#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.
Heās possibly talking about the state #ElectionLaw that underlies the #felony business records charges against Trump. Justice #Merchan doesnāt seem to agree, but says prosecutionās proposal for jury instructions holds no weight ā itās only a proposal.
āJust relax,ā Merchan tells defense. Nothing, he says, has been determined.
Prosecutor #Colangelo argues āthereās nothing new at allā about their theory. The charges against #Trump are #felonies because he falsified business records to conceal another #crime. They signaled that other crime was seeking to promote his own #election "by unlawful means," in violation of state #ElectionLaw. That introduces a 3rd potential crime.
3 potential crimes, all wrapped into each of the 34 felony charges of falsifying business records.
Though the Prosecution previously made the point many times, the Defense cross examination confirmed to the jury that Michael Cohen is almost as bad a lier as Trump.
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.
āIt sounds like we might possibly be done w/ the presentation of evidence on Monday,ā NY Supreme Court Justice Juan #Merchan said Thurs.
Blanche quickly added, āI was not speaking about President Trump, obviously. ā¦ Thatās another decision that we need to think through.ā
ā If #Trump were to take the stand, such testimony could take many days, which would significantly extend the trial.
Cross-examination of #MichaelCohen resumes, an opportunity for the defense to poke holes in his testimony & perhaps trip up or provoke the stateās key witness. The questioning of Cohen, #Trumpās fmr fixer, is the beginning of the end of Trumpās #criminal trial, which began April 15 & might conclude before Memorial Day weekend at this pace.
A man w/a sign reading āGTFO of NYCā on one side & āBootlickersā on the other was removed by police.
Another man approached Rep #LaurenBoebert & handed her a āBeetlejuiceā program, & asked for her to sign it ā poking fun at when she was kicked out of the musical for outrageous & disruptive behavior ā was blocked by security.
Across the street, someone else could clearly be heard yelling āMatt Gaetz is a pedophile.ā
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)
If youāre wondering why nothing is getting done in Washington lately itās because another clown car full of elected Republicans is going to NY to soothe Trumpās butthurt feelings because nobody else is in court with him. Theyāre also there to interfere with the rule of law on Trumpās behest.
Each of these elected members should be censured for their attempts to obstruct justice.
Trumpās defence team is going after Michael Cohen for hating Trump.
Of course Cohen hates Trump. Trumpās hush money and election fraud scheme ruined Cohenās life and landed him in prison. It also cost him his business and law license on top of putting his wife and kids through hell.
How could anyone expect Michael Cohen NOT to hate Trump.
@HamonWry
Ummmā¦Cohen was not an indentured servant. He willingly worked for Trump for years, and he knowingly participated in illegal intent & actions.
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 weāve seen him with so far.
He must be scared.
#Trump currently has senior #elected officials, including a possible future VP nominee, sitting in the courtroom listening to a recording of him, as a candidate, talking w/his lawyer about paying for material from The #NationalEnquirer. Trump has completely got the party under his boot.
2 #Republican senators, a congresswoman & 2 state AGs are listening to a now-disbarred lawyer advising Trump on a #HushMoney payment.
The prosecution asks that the defense be precluded from asking #StormyDaniels whether she was arrested. Justice #Merchan agrees w/the prosecutors, saying that āanybody can be arrestedā & that it ādoesnāt prove anything.ā
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 is pushing back on #Necheles, asking for evidence when the lawyer claims that Daniels had called her lawyer weak-willed.
Daniels: āShow me where I said that,ā - forcing the defense to produce exhibits to back up allegations.
Necheles pulls up the transcript & audio & Danielsās voice is not on the tape; it is #MichaelCohen & #KeithDavidson, her lawyer at the time - so Daniels is correct, not the #Trump atty.
#Necheles now brings up something inevitable: #StormyDaniels's work as a medium. "You've made a show & a podcast claiming you can speak w/ dead people, right?"
So now Necheles is trying to make Daniels look crazy by bringing up her beliefs in the paranormal & communicating w/dead people.
Keeping score, Necheles has tried to discredit Daniels by suggesting she is