#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.
The defense has yet to counter the prosecution’s narrative about the hush-money payment & the reimbursement. It’s possible Blanche ‘s weird jumps in time may be molded into the defense’s alternative explanation of the events.
a #TaxiMedallion is a permit allowing someone to operate a taxi cab in NYC. Once very expensive, they plummeted in value w/the rise of ride-sharing apps.
One thing #Blanche mentioned — something about #MichaelCohen helping #TiffanyTrump w/an extortion issue — underscores how it’s possible to still learn things about what Cohen was doing in that period.
#Blanche is trying to confuse the timeline of the #HushMoney payment. On Fri, he questioned #MichaelCohen’s story about the events of 24 Oct, 2016. Now he’s moved on to casting doubt on Cohen’s testimony about the 2 days that followed — the 25th 26th. Cohen wired the payment to #StormyDaniels's lawyer on 27 Oct.
Blanche argues there were alternative explanations for 2 of Cohen’s calls to #Trump on 26 Oct — a possible plot to extort #TiffanyTrump.
#Blanche suggests that #MichaelCohen had said he was singlemindedly focused on the #HushMoney deal, including when he spoke to #Trump that Oct. But Blanche suggests that Cohen would have reported back to Trump about other issues, too, including dealing w/an extortion attempt against #TiffanyTrump.
Cohen sticks to his original testimony: “My recollection is that I was speaking to him about #StormyDaniels, because that was what he tasked me to take care of.”
#MichaelCohen testifies about a tech co, RedFinch, that was hired to #rig online #polls in #Trump's favor. The company was owed $50k. But Cohen ended up only paying them $20k. Nonetheless, he still asked for a $50k reimbursement from the #TrumpOrganization. Blanche asks if he lied, & Cohen acknowledges he did.
Blanche asks Cohen, “You had, like, a duffle bag of cash? Where was the cash?”
#Blanche gets #MichaelCohen to testify about having cash “in a brown paper bag.” Then Blanche refers to someone Cohen was dealing w/as “the connect.” Both characterizations are rather seedy / illicit & similar to dog-whistles #Trump uses in his speeches.
Blanche asks Cohen about the complex reimbursements for the #HushMoney payment. Defense noted that Cohen wasn’t repaid $130k, the actual amount Cohen had given to #StormyDaniels. Blanche is digging into that.
#Blanche moves on to the documents that prosecutors say were falsified. He suggests that everyone BUT #Trump — #AllenWeisselberg, #EricTrump, #DonaldTrumpJr & #MichaelCohen himself — may have falsified the docs, disguising them as repayments for #legal services. But not Trump himself, Blanche signals to the jury, w/o saying it outright.
#Blanche notes that #MichaelCohen bragged to people about being Trump’s personal atty, & that some of the work he did for #Trump was actual legal work.
That was the first time Blanche came anywhere close to the actual case — the 34 falsified business documents — but of course he moved on.
Blanche tries several times to illustrate that Cohen did legal work for the Trump family in 2017 e.g. #Melania Trump’s agreement w/Madame Tussauds wax museum.
#Blanche goes through the consulting work that #MichaelCohen was doing on the side in 2017 implying he was making money off his relationship w/ #Trump. The defense has sought to paint Cohen as an opportunist who uses Trump [the ultimate exploiter].
Cohen suggests that Trump was aware of the work he was doing.
#Blanche introduced an email #MichaelCohen sent to #RobertCostello, the lawyer who was informally advising Cohen & serving as a back channel to the #Trump legal team.
In the email, Cohen said “we will advance our conversations” about formalizing that #legal relationship, after Costello wrote to Cohen lamenting that he had “failed to communicate with me despite several text messages & emails.”
In the same email, #RobertCostello appeared to make a veiled reference to #Trump & #RudyGiuliani being concerned that #MichaelCohen was poised to #flip. Costello wrote: “We have continued our dialogue & need to bring you up to date concerning serious concerns on the part of our friends.”
Prosecutors showed Costello speaking in coded language to Cohen, telling him he had “friends in high places.”
But now #Blanche shows #MichaelCohen also using coded wording, sending an article re #Trump pushing him away in 2018 & writing “since we’re sharing this morning…they are again on a bad path.”
Blanche is implying that Cohen had some agency in all of this because he was using the back channel Costello created to send his own messages, not just to receive them. (Why wouldn’t he if he had no other way to communicate w/Trump?)
#Blanche’s questions are designed to imply #MichaelCohen had mixed motives & that he somehow benefits by cooperating w/prosecutors.
Blanche asks about the period in 2018 when Cohen was finding that some his legal fees were not being paid by the #TrumpOrganization anymore. That was a big contributor to the split between Cohen & #Trump, which Cohen has talked about publicly.
Aside: #Trump just sent out a fundraising appeal falsely claiming he “could even be thrown into PRISON FOR LIFE!” if the jury in this case returns a guilty verdict.
Total bullshit.
He actually faces a maximum of 4 years in prison, or probation.
#Blanche connects some of his lines of questioning.
He adds up the money #MichaelCohen made from consulting, his repayment for the #HushMoney payoff, & other work.
Blanche says, “we can see what” Cohen was “up to”. Prosecution objects. Sustained.
Blanche harps on money Cohen made off attacking #Trump. Arguing that Cohen was motivated not by what was right, but by money & when working for Trump was no longer lucrative, he turned against him, & made money that way.
#Blanche asks #MichaelCohen if he’s pitching a TV show. Cohen says he’s not pitching it, but that there is a show being shopped around. News of a reality show called “The Fixer” has been reported.
Cohen acknowledges the show hasn’t been picked up yet, prompting chuckles from the row of #Trump allies at the back of the room.
Jurors hear that Cohen has made about 4M since fall 2020 from podcast & books.
#MichaelCohen testifies that he is considering a third book & a run for Congress 😂 because he has some of the “best name recognition” out there. Cohen says his name recognition is “affiliated with” #Trump because of the journey he’s been on, but that it’s not “because” of Trump.
#Blanche says that Cohen’s “journey” — sneering as he uses the word — is to attack Trump.
#Blanche’s alternative narrative is about #MichaelCohen’s greed. Blanche asks Cohen if he has a financial interest in this case, & Cohen agrees he does. But when Blanche suggests that #Trump being convicted would help Cohen, Cohen clarifies that he only said it benefits him because he talks about it on his podcasts & TV appearances.
Blanche asks Cohen if he is willing to lie under oath if it affects his personal life. Cohen says he doesn’t understand the question.
#Blanche is implying that a conviction would benefit #MichaelCohen because it would provide a neat ending to his story of revenge. But Cohen’s answer is more about the anti-Trump content industry. Cohen said it would actually be “better,” from a content-generating perspective, if #Trump didn't get convicted. “It gives me more to talk about in the future,” he said.
#Blanche concludes cross-examination of #MichaelCohen w/ a whimper not a bang. He tries to remind jurors of the most dramatic moment from Thursday's cross: that Cohen may have lied on the stand when he described a conversation on Trump's bodyguard's phone in which he said he briefed #Trump about the payment to #StormyDaniels.
There was “no doubt in your mind” that that was the purpose of the call, Blanche asks. “No doubt,” Cohen replies, standing by his testimony.
#MichaelCohen addresses the #jury directly as he tells the story of hiring the tech company, RedFinch, to #rig a #poll of influential businessmen for #Trump.
Cohen says that Trump was upset about where the poll was placed, & that he didn't feel it was worth the full amount that Cohen promised the company, so Cohen ultimately paid less. We are now getting to Cohen’s admission that he stole from the #TrumpOrganization by being reimbursed more than he paid RedFinch.
After defense’s cross-examination, it’s notable how streamlined prosecution's argument is. #Hoffinger asks #MichaelCohen about his 2018 statement that he was not reimbursed for the #HushMoney by the #TrumpCampaign. Cohen says it was misleading because he was paid by #Trump himself.
After a long sidebar, the judge gives what’s called a “limiting instruction” about some of Cohen’s testimony that “the payment in question does not constitute a campaign contribution.”
#MichaelCohen testifies that #Trump approved his false 2018 statement about whether or not Cohen decided to pay #StormyDaniels of his own volition. As a bonus, Susan #Hoffinger, the prosecutor, has Cohen confirm that one of Trump’s lawyers at the time was aware of the statement & texted him to tell him that Trump was grateful for all he did.