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Cairn Horn88

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"Even when a mob boss is under indictment and goes to see Roy Cohn, Roy Cohn says, 'All right, shut up and listen to me now, I know what needs to happen. We're going to go there and say maybe you haven't lived an exemplary life, but this charge and that charge,' they can't do that with Trump," Litman said.

"Can everyone be lying here? Imagine the cross examination they're going to have to do on Stormy Daniels," Litman added. "They're just going to have to call her a flaming liar...It's a terrible strategy."

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-defense-hush-money-trial-litman-1895597

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18 minutes ago, Red Five said:

That was my question from before the trial started. Are they going to call Daniels and McDougal extortionists? I mean they have to right?

I wonder if they will essentially call no defense witnesses and just try to argue at close that the State simply hasn't made it's case.  Hicks testimony completely torpedoes the notion that Trump didn't know and that Cohen was acting alone, so to me that angle is out.  

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45 minutes ago, Red Five said:

That was my question from before the trial started. Are they going to call Daniels and McDougal extortionists? I mean they have to right?

I really hope they try that.  I would love to see Stormy call him Mushroom Man on the stand.

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22 minutes ago, BamaATL said:

I wonder if they will essentially call no defense witnesses and just try to argue at close that the State simply hasn't made it's case.  Hicks testimony completely torpedoes the notion that Trump didn't know and that Cohen was acting alone, so to me that angle is out.  

 

I'm guessing they are going to essentially concede this, appeal it and hope to get it overturned on appeal down the road, because even though it is a state case, assuming he wins this November, who will give a shit after that?  Right? 

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46 minutes ago, Red Five said:

That was my question from before the trial started. Are they going to call Daniels and McDougal extortionists? I mean they have to right?

I don’t know how they do that without tacit admission that he did have sex with them. And if he did, then clearly the money he paid (or that was paid on his behalf and then reimbursed through his business as “legal fees”) was to keep them quiet ie campaign donation. That ties the prosecution’s argument up with a nice bow imo 

 

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

I don’t know how they do that without tacit admission that he did have sex with them. And if he did, then clearly the money he paid (or that was paid on his behalf and then reimbursed through his business as “legal fees”) was to keep them quiet ie campaign donation. That ties the prosecution’s argument up with a nice bow imo 

 

 

 

To quote Mitt Romney, "You don't pay someone $130k to not have sex with you." 

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If Trump claims under oath he never had sex with either woman, and one or both can prove otherwise, that puts him on the hook for perjury, doesn't it?

I'm not sure how one would "prove" it without video or maybe a 3rd party witness (a mental image so gross I'm going to go make a Bloody Mary to hopefully wash it out of my brain).

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Don’t extortionists typically attempt to extort the entity of which they have information?  These women didn’t go to Trump and say pay me to keep quiet. They shopped their stories to tabloids and newspapers to be told- and it was the enquirer that bought them and kept them out of the public. 
 

 

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Posted (edited)
On 5/3/2024 at 5:40 PM, Biff Tannen said:

This reinforces the fact that his followers are the dumbest people.  He commits crimes right out in the open.  He commits non-criminal, but deplorable acts right out in the open.  Yet these people are not smart enough to see it when it is in front of their face.  

I don't think its that they don't see his crimes, I think its that they see "the system" as a rigged sham.  Crimes are just violations of rules.  Rules that they feel are unjust and capricious and designed to keep them down.  In that worldview, the crime is that rules exist in the first place.

Edited by Goredho
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5 minutes ago, Goredho said:

I don't think its that they don't see his crimes, I think its that they see "the system" as a rigged sham.  Crimes are just violations of rules.  Rules that they feel are unjust and capricious and designed to keep them down.  In that worldview, the crime is that rules exist in the first place.

Agree. It’s all a conspiracy. And boo hoo for them. It’s so unfair. What’s going to be really unfair is when they get cut down by a hail of bullets when they try it again. 

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1 hour ago, Macanudo said:

I really hope they try that.  I would love to see Stormy call him Mushroom Man on the stand.

So Ms. Daniels you're saying he's a real fungi to be intimate with?

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The jurors also saw an email from Hope when she learned about the access Hollywood tape. 

Prosecutors displayed evidence showing that Hicks forwarded the email (which included a transcript of the tape) from the Washington Post reporter to other Trump aides: Kellyanne Conway, Steve Bannon, Jason Miller and David Bossie. She wrote: "Flagging." Followed by two bullet points: "Need to hear the tape to be sure." And "Deny, deny, deny."
Honestly, that is the sort of stuff that paid political PR people do in the normal course of dealing with potential scandals.   I do not personally consider this egregiously unethical, as it is not sworn testimony or communication, and the reason you keep those people around. See James Carville and Clinton.
But it may stick in some jurors ‘ minds that the Trump coalition, as it were, will always lie to protect itself and to cover up bad acts.  IOW, this is exactly the same kind of negative, campaign-injuring news as the Stormy and McDougall situations, and so Trump and his toadies can be expected to deny, deny, deny the truth of what the prosecutors say he did here. 
There is zero chance that this exhibit will not be referred to in the prosecutors’ closing.
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On 5/4/2024 at 10:20 AM, Brisketexan said:

The problem is worst when we the people enable and reward the bad actor. Like we’ve done with Trump. The problem is tens of millions of your fellow Americans who masturbate furiously to the idea of being ruled by a criminal dictator.

This system you speak of is supposed to be fair and impartial.  If that was the case, then it wouldn't mean fuck all how many people masturbate furiously to some wannabe dictator.

Fair.  Impartial.  That means take off the kid gloves and get after his ass like he was a brown man accused of robbing a liquor store.

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8 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

I'm confused.  Why would you want to see today's McDougal titties when prime McDougal titties and poonanny are readily available?

I can only speak for myself, but my only rules on titties is if I'm allowed to touch them or see them, they are real.  

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13 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

I'm confused.  Why would you want to see today's McDougal titties when prime McDougal titties and poonanny are readily available?

They’re silicone. They probably look the same today as they did when she bought them. 

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52 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

I'm confused.  Why would you want to see today's McDougal titties when prime McDougal titties and poonanny are readily available?

It’s a fair question. Let’s submit more photos of tits as evidence and we can all decide! Doesn’t have to be McDougal tits. 

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1 hour ago, atomheartbevo said:

And he destroyed Hope Hicks.

I’ve never really watched Lawrence O’Donnell, but damn he’s brutal and entertaining.

Based on the clip above, Larry has a very high opinion of himself.

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15 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Based on the clip above, Larry has a very high opinion of himself.

Based on the clip above, I have a very high opinion of Larry. I thought his show that night was remarkable. 

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Just now, Texas73 said:

Based on the clip above, I have a very high opinion of Larry. I thought his show that night was remarkable. 

I agreed with most of his takedown of Hicks, but the intro about dotard avoiding eye contact because he said that was a dumb mistake (it was) was unnecessary fluff at the beginning of the clip.

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7 hours ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

I agreed with most of his takedown of Hicks, but the intro about dotard avoiding eye contact because he said that was a dumb mistake (it was) was unnecessary fluff at the beginning of the clip.

Unless Trump was watching, which he likely was, which means he was losing his shit, which makes it absolutely necessary and awesome. 

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Posted (edited)

New Witness:  Jeffery McConney

 

We’ve concluded looking at the series of 11 invoices that prosecutors say were falsified. With that testimony, we take our morning break.

The last 10 minutes or so have consisted of a slow procession of invoices from Cohen and related emails between Jeffrey McConney, Deborah Tarasoff and Allen Weisselberg being shown on the video monitors in the courtroom. These, prosecutors say, are the false documents. They don’t look like much, and despite their centrality to the case, the room has taken on a relaxed atmosphere as we make our way through them.

It’s worth noting that Michael Cohen was not working for the Trump Organization anymore as he was submitting these invoices. At some point in 2017, he set up shop at Squire Patton Boggs’s offices in Midtown. Cohen continued to describe himself as Trump’s personal lawyer that year, providing a connection to Trump directly. But he was not working for the company.

As Jeffrey McConney continued to testify, Trump turned to one of his lawyers, Emil Bove, and whispered to him urgently, with Bove responding a bit more calmly and nodding.

In a funny aside, Jeffrey McConney is asked where Trump physically was in 2017. He deadpans that Trump was in Washington, D.C. He then describes the fact that the checks would have to be sent to the White House for the president of the United States to sign.

McConney makes clear that starting in March 2017, these checks reimbursing Michael Cohen began coming out of Trump’s personal bank account.

In March 2017, Trump began a pressure campaign on his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, to get him to reverse his recusal from the investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russians.

For context on how the Trump Organization worked, Jeffrey McConney’s son Justin was the person who basically ran Trump’s Twitter feed before Trump learned how to do it himself, a moment that Justin described to Politico as like the moment the dinosaurs learned to open doors in “Jurassic Park.”

Jeffrey McConney, who no longer works for the Trump Organization, says they’re still footing his legal bills.

Jeffrey McConney testifies that he worked for the Trump Organization beginning in 1987. For context, that’s just a few years after Trump Tower opened, and the same year that Trump made a feint at running for president the first time with a trip to New Hampshire as his book “The Art of the Deal” was being published.

He is now describing the intricate lacing of more than 500 entities that comprise the Trump Organization.

Prosecutors call Jeffrey McConney to the stand. The jury is in its seats.

McConney is a tall man with a white shoulder length hair and bangs that nearly fall over his eyes. He is sworn in and sits down at the witness stand. He will be questioned by the prosecutor Matthew Colangelo.

Interesting to see that neither Joshua Steinglass nor Susan Hoffinger, the two prosecutors who led the last criminal trial at which McConney testified, are handling this. McConney was a difficult witness at that trial — not only did he decline to answer many questions, but he also had to be excused after falling ill, delaying the trial.

We are beginning to see the roots of what prosecutors say are false about the documents at issue in this case. Jeffrey McConney told Deborah Tarasoff, who dealt with the details of payroll at the Trump Organization and who is also expected to testify, to record the payments to Michael Cohen as “legal expenses.” He also told her to say they were being made as part of a “retainer” agreement between Cohen and Trump, which prosecutors say did not exist. Prosecutors say that was a way to disguise the hush-money reimbursement to Cohen. To find Trump guilty, jurors will have to agree that these documents were indeed falsified.

This is also why the prosecutors laid out their case they way they did — with the conspiracy around concealing negative information about Trump ahead of the election coming first.

Matthew Colangelo, the prosecutor, asked McConney if he ever saw a retainer agreement. He responded: “I did not.”

On screen is an email from Allen Weisselberg to Jeffrey McConney saying that it was okay to pay the money to Michael Cohen, “per agreement with Don and Eric.” Eric Trump is sitting in the courtroom as this takes place.

Notably, McConney testifies that he didn’t send the invoice from Cohen to the legal department for review. He acknowledges he typically would do so with invoices.

Jeffrey McConney is testifying about hugely important documentary evidence, only barely disguised by the financial documents and handwritten notes on screen. We just now learned that the payment came from Trump’s personal bank account. It appears we are about to see that the invoices Michael Cohen sent for the payment were prompted by Cohen’s conversation with Allen Weisselberg, in an arrangement, again, that Cohen will testify was confirmed with Trump.

Earlier in McConney’s testimony, the prosecution team established an important context for this: That Trump himself paid extremely close attention to his finances and especially to any outgoing cash.

McConney said he soon got in touch with Cohen about processing these payments. He emailed Cohen in early February 2017 with a reminder to send him invoices. The subject line was “$$.”

Jurors are seeing a lot of notes scribbled by Jeffrey McConney. It looks more like how someone might track their personal taxes on the fly, not something coming out of a company.

This evidence helps to counter one of the arguments that the defense made in its opening statement, asking the jury to consider why, if Michael Cohen made a payment of $130,000, he was paid so much more than he would have been owed. But Jeffrey McConney just walked us through the disparity in the amounts, which includes both a bonus for Cohen and tax considerations.

This also underscores the prosecution’s argument that top officials in the Trump Organization were involved in making Cohen financially whole. And McConney just walked through how closely Trump, historically, has paid attention to his bottom line.

We’re seeing a bank statement from Michael Cohen’s shell company, Essential Consultants, marked with a handwritten notation by Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer. It outlines the reimbursement to Cohen, which included a bonus and monies to cover a tax burden. Weisselberg’s handwriting is a scrawl but Jeffrey McConney seems to be able to read it.

We are seeing important evidence right now, of the instructions Weisselberg gave to McConney as related to paying Cohen, in part to reimburse the hush-money payment. This fulfills several important functions: Cohen is expected to testify that he spoke with Trump about being repaid, and that Trump asked Weisselberg to handle the specifics. So here, we see paper evidence of what prosecutors will say is the aftermath of that conversation, and the blueprints for the repayment.

Jeffrey McConney, and the courtroom, are now being shown banking records that are going to lead to the heart of the case.

Last week, we saw only a brief glimpse of the hush money payment actually changing hands, when Keith Davidson, Stormy Daniels’s 2016 lawyer, texted someone the words “funds received.” Now, we’re seeing more evidence of that all-important transaction, including a withdrawal of about $130,000 related to the company Michael Cohen set up to facilitate the payment.

Jeffrey McConney is beginning to testify, albeit fairly euphemistically, about the reimbursement to Michael Cohen for the hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels. McConney says that in 2017, his boss, Allen Weisselberg, told him that Cohen needed some money. Some of it was related to Cohen’s bonus, McConney testifies, and adds, “And then there was some other money he was owed.” Cohen was owed $130,000 for the hush-money payment.

The prosecutor just asked Jeffrey McConney: “Are you familiar with” Michael Cohen? This is going to introduce key conversations between Allen Weisselberg, the former top financial official at the Trump Organization, and Cohen, a key witness for the prosection.

McConney is being fairly mocking of Cohen. Asked about his role, McConney says, “He said he was a lawyer.”

Jeffrey McConney is no stranger to the witness stand. I have seen him testify three times. In 2023, at Trump’s civil fraud trial, he teared up on the stand. “I just wanted to relax and stop being accused of misrepresenting assets for the company that I loved working for. I’m sorry,” he testified. McConney was also a defendant in that case.

Jeffrey McConney just told a story that is emblematic of Trump’s management style. He says about a year into his employment, he walked into Trump’s office. The boss, who was on the phone, said to him: “Jeff, you’re fired.” Once Trump hung up, he elaborated. McConney wasn’t actually fired, but Trump warned him that it was a problem that his “cash balances went down last week” and urged him to “focus on my bills.” It was, McConney says, a “teaching moment.” And it’s helpful for prosecutors seeking to illustrate how closely Trump was focused on the outflow of cash.

Trump smiled widely as McConney told this story. “You’re fired,” of course, was his catchphrase on “The Apprentice,” the reality show that vaulted him to a new level of fame, and, one could argue, his successful run for president.

So far in this trial, Trump has seemed to enjoy listening to his former employees recount positive memories of working for him during their testimony.

Trump is often leaning back and closing his eyes. The prosecution is currently asking the witness, in granular detail, about the inner workings of the Trump Organization’s accounting department. This includes defining the term “general ledger.”

Friday featured Hope Hicks discussing the fevered final days of the 2016 presidential campaign, crying on the stand. Today, we are hearing about accounting software.

While McConney was delving into one of the dryer details of his accounting job, I took a glance at Justice Merchan’s written ruling finding Trump in contempt. In the courtroom, the judge suggested he was giving the former president a last chance. But the written order leaves Trump a bit of wiggle room — Merchan writes that “if appropriate and warranted, future violations” of his orders will be punishable by jail. He could have drawn an even brighter red line by saying “any future violation.” Still, overall, this is a dire situation for the former president.

For those of us who covered the Trump Organization’s trial in 2022, hearing Jeffrey McConney’s testimony is like experiencing deja vu. At that trial, too, McConney testified about his old boss, Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, who is currently in jail. McConney and Weisselberg had been close, having lunch every day, as McConney just testified. In this trial filled with fascinating witnesses and compelling testimony, McConney’s appearance may mark a turn, as we begin to hear about the financial documents at the heart of the case.

During that trial, the Trump Organization was convicted of tax fraud and other crimes.

McConney lights up a little — looking at the jury, flashing a grin — when he mentions “Accounts Receivable,” describing it as when money is coming into an organization.

 

 

The jury is now coming in after an intense start to the day, complete with an overt threat of jail for Trump if he continues to violate his gag order.

The judge is now scolding the defense lawyers. He is frustrated because they wish to lodge objections related to the witness, Jeffrey McConney, but that they did not tell him yesterday, when they learned who the witness was, that they would have objections. Justice Merchan has objected to what he sees as efforts from the defense to delay the trial, often by taking action last minute.

Defense lawyers suggest they’ve been told Jeffrey McConney, who was a top Trump Organization official at the time of the Stormy Daniels payout, will be the next witness.

McConney, the former controller of the Trump Organization, is familiar to many of the reporters covering this trial. He testified at the trial of Trump’s company in 2022 and at Trump’s civil fraud trial last year, where he was among the defendants.

Justice Merchan says that his job is to “protect the dignity of the justice system,” and calls Trump’s violations of his gag order “a direct attack on the rule of law.” And now he hands down his decision. We’ve already heard that he held Trump in violation a 10th time, in addition to the previous nine violations.

Trump had no noticable reaction to Merchan warning him that jail could be in the offing if he continues to flaunt his gag order.

He was hunched over the defense table as Merchan issued his warning. When the judge concluded, Trump shook his head.

Justice Merchan is speaking directly to Trump, in an extraordinary moment. He tells him he’s finding him in contempt of the gag order a 10th time, but that the $1,000 per instance fines aren’t working and that he has to consider jail. “The last thing” he wants to do is put Trump in jail, the judge says, adding, “You are the former president of the United States and possibly the next president as well.”

Justice Merchan tells Trump his ongoing violation of his gag order is a “direct attack on the rule of law. I cannot allow that to continue." He says he wants him to understand he will put him in jail if he has to.

The judge says he will address the motion for contempt and begins to address Trump and his lawyers. He says that he will find Trump in criminal contempt for the 10th time — one for each of the violations of his gag order.

Emil Bove, who has been aggressive in cross-examination, is sitting first-chair at the defense table this morning, while Todd Blanche, another Trump lawyer, is sitting chatting with the defendant. Trump has wanted his defense to fight more.

The judge is on the bench and we are set to begin.

As a reminder, Hope Hicks concluded her testimony on Friday, and court ended a bit early that day. We don’t know yet who is testifying today.

Trump is in the courtroom, with his son Eric in tow again. Alina Habba, who represented Trump in his civil fraud trial last year, is sitting next to Eric Trump. Boris Epshteyn, Trump’s recently-indicted legal adviser, is sitting behind both, several seats away from Alan Garten, the Trump Organization's general counsel.

The prosecutors have entered, carrying their boxes of documents. They wish a good morning to the court officers and begin to set up their table.

Good morning from the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, where Donald J. Trump is on trial on charges that he falsified business records while reimbursing a hush-money payment to a porn star. Today marks the start of the fourth week of the trial and the third week of testimony.

 

Edited by Francisco 2.0
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