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.
#Westerhout, described on Thurs setting up an #OvalOffice meeting in Feb 2017 between #Trump & his fixer, #MichaelCohen, where prosecutors say they discussed a #HushMoney payment to #StormyDaniels, a porn star who said she had sex w/ Trump in 2006 at a hotel in Lake Tahoe, NV. Cohen paid her $130k to stay silent about the liaison in the days before the 2016 presidential #election, & falsified business records to further hide it.
Today's word is Turpitude.
"Turpitude comes from Latin turpis, meaning "vile" or "base." The word is often heard in the phrase "moral turpitude," an expression used in law to designate an act or behavior that gravely violates the sentiment or accepted standard of the community. A criminal offense that involves moral turpitude is considered wrong or evil by moral standards, in addition to being the violation of a statute. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/turpitude
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.
#Hoffinger, the prosecutor, returns to the lectern & asks that they do a split screen, of #StormyDaniels responding to an attack while #Trump attacks her as "horseface." She’s making the point that Trump himself was attacking Daniels & other attacks on Daniels followed his attack.
Daniels is finished after nearly 8 hours of intense testimony over 2 days.
A new witness, Rebecca #Manochio, has taken the stand. Manochio is a junior bookeeper at the #TrumpOrganization. She is being questioned by Rebecca #Mangold, a prosecutor.
#Manochio testifies about her involvement in the sending of checks between the #TrumpOrganization & the #Trump#WhiteHouse. This is important for prosecutors as they seek to tie Trump to the repayments to #MichaelCohen, which came in the form of checks, including many signed by Trump himself. The jury has heard a lot of testimony about how Trump was careful to keep an eye on his money.
Prosecutors like to connect each witness to multiple other witnesses, to show that this cast of characters is an ensemble, & not just individuals who were randomly chosen to testify. Here, we're hearing about Rebecca #Manochio sending unsigned checks to #Trump through #KeithSchiller, his personal #bodyguard. #StormyDaniels just told a story in which Schiller was a character.
#Manochio says that at some point the person she was sending checks to changed from Schiller to John McEntee.
Asked who that was, she said, "Couldn't tell ya." #McEntee was a #Trump adviser & ally who was brought back to the #WhiteHouse in early 2020 (at the end of his term), as Trump tried to restaff w/ loyalists who would assist his attempt to retain power illegally.
The judge tells the jurors that the trial is proceeding on schedule, perhaps a little ahead of schedule, w/ prosecutors set to conclude their case in about 2 weeks.
Cross-examination of #Manochio was extremely brief.
Next witness, Tracey #Menzies, works at HarperCollins, a publishing company.
As happened on Tues, prosecution shows a book authored by #Trump, "Think Big: Make it Happen in Business and Life." The cover image shows Trump shouting. The witness, Tracey Menzies, says of the cover, "His name is quite large."
This emphasizes the theme of #Trump as a micromanager, who wouldn't let his employees handle major transactions w/o closely supervising them.
However, Trump does say he might trust a loyal employee, such as #AllenWeisselberg, whom he name checks specifically & who prosecutors say helped orchestrate the continuing concealment of the #HushMoney payments, & who is currently in #jail for #crimes committed for Trump.
Madeleine #Westerhout was one of #Trump's most trusted aides in the early #WhiteHouse years. She sat at a desk right outside the Oval Office & coordinated many of his calls, meetings and communications. She was a conduit to people on the outside & she was at Trump's side through much of the day.
#Westerhout abruptly left the #WhiteHouse in the summer of 2019 after #Trump learned that she had shared details about his family. She now works for Trump's former #NationalSecurity adviser Robert O'Brien, who runs a geopolitical consultancy.
Rebecca #Mangold, the prosecutor, asks #Westerhout whether she had a nickname in the press, & Westerhout says that she was known as "the greeter girl."
Westerhout acknowledges she knew #MichaelCohen, who paid #HushMoney to #StormyDaniels. She talks about when she began to work in the #WhiteHouse. She says her boss asked her if she had any interest "in sitting outside the #OvalOffice." Westerhout says she responded: "Yes, I do, that sounds like it would be a very cool job."
Prosecutors are using Westerhout to put into evidence a map of the first floor of the #WestWing of the White House. She's asked to identify the Oval Office.
This could become relevant when #MichaelCohen testifies. He is expected to say he met w/ #Trump in the #OvalOffice to discuss the arrangements that had been made to repay him for the #HushMoney sent to #StormyDaniels.
The prosecution has established that in 2017 Madeleine #Westerhout was part of #Trump's very small inner circle.
Westerhout has turned to describing Trump's work habits. Rebecca #Mangold, the prosecutor, asks if she developed an understanding of his preferences & Westerhout responds, "I hope so."
She then says that he preferred to either speak w/people on the phone or meet w/them in person.
Expect her to testify that one person she saw him meet w/in person was #MichaelCohen. If she testifies as prosecutors are hoping, she will say that happened in Feb 2017.
#Trump smiles & nods when #Westerhout says he took "a lot" of calls during the day & late into the night.
Trump has always seen his extensive phone chats as evidence he's a hard worker. (Cuz it’s the only evidence)
The jury is shown a very weird "close contacts list" for #Trump from early 2017. It includes Joe Scarborough, Tom Brady, Sean Hannity, Ari Emanuel, Bret Baier & Mark Burnett, the creator of "The Apprentice."
Also on the list: Bill Belichick, Bill O'Reilly, Jeanine Pirro, some business colleagues, family members & Serena Williams.
The point is that #Trump paid attention to financial minutiae. The cost of the golf membership that he was personally signing off on was less than 20% of the amount of each check he sent to #MichaelCohen to reimburse the #HushMoney payment.
The prosecution is effectively asking the jury to consider whether it's plausible that Trump would scrutinize a minor payment in the $6k range but be ignorant of the details of multiple checks for $35k each.
The defense is asking for a mistrial & that #Trump be allowed to respond in public (not court) to #StormyDaniels's testimony. To be clear. Trump is asking the court to lift the #legal restrictions of the #GagOrder, so he can publicly attack a witness’s testimony.
Justice #Merchan encouraged the defense lawyers when they moved for a #mistrial on Tuesday to address any disparities by cross-examining #StormyDaniels. But Daniels has been off the stand for hours, & #Blanche is now seeking to make these points to the judge — & the news media. The judge isn't buying it. "I fail to understand" he says, how this is "an alternate set of facts."
Trump leans forward & glares at the judge as he denies the motion.
Now Todd #Blanche is arguing for a #mistrial, again. Trump's lawyers have been known to call for multiple mistrials in the course of a proceeding. It could exhaust the judge’s patience, & lose credibility.
Steinglass also criticized Blanche's colleague Susan #Necheles's cross-examination of #StormyDaniels, calling it "very thorough but somewhat misleading" & hardcore [#SlutShaming ]
Prosecutor #Steinglass says that the details of Daniels's story before & during the sexual act corroborate her account, & show the fact that sex happened, which increases the motivation to silence her.
#Steinglass concludes: "The defense has not alleged anything remotely approaching grounds for a #mistrial & their motion should be denied."
Justice #Merchan begins to address the mistrial motion. He says that after ruling against the defense's request for a mistrial on Tues, he went back & reviewed many of his past decisions, studying them in his chambers. He says that he came away satisfied.
#Merchan cites specific issues w/the defense's arguments, saying that instead of denying the falsification of business records, they denied the sex w/ #StormyDaniels. [THANK YOU!]
"That in my mind allows the people to do what they can to rehabilitate her & to corroborate her story. Your motion for a mistrial is denied," he concludes.