Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty

[WhatTheBuck 28613]

3 hours ago, dcbc said:

I'm not sure I believe Eric is glaring at Cohen.  I think that's just his resting face.

 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13310]

Why couldn't have this been televised? The public should have the right to see any trial with certain exceptions.

[Born to Run 6313]

Runs in the family…
Literally 

Diarrhea does run in the jeans.

[Francisco 2.0 32175]

So, after court was dismissed for lunch:

 

At the end of a tense court day in his criminal trial in Manhattan, former President Donald J. Trump on Thursday sent an email to his followers with a dramatic subject line: “I stormed out of court!”

The reality was far more muted.

When the day ended, Mr. Trump calmly left the courtroom, as is typical of many criminal defendants. He strode toward reporters and a camera stationed in the hallway and gave a minute-long statement attacking the case, the judge and the proceedings. Then he exited the building and went home.

Still, in his message to followers, Mr. Trump depicted himself as a firebrand who angrily fled the proceedings over perceived injustice. “I’m DONE with the election interference,” he wrote. “Joe Biden & the LIARS in the media can spread LIES LIES LIES — all while I’m stuck in court and GAGGED!”

Such exaggerated portrayals have become typical for Mr. Trump and his presidential campaign in the weeks since the start of the trial in which he is accused of falsifying business records related to a hush-money payment to a former porn star.

As Mr. Trump sits in New York for the first criminal trial of a former president, he and his campaign have sent a blitz of emails and text messages to his supporters that depict a highly dramatized account of his actions inside the courtroom, where proceedings are far more prosaic than he describes.

The Trump campaign’s emails often contain kernels of truth. The former president is, for example, under a gag order that keeps him from attacking witnesses, jurors and others.

But the messages often elide details or nuances in order to support Mr. Trump’s broad assertions that his trial is a politically motivated “witch hunt.” Despite his claims of forced silence, the gag order has not prevented Mr. Trump from sharing his perception of the case.

And the fund-raising emails frequently insist that the charges he faces are part of a larger “election interference” effort orchestrated by President Biden, a baseless claim that lacks evidence. The New York case is being overseen by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, who operates outside the Justice Department’s purview.

Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign, defended the fund-raising emails and said that “more and more Americans are chipping in every day to support President Trump as they watch him get politically persecuted by Joe Biden and the corrupt Democrats in this sham show trial.”

In the campaign’s telling, Mr. Trump is so aggrieved by the case against him, the conduct of the prosecutors and the decisions of the judge, Justice Juan M. Merchan, that he can barely keep himself from bursting out of his seat as each day concludes.

But the kinds of outbursts he describes would be violations of expected decorum. During court proceedings, Mr. Trump’s demeanor has been relatively restrained, even if he sometimes appears irked by testimony.

Mr. Trump has on occasion conferenced with his lawyers, once making comments that were audible enough to draw an admonition from Justice Merchan. But he has generally kept still and quiet, even appearing to nod off or close his eyes.

At least five fund-raising messages have claimed that Mr. Trump has “stormed” in or out of the courtroom. Reporters covering the trial have said that his movements are more subdued.

On at least six occasions, Mr. Trump has emailed his supporters to announce an imminent “emergency press conference.” In one message this month, he explained, “I’m bypassing the lying FAKE NEWS media and delivering a message directly to THE PEOPLE.”

But those “emergency” news conferences refer to the remarks that Mr. Trump has habitually made as he enters court in the morning and leaves in the afternoon. His comments differ little from what he has said in interviews on the campaign trail. And they are delivered to reporters, in front of a camera that has been stationed outside the courtroom for the duration of the trial.

Still, such exaggerations are consistent with the larger strategy that Mr. Trump and his team have used as they face the unprecedented reality of a major presidential candidate contending with four separate criminal cases.

Eric Wilson, a Republican digital strategist, said the Trump campaign’s emails about the trial reflected the need for it to contend with a constant stream of headlines about the former president’s legal troubles.

“Most campaigns are trying to get themselves in the news; the Trump campaign is sort of uniquely the news,” Mr. Wilson said. “And so they’re in a lot of ways making lemonades out of lemons.”

Central to that effort, he said, was a level of dramatizing certain events. The campaign’s messaging, Mr. Wilson said, “is not the court stenographer — it’s not the New York Times coverage of what’s happening in the courtroom.”

The Trump team has for more than a year tried to use the investigations into Mr. Trump to boost political support among his conservative base.

After Mr. Trump was indicted last spring in Manhattan, polls showed a bump of support for him among Republicans. The former president frequently claims on the stump that each indictment has made him only more popular. And his campaign reported raising millions of dollars after his fourth indictment, in Georgia, when it sent out solicitations using a mug shot that the authorities took there.

A Trump campaign official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss data that was not yet public, said the campaign was raising approximately $1 million each day of the Manhattan trial. Such numbers cannot be independently verified until campaign finance reports are filed, weeks after the trial ends.

Mr. Trump’s emails during the Manhattan trial contend little with the facts of the case or the daily details of the courtroom. But his campaign has been aggressively sending fund-raising solicitations that revolve around the gag order in the case.

Last month, before a hearing on whether he had violated the gag order, he wrote what he told supporters was his “farewell message,” claiming that “if things don’t go our way, I could be thrown in jail.” But at the time, prosecutors had asked the judge only to fine Mr. Trump $1,000 for each violation.

Justice Merchan ultimately found Mr. Trump in contempt of court and fined him $9,000 for nine violations of the gag order. Then, last week, he held Mr. Trump in contempt of court again over another violation, warning Mr. Trump that he might face jail time if he continued to violate the order.

The judge made clear he viewed that penalty as a last resort. “The last thing I want to do is put you in jail,” Justice Merchan told Mr. Trump.

Hours later, the Trump campaign sent an “emergency” fund-raising bulletin. The subject line: “They want me in HANDCUFFS.”

Edited May 13 by Francisco 2.0

[Francisco 2.0 32175]

[Note: I'll start a new post for the remainder of Cohen's Monday afternoon testimony.  Also, the prosecution stated they would still be questioning Cohen on Tuesday]

 

And, it's time for the afternoon session:

We are taking an afternoon break in the courtroom. The jurors have been excused, and Michael Cohen watched them all carefully as they left. Susan Hoffinger, the prosecutor, just told Justice Merchan that the direct questioning of Cohen would stretch into tomorrow.

We are now seeing one of Michael Cohen’s telephonic rampages in documentary evidence that shows he spoke to Keith Davidson, who was the lawyer for Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, after the story about McDougal being paid off was published.

Cohen says that he suspected Davidson or people in his camp of leaking and that he was very angry. He also says that Trump himself was angry. The defense objected to the question that prompted that testimony as leading, but too slowly, and the jury heard what Cohen had to say about Trump before the judge sustained the objection.

We are getting such a vivid picture — backed by frantic and numerous text messages and calls — of what was happening inside the Trump campaign in the final two weeks of the 2016 campaign. Trump's inner circle was spending a significant amount of its time not thinking about an advertising strategy for swing states but instead how to maintain the silence of a Playboy Playmate (Karen McDougal) and a porn star (Stormy Daniels).

We are now seeing voluminous records of phone calls between Michael Cohen and Hope Hicks after the article about Karen McDougal came out. If anything, these records make Hicks look as if she underplayed the amount that she was speaking to Cohen and his involvement in the campaign.

The Wall Street Journal article about Karen McDougal from right before the election just flashed on the screens in the courtroom. Michael Cohen says he was upset and contacted Hope Hicks and Pecker.

Cohen says he spoke to Hicks about how the campaign planned to respond. He says she shared a draft of the statement she planned to send, which is now being shown onscreen.

We are now seeing that Michael Cohen had a five-minute call with Trump on Oct. 28, 2016. Cohen says that on that call, having signed the non-disclosure agreement, he told Trump that the Stormy Daniels “matter is completely under control and locked down.” Even testifying at this trial, Cohen still speaks cryptically when recounting his conversations with Trump. He didn’t say Daniels, just called it the matter.

This testimony underscores how much of this case is actually about documentary evidence. On many of the most disputed points — how frequently Trump and Cohen spoke, for instance — the facts can be seen in phone records.

Homing in for a moment on the charges in this case, Michael Cohen has bolstered the prosecution's claims on two key points from the witness stand today: He has linked Trump directly to the scheme to reimburse him for the Stormy Daniels hush money payment, which forms the basis for the falsification of business records charges. And he has said that Trump was personally concerned that Daniels’s story, if it got out, could affect his chances with female voters, which speaks directly to the underlying election conspiracy statute that elevates those charges from misdemeanors to felonies.

Michael Cohen says he told Trump “immediately” once he’d resolved the Stormy Daniels hush-money deal. He returns to a common refrain from the day's testimony and says that he told Trump right away because he wanted to get “credit” for resolving the task.

Prosecutors are dotting the t’s and crossing the i’s as Cohen describes arranging every last detail of the payment to Daniels. They did not do this when Keith Davidson, the lawyer who received the funds, testified. But they’re doing it here, as if to use the incredible amount of documentary evidence they have to corroborate Cohen, whose credibility the defense has attacked at every turn.

This is by no means a comment on the prosecution’s case, but there is a member of public sleeping at the back of the courtroom, and occasionally letting out a snore.

We are inching toward the hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels. We just saw an email Michael Cohen sent her lawyer at the time, Keith Davidson, showing that he had acquired the necessary funds. I remember from Davidson’s testimony that he had barely heard from Cohen since the Yom Kippur exchange, if at all. But Cohen’s testimony has filled in the gap, and now we get to the next Davidson-Cohen exchange. For jurors following closely, this type of recognition is its own sort of reward: a trial callback.

Cohen says that he laid out the Daniels deal for Trump because “everything required Mr. Trump’s sign off.” Several times last week, prosecutors painted Trump as a micromanager. They used custodial witnesses to read passages of his books that depicted him as a boss who distrusted his employees for a fear they will “rob you blind.” They are continuing that theme here.

Testimony has slowed down as Susan Hoffinger, the prosecutor, is lingering on the back-and-forth between Cohen and Davidson ensuring that the wire transfer of Daniels’s money and the non-disclosure agreement were in place. Hoffinger has a fairly gentle manner with Cohen, and it seems to be part of why Cohen has stayed relatively even during this testimony.

Trump shakes his head and smirks when Michael Cohen says he didn’t mention Trump when setting up the bank account because he wanted to “protect him” from the transaction.

This is moving quickly. Most of Hoffinger’s questions are intended to illicit "yes" or "no" responses, and she is largely limiting Michael Cohen’s testimony to corroborating that of others and establishing his direct conversations with Trump.

After Michael Cohen decided to pay Stormy Daniels himself, we are seeing, he launched into a blitz of phone calls with both Keith Davidson and David Pecker. Prosecutors must feel grateful to have this documentary evidence: It suggests, with amazing nuance for what is simply metadata, the frenzy that Cohen was experiencing as he sought to suppress the Daniels story and pay her the hush money.

Prosecutors have done a painstaking job of using hard evidence like phone records, text messages and emails to corroborate the testimonial narrative Cohen is laying out, knowing in advance that his credibility would come under assault on cross-examination.

One of the most important things Hoffinger did today is explain, through Cohen, why there are no emails with Trump: because Trump didn’t believe in email or, at that time, texting. Explaining the absence of something is crucial for prosecutors here.

Recall that Michael Cohen said early today that he reported directly to Trump. Now we are seeing the importance of that testimony. Previously, Trump had been cut off from much of the narrative that prosecutors were spinning. But now, with Cohen’s testimony, they are connecting the defendant more closely to their case.

Susan Hoffinger, the prosecutor, and Michael Cohen have established a rhythm in their questions and answers that often makes the direct examination seem more like a conversation. Their rapport is likely a sign of the preparation that went into Cohen’s testimony today.

Michael Cohen is discussing a call between himself and two representatives of The National Enquirer, David Pecker and Dyan Howard. They discussed Daniels's plans to go to The Daily Mail with her story, and Cohen says that it would be “catastrophic” for the campaign, further turning women against the candidate. But, he says, Pecker refused to pay for her story. So Cohen said he would take care of it himself.

The jury sees a text message from Howard to Cohen on Oct. 25, 2016, in which Howard says they need to get the deal done with Daniels or it would look “awfully bad” for everyone. Cohen testifies that they all understood the effect her story would have on Trump's presidential campaign if it came out so close to the election and on the heels of the "Access Hollywood" tape. This is important contextual evidence. The Trump defense team is arguing that Trump’s motivation was to protect his family. But these text messages — combined with Cohen’s testimony — indicate that the motivations for the hush money deal were to protect Trump politically.

Pecker told jurors he refused to pay. He remembered telling Cohen “I am not a bank.”

Michael Cohen is speaking directly to the jury right now, about using a home equity line of credit to pay Stormy Daniels $130,000.

Cohen’s testimony has been relatively calm, and that continues this afternoon. But these details are really key to prosecutors’ case and the tension has risen in here.

Michael Cohen says he then decided that he would pay the money, and that Allen Weisselberg said, “I’ll make sure you get paid back.” Cohen says he alerted Trump to that decision and that Trump was appreciative, saying “good, good.” And he says that Trump, too, told him he’d be repaid.

“I was doing everything that I could and more in order to protect my boss, which was something I had done for a long time,” Cohen says. But he adds that he would not, of his own volition, lay out $130,000 for a hush-money payment on someone else’s behalf, suggesting, again, that he was expecting to be repaid. The charges against Trump concern the repayment to Cohen.

This testimony echoes Hope Hicks's remarks that she didn’t think Cohen would have done this on his own.

This piece of testimony is critical because it links Trump not only to the hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels, but also to the scheme to reimburse Cohen for fronting the money. And that is what forms the basis of the falsification of business records charges.

And now, Michael Cohen is recalling a portion of the story that’s been out before: he and Allen Weisselberg, then the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, talking about possibly generating the $130,000 through a membership request or an event being held at a club.

Cohen is directly tying Trump to the hush-money payment right now, corroborating the testimony of others, including Keith Davidson and Hope Hicks, who both suggested that Cohen would never had made the payment without Trump’s authorization. Cohen is now talking about Weisselberg helping him to think through how to make the payment.

Trump, who had been sleeping, wakes up, leans over, taps his lawyer Todd Blanche and whispers something in his ear.

I have to again wonder what the jurors make of Trump alternately sleeping or just sitting with eyes closed through this testimony.

Michael Cohen is now describing Trump telling him that his friends had advised him to just pay Stormy Daniels the hush money, and reminded him that he was a billionaire. “Just do it,” Cohen recounts Trump saying.

Michael Cohen is now being shown a text message Melania Trump sent him on Oct. 18, 2016: “Good morning Michael, can u pls call DT on his cell. Thanks.” He replied: “Of course.”

The prosecutors are showing how attentive Cohen was to the desires of the Trumps. The timestamps on the text messages show that he responded to Melania Trump’s message within 30 seconds.

Michael Cohen says he spoke with Trump after this request from his wife. He says he called Trump using his Trump Organization landline. That evening, Cohen says, he made an appearance on Wolf Blitzer’s show, in order to “respond to a series of topics that affected Mr. Trump and the campaign.” He says he told Trump he was going on CNN as a “surrogate” of the campaign to discuss Trump’s priorities. This was just a couple of days after the “Access Hollywood” tape came out.

It seems as if prosecutors are seeking to tie Cohen to the campaign in hopes of addressing the argument that Cohen was “freelancing,” working on his own behalf. Cohen says that he regularly received talking points from the campaign, including before the CNN appearance he is describing.

Michael Cohen says that he believed that at this point in the narrative, just weeks before the 2016 election, he could no longer delay making the payment to Stormy Daniels.

Trump is leaning back with his eyes closed.

Michael Cohen, reading emails he exchanged in 2016 with Keith Davidson, then Stormy Daniels’s lawyer, says that the correspondence represented that “we were losing control over the settlement of this agreement in order to prevent” Daniels’s story from coming out. He says that loss of control was a “direct result of my failure to wire funds.” You can hear anxiety in Cohen’s voice about that “failure,” nearly eight years later.

The jury has already seen many of the emails that Cohen has been asked to comment on today. They’ve already heard Davidson explain what he thought about these emails — he thought that Cohen was slow-walking — and now we’re hearing Cohen’s side of the exchange. Cohen says he was delaying Davidson and he was very concerned when Davidson told him that his refusal to pay had resulted in Stormy Daniels backing out of the deal.

Cohen is being asked about phone records showing he called Trump amid this anxiety. He looks weary in his second outing on the stand today.

Michael Cohen is now bringing up another early trial witness, Gary Farro, who gave jurors an unflattering impression of Cohen, whom he described as a difficult client. If the prosecution’s questioning here adheres to this morning’s pattern, they won’t ask Cohen whether he liked Farro, and the jurors will be left with the knowledge that Farro disliked Cohen without knowing what Cohen thought in return.

Prosecutors are showing Cohen the same emails and bank paperwork they showed to Farro on the witness stand. Farro previously testified about Cohen’s urgency to open up an account for Essential Consultants L.L.C., which was ultimately used to pay the hush money to Stormy Daniels.

As we switch gears to the paperwork, it feels like we are heading into the part of Cohen’s testimony that is focused on the alleged falsification of business records.

Susan Hoffinger, the prosecutor, picks up where she left off, with Michael Cohen on the verge of describing having made the hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels. She shows him a series of emails with Keith Davidson, who was Daniels’s lawyer in 2016. Davidson, who has already testified he was frustrated by a delay in receiving the payment, says in the email that it wasn't necessary for him to speak to Cohen, and that he just wanted to be paid. Cohen responded that it was the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, a holiday Davidson stumbled over when he was on the stand.

“I used the holiday of Yom Kippur as a way of just once again trying to delay” the payment, Cohen says. Yom Kippur, the day of repentance, is often considered the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

Davidson testified earlier in the trial that he thought Cohen was using the Jewish holiday as an excuse to avoid making the hush money payment — to try to push the issue to beyond the election when the story would no longer matter. Cohen confirms Davidson's impression here.

We're back in court after the lunch break. Trump walked in with most of the same entourage he had with him this morning, including his son Eric. Prosecutors are here, and Justice Merchan is on the bench. Michael Cohen is being called back for more direct questioning from prosecutors.+

 

Edited May 13 by Francisco 2.0

[WhatTheBuck 28613]

1 hour ago, locodos said:

 

traitor

traitour

whatever!

*traiteur

[Red Five 40355]

13 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

Still, in his message to followers, Mr. Trump depicted himself as a firebrand who angrily fled the proceedings over perceived injustice. “I’m DONE with the election interference,” he wrote. “Joe Biden & the LIARS in the media can spread LIES LIES LIES — all while I’m stuck in court and GAGGED!”

[DixonHur 10858]

Even if you think Trump is innocent and Cohen is a "serial liar" doesn't it make you wonder about Trumps abilities as a manager?

Seems like a lot of his "hand-picked" employees have been convicted of felonies for things they did while working for him.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've had a total of 0 employees convicted (or even accused) of committing felonies at work.

[Red Five 40355]

The exasperation from his "supporters" is hilarious to watch. They can't believe this criminal defendant is being treated like.... a criminal defendant. 

"Why goodness gracious me, this is an outrage! They have him sitting there, in court, being judged by a jury of his peers! No one has ever seen anything like this before!"

[locodos 5246]

34 minutes ago, DixonHur said:

Even if you think Trump is innocent and Cohen is a "serial liar" doesn't it make you wonder about Trumps abilities as a manager?

Seems like a lot of his "hand-picked" employees have been convicted of felonies for things they did while working for him.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've had a total of 0 employees convicted (or even accused) of committing felonies at work.

I didn't hire them, but I did fire them

[Francisco 2.0 32175]

And we are done for the day.

Cohen's Monday afternoon testimony, Part 2:

We are finished with a day that matched expectations: Michael Cohen has testified that Trump directed him to make the hush-money payment and signed off on Allen Weisselberg’s plan to repay Cohen. Cohen will return to the stand on Tuesday, so prosecutors can conclude their examination. After that, it will be the defense’s turn to cross-examine him.

Cohen exits the stand, taking his empty water bottle and plastic cup with him.

Michael Cohen testifies that Trump, as president-elect, was busy with meetings around time. Yet he and Allen Weisselberg went into Trump’s 26th floor office to discuss the reimbursement plan, he says.

This is an important piece of testimony. It not only paints a pretty wild split-screen image of Trump dealing with the fallout from his hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels while putting together his administration. It also drives home the fact that Trump knew about the scheme to reimburse Cohen for making that payment on his behalf.

Michael Cohen is explaining why he was owed $180,000, instead of simply $130,000 for the hush money. He says that he was owed $50,000 — an amount he admits was exaggerated — to pay a firm called Red Finch for “tech services.” He tells this story in his book “Disloyal.” At least in part, the services were Cohen getting a computer programmer to buy IP addresses in order to rig an online CNBC poll to make sure Trump ranked among the most influential business leaders alive.

Allen Weisselberg then doubled the $180,000 to $360,000. Weisselberg, Cohen says, expected that he would lose half of that money because it would be taxed as income, and was making him whole, even after taxes.

The irony of the “grossed-up” description, which Cohen says was Weisselberg’s idea so Cohen could take the money as income instead of reimbursement, is it cost Trump double what it would have otherwise.

Michael Cohen is now at the beginning of the portion of his testimony that focuses on false business records. He’s describing his notes with Allen Weisselberg working out what he was being paid for another matter, and how he would be reimbursed for it.

We are now, again, looking at Weisselberg’s handwritten notes on the reimbursement to Cohen. We have seen these at least once before, while Jeffrey McConney, an underling of Weisselberg’s, testified. But now, Cohen is testifying that he was in the room as Weisselberg made these notations on how to repay him for the hush money, as well as his shrunken bonus, and other things he was owed. This document, prosecutors say, leads straight to the repayments to Cohen, and the false documents used to disguise them. Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, one for each of those documents: 11 checks, 11 invoices and 12 ledger entries.

Michael Cohen says that he went on vacation and that Trump called him while he was away to say hello. But Trump also said to him then: “Don’t worry about that other thing, I’m going to take care of it when you get back.” Cohen says he understood Trump to be referring to his bonus. But later, he says, he met with Allen Weisselberg, who told him that Trump would reimburse him for the hush-money payment.

Trump, who has rarely looked at the witness stand today, was looking in Cohen’s direction as he recounted this conversation.

It’s impossible to discern how the jury is processing Cohen, to restate a recurring theme. These jurors have been here for several weeks now of testimony that has overlapped at times.

By eliciting a detailed account of Michael Cohen’s feelings of betrayal here, prosecutors seem to be anticipating the defense’s plan on cross-examination to paint him as an embittered ex-employee with a grudge against Trump. They would rather get the story out themselves now to lessen its sting.

After Michael Cohen describes having wanted a position as a personal lawyer to the new president, which he didn’t get, he begins to describe not having received a significant bonus. What prosecutors are leading into, in short, is that Cohen was very angry and disgruntled in late 2016.

Jurors know that like David Pecker before him, Cohen was an ally who had the ability to hurt Trump. So as the prosecution leads us toward the reimbursement of Cohen, it helps to show how angry he was at the time. “Angry,” he said, asked how he felt about the minimal bonus. “Very angry.”

Cohen, describing his anger at seeing his bonus cut by two-thirds, almost sounds angry all over again. “I didn’t expect more,” he says of his bonus that year, 2016. “But I certainly didn’t expect less.”

Cohen says he took his fury out on Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, and that Weisselberg told him that he’d be taken care of after the holidays.

Trump’s eyes had been closed for quite a while, but a brief expression of what appeared to be pleasure crossed over his face as Cohen describes Trump stiffing him on his end-of-year bonus payment in 2016.

Michael Cohen also says he preferred being Trump's personal lawyer and remaining in New York, doing consulting work. And this is important: he is describing how being Trump's lawyer opened “doors” for other clients. This is also something that Trump’s lawyers are going to home in on, that Cohen was benefiting personally from his association to Trump.

Susan Hoffinger, the prosecutor, asks: “Did you think you could monetize” being Trump’s personal lawyer? “Absolutely,” Cohen responds.

Cohen is delivering this testimony — in which he speaks candidly about making money off Trump’s name, something that Trump despises when anyone who isn't him does — while looking directly at the jurors. Few are looking back at him. Most are taking notes or otherwise looking down.

Trump’s eyes are closed and he appears to be sleeping, as he has through most of today.

We’ve moved on in testimony to Trump winning the presidential election. SUsan Hoffinger, the prosecutor, asks Michael Cohen if he still had a role at the Trump Organization after Trump won. Cohen says no, “because my service was no longer necessary.” He says he turned down the role of “assistant general counsel” in the White House.

Hoffinger asks Cohen if he was disappointed that the job of chief of staff wasn't offered to him. Cohen says he didn’t want it, but wanted his name to have been included in the conversation. This is meant to inoculate him on cross-examination, when Trump’s lawyer inevitably says that Cohen was simply disgruntled about not getting a job.

Cohen goes on. “I would have liked to have been considered.” He says it was “solely for his ego.”

When Cohen says he was offered the role of assistant general counsel, Trump looks at his lawyer and shakes his head.

This bit about Cohen being discussed for a White House counsel job is accurate, for what it’s worth.

Michael Cohen is talking about discussing with Hope Hicks the article revealing Karen McDougal's hush-money deal, which came out days before the election.

When Hicks testified, she acknowledged that it was ironic to be testifying about this exchange she had with Cohen, which focused on whether or not the McDougal story was being picked up by other news outlets, at a literal criminal trial that stemmed from the publication of this story and the one about Stormy Daniels.

Trump is back after the break with some of the members of his entourage. Senator J.D. Vance seems to have broken off from their group.

Trump is examining a piece of paper he is holding close to his face and doesn’t glance over at Michael Cohen as he walks to the witness stand.

Edited May 13 by Francisco 2.0

[4th&Five 41184]

7 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

Trump is examining a piece of paper he is holding close to his face

[Red Five 40355]

So is the defense strategy at this point basically "Everyone is lying, except Donald Trump". The greatest liar anyone has ever seen. The Michael Jordan of lying. 

[DigglerontheHoof 20561]

Just now, Red Five said:

So is the defense strategy at this point basically "Everyone is lying, except Donald Trump". The greatest liar anyone has ever seen. The Michael Jordan of lying. 

It works for Republicans. 

[HenryJames 65525]

25 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

When Cohen says he was offered the role of assistant general counsel, Trump looks at his lawyer and shakes his head.

This bit about Cohen being discussed for a White House counsel job is accurate, for what it’s worth.

 

[Gatorubet 29664]

29 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

When Cohen says he was offered the role of assistant general counsel, Trump looks at his lawyer and shakes his head.

Yes, because Trump trusted Cohen to be the only man who could broker a deal important enough to keep him from losing the election, but he doesn’t have enough faith in him to be some assistant flunky general council. Makes sense.

[bolverk 29082]

I can't remember which article predicted that, if proven guilty, Trump would get at most 4 months (if I recall that correctly) and would likely see zero time inside a jail cell, according to NY State sentencing guidelines. Then, you consider Cohen was sentenced to 3 years in federal prison and got out after 2 1/2 for doing all this shit at the behest of Trump.

What's up with the discrepancy in charges (and, therefore, potential sentencing)? And federal versus state?

Edited May 13 by bolverk
misworded last question

[Shut up Lou Holtz 1981]

7 minutes ago, bolverk said:

I can't remember which article predicted that, if proven guilty, Trump would get at most 4 months (if I recall that correctly) and would likely see zero time inside a jail cell, according to NY State sentencing guidelines. Then, you consider Cohen was sentenced to 3 years in federal prison and got out after 2 1/2 for doing all this shit at the behest of Trump.

What's up with the discrepancy in charges (and, therefore, potential sentencing)? And federal versus prison?

Cohen wasn’t rich and white enough for that justice I guess

[bolverk 29082]

3 minutes ago, Shut up Lou Holtz said:

Cohen wasn’t rich and white enough for that justice I guess

I'll freely admit to being prejudiced/biased, but all the evidence and testimony throughout this trial points squarely not just to a guilty verdict but to a fucking guilty one.

[Red Five 40355]

5 minutes ago, bolverk said:

I'll freely admit to being prejudiced/biased, but all the evidence and testimony throughout this trial points squarely not just to a guilty verdict but to a fucking guilty one.

Everyone seems to be telling the same story... except for the defense. I don't think "Stormy is a whore, Hicks is an idiot, and Cohen's a liar" is going to be enough.

[bolverk 29082]

 

Trump's reaction at the end of today (click link for video):

https://www.threads.net/@aaron.rupar/post/C67CcUngd3z

 

https://www.threads.net/@aaron.rupar/post/C67DH_LATEx

[Biff Tannen 45151]

1 minute ago, bolverk said:

 

Trump's reaction at the end of today (click link for video):

https://www.threads.net/@aaron.rupar/post/C67CcUngd3z

 

https://www.threads.net/@aaron.rupar/post/C67DH_LATEx

Circular insanity

[Red Five 40355]

"Every single legal analyst, even CNN and MSNBC, is saying 'there's no case here'."

[DDD Dad 14062]

7 hours ago, bolverk said:

 

 

Thanks for posting these, @bolverk & @Francisco 2.0.  I particulary appreciate when they are posted in X/Twitter native format as the text reprints are hard to follow (since they are in reverse chronological order and it's hard to tell when one post ends and another begins).

[Shut up Lou Holtz 1981]

29 minutes ago, bolverk said:

I'll freely admit to being prejudiced/biased, but all the evidence and testimony throughout this trial points squarely not just to a guilty verdict but to a fucking guilty one.

Same for me. Not sure how jury will see it but it’s fairly obvious in my opinion 

[The Dog 43408]

54 minutes ago, bolverk said:

I can't remember which article predicted that, if proven guilty, Trump would get at most 4 months (if I recall that correctly) and would likely see zero time inside a jail cell, according to NY State sentencing guidelines. Then, you consider Cohen was sentenced to 3 years in federal prison and got out after 2 1/2 for doing all this shit at the behest of Trump.

What's up with the discrepancy in charges (and, therefore, potential sentencing)? And federal versus state?

Cohen was also guilty of tax evasion and a whole host of other stuff with stiff penalties. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Cohen_(lawyer)#Conviction_on_campaign_finance,_tax_evasion,_and_other_charges

[TwiceHorn 30850]

57 minutes ago, bolverk said:

I can't remember which article predicted that, if proven guilty, Trump would get at most 4 months (if I recall that correctly) and would likely see zero time inside a jail cell, according to NY State sentencing guidelines. Then, you consider Cohen was sentenced to 3 years in federal prison and got out after 2 1/2 for doing all this shit at the behest of Trump.

What's up with the discrepancy in charges (and, therefore, potential sentencing)? And federal versus state?

The feds are generally pretty draconian. 

But Cohen was convicted of bank fraud in addition to the other stuff and tax evasion I believe. Those are fairly heavy duty offenses. 

This New York crime has almost no analog in the federal system or in most states. Unlike most falsification crimes, no one actually has to be deceived by the falsification,it just needs to happen internally so to speak. 

[Rimbo 25229]

3 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

[TwiceHorn 30850]

48 minutes ago, bolverk said:

I'll freely admit to being prejudiced/biased, but all the evidence and testimony throughout this trial points squarely not just to a guilty verdict but to a fucking guilty one.

Remember, this is the prosecutions case in chief. In the normal case, the defense case in chief is the opposite and there is a whipsaw effect. Not sure what Trumpco will come up with, if anything, but it's kinda like we've only heard half of the story. 

[bolverk 29082]

Just now, TwiceHorn said:

Remember, this is the prosecutions case in chief. In the normal case, the defense case in chief is the opposite and there is a whipsaw effect. Not sure what Trumpco will come up with, if anything, but it's kinda like we've only heard half of the story. 

Oh, I fully realize that. At the same time, Cohen's testimony showed they do have all the receipts, including all the business records, phone records, and corroborating testimony from other witnesses. It seems their only strategy is to simply smear anyone and everyone who's testified against Trump. Of course, that *may* work, but I don't see it at this point.

[The Dog 43408]

 

[Brisketexan 103602]

1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

Remember, this is the prosecutions case in chief. In the normal case, the defense case in chief is the opposite and there is a whipsaw effect. Not sure what Trumpco will come up with, if anything, but it's kinda like we've only heard half of the story. 

Yes and know.  Unless the defense has significant additional witnesses they intend to call, the defense may well be presenting their case through their cross of the prosecution's witnesses.  Unless Trump decides to testify, I'm not sure who they'd be calling in their case who hasn't already been on the stand?  That is, when the prosecution rests, the defense may not have much more to put on.

[Shut up Lou Holtz 1981]

10 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Yes and know.  Unless the defense has significant additional witnesses they intend to call, the defense may well be presenting their case through their cross of the prosecution's witnesses.  Unless Trump decides to testify, I'm not sure who they'd be calling in their case who hasn't already been on the stand?  That is, when the prosecution rests, the defense may not have much more to put on.

Beyond trump saying “nuh uh!” With no proof I’m not sure what they will say 

[BamaATL 16209]

4 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Yes and know.  Unless the defense has significant additional witnesses they intend to call, the defense may well be presenting their case through their cross of the prosecution's witnesses.  Unless Trump decides to testify, I'm not sure who they'd be calling in their case who hasn't already been on the stand?  That is, when the prosecution rests, the defense may not have much more to put on.

I've wondered almost from the get go if they (the defense) would just rest immediately and just make the argument that the State hadn't made it's case at close.  The prosecution seems intent on going into potential areas of reasonable doubt with their own witnesses, and subsequently debunking said doubt, without giving the defense the chance for "aha" moments on cross.  In the corporate trial the defense rolled out some bullshit power point presentation apropos of nothing relevant to the case.  I doubt they get the same level of lateral leeway in a criminal case, and I can't see there being much in the way of defense witnesses that would actually help them at all.  I don't think the defense really has any play here at all, save hoping for one idiot juror and a hung jury.  If that is in fact their play, why even call witnesses, just make a blustery close and pretend as if its obvious the State hasn't made it's case.  (Of course that is bullshit, but why wouldn't that be their strategy?).  

[TwiceHorn 30850]

15 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Yes and know.  Unless the defense has significant additional witnesses they intend to call, the defense may well be presenting their case through their cross of the prosecution's witnesses.  Unless Trump decides to testify, I'm not sure who they'd be calling in their case who hasn't already been on the stand?  That is, when the prosecution rests, the defense may not have much more to put on.

Definitely.  Was going to add that they may not even put on a case, much like the Carroll trial.  Because there aren't many Trump supporters or allies that can hold up in court.

I was speaking in terms of the normal case.  

Edited May 13 by TwiceHorn

[Brisketexan 103602]

Definitely.  Was going to add that they may not even put on a case, much like the Carroll trial.  Because there aren't many Trump supporters or allies that can hold up in court.
I was speaking in terms of the normal case.  

Also…”yes and know?” Was I typing phonetically?

[South Austin 51633]

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

Also…”yes and know?” Was I typing phonetically?

Who nose.

[The Original Greaser Bob 2701]

3 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Not sure what Trumpco will come up with, if anything, but it's kinda like we've only heard half of the story. 

I mean,  they've telegraphed their side so much that we all know the other half.

"Everything those guys said is bullshit."

[BamaATL 16209]

1 minute ago, The Original Greaser Bob said:

I mean,  they've telegraphed their side so much that we all know the other half.

"Everything those guys said is bullshit."

They are going to quite literally use the Chewbacca defense.  

[Genco 3034]

Just now, BamaATL said:

They are going to quite literally use the Chewbacca defense.  

I'll call my shot:

The defense won't call any witnesses but will pull a Crazy Ivan to close. Trump will be delivering the closing argument allowing him to make his bullshit case without subjecting himself to perjury or cross examination.

[BamaATL 16209]

2 minutes ago, Genco said:

I'll call my shot:

The defense won't call any witnesses but will pull a Crazy Ivan to close. Trump will be delivering the closing argument allowing him to make his bullshit case without subjecting himself to perjury or cross examination.

Well that transcript should be quite something.  I'm looking forward to hearing the connection to the windmills, MS13, Obama, and how popular he his.  

[HenryJames 65525]

7 minutes ago, BamaATL said:

They are going to quite literally use the Chewbacca defense.  

@Chewbacca

[Pig Bellmont 8637]

26 minutes ago, Genco said:

Trump will be delivering the closing argument

Not a chance in hell

[Surly Bevo 24573]

44 minutes ago, Genco said:

 Trump will be delivering the closing argument

Edited May 14 by Surly Bevo

[Gatorubet 29664]

2 hours ago, BamaATL said:

I've wondered almost from the get go if they (the defense) would just rest immediately and just make the argument that the State hadn't made it's case at close.  The prosecution seems intent on going into potential areas of reasonable doubt with their own witnesses, and subsequently debunking said doubt, without giving the defense the chance for "aha" moments on cross.  In the corporate trial the defense rolled out some bullshit power point presentation apropos of nothing relevant to the case.  I doubt they get the same level of lateral leeway in a criminal case, and I can't see there being much in the way of defense witnesses that would actually help them at all.  I don't think the defense really has any play here at all, save hoping for one idiot juror and a hung jury.  If that is in fact their play, why even call witnesses, just make a blustery close and pretend as if its obvious the State hasn't made it's case.  (Of course that is bullshit, but why wouldn't that be their strategy?).  

I think they are going to call Melania.  She is going to lie and say Trump admitted doing it all to protect her from the news and he’s so sorry and he bought her something.  

[BamaATL 16209]

27 minutes ago, Gatorubet said:

I think they are going to call Melania.  She is going to lie and say Trump admitted doing it all to protect her from the news and he’s so sorry and he bought her something.  

Can we deport for perjury?  

[Vintner 25]

Just wanted to say thanks to @Francisco 2.0 and @bolverk for the play by play today (and other days). 

[Mdhorn 5832]

11 hours ago, locodos said:

Rick Scott was one of his submissives

and Nunes, and Jordan, and....ending with every Republican Congressional douchebag that let him off from being impeached.  

[WhatTheBuck 28613]

Just heard on the news that Mike Johnson will be attending the trial in support of Trump today. 

[Pancho 42838]

3 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Just heard on the news that Mike Johnson will be attending the trial in support of Trump today. 

And more