After brashly declaring he wanted to #testify in his #criminal trial, it appears increasingly unlikely that #Trump will do so, as the #jury seems poised to hear #ClosingArguments next week.
Defendants rarely testify, because their #lawyers advise them that the risks of doing so, particularly when it comes to being questioned by prosecutors #UnderOath, are simply too great.
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.
Known liar Mike Johnson, Byron Donalds, Cory Mills, Doug Burgum & Vivek Ramaswamy hang around lower Manhattan to be trumps gag order gangsters.
Gag order prohibits trump from making comments about jurors / witnesses and also from causing others to make comments about the case, jury or court staff.
#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.
Senator #JDVance, Eric Trump, Boris Ephsteyn, his legal adviser; Alina Habba, one of the lawyers from his civil fraud trial; US House Rep #NicoleMalliotakis; Senator #TommyTuberville; & the #Iowa & #Alabama attorneys general.
This is the biggest entourage we’ve seen him with so far.
He must be scared.
#AllenWeisselberg then doubled the $180k to $360k. Weisselberg, #MichaelCohen says, expected that he would lose half because it would be taxed as income, & was making him whole.
This goes to #motive, toward how badly #Trump wanted this hidden, it actually cost Trump 2X what it would have otherwise.
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.
#StormyDaniels says she came out of the bathroom & found that #Trump was in the bedroom, waiting for her, in his boxer shorts & a T-shirt. She had been planning to go, she said. He was seated on the bed, between her & the exit.
Justice #Merchan is noticeably upset, & Daniels seems confused, after some objections, about what to answer from prosecutors. We are in an intense, intense moment here.
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.
Today’s #TrumpTrial testimony 🧵
Friday, 3 May, 2024
Custodial witness, Doug Daus, a forensic analyst in the Manhattan DA’s office will continue to testify about obtaining audio from the phones of #MichaelCohen, #Trump’s former fixer.
Testimony started w/a bang last week as David #Pecker, the fmr publisher of The #NationalEnquirer, said that he had entered into a secret plot w/ #Trump & #MichaelCohen to #CatchAndKill negative stories about Trump as he ran for president in 2016. #GaryFarro, the 3rd to testify, started off w/dry details about banking transactions. But #Farro is leading us to the #HushMoney payment
As #Trump’s motorcade arrived at court just before 9 a.m., a group of a few dozen people demonstrating against him blocked traffic. They stretched a banner across Centre Street that read “No One Is Above the Law.” They sang out, “Trump is not above the law.” Police monitored, & the demonstration was orderly.
Because #Pecker had such a hard time getting #Trump to reimburse him, he was later unwilling to buy a third story, #StormyDaniels's story of having had sex w/Trump. Thus, #MichaelCohen bought her story instead, leading us straight to the #criminal charges at issue.
Officials HAVE had preliminary discussions about how to protect the former president in the unlikely event that he is jailed for #contempt during the trial.
Prosecutors in Trump’s #criminal trial say he has violated a #GagOrder barring him from attacking #witnesses, #jurors & others close to the case. Testimony is set to resume later Tuesday morning.
Alright, who’s ready to see #Trump get his just deserts? He fucked up the whole damn world & that’s not an overstatement.
PS #BabySquirrel & I had a lovely weekend. It’s as boy! (He’s developed discernible - stuff)
He is doing quite well! Name: “Ramone” because he’s a sweet little punk rocker.