#Trump posted an angry message on TruthSocial saying he’d just learned who the next witness was [#StormyDaniels] & that his lawyers had “no time” to prepare.
The post remained up for 30 mins before Trump removed it, probably bc it was another violation of the #GagOrder & #jail is fully on the table.
Reportedly, Trump hates deleting posts — he sees it as a sign of weakness 🙄.
#Trump did not answer reporters’s questions about his morning Truth Social post.
One of Trump's lawyers, Susan #Necheles, appears to be taking her seat to Trump’s right— suggesting she will be the one to cross-examine #StormyDaniels.
Show’s about to start, doubt Trump will be sleeping today.
Franklin is a #CustodialWitness — here to verify facts that Trump's lawyers have not agreed to — she will testify about 2 books that #Trump wrote, including “Trump: How to Get Rich” & “Trump: Think Like a Billionaire,” both published by Ballantine, a Penguin Random House imprint.
Prosecutor #Mangold has Sally Franklin describe a chapter of a book in which #Trump, in his own words, describes his frugality, including looking over bills to “make sure I’m not being overcharged.”
This goes toward his micromanagement & supports the argument that there was now way he was unaware of what he was paying #MichaelCohen, or what the money was for.
#Trump lawyer Todd #Blanche is on cross-examination of Sally Franklin.
His argument is that Meredith McIver, the ghost-writer, was behind the language, as opposed to Trump.
Trump himself has always insisted that all of the words printed in his name are his. During the White House years, Trump aides would implausibly claim on the record that Trump’s speeches were written by him.
As I was unable to do a #TrumpTrial 🧵 today, here’s a #GiftArticle on the day’s proceedings:
“After 2 wks of enthralling jurors w/stories of sex & scandal, prosecutors delved into the documents at the heart of Trump’s #criminal trial on Mon, a pivotal turn in the case that came on the same day the judge held #Trump in #contempt & threatened to #jail him.”
“After the judge rebuked #Trump for violating a #GagOrder & mounting ‘a direct attack on the rule of #law,’ the prosecutors provided jurors w/their first look at the 34 records they say he falsified to #coverup an infamous payment.
“Trump made the payment to his longtime fixer, #MichaelCohen, reimbursing him for a $130k #HushMoney payoff to a porn star, #StormyDaniels, prosecutors say. Before Trump repaid Cohen, prosecutors say, he orchestrated a scheme to falsify the records.
“#Trump, the first American president to face prosecution, is on #trial for 34 #felony counts of falsifying business records, 1 for each doc: 11 checks to #MichaelCohen, 11 invoices from Cohen & 12 entries in Trump’s general ledger. The invoices & ledger entries claimed that Cohen had been repaid for ‘legal expenses’ that arose from a ‘retainer agreement.’”
“I find you in #criminal#contempt for the 10th time,” said Justice Juan #Merchan, who said he is concerned that Donald #Trump has apparently not taken heed of his prior findings.
“Going forward, this court will have to consider a #jail sentence. The last thing I want to do is put you in jail.”
"To basically offer me hush money or threaten me into silence, it just shows that they really do not care about their people, which is really sad," Crenshaw told 60 Minutes.
"This has never been about money for me. It was about justice and accountability and a hope that no one else would be treated the way I was treated."
Crenshaw first told 60 Minutes about her Hillsong hell in 2021.
…”police intervened outside the Manhattan courthouse…, breaking up shouting matches between about a dozen anti-Trump demonstrators & half that many supporters.
“The anti-Trump group, called Rise & Resist, blocked traffic on Centre St briefly as they shook signs & chanted ‘No One Is Above the Law.’
“‘The people of New York City want this man held liable for his criminal acts,’ one of the demonstrators…shouted. ‘All of them.’
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.
#HopeHicks says that when she shared the email from The Washington Post w/ #Trump, one of his initial reactions was to say that his comments about assaulting women “didn’t sound like something he would say.” [he later admits it was him, so = liar]
Hicks says she went to conference room to discuss #AccessHollywood tape & Trump came to see what was happening:
The prosecution played the video #Trump recorded on 7 Oct, 2016, when he acknowledged that he’d said the words on the #AccessHollywood tape & apologized.
Months after being elected, Trump was telling people the tape was a fake.
If a tape came out today, there’s no doubt that Trump would claim it was AI & his voters would believe him. It’s impossible to imagine him apologizing now.
#HopeHicks testified that the media response to the #AccessHollywood tape was “intense” & that it “dominated coverage.” She recalled that a Category 4 hurricane was anticipated to make landfall at that time but she doesn’t think anyone remembers where or when the hurricane landed. “It was all #Trump all the time for the next 36 hours,” she said.
She says she asked Cohen to “chase down a rumor,” she says, about another tape he had heard about that could be problematic for the campaign. This could be the beginning of hearing what Hicks has to say about the. #HushMoney payment to #StormyDaniels, which was made by Cohen & where the charges against #Trump stem from.
#HopeHicks re the email to #JaredKushner:
she said, bc of Kushner’s good relationship w/ #RupertMurdoch — who owned the WSJ— maybe he could “buy a little extra time to deal with this.” Kushner responded that “he wasn’t going to be able to reach Rupert & we should just work on responding & dealing with it.”
The first question asked in the email: “Did Mr. #Trump have an extramarital affair w/ #KarenMcDougal?”
#StormyDaniels was also going to be mentioned in the WSJ artice, #HopeHicks testifies, & says that she spoke not only to #MichaelCohen about Daniels's claims, but to #Trump too.
This fits w/ the banker’s testimony & Daniels’s lawyer’s testimony about Cohen becoming increasingly frantic in seeking to quiet Daniels once they knew a reporter was on the trail of the story.
#HopeHicks is expected to return to the stand soon to resume her testimony. She likely won’t be up there much longer today.
Friday’s #TrumpTrial will adjourn around 3:45PM ET US due to a juror having an appointment.
So it is likely Hicks will be back on the stand Monday not only for cross, but possibly for further direct.
Hicks says that she was told by #Trump that he had not had an affair w/ McDougal, but that she did not remember him “verbatim” saying that he had no knowledge of that hush-money deal.
This is testimony of a lie shared w/the media & public.
Cohen says he’s got a denial from #StormyDaniels, whom he calls “Storm,” but is holding it in reserve.
Hicks says Trump was very concerned about the WSJ story about his affairs & the #HushMoney payments. He was worried about his wife’s reaction & asked Hicks to make sure newspapers weren’t delivered to their residence.
2X defense tried to object to the prosecutor asking #HopeHicks whether it would have been in character for #MichaelCohen to have paid the #HushMoney w/o telling #Trump. The judge overruled the objections.
The testimony goes directly to Trump being behind the payment to #StormyDaniels, not Cohen.
Then, Hicks bolsters another part of the state's case, saying that it would have been bad if the scandal came out before the election.