“New York judge on Monday rejected a request by #Trump to exclude testimony by his former attorney #MichaelCohen in Trump's criminal trial stemming from hush money paid to a porn star, court filings showed.” #legal#StormyDaniels
#Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection w/a #HushMoney payment made to a porn star to influence the 2016 election. The case could be in the jury’s hands as early as Wed.
#Steinglass says that #Trump’s #intent to #defraud could not be any clearer, arguing that Trump could have simply paid #StormyDaniels himself, but instead devised an elaborate scheme to pay Daniels secretly that required the involvement of at least 10 other people. “Everything Mr. Trump & his cohorts did in this case was cloaked in lies,” Steinglass says, adding, “The name of the game was concealment, & all roads lead to the man who benefited the most, Donald Trump.”
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.
#Trump’s #criminal trial for falsifying business records during the 2016 presidential campaign to hide an extramarital affair that occurred while his 4th(?) wife was pregnant from his majority #evangelical#Christian#electorate; to that end he arranged an illegal & financially fraudulent #HushMoney pay-off to the adult-film actress #StormyDaniels.
Once the prosecutor & Trump’s #legal team have outlined their cases to the jury, the 1st witnesses will be called.
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.
Heading into what may be the final week of the #TrumpTrial, here are links to my threads for each day of coverage starting w/opening statements & then testimony (excludes jury selection)
The prosecution’s discussion of the deal w/ #KarenMcDougal —brokered in summer 2016— demonstrated that the payment was part of a #conspiracy to #influence that year’s #election.
Pecker said that McDougal’s payment was disguised as a contract for services, to avoid violating #CampaignFinance#laws.
#StormyDaniels laid out the specifics of the #HushMoney deal. She said that if she were to violate the agreement, it would cost her a $1M every time she did so.
Daniels said she was not paid on time, & she wasn’t sure why. “He just kept making excuses,” she said. At first she said that the “he” in question was #MichaelCohen. But then she clarified that it was #Trump who delayed the payment — specifically, Trump speaking to Cohen, who was speaking to her then-lawyer #KeithDavidson.
Jurors are seeing the infamous photo of #StormyDaniels & #Trump at the golf tourn.
Daniels says that she was approached by “Keith,” [Keith Schiller] Trump’s bodyguard who asked her to dinner. She says he took her number, though she refused the invitation.
Daniels says her initial reaction to Trump’s invitation was, “Fuck No!”
After she rejected Trump’s dinner request, her publicist told her to accept saying it'll be a great story, & what could possibly go wrong.
#Trump is a germophobe. #StormyDaniels previously said that they had sex w/o a condom. Her testimony about Trump asking how frequently she was tested for STDs — helps explain this.
Daniels says that during the dinner, she asked about his wife. She says he told her not to worry because the 2 did not “even sleep in the same room.” Trump & Melania were married in 2005, the year before this encounter.
It will be the 1st time #Trump & #StormyDaniels see each other face to face since her accusations. He denies they had sex. Daniels has spoken about him & his body in a pretty let’s go w/ “candid” way.
In her book Full Disclosure she wrote that whenever she saw him on TV for years she’d think:
#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.
#StormyDaniels is describing a remarkably intense encounter.
“What did I misread to get here,” she says she thought. She says she tried to leave & #Trump blocked her path, he didn’t threaten her she said, but she noted his size being much larger than her own.
Then she says she “blacked out,” though she did not take alcohol or drugs. At this point, the judge — who has sustained one objection & seems unusually angry — called for a sidebar. He sustains another objection.
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.
From Kaitlan Collins
Notable moment in court today where the judge told the defense he could hear Trump cursing:
Judge Merchan: "I understand that your client is upset at this point, but he is cursing audibly, and he is shaking his head visually and that's contemptuous...I am speaking to you here at the bench because I don't want to embarrass him."
“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.”
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.