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.
The #jurors just again heard #Pecker’s #testimony that the reason he was purchasing negative stories on #Trump’s behalf was to benefit his presidential campaign.
Defense atty Emil #Bove cross-examined Pecker, & jurors are hearing part of that cross now. Bove elicited testimony that Pecker misremembered the exact date of the Aug 2015 meeting, & more generally that Pecker was testifying about events from a long time ago.
Testimony readbacks can highlight moments that were seemingly rushed by during trial.
Here, we see that it was very important for the defense for #Bove to call #Pecker’s memory about this meeting into question.
Also the importance of objections becomes very apparent. Any objection that was sustained by the judge — & several were in this cross of Pecker — is not read aloud as the jury considers a potential verdict.
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
#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.
#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.
#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?”
#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.
#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.
#Trump defense atty Emil #Bove suggests that the prosecutors, in their proposed #JuryInstructions, shifted their theory of the case.
He’s possibly talking about the state #ElectionLaw that underlies the #felony business records charges against Trump. Justice #Merchan doesn’t seem to agree, but says prosecution’s proposal for jury instructions holds no weight — it’s only a proposal.
“Just relax,” Merchan tells defense. Nothing, he says, has been determined.
To an extent, the waiver corroborates #MichaelCohen’s story that he never hired #RobertCostello as a lawyer, though he did speak to him for a long time.
#Trump's lawyers, #Blanche & #Bove, are sitting on either side of him. When they want to talk to each other, they pass notes behind him or they both lean back & talk face to face, behind his back - possibly in order to not wake him up.
Prosecutors point out that #MichaelCohen testified that he didn’t tell Costello the truth.
Bove argues “there’s no mystery” about why Costello should testify — he will contradict Cohen’s recollections of conversations the 2 men had in 2018 (remember there is audio).
Justice Merchan sounds disinclined to allowing much of Costello’s testimony.
Justice #Merchan says he will take 5 mins to decide. “Don’t leave the courtroom,” he says, frustrated.
Merchan returns & tells #Trump defense atty Emil #Bove that he will give him some latitude to explore the pressure campaign that #MichaelCohen said #RobertCostello waged during the summer of 2018. But Merchan adds: “I’m not going to allow this to become a trial within the trial” of Michael Cohen.
He testifies that w/respect to #StormyDaniels, Cohen said “numerous times” that #Trump “knew nothing about those payments, that he did this on his own.”
Prosecutor #Hoffinger objects to many of Emil #Bove's questions, often being sustained by #Merchan.
Costello is ignoring the judge’s rulings, so Justice Merchan warned him directly to wait for a ruling before answering.
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 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.
#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.
#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.”
#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
#Hoffinger, the prosecutor, is asking #MichaelCohen about when he provided phones to the DA's office for their investigation. One of the defense lawyers, Emil #Bove, has sought several times to raise questions about when Cohen's phones were handed over - & whether he may have manipulated recordings & other materials related to the investigation on them before doing so. Cohen says he handed them over late last year.
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.
#Trump atty Emil #Bove cross-examines #JarmelSchneider. He tries to win the witness over, first by asking him how he prefers to be addressed & then expressing sympathy as he acknowledges that a paralegal's work can be boring.
Jarmel-Schneider isn't biting, saying he enjoys his work.
#Bove is now poring over the tiny details of the data that #JarmelSchneider worked with, suggesting to the jury that there are issues w/the paralegal's work.
Bove suggests that the reports were edited in a suspicious manner. On redirect, Jarmel-Schneider clarified that the report we are looking at is abridged per prosecutors’ request. Bove on re-cross continues trying to raise suspicion about the call list displayed.
Necheles repeats the accusation: “That’s what you did, right?”
Daniels almost yells: “False!”
The defense has been building to this since Emil #Bove, accused Daniels’s lawyer, #KeithDavidson, of being a serial extorter of celebrities on behalf of other clients.
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.
#Bove builds on the #MichaelCohen was freelancing angle, he gets #HopeHicks to agree that Cohen "went rogue" & did things that were “unauthorized."
Hicks helps the defense out by saying, "He liked to call himself a fixer, or Mr. Fix-it, & it was only because he first broke it."
Bove, moves on to when Hicks worked on #Trump's 1st campaign saying the work she did for Trump, & the work done by #Pecker, ( #NationalEnquirer) was all standard operating procedure for a candidate.
"While you were focused on your job at the White House, you didn't have anything to do w/the business records of the #TrumpOrganization 200+ miles away in NYC, did you?"
Hicks said she didn't.
This brings attention to the fact that the actual charges of falsifying business records have yet to be discussed.
Hicks is excused & leaves the courtroom.
#Trump doesn't look at her as she leaves.
Neither does she look at him.