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.
#Trump leaves for his waiting room (an empty courtroom w/security), w/his entourage.
Trump, in the hallway outside the courtroom, falsely blames the #GagOrder as he refuses to answer reporters, telling them “I’d like to answer all of your questions, they’re very easy to answer.”
The questions shouted at him — including whether he worried about potential prison time — have nothing to do w/issues covered by the order.
The #verdict must be unanimous on the primary crime falsification of business records.
Once #jurors inform the court they have reached a verdict, Justice Juan #Merchan will summon the parties to the courtroom to hear it read by the foreperson.
Merchan must still affirm the verdict & enter a final judgment.
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.
As usual, #Trump has been quite active on his social media. Since court ended last night, he falsely claimed that prosecutors had introduced new “lies” about him during their closing arguments (you cannot introduce anything NEW in summation) & described #MichaelCohen, w/o specifically naming him, as “the bum that got caught stealing from me.”
#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.
In an angry court filing, #Trump’s lawyers pushed back hard against the request by the office of the #SpecialCounsel, #JackSmith, to revise Trump’s conditions of release by forbidding him to make any public comments that might endanger federal agents working on the prosecution.
On Fri, Smith’s team requested …a limited #GagOrder on #Trump, prompted by what it called “grossly misleading” social media posts Trump made last wk falsely claiming that the #FBI had been authorized to kill him when agents searched #MarALago….
Trump’s stmnts were based on a recently unsealed order for the search that contained boilerplate language spelling out that the use of deadly force could be used only in case of emergency, a standard provision applied to all FBI searches.
In their motion to Judge #AileenCannon in Federal Dist Court… #Trump’s attys said that Smith’s request was “an extraordinary, unprecedented & unconstitutional censorship application” that “unjustly targets President Trump’s campaign speech while he is the leading candidate for the presidency.”
Trump’s legal team said that #JackSmith’s request should be stricken from the docket & that he & his prosecutors should face #contempt sanctions for filing it….
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 request to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon follows a false claim by Trump earlier this week that the FBI agents who searched his Mar-a-Lago estate in August 2022 were 'authorized to shoot me' and were 'locked & loaded ready to take me out & put my family in danger.'"
Reminder: Trump REFUSED the opportunity to testify in court.
He's STILL under a #gagOrder outside the court.
He knows there are no real consequences for him breaking it. He knows no one will confirm that he directed others to violate his gag order.
He'll complain about being gagged during his rallies, even though he COULD'VE talked in court.
What might change the status quo will be a public announcement of a true threat or seeing physical violence against the judge's daughter or jurors.
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
#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.
#ChuckZito, helped found in the early 1980s the NY Nomads chapter of the #HellsAngels, the infamous club that started in California. The #DOJ described the org as a #criminal enterprise & linked the NY chapter to the #Gambino#crime family. Zito later left the biker group to try become a movie star in Hollywood.
Cross-examination of #MichaelCohen resumes, an opportunity for the defense to poke holes in his testimony & perhaps trip up or provoke the state’s key witness. The questioning of Cohen, #Trump’s fmr fixer, is the beginning of the end of Trump’s #criminal trial, which began April 15 & might conclude before Memorial Day weekend at this pace.
Prosecutors now have 3 days to prepare re-direct, when they will seek to build #MichaelCohen back up & refocus the jurors on the most important elements of their case & the actual charges for which they’ve presented mountains of evidence regardless of whether Cohen is a liar or not.