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

#Republican #LizCheney, the fmr congresswoman, #Jan6 cmte co-chair & #Trump critic, assailed #House Speaker #MikeJohnson for his impending appearance outside the courthouse where Trump's #ElectionInterference / #HushMoney trial is taking place. “Have to admit I’m surprised that SpeakerJohnson wants to be in the ’I cheated on my wife with a porn star’club,” she wrote on X. “I guess he’s not that concerned with teaching morality to our young people after all.”

#TrumpTrial #law #Republicans #GOP

#Hoffinger, the prosecutor asks #MichaelCohen specific questions about the recording.

Cohen says that when he insisted that David #Pecker be paid, he made reference to Pecker's dossier on #Trump. And he says that while he said "financing," he meant "funding," meaning he was asking how Pecker would be repaid for silencing #KarenMcDougal's story.

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

Michael Cohen testifies that he - & everybody - at the #TrumpOrganization spoke to #AllenWeisselberg about financial transactions. Weisselberg, currently in #jail, was involved in coordinating the repayments to Cohen after Cohen paid #HushMoney to #StormyDaniels.

Cohen is emphatic that Weisselberg was involved in every deal no matter the size.

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

#Trump seems to have paid attention to very little of #MichaelCohen's testimony so far. He spent the first hour or so sitting still at the defense table with his eyes closed. After the morning break he's been awake but reading through printouts as he often does - likely news clippings printed by his staff.

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

An incredible number of hours went into covering up #Trump's alleged affairs in 2016. #MicgaelCohen & the team at The #NationalEnquirer went to elaborate lengths & constantly communicated about how to keep #women quiet. Accounting departments were engaged. Front companies were created. Misleading invoices were produced.

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

Before court adjourned on Friday, Justice #Merchan asked prosecutors to tell #MichaelCohen to stop talking shit about #Trump, after a defense lawyer alerted the court to a recent TikTok video in which Cohen wore a shirt w/ a picture of Trump behind bars. We don’t know what, if any, discussions this prompted between prosectors & Cohen, but he appeared to stay off social media this past weekend.

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

#Trump brought a posse today.

Senator #JDVance, Eric Trump, Boris Ephsteyn, his *legal* adviser; Alina Habba, one of the lawyers from his civil fraud trial; US House Rep #NicoleMalliotakis; Senator #TommyTuberville; & the #Iowa & #Alabama attorneys general.
This is the biggest entourage we’ve seen him with so far.
He must be scared.

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

In case you need a refresher on #MichaelCohen

Cohen pleaded guilty in Aug 2018 to a variety of federal crimes, including #CampaignFinance #law violations for his role in 2 #HushMoney deals w/ women who said they had sex w/ #Trump. He also pleaded guilty to personal financial #crimes unrelated to Trump, including tax evasion.

#criminal #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference

3 months later, MichaelCohen was back in federal court to plead guilty once again. That time, he accepted responsibility for lying to #Congress about plans to build a #TrumpTower in #Moscow, #Russia saying he did so out of loyalty to #Trump.

His loyalty faded in 2018 when authorities zeroed in on Cohen, & Trump threw him under the bus. Cohen is now the star witness in this #criminal trial, which centers on a #HushMoney deal.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #ElectionInterference

Justice Merchan said before proceedings began that he would not allow in a piece of evidence related to #AllenWeisselberg, the fmr CFO of the #TrumpOrganization, who is currently in #jail.

Prosecutors had hoped to put in evidence his severance agreement that requires #Weisselberg still be loyal to #Trump, to help explain his absence at the trial. But the judge is saying he won’t allow it.

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

#MichaelCohen is asked to identify #Trump.

Cohen says that he came into Trump’s circle by purchasing Trump properties. Then, he says, Trump himself offered him an opportunity to work at the #TrumpOrganization “as his special counsel.” He describes that transition into Trump’s world.

#Hoffinger, the prosecutor, asks #Cohen if Trump paid him for early #legal work he did at a Trump building, Trump World Tower. “No, ma’am,” he replies.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #conspiracy #ElectionInterference

#MichaelCohen is now testifying that he went to meet w/ #Trump on a bill about another matter. He says he was asked to meet Trump at his office. Trump asked if Cohen was happy at his “sleepy old firm,” & Cohen ultimately went to work for Trump. The bill was never paid. Trump told Cohen that he would only report to him.

Cohen got #Ivanka Trump’s old office on the 26th fl of Trump Tower when he took the job at the #TrumpOrganization.

#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #ElectionInterference

#MichaelCohen is speaking easily now. He’s injecting some personality into his testimony. He describes negotiating w/ #Trump over his salary, he says they settled on a compromise of $375k a year. “Bonus of course was to be discussed,” Cohen adds.

“It was whatever he wanted,” Michael Cohen says when asked to describe his duties at the #TrumpOrganization. Cohen leans into the word “he.”

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

Hoffinger, the prosecutor, is eliciting testimony from #MichaelCohen that he didn’t work in the general counsel’s office at the #TrumpOrganization -- he worked directly w/ #Trump.

One of the matters that Cohen often handled was brow-beating the #media for any negative stories about Trump. Many reporters — some in the courtroom today — received calls from Cohen in which he attacked their coverage of his boss.

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

#MichaelCohen begins to describe the projects he began to undertake for #Trump, saying that they were “exciting” to him. Cohen was something of a Trump fanboy, & it’s easy to imagine him taking great pleasure in doing these tasks for his new boss. He reported only to Trump, he has said several times. “Just to Mr. Trump.”

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

#MichaelCohen says #Trump’s praise made him feel like “I was on top of the world.”

Cohen testifies about threatening lawsuits against people while he worked for Trump. One was a #MissUSA contestant (I assume sexual assault but it isn’t said). In other cases, Cohen said, he would be antagonistic to reporters, warning them that Trump would sue them over specific stories.

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

#MichaelCohen is asked if he was “strong” or acted in a “threatening manner,” to which he replies, “I would say so,” but adds, not all the time.

#Hoffinger asks if #Cohen interacted frequently w/the press — seeking to emphasize how much #Trump cared about what was written about him, even before he ran for president. Hoffinger asks if Cohen worked to “minimize negative stories” & enhance positive ones.

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

#MichaelCohen is now describing talking to #Trump every single day, multiple times a day, before the #2016election. It was either in person or by cell phone, Cohen testifies.

He says that if he needed to reach Trump, depending on who Trump was with, he could have reached out to #RhonaGraff, his exec asst; #KeithSchiller, Trump’s #bodyguard; #HopeHicks, his press sec, or the Trump *kids*.

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

#Hoffinger used #MichaelCohen to testify how #Trump didn't like leaving a written record of what he was doing, because, in Cohen's telling, he didn't want his words to get him into #legal trouble. This helps prepare the jury for a gap in the prosecution's case: that they need to rely on Cohen's word - & not a written record, like an email - to prove that Trump himself was involved in the falsification of business records.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #MobTactics