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[Radical Larry 28,528]

 

[Native Horn 3,485]

11 hours ago, immamac said:

He’s scared shitless of jail. 

Guess that's one way to get out of wearing a diaper.

[WhatTheBuck 28,703]

1 hour ago, Chad Fuck said:

And she’s not even smart enough to be coy about doing it. She has no business on the bench.

She may be dumb but she’s also totally in the bag for Trump. 

[WhatTheBuck 28,703]

2 hours ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

Even if he goes to jail, they'd have a whole fucking wing dedicated to his fat ass.  I imagine he'd be able to order any kind of food he wants and dictate who is and isn't near him.  I'm pretty sure they'd also let him bring in furniture for his comfort.  This cunt will never suffer "prison". 

At least he’d only be ordering McDonalds and KFC.

[Neonmoon 38,127]

Trump would never be sent to real jail. He would still get to paint himself orange, have his three hair combover, and expensive diapers. 

[Post Oak 20,182]

1 hour ago, Chad Fuck said:

And she’s not even smart enough to be coy about doing it. She has no business on the bench.

Intelligence is a bug in the Trump ecosystem. 

[The Dog 43,785]

 

[Chips O'Toole 1,316]

No time for lawyers in a hush money trial to prepare for the person who was hushed by the money to be a witness?  

[DigglerontheHoof 21,044]

It would be fantastic if she's compelled to talk about his tiny dick under oath.

[YGIFS 19,449]

2 minutes ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

It would be fantastic if she's compelled to talk about his tiny dick under oath.

Maybe she'll state the truth, he's a Funguy.  

I'll see myself out...

[Beantown Express 2.0 6,552]

1 minute ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

It would be fantastic if she's compelled to talk about his tiny dick under oath.

Why stop with just this.  I would be happy if she said everything possible that could embarrass him.  Stuff like, "he only lasted 20 seconds", "I can't believe how fat his belly and man boobs are", or "he asked me to pee on him, but I refused because that is disgusting".  

[Francisco 2.0 32,313]

Trial about to resume.  Stormy, come on down!  (But first, a different witness)

 

The cross-examination is over. There will be some more questions from the prosecutor, Rebecca Mangold. But we are likely just minutes away from the testimony of Stormy Daniels.

Todd Blanche, one of Trump's lawyers, is now cross-examining Sally Franklin, leaning into his customary line of defense: distancing Trump from the book published under his own name and trying to suggest that Meredith McIver, the ghost-writer who worked for him, was behind the language, as opposed to Trump.

We have no idea how the jury is viewing any of this. But so far, Trump’s team isn’t offering an alternative narrative, but simply trying to knock at the prosecutors’ case.

There’s an irony here with Trump’s counsel trying to cast doubt over whether Trump wrote his own books. Trump himself has always insisted — falsely — that all of the words printed in his name are his. During the White House years, Trump aides would implausibly claim on the record that Trump’s speeches were written by him.

And this line of argument may be particularly hard to believe, given the way that Trump’s face is still smiling from the cover in the courtroom. An image like this is hard to forget, even as Blanche has turned to asking about the cover design.

Yesterday, Jeffrey McConney told a story about Trump having told him he was fired for not paying close attention to the check balances, though he was not actually fired. Now we’re hearing that same story from one of Trump’s books. The prosecution is using it to help shore up McConney’s credibility as a witness.

Now, Sally Franklin is walking the court through a chapter of a book in which Trump, in his own words, describes his frugality, including looking over bills to “make sure I’m not being overcharged.” The goal is to invalidate the idea that he could have been unaware of what he was paying Michael Cohen, or what the money was for.

The prosecution is effectively using Trump himself as a witness here. In his own words — as laid out in his books — Trump is describing how he keeps a focus on minute details and watches every penny that leaves his accounts, a core part of the prosecution’s case against him. He’s also describing how he sees sexual potential in random women that he encounters.

Trump may never testify in this trial. But it’s fascinating to watch prosecutors use his own words against him in this way. That smiling image of him on the book cover is the person testifying against him now: Past Trump putting Present Trump in jeopardy.

Trump’s voice has been heard in court before — in video statements shown to the jury last week, for instance — but his written words today, drawn from his books and being read into the record, could even be more damning. He discusses his tendencies towards revenge, flirtatious behavior and frugality. “Even in high-end shops, I bargain,” he wrote. “I hate paying retail.”

Rebecca Mangold, the prosecutor, is prompting Sally Franklin to read Trump’s written words from these books, including the following passages: “For many years, I’ve said that if someone screws you, screw them back,” and, “When somebody hurts you, just go after them as viciously and as violently as you can. Like it says in the Bible, an eye for an eye.”

And now, we’re hearing a quote that says: “All the women on ‘The Apprentice’ flirted with me." This helps prosecutors address the argument that the defense is expected to make regarding Stormy Daniels: That she only knew Trump through her efforts to get on the show. But as this excerpt suggests — that doesn’t mean that Trump would not have been interested in a more intimate relationship. In fact, the quote suggests, he took special interest in the women who were on, and sought to be on, the show.

We’ve talked a lot during this trial about Trump treating his own words as disposable commodities, intended for single use. But other people don’t view them that way, and here, his throwaway lines in a book that was one of many he churned out in the 2000s are being used as evidence of guilt in his trial.

Around the time this book was published in 2004, Trump was churning out books so quickly that they were almost indistinguishable. His aide while writing this particular one was Meredith McIver, a Trump Organization official who briefly became famous in 2016 when the Trumps accused her of being the reason Melania Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention plagiarized an earlier speech by Michelle Obama.

The prosecutor and Franklin are having a lengthy back and forth over what percentage of the cover the word “Trump” takes up.

Sally Franklin is a custodial witness — meaning that she is here to enter evidence that Trump's lawyers have not agreed to allow in — and she will testify about two books that Trump wrote, including “Trump: How to Get Rich” and “Trump: Think Like a Billionaire,” both of which were published by Ballantine, a Penguin Random House imprint.

The cover of one of the books, “How to Get Rich,” is being displayed for the jury, the lawyers and the defendant, leaving Trump staring at a smiling portait of himself.

Trump, who seconds ago was glaring furiously in the courtroom, is being shown to the court smiling innocently, almost cheesily, on a book cover that includes the tagline: “Big deals from the star of The Apprentice.”

The book is described on Amazon as a tell-all “about the lessons learned from The Apprentice,” as well as “his most important role, as a father who has successfully taught his children the value of money and hard work.”

The first witness is Sally Franklin, who works at Penguin Random House, a publisher.

Susan Necheles, Trump's lawyer, said earlier that they had been told Stormy Daniels will be second.

The jurors are coming in now. Most of the jurors bow their heads as they pass Trump en route to the jury box. The first witness is being called and it isn’t Stormy Daniels.

During jury selection, Justice Merchan prioritized the jury. But in the excitement of the trial, he has made a very minor error three separate times: He keeps forgetting to have the jurors called in. It’s a testament to the atmosphere here, especially today on this very, very intense day.

Susan Hoffinger, a prosecutor, clarifies that Stormy Daniels will not describe “genitalia.” This was — amazingly, given the defendant is a former president — an open question.

Justice Merchan concedes that Daniels’s may have “credibility issues,” but that its up to the jury to determine that.

Merchan, strikingly, seems a little nervous.

Even though Stormy Daniels’s name hasn’t yet been called, we are already right into it. The implication of this argument is that Daniels will testify about having had sex with Trump. Susan Hoffinger, a prosecutor, is arguing that these details are key to the case — and that this issue has already been settled. She says that details that are too salacious will not be admitted, but that the story is “significant” and important to prosecutors in terms of Daniels’s credibility.

Trump keeps trying to talk to Susan Necheles, his lawyer, as prosecutors argue why they should be able to question Daniels on “some details” and Necheles objects. Instead, he talks to another lawyer, Todd Blanche.

Susan Necheles, one of Trump's lawyer, begins by objecting to Stormy Daniels testifying, including “any details” of any “sexual act.”

One of Trump's lawyers, Susan Necheles, appears to be taking her seat to Trump’s right — suggesting she will be the one to cross-examine Stormy Daniels.

Donald Trump did not answer reporters’s questions about why he deleted his Truth Social post from this morning, about how his lawyers hadn't had time to prepare for the next witness. Instead, he fell back on his usual practice of reading criticism that others have made about the prosecution's case and the trial.

Trump has just walked into court, looking somber. So does his normally smiling lawyer, Todd Blanche. Eric Trump, his son, is back, as are Alina Habba and Boris Epshteyn. Trump is taking an unusual amount of time to survey the gallery.

There are approximately 35 members of the public in the overflow courtroom. They are whispering excitedly as they wait for court to start, and they likely stood in line outside for hours this morning. It’s possible they may not know about Stormy Daniels’s imminent testimony as the court officers have reminded them, several times, to put their phones away. I expect we’ll see some kind of reaction from them when the prosecutors announce her name.

As the prosecutors walk in, we wanted to clarify that we are calling Stormy Daniels by that name — rather than her birth name, Stephanie Clifford — because it is what she prefers. In fact, she has legally changed her name to Stormy Daniels.

It is not clear what Stormy Daniels will testify about. Though the hush-money payment to her is at the center of the case, she was not directly involved in what prosecutors say were Trump’s efforts to cover up her account. Today, on the stand, she could tell her story from the beginning — meaning the story of having had sex with Trump in 2006, which he has always denied — or just stick to talking about how she received the $130,000 payment from Michael Cohen.

So two major questions as we await her arrival are: 1. Why is she here? and 2. Is it worth it for the prosecution? That second question is will be particularly interesting once defense lawyers begin to question Daniels.

This is the first time Trump will have to be face to face with Daniels and hear her accusations. He has continued to deny that an affair took place. This trial, unlike the other three criminal trials he’s facing, is personal for him in a very specific way, and Daniels has spoken about him and his physicality publicly in a humiliating manner.

The courtroom, which felt frenzied just moments ago, has grown quiet with about a half hour to go before the day starts. None of the lawyers are here yet — the only people in the front of the room are court personnel, including at least one court reporter, already seated below the bench.

It was clear this morning before the courtroom opened that today would be different. Many reporters anticipated that Stormy Daniels was likely the next witness, and the lines formed earlier.

There's a very full courtroom today, with dozens of reporters packed to the very back, and a row of members of the public. Anticipation for Stormy Daniels's testimony is rising.

Stormy Daniels, the porn star at the heart of Trump’s hush money trial is in the courthouse and is expected to testify today.

Daniels is in an anteroom inside the Criminal Courts Building in Lower Manhattan, where she is set to testify for the prosecution.

The witness Trump was referring to could have been Stormy Daniels. She is expected to appear as early as Tuesday.

Good morning. We are heading into the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse. Trump posted on Truth Social an angry message saying he had just learned who the next witness is and that his lawyers had “no time” to prepare. Within thirty minutes, Trump had removed the post, likely because it risked prosecutors saying it violated the gag order.

The fact that Trump deleted the post suggests there were some heated conversations behind the scenes with his lawyers. Trump hates deleting posts — he sees it as a sign of weakness — and has often resisted taking down even the most incendiary posts. He was ordered to delete several last week as one of the punishments for violating his gag order. One previous exception to Trump’s personal rule of never taking down posts was last year, when he posted a story on Truth Social that had an image of a baseball bat next to the head of Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan D.A. who brought this case. He deleted the post after private pleading from his attorneys.

 

 

 

Edited May 7 by Francisco 2.0

[Chad Fuck 17,548]

She may be dumb but she’s also totally in the bag for Trump. 

I thought that’s what was implied?

Obvious shill is obvious.

It really shines a light on how important judicial appointments are. The left really needs to do a better job of cultivating jurists and placing them. The right has been very successful at it and it’s set out jurisprudence back decades. A century in some cases.

Intelligence is a bug in the Trump ecosystem. 

They’re indifferent to it.

Loyalty is the only test for tfg.

[Neonmoon 38,127]

Trumps legal team was given a list of witnesses that are testifying and should have prepared for them.

They are not being extended the customary curtesy of who is testifying next due to their clients proven proclivity to attack the witness via social media 

 

[Beantown Express 2.0 6,552]

3 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

It really shines a light on how important judicial appointments are. The left really needs to do a better job of cultivating jurists and placing them. The right has been very successful at it and it’s set out jurisprudence back decades. A century in some cases.
They’re indifferent to it.
 

I think in years past the right and left have been very good at appointing justices from the Supreme Court down to lower-level courts that have the same philosophies as them (Pro Life, Pro Choice, tough on crime, etc...).  What Trump seems to have from judges is straight loyalty to him.  I can't imagine when Reagan appointed Sandra Day O'Connor that she was like, "hey, if this Iran contra deal gets you in trouble, don't worry.  I will make sure you are safe".  It shows the true flaw in our justice system and of course it took 200 years for us to get someone like Trump who really knew how to take advantage of it.  

[locodos 5,330]

8 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

Maybe she'll state the truth, he's a Funguy.  

mycelia what you did there

[WhatTheBuck 28,703]

7 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

I thought that’s what was implied?

Obvious shill is obvious.

Oh, for sure. I was just saying it for the lawyerly folks who like to insist she’s just dumb. 

[Nivek 16,843]

The judge never explicitly warned Trump he would be jailed if he did it again until the hearing on the nine contempt charges. The judge then spent time saying what was appropriate and what was not, so there would be no mistake about what he expected.   This is all a precursor to the inevitable jail time, but was absolutely necessary to remove multiple avenues of appeal.  
I’ve already explained that there were contempt allegations brought before the judge told Trump what he could and could not do - and that he would be jailed if he did it again.  Today’s contempt allegations could not be considered in jailing him because they were all turned in before Trump was warned by the judge and told in detail what would not be allowed. 
Your post where the judge tells Trump three times do it again and you are  going to jail - and then doesn’t - is bullshit.  Just don’t make up stuff about the trial.  Others read this thread for actual news. 
I will bet a C-Note right now that Trump gets jailed before this thing is over. Feel free to accept. Loser donates to Surly. 

So that is how the legal system works now? I thought ignorance of the law wasn’t an excuse, but i guess ignorance of procedure is?

To some of us outsiders your industry is a fucking farce, under an obviously corrupt supreme court.

[YGIFS 19,449]

2 minutes ago, locodos said:

mycelia what you did there

Well Trump has always been Hyphae the man he used to be.  If he even ever was one.  

Edited May 7 by YGIFS

[Chad Fuck 17,548]

Oh, for sure. I was just saying it for the lawyerly folks who like to insist she’s just dumb. 

Dumb + mendacious are the common qualities of a good magat.

[The Dog 43,785]

15 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

Trumps legal team was given a list of witnesses that are testifying and should have prepared for them.

 

they're too busy babysitting him and trying to keep him out of jail.

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11,668]

23 minutes ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

"he only lasted 20 seconds", "I can't believe how fat his belly and man boobs are", or "he asked me to pee on him, but I refused because that is disgusting".  

i mean, "he's just like me!" is one of his prime qualities as a candidate.

[Pancho 44,437]

[Pato del Muerto 52,336]

What are her “credibility issues?”

[Nivek 16,843]

I mean, I know where Clinton shot his load, so why can't I know where Trump did?  Is that considered crass now?  

[The Dog 43,785]

3 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

What are her “credibility issues?”

probably because she took money to keep her mouth shut. 

2 minutes ago, Nivek said:

I mean, I know where Clinton shot his load, so why can't I know where Trump did?  Is that considered crass now?  

it would be funny but I bet she's only there to confirm the relationship and how she got paid off to be quiet.

oh and Trump has taken down that Truth post about the trial today.

[SubliminalHorn 6,672]

26 minutes ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

I think in years past the right and left have been very good at appointing justices from the Supreme Court down to lower-level courts that have the same philosophies as them (Pro Life, Pro Choice, tough on crime, etc...).  What Trump seems to have from judges is straight loyalty to him.  I can't imagine when Reagan appointed Sandra Day O'Connor that she was like, "hey, if this Iran contra deal gets you in trouble, don't worry.  I will make sure you are safe".  It shows the true flaw in our justice system and of course it took 200 years for us to get someone like Trump who really knew how to take advantage of it.  

And the perfect storm of getting THREE fucking SCOTUS appointments. Because of course 

[Nivek 16,843]

5 minutes ago, SubliminalHorn said:

And the perfect storm of getting THREE fucking SCOTUS appointments. Because of course 

It wasn't a perfect storm.  It was a corruption by Mitch McConnell and his friends.   

[SubliminalHorn 6,672]

Just now, Nivek said:

It wasn't a perfect storm.  It was a corruption by Mitch McConnell and his friends.   

Well yes, that too

['stache 21,744]

56 minutes ago, The Dog said:

 

For those constantly arguing lack of repercussions, remember that the late notice of who is testifying on any given day is a direct repercussion for his inability to shut the fuck up about witnesses, and it makes it quite a bit more difficult for his attorneys. Don is actually correct that it’s pretty unprecedented sanction, because it is pretty unprecedented for a criminal defendant with broad reach to constantly bitch and moan and threaten witnesses. I think this was somewhat common in mob trials and not much since. It’s a significant sanction based on his inability to act like a normal human being.

[Nivek 16,843]

4 minutes ago, 'stache said:

For those constantly arguing lack of repercussions, remember that the late notice of who is testifying on any given day is a direct repercussion for his inability to shut the fuck up about witnesses, and it makes it quite a bit more difficult for his attorneys. Don is actually correct that it’s pretty unprecedented sanction, because it is pretty unprecedented for a criminal defendant with broad reach to constantly bitch and moan and threaten witnesses. I think this was somewhat common in mob trials and not much since. It’s a significant sanction based on his inability to act like a normal human being.

We're all going out for ice cream Timmy, but we are not telling you where!

[Native Horn 3,485]

16 minutes ago, Nivek said:

I mean, I know where Clinton shot his load, so why can't I know where Trump did?  Is that considered crass now?  

"Come in here, dear boy, have a cigar, you're gonna go far...."

[dcbc 14,398]

13 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

How does it work wearing a diaper in jail ?

The dominant party just moves it to the side.

[BamaATL 16,592]

I was this many years old when the star of "Space Nuts" testified against the former President in a criminal trial.  

[dcbc 14,398]

1 hour ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

It would be fantastic if she's compelled to talk about his tiny dick under oath.

[YGIFS 19,449]

34 minutes ago, The Dog said:

probably because she took money to keep her mouth shut. 

It it's shut, how does she catch the "load"?  And by that I mean the sad pour of spores.  (dibs on band name) 

[wildcat09 29,213]

1 hour ago, Nivek said:

So that is how the legal system works now? I thought ignorance of the law wasn’t an excuse, but i guess ignorance of procedure is?

To some of us outsiders your industry is a fucking farce, under an obviously corrupt supreme court.

Some lawyers, particularly those with a longer history of practicing while believing in the system, have a hard time accepting this. It doesn't help that for most of us, our day-to-day work is still very much engaging with a real practice in a real system with real rules and consequences for us and our clients. 

But yeah, if you're rich enough and/or socially or politically powerful enough, the law is mostly a farce. Some lawyers will try to argue it isn't because look, he's in trial right now, facing consequences. But I think the honest, true response to that is that this isn't the legal system working as intended at all; this trial is only happening because it finally became politically advantageous for a New York prosecutor to charge Trump with some of the fucking tens of thousands of felonies he has committed in New York.  It's the same story in Georgia. And as for the federal charges, we can all see what Cannon and the Supreme Court are doing to those prosecutions.

[wildcat09 29,213]

41 minutes ago, Nivek said:

It wasn't a perfect storm.  It was a corruption by Mitch McConnell and his friends.   

Also, a strategic retirement from Kennedy. Which Democrats for some fucking reason absolutely refuse to consider for themselves.

[Doc Sam Beckett 5,782]

Stormy time

[TexasEd 8,064]

20 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

Todd Blanche, one of Trump's lawyers, complains to Justice Merchan that the defense only learned who the prosecution's next witness would be 30 minutes ago. The prosecutors' lack of trust toward the defense team is underscored here.

Prosecutors suggested early on that they did not trust Trump with the knowledge of which witnesses were being called in advance — a professional courtesy in many trials — because of worries that he would attack them on social media.

 

19 hours ago, HenryJames said:

Mob shit.

Yes, and if it is a "professional courtesy" and your client has already been sanctioned 10 times and threatened with jail for witness tampering it probably comes off as whining.

11 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

This could actually be the case. It would fire up his moron minions, sure, but it could also show a shit ton of people that aren’t paying attention that he is actually a criminal fuck head. Maybe then they would get off their asses and vote. 
 

Or it could backfire spectacularly. Whatever. 

Either way I'm here for the Schadenfreude.

 

[speed817 19,093]

37 minutes ago, dcbc said:

[YGIFS 19,449]

4 minutes ago, speed817 said:

Dammit, there's an "Elf of the Shelf", phallic, 'root veggie with a wedgie' or some kinda joke in here somewhere.  Fuck.  We are getting soft in our old age as a board.  

[Gatorubet 30,083]

49 minutes ago, Nivek said:

So that is how the legal system works now? I thought ignorance of the law wasn’t an excuse, but i guess ignorance of procedure is?

Look, I tried to explain the ex post facto issue. High school civics anyone? And I remind you that this is criminal contempt.   That means the full force of all the constitutional protections afforded a criminal defendant are in play in a criminal  contempt proceeding- including any ex post facto issues - and absolutely including the fact that you’re looking at the highest bar possible, beyond a reasonable doubt. The fact that you want Trump in jail more than you want his hopeful conviction(s) to be upheld is a bit shortsighted. 

Quote

To some of us outsiders your industry is a fucking farce, under an obviously corrupt supreme court.

You are acting like the guy carrying a torch because little Debbie’s rapist murderer got off “on a technicality.” The fact that the technicality is a bad chain of custody, and without enforcing that law the entire criminal justice system would be polluted by corrupt cops and DAs planting evidence (which is more important to the system and the nation than convicting Lil Debbie’s murderer) does not occur to people when emotions are rightfully inflamed. Like little Debbie‘s father I want the guy in prison for life - or dead. But Lawyer Ubet understands that chain of custody is far more important.. 

I get that because you are not a lawyer you miss a bunch of the competing nuances of law and procedure and prisoners rights - and statutes and case law governing a trial court’s ability to impose criminal sanctions - and the court’s desire to protect innocent jurors and court employees from MAGA fanatics - and a judge who was put on a novel criminal case with an ex President wanting to do everything within his power to protect the chance of a verdict being overturned on appeal.   I get that you want a simple black-and-white resolution to the shit stain that is Donald Trump on trial. I get it. Everyone gets it.  And I also get that you think everything is simple.

I wish that the practice of law was as simple as ‘ignorance of the law is no excuse’.   I hate to break it to you, but that simplistic catch phrase would exclude, for example, legitimate defenses like constitutional challenges to statutes (or gag orders) being vague and/or over-broad.   You wanting to dumb it down to simple black-and-white choices does not make it so.

Now, regarding the corrupt SCOTUS, I’d like to borrow that torch…

[Francisco 2.0 32,313]

And now, heeeeers Stormy:    

And the trial is on break.

Trump walks out, on a break, ahead of his sizable legal team and today’s entourage.

Stormy Daniels has been telling a similar version of this story for at least 13 years, since a 2011 interview that was not published at the time because Michael Cohen, then Trump’s fixer, threatened the publication, "Life & Style." At the time, Daniels said that regarding Trump's offers of putting her on The Apprentice, she came to wonder “if he was just flat-out lying the whole time,” according to a transcript. She said, “I didn’t have any unrealistic expectations of actually being on the show; I figured my chances were 50-50.” The interview was ultimately published in 2018, after the story of the hush-money payment came out.

One of the undercurrents of this testimony is how mocking and derisive Stormy Daniels is of Trump. In her telling, she was experiencing him that same way in real time during that evening in 2006. She has described him as being arrogant, and interrupting her while she talked.

Stormy Daniels says that Trump told her she reminded him of his daugher, presumably Ivanka. “She’s smart and blonde and beautiful and people underestimate her as well,” Daniels said Trump remarked.

Stormy Daniels now takes on the defense's argument about her directly, saying that it was Trump himself who invited her to come on “The Apprentice,” not the other way around. This is fascinating, because we have seen many times the way that Trump accuses his adversaries of the same faults that he’s accused of. Here, Daniels is suggesting she wasn’t the one trying to use “The Apprentice” — he was, for sex.

Stormy Daniels says she asked Trump during their dinner:  “Are you always this rude? Are you always this arrogant and pompous? Like you don’t even know how to have a conversation.”

Trump clearly mouths “bullshit” as Stormy Daniels recalls playfully spanking him with a rolled-up magazine, and saying he was much more polite afterwards.

I wrote recently about how Trump’s advisers see the process as its own punishment in this case, and this testimony underscores that as much as anything. This testimony is hard to listen to for the audience; Trump is image-obsessed and controlling, and this is belittling by Stormy Daniels.

Stormy Daniels says that during her dinner with Trump, she asked about his wife. He told her, she says, not to worry because the two did not “even sleep in the same room.” Trump and Melania were married in 2005, the year before this encounter.

Trump shakes his head slightly and gives a sour look as Daniels says he told her that he didn't sleep in the same room as his wife.

Trump is well known as a germophobe. Stormy Daniels has previously said that they had sex without a condom. This section of testimony — in which Daniels says she told Trump how frequently she was tested for sexually transmitted diseases — could help bolster the credibility of her story.

Juan Merchan, the judge, has asked Daniels, who is on a long digression, to slow down. She has been speaking quickly the entire time she has been on the stand.

Stormy Daniels has been directing many of her answers about the meeting with Trump in the hotel suite — which she described as much bigger than her home — directly to the jury, which is mostly expressionless. He was 60 at the time of this meeting, and Daniels was 27.

The jurors are completely inscrutable as they listen to Daniels express very specific, well-honed opinions about adult films. It reminds us just how little we know about how they are reacting to this.

Stormy Daniels says that Trump took an interest in the business aspects of her industry and asked about unions, residuals, and health insurance, as well about S.T.D. testing.

Stormy Daniels is now talking about meeting Trump for dinner. She says that when he first emerged from his hotel suite, he was wearing “silk or satin” pajamas, which Daniels compared to those often sported by Hugh Hefner. She asked him to change, and he returned in more standard dress clothes.

As Daniels is talking about entering Trump’s hotel suite, Trump whispers to his lawyer. He can’t stand feeling or appearing weak or powerless. But that’s exactly what he is here as Daniels is describing, in extensive detail, an encounter he continues to maintain didn’t happen.

Daniels is describing Trump’s suite in Lake Tahoe in minute detail, every aspect down to the color of the tiles. She seems to have a photographic memory.

Other presidents have had their secret affairs whispered about over the years — think John F. Kennedy — but it is surreal to have Stormy Daniels describing an encounter with Trump in this way, live from the witness stand.

Stormy Daniels says that the first person she mentioned the dinner invitation to was her publicist, which to some extent gives the defense some ammunition, as they’ve painted Daniels as a grifter who was seeking to use Trump to benefit her career. The prosecutor, Susan Hoffinger, may be leaning into that in the same way her team has elicited damaging testimony about Michael Cohen: They’d rather that jurors hear it from the prosecution's witnesses up front, rather than allowing the defense to spring it on the jury as if the state were trying to hide it.

Daniels recalls that her publicist urged her to go to the dinner, and asked her: "'What could possibly go wrong?'"

Susan Hoffinger, the prosecutor, is asking about Trump inviting Daniels to dinner. Daniels says that she was approached by “Keith,” meaning Keith Schiller, Trump’s ominpresent bodyman. She says he took her number, though she refused the invitation initially.

Daniels testifies that she saved Schiller in her phone as “Keith Trump,” and that his number remains in her phone to this day.

Prosecutors are now showing the famous photo of Stormy Daniels and Trump in the gift shop at the Lake Tahoe resort they met at in 2006.

One juror smiles as Stormy Daniels describes her initial reaction to Trump’s dinner invite: “No,” with an expletive attached.

Stormy Daniels is recounting interactions with Trump after meeting him, and then getting a message he wanted to have dinner with her. She is asked to point him out in the courtroom, and she does by his navy jacket, pointing directly at him. He sits with no reaction.

Trump looked at Stormy Daniels as she identified him but he hasn’t been reacting in any visible way to her testimony so far. We've seen none of the head-shaking and muttering that he did when he was on trial for defaming E. Jean Carroll. Some of Trump’s advisers and attorneys thought his reactions during that trial ultimately hurt him with the jury.

Stormy Daniels is now describing the golf tournament at Lake Tahoe in 2006 where she met Trump. In a notable line, she says she knew that he was “as old or older than my father.”

Daniels says she didn’t have a very substantive discussion with Trump and didn’t know much else about him. She knew he was a golfer, she says — they were on a golf course — and that he worked in reality television. And she knew of his show, “The Apprentice.” That year, 2006, marked the height of that show's popularity, and renewed Trump’s celebrity for a new generation.

Stormy Daniels is a quick talker, and the prosecutor has asked her to slow down at least once to let the court reporter catch up. She intersperses her testimony with small laughs. Her storytelling is fluid.

All I can see is the back of Trump’s head, so I can’t see his reaction. But I can see the angle of the witness stand, and the bench where the judge sits, and it looks to me as if the corner of the bench might be obstructing Stormy Daniels’s view of Trump. That may be helping her to relax a bit, as she talks about her podcast and a documentary film she appeared in.

Stormy Daniels details how she recently got fired from a podcast because she was reluctant to continue talking about this case and about politics. This is an important bit of testimony that could rebut Trump’s lawyers’ argument that Daniels has made a career off of her sexual encounter with Trump.

Stormy Daniels is now going through her résumé, including mainstream movies she appeared in like “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.”

The prosecution is drawing out other work experience, including directing music videos, doing comedy, writing books and making podcasts, perhaps to show that she is more than just an adult film actress.

As Stormy Daniels details her adult film career, Trump leans back and closes his eyes.

As Stormy Daniels talks about moving from stripping to acting in adult films, she is continuing to talk very, very quickly. Though it's difficult to understand what she’s saying at times, the reaction is understandable. This is a witness talking about starting to act in adult films in front of a courtroom full of reporters and the former president of the United States.

Susan Hoffinger, the prosecutor, guides Stormy Daniels toward talking about writing and directing adult films. This could be a savvy move, depending on the jurors’ reactions. Instead of dwelling on the sex itself, Hoffinger focuses on the professional aspects of the industry and gives Daniels credit for not just acting but steering the productions she was in.

Prosecutors have made a point to note that Daniels did nude modeling and adult films as a way to make money and survive. She said she was scared to do her first pornographic film, but at the age of 23, she got a contract with Wicked Pictures, which makes them.

As Stormy Daniels testifies about her background and life story, Trump is consistently whispering to his lawyer Todd Blanche.

Trump has often had his eyes closed during uncomfortable moments of testimony in this trial. So far during this testimony, he is keeping them open.

Stormy Daniels begins to talk about her career as a dancer — she began stripping, she says, because she made more money doing it than she did “shoveling manure,” work she had done previously at a stable. Her nervousness as she continues to speak very quickly could endear her to the jury — but this is a witness where the mentality of the jurors, a total mystery to us, is really important. Sex brings interesting reactions out in people, and Daniels's story is headed inexorably toward a story about sex.

It’s hard to express how infrequently Trump is forced to come face to face with people who accuse him of impropriety, or people he has attacked. Stormy Daniels fits both categories.

Stormy Daniels had a tough childhood in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her parents split up when she was young and they had very little money, in her telling. All of this potentially creates a sympathetic portrait for the jury, humanizing somebody who is probably known to most jurors in one way: as a porn star who alleges she had an affair with Donald Trump.

Stormy Daniels is walking the jurors through her childhood, looking at them as she talks. One female juror smiled and appeared to be laughing quietly just before Daniels was brought into the room.

Daniels is quickly walking through some of her early biography: raised in Baton Rouge, wanted to be a veterinarian, editor of her high school newspaper.

“The people call Stormy Daniels,” Susan Hoffinger says. She walks into the courtroom, dressed all in black, almost a robe with a hood on it. She takes the stand and is sworn in with her hand raised.

Daniels sounds nervous as she spells her name. She has glasses pushed on the top of her head.

After Daniels passed him at the defense table, Trump glanced in her direction. They did not make eye contact.

Several members of the jury noticeably perked up when Stormy Daniels's name was called as a witness.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers just had a lengthy sidebar at the judge’s bench. This is ahead of Stormy Daniels coming in, suggesting it’s about what prosecutors will be allowed to ask her. They had settled whatever they were discussing and gone back to their tables, then two minutes later went back to the bench. They’re now heading back to their seats. The jury looks transfixed.

Edited May 7 by Francisco 2.0

[YGIFS 19,449]

And that lesser known Trump's name?  You guessed it.  Keith Trump.  

Holy shit, this fucking timeline.  Somewhere Brisket is pissing himself laughing.  

[Superhero 8,762]

14 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

Tell ya what Jesse Watters. Why don’t we send him to prison and find out. 

[Nivek 16,843]

39 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

Some lawyers, particularly those with a longer history of practicing while believing in the system, have a hard time accepting this. It doesn't help that for most of us, our day-to-day work is still very much engaging with a real practice in a real system with real rules and consequences for us and our clients. 

But yeah, if you're rich enough and/or socially or politically powerful enough, the law is mostly a farce. Some lawyers will try to argue it isn't because look, he's in trial right now, facing consequences. But I think the honest, true response to that is that this isn't the legal system working as intended at all; this trial is only happening because it finally became politically advantageous for a New York prosecutor to charge Trump with some of the fucking tens of thousands of felonies he has committed in New York.  It's the same story in Georgia. And as for the federal charges, we can all see what Cannon and the Supreme Court are doing to those prosecutions.

The Titantic was a pretty robust ship until its rivets were compromised by a captain who put his own ego ahead of the safety of the passengers.   That is our government and legal system.   We even have a few Nevil Chamberlain's worried that he would get a boost by being jailed.   

[Doc Sam Beckett 5,782]

Quote

Trump clearly mouths bullshit as Stormy Daniels recalls playfully spanking him with a rolled-up magazine, and saying he was much more polite afterwards

[WhatTheBuck 28,703]

58 minutes ago, Doc Sam Beckett said:

Stormy time

If they had a sense of humor, they would’ve scheduled her yesterday. But like the song says, Tuesday’s just as bad.

 

[WhatTheBuck 28,703]

47 minutes ago, speed817 said:

He wishes.