#FaniWillis #wins #primary

Willis now proceeds to November’s general #election, where she will face Courtney Kramer, a Republican lawyer who interned in the #Trump White House.

#FultonCounty DA Fani Willis, who has emerged as a national figure after bringing #criminal charges against Trump, won her Democratic primary on Tues in her first ballot appearance since the inception of the high-profile #ElectionInterference case.

#Atlanta #GApol #USpol #law
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/21/fani-willis-georgia-democratic-primary/

#Trump's *guests* today in court:

#DonaldTrumpJr
Fmr Acting AG #MattWhitaker
Fmr Florida AG #PamBondi
Sen #EricSchmitt
#US #House Reps
• #DanielWebster
• #DanMeuser
• #RonnyJackson
• #TroyNehls
• #DaleStrong
• #MariaSalazar
#SebastianGorka
#ChuckZito
#JoePiscopo
#BillWhite

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics #GagOrder #StochasticTerrorism #StormyDaniels #KarenMcDougal #NodFarter

#Hoffinger asks #RobertCostello if an email in which he offers to provide a “back channel” between #Trump & #MichaelCohen “speaks for itself” [Costello used the phrase while #mansplaining to her yesterday].

Costello says it does not because there was more context, & offers to provide that context.

“That’s all right,” Hoffinger says, moving on to her next question. 😊

#misogyny #criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics

The defense rests, Todd #Blanche says.

#Testimony in the first #criminal trial of Donald J. Trump has concluded.

. #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #MobTactics #GagOrder #StochasticTerrorism #StormyDaniels #KarenMcDougal #NodFarter

With defense resting their case, we now know definitively that #Trump did not #testify in his own #defense of 34 #criminal charges.

As he exited the courtroom, & raised his hand in a fist, Trump did not answer reporters’ questions about why he had not testified in the trial.

#law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics #GagOrder #StochasticTerrorism #StormyDaniels #KarenMcDougal #NodFarter

#TrumpTrial 🧵 Tues 21 May 2024

Testimony may conclude today in Trump’s #criminal NY #ElectionInterference trial, after 5 weeks & 22 witnesses.

Yesterday the jury was introduced to #RobertCostello, a #Giuliani associate & #lawyer who acted as a “back-channel” for #MichaelCohen to #Trump in the summer of 2018.

Yesterday, Costello behaved so atrociously on the witness stand that Juan Merchan cleared the courtroom to admonish him & the defense attorneys. Costello is due back on the stand

#law

#TrumpTrial 🧵 Monday 20 May 2024

#Trump has a huge posse today, including #KashPatel; #GerryKassar, a #conservative party leader in NY; #BernieKerik, fmr NYPD commissioner who was imprisoned for tax fraud & false statements; #AlanDershowitz, lawyer who defended Trump during his first impeachment, & #BorisEpshteyn, *legal* adviser who was #indicted in AZ for attempts to keep Trump in power after the 2020 election.

#criminal #law #ElectionInterference #MobTactics #StochasticTerrorism #GagOrder

After brashly declaring he wanted to #testify in his #criminal trial, it appears increasingly unlikely that #Trump will do so, as the #jury seems poised to hear #ClosingArguments next week.

Defendants rarely testify, because their #lawyers advise them that the risks of doing so, particularly when it comes to being questioned by prosecutors #UnderOath, are simply too great.

#TrumpTrial #law #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/18/trump-trial-testifying/

Is there some reason why Alito (and Thomas) is not recusing himself from any cases having to do with #Trump, the #2020Insurrection, or #electioninterference?
And #JusticeRoberts has the gall to whine about how #SCOTUS is so disrespected.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/16/us/justice-alito-upside-down-flag.html

After #MichaelCohen is off the stand, the defense will have an opportunity to present its own case, calling witnesses & questioning them to try to seed reasonable doubt within the jury. Prosecutors can then put on additional #witnesses to rebut expert witness testimony.

Though from what #Trump’s attys have said, it sounds like they aren’t going to bother calling any witnesses or putting on a #defense — I guess they don’t have one.

#criminal #law #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference

#Trump arrives in the courtroom, trailed by his son #EricTrump, his lawyers, as well as #Republican members of the #House of Representatives, including #LaurenBoebert & #MattGaetz.

The entourage is so large today that some people are being made to sit in the back. Others had to leave & go to Trump’s hold room.

If they do today what was done Tues, I hope Merchan hold Trump in contempt of the #GagOrder.

#criminal #law #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #MobTactics #StochasticTerrorism #NodFarter

#Court officers explain, yet again, the courtroom's no-cellphone policy to the people here with #Trump.

The lawyers and the judge are having one of the longest sidebars that have taken place during this trial, if not the longest. Their voices are louder than usual, though the words they're saying aren't clear.

#law #Trump #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics #GagOrder #StochasticTerrorism #StormyDaniels #KarenMcDougal #NodFarter

The long sidebar may have been about scheduling issues. The judge just told the jurors that, if they are OK w/it, court may be in session next Wed, despite the fact that the trial is usually off on Wednesdays.

This suggests prosecutors & defense were quibbling over the calendar.
The defense sought to delay the trial many times before it started, & #Trump has complained that it was going too fast.

#law #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics

#MichaelCohen has been called back to the stand. The jury to be brought in.

#Trump atty Todd #Blanche continues cross-examination.
Blanche asks about texts between Cohen & the DA’s office.

Cohen agrees that texts shown w/ DA investigator are from around same time that he told a grand jury he was going to hold Trump accountable.

We are now on our third sidebar today.

#law #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics #GagOrder #StochasticTerrorism #NodFarter

#MichaelCohen says that he learned that #Trump was indicted before the #indictment was unsealed in the courtroom, when NYT broke that news in 2023. He says Rosenberg alerted him to that article.
Blanche’s point here seems to be that Rosenberg, the investigator, did something inappropriate, alerting Cohen to the fact that the indictment had been handed up. But NYT broke that news widely before the indictment was unsealed.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference

There’s laughing when Justice #Merchan shoots down Todd #Blanche, #Trump's lawyer. Blanche asked for a sidebar & got a dismissive “no” from Merchan.

We’ve had 10 objections in <20 mins.

Defense plays a recording of #MichaelCohen celebrating Trump's indictment on his podcast. His voice is loud & enthusiastic to the point of seeming off-putting.

Some jurors seem uncomfortable.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics

#MichaelCohen seems deflated after hearing that clip. Blanche asks if that was the first time that he had said he wanted #Trump to feel what Cohen himself had felt when he was prosecuted. Cohen says that he had expressed that sentiment before.

Reportedly Cohen’s voice sounded truly odd in the podcast clip. Giddy, high-pitched, & speaking so fast that it sounded as if the tape had been artificially sped up.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

#Blanche plays a 2nd clip of #MichaelCohen from his podcast, in which he says he hopes “that this man ends up in prison,” & “revenge is a dish best served cold,” & “you better believe I want this man to go down & rot inside for what he did to me & my family.”

Blanche asks Cohen if he believes his podcasts & media interviews played a role in #Trump's #indictment. “I took some credit, yes,” he says.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference

#Trump is paying close attention, as clips play of #MichaelCohen describing how much he hates Trump & wants him to rot in prison.

Prosecution used earlier witnesses to introduce Michael Cohen to the jury as an outsized personality. + Cohen has not been shy on the stand about his hatred of Trump. These clips, while entertaining, might not come as a huge shock to the jury.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics

#Blanche has yet to ask #MichaelCohen about anything in connection to the actual case that's on trial.

Trump's lawyers have focused on impeaching the credibility of the prosecution's 2 biggest witnesses, #StormyDaniels & Cohen. Though while Susan #Necheles’s cross-examination of Daniels was largely focused & had an arc, Blanche’s cross-examination of Cohen has been all over the place.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #Trump #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics

All #criminal trials involve #testimony from other #criminals.

That’s the thing about criminals, they work with other criminals.

Duh.

#Blanche is now demonstrating for the jury that #MichaelCohen lied under oath for different reasons. By his own admission, it wasn’t only to demonstrate his #loyalty to #Trump. He lied also, Cohen admits, because the stakes affected him personally.

#law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics

#Blanche is showing #MichaelCohen’s lack of remorse. Cohen has talked publicly about wanting to right the wrongs he committed while working for #Trump. Blanche is getting him to say he doesn’t think he should have been charged.

Blanche asks Cohen about blaming a lot of people for the conduct for which he was convicted. Cohen freely acknowledges he has.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics

#Blanche tries to connect #MichaelCohen having lied in his federal sentencing, when the outcome affected him personally, to his testimony here. “Do you have any doubt in your mind that the outcome of this trial affects you personally?” Blanche asks.

Throughout his cross-examination, Cohen has remained calm. He appeared mildly frustrated once but just shook his head after he answered one of Blanche’s questions.

#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference

#Blanche is now going over the financial transactions that allowed #MichaelCohen to pay #HushMoney to #StormyDaniels, perhaps the closest he's gotten to the subject matter of the case.

He notes that Cohen hid those transactions from his wife, apparently seeking to call into question whether Cohen was really as concerned about his family - & his wife — as he suggested when explaining his federal guilty plea.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #Trump #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference

#Blanche asked #MichaelCohen about a number of different events, including an exchange of public statements w/ Michael #Avenatti, one of #StormyDaniels's lawyers, & conversations w/his wife. He ended by asking Cohen if he had deleted his communications w/his wife around that time, & Cohen seemed genuinely stumped. Then Blanche asks if Cohen, around this time, had taken to deleting his texts more generally.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #Trump #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference

The defense is trying to suggest that #MichaelCohen has a history of manipulating the types of phone records that prosecutors have used here to bolster their case.

Blanche seizes on another lie: Cohen had testified years ago that he had never asked for a pardon, but testifies here today - as he did in a deposition - that he did, in fact, direct his lawyers to explore the possibility of a pardon.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #Trump #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #MobTactics

#MichaelCohen admits he asked his lawyers to explore the possibility, although he testified before a House panel that he would never have accepted one. Cohen points out — correctly, as NYT broke the story — that Trump was dangling pardons to people connected to the special counsel's investigation into the #Trump campaign's possible ties to #Russia.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics

Jurors will have to determine when — if ever — #MichaelCohen began telling the truth. #Blanche is demonstrating that Cohen told lies, big & small, over a long period of time & for various reasons.

At the same time, prosecutors have & will demonstrate in re-direct & closing arguments that #Trump has told lies, big & small, about a number of people & issues in this & other cases.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics

#TrumpTrial 🧵 Thursday 16 May 2024

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.

#law #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics #NodFarter #StormyDaniels

When you look at the facts of the Trump indictment — not imagined hypothetical scenarios — there is no way the Constitution grants him immunity from prosecution.

(Samuel Breidbart, Brennan Center for Justice)

Two centuries of U.S. constitutional history make clear that Donald Trump is liable to criminal prosecution.

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/spinning-hypotheticals-justices-forget-grim-facts-trumps-alleged-crimes

#Constitution
#SCOTUS #SupremeCourt #History #Immunity #Justice #Crime #Elections

#ElectionInterference #Fascism #Fascist #Trumpism #Corruption

Spinning Hypotheticals, Justices Forget the Grim Facts of Trump’s Alleged Crimes

^{Brennan Center for Justice}

Questioning resumed.

#Pecker says of his time at The #NationalEnquirer: "We used checkbook #journalism, & we paid for stories.”

#Steinglass asked him whether he had "final say" over editorial decisions. Pecker said anything >$10k had to be approved by him.

Pecker said in his experience, the only thing that's important "is the cover" of a magazine.

#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

#Steinglass asked #Pecker to recount his work cell phone number at the time.

That may seem small but it's important — it's a good bet that those numbers will come up when #evidence is presented.

#Trump leaned forward on the defense table as he listened to Pecker's testimony. As Pecker spoke about editor meetings, Trump passed notes to 2 of his lawyers before reportedly “glaring” at Pecker on the stand.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

#Pecker described the types of people #tabloids typically use as sources: hotel workers, limo drivers, lawyers, etc.

#Trump's lawyers have tried to depict the ##NationalEnquirer #tabloid as a media company like any other. But Pecker's testimony that they practiced “#CheckbookJournalism," & his description of their editorial practices, undermines that argument.

#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

After a short #testimony, #Pecker was dismissed from the stand. He’ll be back tomorrow.

Justice #Merchan told jurors about the schedule & asked them not to discuss the case w/ anyone & not to read about it. He asked them to put it out of their minds.

[signing off]
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

Here’s a sampling of #NationalEnquirer covers leading up to the 2016 presidential election:

Remember the twitter #TrumpLovesPecker hashtag?

#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

#GiftArticle ICYMI: #LachlanCartwright’s “What I Saw Working at The #NationalEnquirer During Donald #Trump’s Rise”

“…reading the indictment was like stepping through the looking glass,

#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/03/magazine/national-enquirer-trump-lachlan-cartwright.html?unlocked_article_code=1.mU0.Bo8c.tkQySLkdTTR2&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb

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.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

#Blanche made it clear that the #defense will continue to deny that #Trump had sex w/ #StormyDaniels.

Blanche called #MichaelCohen a "#criminal." [no duh. Criminals deal w/other criminals, yet point?]

Blanche continued: "He's obsessed w/President Trump even to this day.”

Blanche said Cohen demonstrated that obsession in his public interviews, & “his desire to see President Trump go to prison."

#law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

Prosecutors objected 3X during Blanche's opening statement. Justice #Merchan called them to the bench & prosecution won the objection.

Blanche loses a bit of his opening. He had to say instead that there is "nothing illegal" about entering a #NDA.

He said that companies use NDAs all the time & people who are wealthy & famous use them regularly, stressing there is nothing illegal about the practice.

#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney