The end of the prosecution’s questioning Michael Cohen shows the 2016 falsified business records case was definitely in furtherance of another crime. Now for cross-examination. The attempt to get a mistrial or a reversal on appeal seems now more obvious after beginning what will be a day(s) of badgering and ‘dirtying up’ Michael Cohen. They will frame Cohen as a liar, but in the trumpian world where falsehoods are the coin of the realm, Donald’s lies are cryptocurrency.
Judge criticized Blanche at bench conference for truly improper opening of cross, asking about Cohen recently criticizing him & Necheles Three objections so far, all sustained, two questions stricken Answers are just highlighting bad evidence Poor opening sequence by Blanche
— Norm Eisen (#TryingTrump out now!) (@NormEisen) May 14, 2024
The NYC prosecution is really about Trump’s MO —lying. He’s a matryoshka doll of mendacity. He lies, lies some more, then lies about the lies he’s told. To be sure, all his criminal cases involve lies—about the 2020 election, about the military secrets he stole. “But the alleged…
Not all that long ago, I thought that the trial currently being held in The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump would be the last one I’d want to see as the first one tried against the former president. It seemed the least serious of the cases against him. Here’s a man who tried to overthrow American democracy by launching a coup to stay in power. A man who allegedly stole dozens of boxes of classified national-security documents from the White House, some containing secrets about other countries’ nuclear-weapons capabilities, then lied about the documents, concealed them, and obstructed a federal investigation about them.
I thought I would have strongly preferred the cases about those matters to have gone first, particularly the secret-documents case, which substantively would be a lock, were it not for the judge overseeing it. But I feel the need to admit error. The truth is, I’ve come around to the view that People v. Trump is, in at least some ways, the perfect case to put Trump in the dock for the first time, and—I hope, but we’ll see—perhaps prison.
Because this case really captures Donald Trump. The legal commentariat have been engaged in an odd debate about what to call it. “The Stormy Daniels case.” “The hush-money case.” “The porn-star-hush-money case.” (Personally, that’s always been my favorite, and I think it sounds even better in German—Pornostarschweigegeldrechtsfall.) The more legally precise would like it to be known as “the New York business-records-falsification case,” because that’s what the New York penal code says it is. Some high-minded people I know prefer “the New York election-interference prosecution,” because it involves the concealment of a matter that might well have affected the outcome of the 2016 presidential race.
All these locutions work, but what the case is really about is Trump’s modus operandi—lying. He’s a matryoshka doll of mendacity. He lies, usually lies some more, and then often lies about the lies he’s previously told. He told at least 30,573 lies while president, by The Washington Post’s count. He lies almost whenever he opens his mouth, even when truth would better serve him. To be sure, his other criminal cases involve lies—lies about the 2016 election, lies about the military secrets he stole. But the alleged lies in People v. Trump strike at the core of his moral putrescence—and Trump knows it. They are lies allegedly meant to cover up a tawdry man’s tawdry behavior. The case truly embodies Donald Trump. And for that reason, I think, it deeply disturbs him.
Trump has been slouched at the defense table yet again with his eyes closed, this time for more than 15 minutes. Whether he's sleeping or this is some sort of silent protest is hard to say. But jurors -- who have been awake the whole time-- can absolutely see this.
Quite a split screen between this and Cohen's maintained eye contact with jurors — now, in a lengthy monologue about his location monitoring for an ankle bracelet in connection with his sentencing. https://t.co/1DaDXq5c83
House Speaker Mike Johnson says at presser outside Trump’s hush money trial that he told Trump “I wanted to be here myself and call out what is a travesty of justice.” pic.twitter.com/wEEUPeYqpC
KAITLAN COLLINS: Did Trump ask you to come out and criticize the judge's daughter? BURGUM: No, not whatsoever. I'm here completely as a volunteer. pic.twitter.com/rlr5kJSeBE
THREAD: Here's what the Mueller Report has to say about Cohen: "After the FBI searched Cohen’s home and office in April 2018, the President publicly asserted that Cohen would not “flip,” contacted him directly to tell him to “stay strong,” and privately passed messages of support…
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) May 14, 2024
This is from Volume II - the Obstruction of Justice Volume. The treatment of Cohen was part of a larger pattern of obstructive behavior by Donald Trump. Eventually, Bill Bar would write a memo declining to charge Trump for Obstruction even if he weren't the president. 3/
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) May 14, 2024
But today, this particular obstructive behavior toward Cohen, which was first investigated by Mueller, could lead to a conviction. We'll know in less than a month. END/
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) May 14, 2024
well, duh
Former president Donald Trump took to Truth Social Tuesday morning to fume in his usual type-screaming style that the hush-money case against him is “election interference” and that Judge Merchan, who is overseeing the trial, is somehow “making big money.”https://t.co/NnkEiTz5RK
Blanche: As a matter of fact, on April 23rd, so after the trial started in this case, you went on TikTok and called me a "Crying little shit;" didn't you?
‘We decline’: Trump gag order upheld in hush-money case as appeals court cites Jan. 6 judge’s instruction to keep witnesses ‘free from threats, intimidation, harassment, and harm’ https://t.co/aHYkWmPK7R
Attorney Clark Brewster appeared on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” on Monday, where he revealed how the adult film star wore a bulletproof vest underneath her clothes “every day” until she got to the Manhattan courthouse where the trial is taking place.
