sat at a desk right outside the Oval Office & coordinated many of his calls, meetings and communications. She was a conduit to people on the outside & she was at Trump's side through much of the day.
#Westerhout abruptly left the #WhiteHouse in the summer of 2019 after #Trump learned that she had shared details about his family. She now works for Trump's former #NationalSecurity adviser Robert O'Brien, who runs a geopolitical consultancy.
Rebecca #Mangold, the prosecutor, asks #Westerhout whether she had a nickname in the press, & Westerhout says that she was known as "the greeter girl."
Westerhout acknowledges she knew #MichaelCohen, who paid #HushMoney to #StormyDaniels. She talks about when she began to work in the #WhiteHouse. She says her boss asked her if she had any interest "in sitting outside the #OvalOffice." Westerhout says she responded: "Yes, I do, that sounds like it would be a very cool job."
The prosecutor asks #Westerhout: "Was it your understanding that Mr. Trump & Mr. Cohen had a close relationship in 2017?"
Westerhout: “At that time, yes." She's now reading an email between herself & #MichaelCohen in which she's asking for his info in order to have him cleared to enter the #WhiteHouse. "Mr. Cohen was coming in to meet with the president," she adds.
Pay no attention to the proud #Republican puppy murderer! Instead, listen to #LaraTrump pivot, and blame #JoeBiden for an alleged increase in #euthanasia! That's right... #Dogs are being euthanized, and it's all #Biden's fault! I'll tell ya, for a dementia patient who is in a secret coma in the #WhiteHouse basement, Joe Biden sure does get around!
charges are falsifying business records to hide #HushMoney payments in lead up to 2016 election to #influence electorate
just one Trump supporter at the courthouse draped in a Trump flag.
#StormyDaniels's lawyer, #KeithDavidson, to return to stand. He negotiated the hush-money payment at the center of the case, & is expected to lay out details of the deal.
“The New York Times issued a statement blasting me for ‘actively and effectively avoiding independent journalists’. Hey, if that’s what it takes to get the New York Times to say I’m active and effective, I’m for it.”
Disgust Greets #WhiteHouse Correspondents' Dinner as Israel Kills #Journalists in Gaza
"To sit and schmooze with the president while he sends billions of dollars in weapons to Israel to kill their colleagues in #Gaza is unethical and immoral."
On Saturday night, U.S. reporters and government officials—including President Joe #Biden—will gather at the Washington Hilton Hotel for the annual White House #Correspondents' Dinner, a glitzy, humor-filled affair that has faced mounting #boycott calls
Bove asks #Pecker about how #Comey & Trump later had a contentious relationship. Prosecutors object, & Bove asks for a sidebar. Justice #Merchan sustains the objection.
Before #Hoffinger wrapped direct, we again heard the name of #HopeHicks, Trump’s spox during the 2016 #TrumpCampaign & in the #WhiteHouse. There was not an apparent reason to reintroduce her, it may be that prosecutors laying foundation for future evidence/testimony in proceedings.
"In this conversation, Said addresses comparatively his years of experience during #ForeignPolicy briefings, notably on Palestine, at the #USStateDepartment and #WhiteHouse, with focus on the current war on #Gaza."