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 tried another line of questioning that didn’t land, having to do w/whether #MichaelCohen sought a letter in 2018 requesting leniency from federal prosecutors. Cohen says he told his lawyer that he “wasn’t interested” in such a letter, so “let’s not even talk about it.” It didn’t seem as if Blanche got the answer he expected during that exchange.
It seems to be an attempt to show that #MichaelCohen didn’t have a cooperation agreement w/SDNY prosecutors when he pleaded guilty in 2018, because he was unwilling to disclose everything he knew about any possible wrongdoing. He would have had to do so in order to get the letter. #Blanche may have wanted to point out that Cohen wanted to keep some things hidden even as he pleaded guilty.
#Blanche asks #MichaelCohen if he wanted a job in the #Trump WhiteHouse. Cohen testified to the House in 2019 that he didn’t want one. But other witnesses, like #KeithDavidson, #StormyDaniels's fmr lawyer, testified that Cohen was interested & sad he was being left behind.
Blanche: “You really wanted to work in the White House, correct?”
Cohen:“No sir.”
Blanche says that Cohen specifically wanted to be WH chief of staff, & Cohen again denies it.
#Blanche seems to have gained some traction here, & notes that #MichaelCohen had said he wanted to be chief of staff. “That was for my ego, yes,” Cohen admitted. But now Cohen is reiterating that he wanted to be Trump's personal attorney.
Cohen, is 5 hours into his cross-examination, & is remaining calm, even as Blanche implies there was a series of slights & humiliations that Cohen suffered after #Trump’s election in 2016.
#Blanche shows that #MichaelCohen was less than candid when he said he didn’t want a job, as he goes thru all the people Cohen complained to about being left behind. But it also shows that #Trump went out of his way to abuse him.
Blanche asks about an embarrassing episode when Cohen used an AI program to generate legal citations for his previous lawyer. The cases listed by the software weren’t real.
It’s totally irrelevant & seems like it’s brought up just to humiliate him.
#MichaelCohen easily & calmly explains what happened. Vohen expected the lawyer to fact-check & edit before submitting the doc to court & the errors were quickly corrected. It was not intentional nor malicious.
#Blanche moves on & brings up a phone call that Cohen talked about during direct, when he spoke to #Trump over Trump’s bodyguard's cellphone. Cohen said that during the conversation, he told Trump that the payment to #StormyDaniels had been made.
#Blanche is trying to cast doubt on #MichaelCohen’s account, saying it was the first time he had mentioned the call.
Prosecutor #Hoffinger objects again, & asks to approach.
After the sidebar conversation w/the judge, Emil #Bove, one of Trump's lawyers, returns to the defense table, sits down & whispers something to #Trump who shakes his head & scowls.
#Blanche starts a long series of questions about whether #MichaelCohen received harassing phone calls from a 14-yr-old prankster in Oct 2016. [WTF?] He seems to be suggesting an alt reason for Cohen's call to #KeithSchiller, #Trump’s bodyguard.
Cohen had testified he made that call to inform Trump of the #HushMoney payment to #StormyDaniels. Blanche is suggesting to jurors that Cohen lied about the call's purpose.
#Blanche, emphasizing his point, raises his finger & his voice gets higher. He is suggesting it is ridiculous that #MichaelCohen might have simultaneously reported a prankster to #KeithSchiller & told #Trump that a #HushMoney payment had been made.
(This whole thing is ridiculous)
Blanche is trying to get Cohen to crack, but he’s holding firm. “You can admit,” Blanche says, that you lied. “No sir, I can’t,” Cohen responds, sticking to his story.
#Blanche admitted into evidence #MichaelCohen’s texts w/ a 14-yr-old harasser, which occurred on 24 Oct, 2016 until roughly 7:24PM, when Cohen wrote: “Please have your parent or guardian contact me before secret service reaches out them.”
Blanche is now driving home that Cohen threatened to turn the Secret Service on a prank caller who said they were 14 yrs old.
#Blanche is going back in time, asking Cohen about positive stories he had planted, not just about #Trump but also about himself.
He says that reporters would often call him or the #TrumpOrganization asking for comment. He said he would immediately go to Trump’s office & they would come up w/a crafted response that he would take back to the reporter.
#MichaelCohen adds that it was his routine to advise #Trump about these matters, because if the resulting story was not to his liking, “it would cause him to blow up at me” & “it would probably be the end of my job.”
#Blanche is trying to get Cohen to say that while working for Trump, he gave statements to reporters w/o checking in w/his boss. Cohen is refusing to concede this, & says that he would always talk to Trump about every story.
#Blanche is trying to establish the idea for the jury that #MichaelCohen was a rogue agent who did things w/o consulting w/ #Trump -- which defense says is what happened w/the #HushMoney payment.
Blanche notes that Cohen often frustrated campaign ofcls w/statements he made to the press during the 2016 campaign. Cohen parries that by saying Trump had told them that Cohen reported to him.
#Merchan said, "I would advise that that not happen."
#Trump lawyer #Blanche said, "Your Honor, I have less than zero control over what is happening on anything or anyone that’s behind me when I am crossing a witness."
#Blanche continues questioning #MichaelCohen about his relationships w/ reporters over the years naming Maggie Haberman of The NYT & Katy Tur of MSNBC.
Cohen confirmed that he communicated w/ reporters over the phone & via text, & he would occasionally record phone calls w/ members of the press w/o their knowledge, including former CNN chief Jeff Zucker.
(reminder NY is a one party consent state)
#Blanche asks #MichaelCohen having specific memories of calls from 8 yrs ago. Cohen responds that the reason he remembers them is because he’s been talking about the conversations for 6 yrs.
Blanche digs in, asking if Cohen has been talking about the specific phone calls he has been testifying about for 6 yrs. Blanche is performing for #Trump & the jury laying his mock disbelief on thick, his tone is derisive & he’s acting as if Cohen's testimony is ridiculous.
#MichaelCohen previously testified that in June 2016, he was negotiating w/ The #NationalEnquirer & #KarenMcDougal over her story about having had an affair w/ #Trump. On the stand now, as #Blanche digs in about whether he can remember a specific call from that year, Cohen says that seeing prosecutors’ other evidence has jogged his memory about calls he had back then. (That’s memory for ya)
#Blanche asks #MichaelCohen about what it meant for #Trump to pay in "cash," noting that it did not necessarily refer to green paper money, but to a payment that was made directly & not through financing. Blanche is referencing the recording heard earlier in the trial in which Trump directs him to “pay in cash.”
Blanche asks Cohen if Trump often made deals to pay cash for buildings or properties.
#Blanche notes that while #MichaelCohen has talked a lot about using Signal, an encrypted app that makes use of disappearing messages, many of the sensitive conversations that we’ve seen & heard about in this trial just took place over text.
(Probably because having not disappeared, they could be admitted into evidence. Duh.)
Blanche asks about negotiations he had w/ ABC News reporter John Santucci regarding the #StormyDaniels story.
Blanche is restating his opening argument point that NDAs were typical among the wealthy & famous & that they were not illegal. (No one has said otherwise)
#Blanche shows the #HushMoney contract that #MichaelCohen struck w/ #StormyDaniels. He gets Cohen to agree it’s a “perfectly legal contract.” He’s raises his voice for emphasis — trying to make the #jury feel like this arrangement was business as usual.
It may be usual to have NDAs, but this was unusual for other reasons.
#Blanche tries to undermine the relationship #MichaelCohen said he had w/ #Trump. He asks whether Cohen did #legal work not only for Trump, but also for his family & the #TrumpOrganization. Then Blanche notes that Cohen did not have a legal retainer to do the work. (He was employed but the TrumpOrg. A retainer would be redundant)