Each page yesterday took him just a little more than a minute, so this will take >30 mins.
Between that & the testimony readbacks, also expected to take >30 mins, there will likely be >1 hour this morning w/the jury in the courtroom, not actively deliberating.
Justice #Merchan says the #jurors also asked for headphones to use w/the evidence laptop. This suggests they may want to listen to the secret recordings #MichaelCohen made, or excerpts from his podcasts, or some other piece of evidence that includes audio.
Yesterday, Merchan noted that the laptop jurors are using to view the evidence is not equipped w/ Wi-Fi, & he just did it again, on the record, & had both parties acknowledge that they’d heard him.
If the laptop had Wi-Fi, the #jurors would have access to info about the case during #deliberations that they aren’t supposed to.
By making the point about the Wi-Fi on the record, #Merchan has protected himself from either side making an issue out of it in an appeal (or in the media).
Justice #Merchan is now at the part of the #JuryInstructions where he’s describing “#AccessorialLiability,” the part that suggests the defendant doesn't need to have actively participated in the commission of the #crime to be found #guilty, as long as he in some way DIRECTED or INTENTIONALLY AIDED the #criminal conduct of someone else. In this case, that relates to the alleged falsification of business records.
Another witness —who had no connection to the falsification of business records— was #StormyDaniels, whose #HushMoney from Cohen is what was covered up. Susan Necheles, the defense lawyer w/the most trial experience on Trump's team, worked aggressively to sow doubts about Daniels’s story w/the jury.
#Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a second crime, a conspiracy to aid an election by #UnlawfulMeans (click hashtag for more on the legal term).
The options for those unlawful means include several other crimes.
Each individual #criminal charge contains within it several other crimes.
Joshua #Steinglass, the prosecutor, is now asking #Pecker about a call he had w/ #Trump about #KarenMcDougal after #DylanHoward interviewed her. Steinglass is emphasizing Trump’s direct personal involvement.
Pecker testifies Trump described Karen McDougal as "a nice girl." Pecker said this conversation made him believe that Trump "knew who she was." Trump is stone-faced as Pecker talks about this conversation.
We still haven't reached the payment from which the #criminal charges themselves ultimately stem. But #Pecker's testimony about the #KarenMcDougal deal is important for the prosecution's argument about #Trump's intent: They argue that he was seeking to win the election through illegal means & the specifics of the McDougal deal help to bolster that argument.
#Republicans — 3 who went on to work in the #Trump admin, while the 4th, #Comey, would eventually become one of Trump's chief adversaries. #Pecker, escorted by #Kushner, walked into that #shitshow & was then asked about #KarenMcDougal by the then president-elect.
Pecker testifies that in front of Comey [#WITNESSES!], the head of the #FBI, Trump thanked him for purchasing the stories - & likely committing AT LEAST 1 #CRIME in the process, as Pecker well knew.
Tues 29 May 2024 🧵
Good morning! It’s the last day of the #TrumpTrial before jury #deliberations.
Today Justice #Merchan will give #JuryInstructions. Then they will discuss the case among themselves for the first time; they have not been allowed to even discuss it w/each other as yet.
Closing arguments took place yesterday, & the lawyers will have no further opportunity to address the jurors before they determine whether #Trump is #guilty or not guilty of 34 felonies.
The #jurors returned, & Justice Merchan reads the 2 notes they sent aloud to them as they sit in the #jury box.
#Merchan says the readback of the relevant testimony, which has not yet been located, will take ~30 mins. He asks them whether they want to hear all of the #JuryInstructions again, or part of them. He says that they can discuss that in private.
Last week, prosecution won a major argument when they argued that the jurors did not have to agree #unanimously on the “unlawful means” (#crimes) they might determine that Trump used.
Court has now adjourned for the day. Justice #Merchan did not determine exactly which portions of the transcript related to #Pecker’s testimony woll be read aloud to the #jury.
We’ll find out tomorrow morning.
Prosecutors believe the readback should include the part of Pecker’s #testimony about directing #DylanHoward to notify other employees of The #NationalEnquirer they should bring any stories about #Trump to him. #Pecker also testified that he told Howard that the Enquirer employees would have to speak to #MichaelCohen about the arrangement.
Justice Merchan notes that in the same section Pecker testified he told Howard to keep it secret — goes to #intent to #defraud.
"I don't even know what the charges are in this rigged case — I am entitled to specificity just like anyone else. There is no crime!"
Besides the fact that the #charges were all in the #indictment the grand jury approved over a year ago on 30 March 2023 & was delivered to him & his attys, but besides that, Judge #Merchan just read the damn charges in great detail while Trump was sitting there.
Yesterday, Costello behaved so atrociously on the witness stand that Juan Merchan cleared the courtroom to admonish him & the defense attorneys. Costello is due back on the stand
Defense argues that to reach a #guilty#verdict jurors MUST not only to agree #unanimously that #Trump had falsified records to conceal a #conspiracy to win an election by unlawful means, but also jurors must be unanimous on what the #UnlawfulMeans are; making reaching a verdict nearly impossible.
Trump's attys argued that while that unanimity is not required by #law, Justice Merchan can use his discretion in asking for it.
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.
#MichaelCohen describes a call when that David #Pecker said that it would take $150k to "control the story," referring to #KarenMcDougal's claims. Cohen testifies that #Trump said "no problem — I'll take care of it," meaning, Cohen says, that Trump would pay him back.
This demonstrate just how desperate Trump was to keep these stories suppressed: A lot of evidence has been entered about how frugal he was. (Though Trump never paid Pecker back for McDougal's story.)