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.
#Blanche is going back in time, asking Cohen about positive stories he had planted, not just about #Trump but also about himself.
He says that reporters would often call him or the #TrumpOrganization asking for comment. He said he would immediately go to Trump’s office & they would come up w/a crafted response that he would take back to the reporter.
#Blanche shows the #HushMoney contract that #MichaelCohen struck w/ #StormyDaniels. He gets Cohen to agree it’s a “perfectly legal contract.” He’s raises his voice for emphasis — trying to make the #jury feel like this arrangement was business as usual.
It may be usual to have NDAs, but this was unusual for other reasons.
#Trump has his posse again. Today it’s more #Republican elected officials. Today, Trump will be joined by the #House speaker, #MikeJohnson, as well as #NorthDakota’s governor, #DougBurgum, a contender to be Trump's running mate. Also present will be Representatives #ByronDonalds & #CoryMills of Florida, & #VivekRamaswamy, who was one of Trump's primary rivals this year. Both Donalds & Ramaswamy are longshot hopefuls to be Trump's running mate.
#MichaelCohen looks down and takes a beat before turning to the #jury & talking about his family. He says he discussed w/ his family what he should do & they said: “Why are you holding onto this loyalty? What are you doing? We’re supposed to be your first loyalty.”
Cohen looks like he’s struggling to hold it together here as he recalls talking to his family about whether to stay #loyal to #Trump or to cooperate w/ investigators.
The #jury is shown a picture of a t-shirt that #MichaelCohen is selling on his website. [think I’ll go buy one now] It’s an image of #Trump behind bars & wearing an orange jumpsuit.
#Blanche is suggesting Cohen is in it for the money, showing a shirt he sells that says “Convict 45” — during #StormyDaniels’s cross-examination Necheles attacked her for “shilling” mechandise online. Daniels responded it was very much like Trump's own tendency toward self-promotion.
"As many as 35 #deathrow cases in a #California county could be under review for discriminatory practices, including the exclusion of both #Black female and #Jewish#jurors.
The cases in Alameda County date as far back as 1977.
During #jury selection in one murder case from the 1990s, the prosecution left handwritten notes about prospective jurors — including whether they were Jewish or Black.
“I liked him better than any other #Jew, but no way,” one note said. “Must kick.”
Jurors have already heard a recording, secretly made by Cohen as he talked to #Trump about #KarenMcDougal, corroborating this part Cohen's testimony.
Cohen said that #Pecker had told him the agreement w/McDougal was “bulletproof." That is exactly the same word that Pecker told the #jury that he had used w/Cohen.
A fmr White House aide who worked closely w/ #Trump returned to the stand to testify about a significant meeting between Trump & #MichaelCohen his personal lawyer that is at the center of Trump’s #criminal trial.
Briefly, as she concluded re-direct, #Mangold sought to show the #jury that #Westerhout was a #Republican loyalist, noting that her current boss, too, is a veteran of the #Trump admin.
Westerhout finished testifying.
The next witness, #DanielDixon, is from #Florida. He will be questioned by the prosecutor #ChrisConroy. Dixon testifies that he is an #ATT employee, & that he is a lead compliance analyst at the company. He’s done that work for 6-7 yrs.
Justice #Merchan discusses w/ both prosecutors & defense lawyers what the jury instructions may look like. This is an important part of the case, because of the complexity of the charges against #Trump, which wrap in a secondary #crime w/ which he is not charged: prosecutors have tried to convince jurors that second crime is an #election crime.
"Testimony was so unduly prejudicial to Trump & the charges in this case..."
Trump atty #Blanche argues that the testimony was overly #prejudicial, & that the State was asking questions “to inflame this jury,” in addition to the “pure embarrassment” factor. He says there’s no way the court can instruct the #jury in a way to “unring this bell.”
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.
#Trump also attacked Justice #Merchan at a rally in Wisconsin last night & said that the #jury in this trial was drawn from a county —Manhattan — which is “a 95% or so Democrat area.”
Trump continued the same line of attack in the courthouse hallway. According to a pool report, he referred to Justice Merchan as conflicted & bragged about yesterday's rallies.
#Bove asks #Pecker to describe the negative stories that The #NationalEnquirer ran about #Trump's 2016 #Republican opponents, #BenCarson, #MarcoRubio & #TedCruz. He argues, as he did yesterday, that it was standard operating procedure to run articles like these, in which The NE reran previously reported content. Bove is still trying to convince the #jury that Pecker didn't have some special arrangement w/Trump: Instead, his publication was doing what it had always done.
The #jury seems rapt as the Daniels tale starts to unspool.
As #Pecker testifies about conversations he & #MichaelCohen had about Daniels, he keeps his eyes glued to the exhibit & to the prosecutors. Reportedly he has not glanced at Trump once.
Prosecutors in Trump’s #criminal trial say he has violated a #GagOrder barring him from attacking #witnesses, #jurors & others close to the case. Testimony is set to resume later Tuesday morning.
The #jury won’t be present for the arguments over the #GagOrder, so it will be interesting to watch how #Trump behaves w/ them out of the courtroom. Yesterday, in their presence, he largely sat silent and occasionally shook his head when he disagreed with the prosecutors. But this morning, when the jury is not here and he is confronted with his own words, I expect he will get more animated.
During #Steinglass’s questioning of #Pecker, #Trump's lawyers often objected to prosecutors couching Trump's relationship w/Pecker & #MichaelCohen as a #conspiracy - saying Trump isn’t facing a conspiracy charge.
🚨⇉ But Steinglass said on record one of the election statutes the case is based on does in fact have a conspiracy provision. That could prove important later when the #jury is instructed on the #laws they must consider in reaching a #verdict.
Regardless of whether the story was true or not, the #jury was shown a #contract the #NationalEnquirer reached w/ #Dino Sajudin, the #doorman, in which the words "Donald Trump's illegitimate child" feature prominently.
#Steinglass asked Pecker why he paid so much for the story.
“I made the decision to buy the story because of the potential embarrassment it would have to the #campaign & Mr. #Trump," Pecker said.
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.
“The court cautions defendant that this #Sandoval ruling is a shield, not a sword,” Merchan said. Defense arguments at court could prompt him to reconsider where he draws the line on these issues, he added.
The #jury is now in the courtroom. Justice Juan #Merchan is reading them their instructions.
#Blanche said that the prosecution told a “clean nice story," but that it is not as simple as they would have the #jury believe. He said that many of the docs in evidence are almost a decade old. The testimony, he suggests, is similarly old. He said, the story that #jurors heard "is not true."
#Trump largely avoided looking at the jury during prosecution's opening statement. He shifted his body in their direction during defense’s.
"#MichaelCohen wanted a job in the administration. He didn't get one," #Blanche said, offering a motive for Cohen.
Blanche said Cohen has publicly called #Trump a "despicable human being" & said he wants to see him convicted, wearing an "orange jumpsuit." Blanche on Cohen: "I submit to you that he cannot be trusted."
Blanche tried to tell the #jury that Cohen has perjured himself. #Colangelo objected; the objection was sustained.
At the bench conference Judge #Merchan appeared to be speaking firmly to #Blanche.
The result of the conversation — Blanche may not be allowed to accuse #MichaelCohen of #perjury directly. But he may say that Cohen lied under oath. A #legal distinction.
Blanche suggested to the #jury there was a monetary motivation for Cohen's testimony, saying his livelihood relies on #Trump being destroyed.
Someone who's this angry about being rejected as a #juror after being caught lying about past criminal charges is exactly the type of person who shouldn't be on the #jury. This guy clearly had an agenda, and was rightly dismissed. Great work by #JudgeMerchan and the prosecutor!
Die Jury-Suche in dem Schweigegeld-Verfahren gegen Ex-US-Präsident Trump war schwierig. Doch jetzt wurden zwölf Geschworene gefunden. Damit könnten nun schon am Montag die Eröffnungsplädoyers gehalten werden.
A #juror was quickly dismissed at the start. She was among the 7 already selected, she said she was very worried that despite the fact the court ruled to keep jurors’ name secret, she would still be exposed & targeted.
"There's a reason this is an #anonymous#jury & why we have taken the steps we have taken," Justice #Merchan says, asking that the #press "abide common sense," & avoid physical descriptions.
Merchan says we lost a #juror who he thinks would have "been a very good juror."
"I'm directing the press to refrain from writing anything you observe w/your eyes & hear w/your ears that's not on the record," the judge says.
The #press is barred from covering aspects of the trial related to the #jury, for understandable #security reasons. At the same time, the judge is taking another 5 days to hold a hearing on whether #Trump has violated the #GagOrder that was placed on him w/ repeated social media posts about a key #witness & #jurors.
This is 1 of many ways in which despite Trump's complaints that he is being treated unfairly, the judge is bending over backwards to be fair to him in this #trial.
w/a celebrity trial—or a case that elicits strong feelings—there’s a dynamic where people are trying to get on the #jury. Not so w/the #TrumpTrial; >50 of Monday’s 1st group of 96 said they couldn’t be fair. Dozens today have said the same, & they’ve had a few days to think about the ramifications of serving.
So far, 48 prospective #jurors left bc they said they could not be fair & impartial, 9 more were excused for other reasons. 39 are left in this group.