Each page yesterday took him just a little more than a minute, so this will take >30 mins.
Between that & the testimony readbacks, also expected to take >30 mins, there will likely be >1 hour this morning w/the jury in the courtroom, not actively deliberating.
Another witness —who had no connection to the falsification of business records— was #StormyDaniels, whose #HushMoney from Cohen is what was covered up. Susan Necheles, the defense lawyer w/the most trial experience on Trump's team, worked aggressively to sow doubts about Daniels’s story w/the jury.
9 #witnesses in the #criminal cases against #Trump have received significant financial benefits, including large raises from his campaign, severance packages, new jobs, & a grant of shares & cash from Trump’s media co.
White-collar defense #lawyers say the situation #Trump finds himself in—…defendant & boss of many of the …primary #witnesses to his alleged #crimes —is not uncommon. Their standard advice is not to provide any unusual benefits or penalties to such employees. Ideally, decisions about employees slated to give #evidence should be made by an independent body….
Since we now know Alito was flying his flag upside down at the time, let’s review one of the plans the coup plotters had involving him.
This interview by criminal defendant Powell is interesting. It suggests that the purpose of the insurrection was to DELAY the electoral college certification to give #Alito time to intervene on this legal challenge. But, Powell says they didn’t anticipate Pelosi reconvening Congress that day.
Crimal defendant Powell is interesting. It suggests that the purpose of the insurrection was to DELAY the electoral college certification to give #scotus#Alito time to intervene on this legal challenge. But, Powell says they didn’t anticipate Speaker Pelosi reconvening Congress.
#Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection w/a #HushMoney payment made to a porn star to influence the 2016 election. The case could be in the jury’s hands as early as Wed.
#Steinglass highlights #MichaelCohen’s testimony implicating #Trump in the charged #crimes. He shows jurors, using highlighted transcript pages, Cohen’s testimony that Trump not only approved the arrangement but was aware that the reimbursements would be classified as payments for #legal services.
#Steinglass moves to #MichaelCohen’s guilty plea to federal crimes. When #Hoffinger questioned Cohen about the pleas, she asked if he’d committed #crimes at Trump’s behest. Cohen said that he had.
Steinglass reads portions of that testimony aloud, before pivoting to #Trump’s tweets blasting Cohen right after he pleaded guilty.
Steinglass argues the tweets were a message to other witnesses. “Cooperate, & you will face the wrath of Donald Trump.”
“You almost have to laugh at the way Mr. #Blanche explained it to you,” he says. “They would have destroyed evidence — committed another crime — to hide this crime, but because they didn’t do that, & these documents exist” that’s evidence that there was no crime.
Tues 29 May 2024 🧵
Good morning! It’s the last day of the #TrumpTrial before jury #deliberations.
Today Justice #Merchan will give #JuryInstructions. Then they will discuss the case among themselves for the first time; they have not been allowed to even discuss it w/each other as yet.
Closing arguments took place yesterday, & the lawyers will have no further opportunity to address the jurors before they determine whether #Trump is #guilty or not guilty of 34 felonies.
Justice #Merchan turns to the #crimes w/which #Trump is charged: 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump is charged w/ falsifying records to cover up a second #crime — the violation of a state #ElectionLaw that forbids a #conspiracy to aid any election by “#UnlawfulMeans.” (See above)
If jurors were required to be #unanimous on which unlawful means (#crimes) #Trump employed, it may have been harder to reach a verdict.
Merchan explains the elements of the #felony falsification charge. He says the records at issue can pertain to a private business & can be electronic or other data.
Last week, prosecution won a major argument when they argued that the jurors did not have to agree #unanimously on the “unlawful means” (#crimes) they might determine that Trump used.
In #NewYork, falsifying records is a #misdemeanor, unless the documents were faked to HIDE ANOTHER CRIME. The other crime, prosecutors say (they also presented evidence of other #crimes), was Trump’s 2016 violation of state #ElectionLaw that prohibited #conspiring to aid a #political campaign using “#UnlawfulMeans.”
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
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.
#MichaelCohen has now testified that he, #Trump & David #Pecker, the publisher of The #NationalEnquirer, entered into a plot to suppress negative stories about Trump. He says Pecker "would be able to help us to know in advance what was coming out" & try to stop it from doing so.
This is the #conspiracy prosecutors allege Trump participated in - 1 of the potential #crimes that transforms the charges Trump is facing into #felonies.
#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.
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.
#Trump has a huge posse today, including #KashPatel; #GerryKassar, a #conservative party leader in NY; #BernieKerik, fmr NYPD commissioner who was imprisoned for tax fraud & false statements; #AlanDershowitz, lawyer who defended Trump during his first impeachment, & #BorisEpshteyn, legal adviser who was #indicted in AZ for attempts to keep Trump in power after the 2020 election.
#MichaelCohen has suggested several times that he committed #crimes in connection w/ the #StormyDaniels payoff. This is helpful for the prosecution, as they seek to prove to #jurors that #Trump caused the falsification of business records to conceal a 2nd #crime.
IMPORTANTLY That crime doesn’t need to have been committed by Trump — Cohen’s crimes are equally applicable.
#Hoffinger returns to what prosecutors say are #crimes. She asks if the $420k that #MichaelCohen received in 2017 — the reimbursement for the #HushMoney, additional money to cover taxes, a reimbursement for the payment to the tech company, RedFinch, & a bonus — had anything to do w/ #legal services.
Cohen: “No.”
Hoffinger emphasizes that the financial documents connected to the payments were false, because they said the payments were in exchange for legal services.
Cross-examination of #MichaelCohen resumes, an opportunity for the defense to poke holes in his testimony & perhaps trip up or provoke the state’s key witness. The questioning of Cohen, #Trump’s fmr fixer, is the beginning of the end of Trump’s #criminal trial, which began April 15 & might conclude before Memorial Day weekend at this pace.
#Blanche is using #MichaelCohen’s claims of widespread corruption — in which Cohen has accused not just Manhattan federal prosecutors but the judge in his case of being out to get him — against him. He is also using his previous testimony that he didn’t commit the #crimes to which he pleaded against him.
Blanche finally arrives at the moment that prosecutors sought to prep the jury for: That Cohen said under oath at #Trump's civil #fraud trial he had lied to a federal judge.
This case largely rests on #MichaelCohen tying #Trump to knowledge of how the false business records at the center of the case were structured. #Blanche is portraying Cohen as an indiscriminate liar who changes his story situationally.
Blanche is trying to show that Cohen has not fully taken responsibility for his #crimes & blames others, for corruption. However, by showing that Cohen lashing out at the judge & prosecutors, Blanche is making him sound a lot like Trump.