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Cairn Horn88

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Posted (edited)
15 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

Not necessarily. Often times the prosecutor and the defense would call many of the same witnesses. The defense can either insert its case into cross-examination of the witnesses in the prosecution's case or it can recall the witnesses after the prosecution rests. It isn't clear in this case that Trump is going to have any other witnesses, so his legal team may just be going with the former strategy. 

A lot of the time, if there is a possibility that the defense will not put on a case of it's own (relying instead on cross of the state's witnesses, alone), the opening focuses heavily on the state's burden of proof and reiterates that the defense does not have to prove a goddamn thing in order to acquit.

As far as I know, Trump's defense did not open this way.  It's not a prerequisite to resting after the prosecution's case, but in terms of jury expectations, it's best to prepare them for that possibility.

(as with many of my quotes of dcbc, I know you know this, just elaborating for the peanut gallery).

Edited by TwiceHorn
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Hey Boebert. It's because Trump is the criminal defendant. He's the one on trial. That's why.

But if y'all would like to talk for awhile about gagging her too, that would be ok with me.

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38 minutes ago, texasdago said:

Was thinking of the comments above re: Rush Limbaugh.  I used to gobble up books and the drivel by Limbaugh, O'Reilly and their ilk.  Good God I was dumbass back then.  If there's one thing I can say Cheeto did that was a positive for me is he snapped me out of it.  When he came along, I was like, WTF y'all?  Are we not seeing this?  He caused me to reevaluate a LOT!

Joking Another Period GIF by Comedy Central 

This gif pretty much sums up my reactions to much of the world since 2015.

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On 5/15/2024 at 8:55 AM, Red Five said:

Getting the words "convicted felon" before his name will be nice. 

"My opponent, convicted felon Donald Trump...."

Or in a series of ads. "Not only is he a convicted felon, but he was also found liable for rape." 

Why be so nice about it when the other side just flat out makes shit up and preaches it as gospel? Yes, he was only found liable for rape in a civil case, but fuck that. Call him a convicted rapist. That's only inaccurate in the technical, legal meaning of the words.

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Posted (edited)

[Programming note:  I'm going away until June 3rd.  I've hit up @bolverk to see if he's interested in carrying on.  Enjoy the spectacle next week.]

 

 

Thursday afternoon, Cohen continued:

There is no trial tomorrow, giving prosecutors a long weekend to plan their next moves. The defense spent a whole day casting Cohen as a liar and elicited admissions that he had lied under oath during past cases, allowing them to cast some doubt on aspects of the story he’s told at this trial. But prosecutors will have three days to prepare for a crucial re-direct, in which they will seek to build Cohen back up and refocus the jurors on the most important elements of their case.

Blanche had until today been the weakest of the three lawyers at Trump’s table on cross-examination. But he elicited testimony from Cohen on the second day of cross-examination portraying him as a liar who engaged in shady practices with people he dealt with across the board.

Justice Merchan stops early, as Todd Blanche says he’s moving to another area. Aides to Trump who are sitting two rows behind him, Karoline Leavitt and Boris Epshteyn, exchange knowing glances.

Todd Blanche is now getting Michael Cohen to admit he lied to reporters in early 2018 and also secretly recorded conversations with reporters about Trump’s involvement in the hush-money payment.

Blanche is emphasizing and underscoring the time period that Cohen recorded reporters — early 2018. Based on his previous lines of questioning, it seems as if he is preparing the jury to catch Cohen in another lie or misleading statement.

Todd Blanche is now trying to undermine the close relationship Michael Cohen said he had with Trump himself. He is asking whether Cohen did legal work not only for Trump, but also for his family and the Trump Organization. Then Blanche notes that Cohen did not have a legal retainer to do this work.

This is the first time today that I remember Blanche going straight at the prosecution's argument. Prosecutors have said that Trump's reimbursements for the hush money were fraudulently disguised as legal services, even though Cohen had no legal retainer. The point Blanche is seeking to make is: Cohen did legal work for years, and never had a legal retainer.

Blanche is also trying to minimize the fact that Cohen had no retainer agreement with Trump, suggesting New York ethics rules don’t require it.

We’ll have to wait for redirect to see how prosecutors might counter this. One thing they may do is point out that the invoices said that Cohen was paid pursuant to a legal retainer.

Todd Blanche is now showing the hush-money contract that Michael Cohen struck with Stormy Daniels. He gets Cohen to agree it’s a “perfectly legal contract.” He’s raising his voice to emphasize this point — to try to make the jury feel like this arrangement was business as usual.

This is a line we’ve heard before from the defense. Blanche hammered it home during his opening statement, where he said that nondisclosure agreements were typical among the wealthy and famous and that they were not illegal.

Todd Blanche is questioning Michael Cohen again on his interactions with reporters when he worked for Trump. Blanche is now asking about negotiations he had with the ABC News reporter John Santucci regarding the Stormy Daniels story.

 

Todd Blanche, the defense lawyer, is asking Michael Cohen how he can have specific memories of phone calls that he conducted eight years ago. Cohen responds that the reason he remembers them is because he’s been talking about the conversations for six years.

Blanche digs in, asking if Cohen has been talking about the specific phone calls he has been testifying about for six years. Blanche is pouring disbelief into his tone, acting as if Cohen's testimony is ridiculous. Cohen is staring at the lawyer, his mouth downturned.

Trump has his eyes glued on Cohen this afternoon. This has been rare for Trump throughout this trial.

Todd Blanche is drawing out Michael Cohen about his relationships with reporters over the years. Blanche gets Cohen to admit that he serially recorded reporters without their knowledge, including our colleague Maggie Haberman. Blanche also gets Cohen to say that he sent a recording of somebody else to Haberman as she was reporting a story.

Todd Blanche is trying to get Michael Cohen to say that while working for Trump, he gave statements to reporters without checking in with his boss. Cohen is refusing to concede this, and says that he would always talk to Trump about every story.

Blanche is trying to establish the idea for the jury that Cohen was a rogue agent who did things without consulting with Trump — for example, the hush-money payment.

In particular, Blanche noted that Cohen often frustrated campaign officials with statements he made to the press during the 2016 campaign. Cohen parries that by saying Trump had told them that Cohen reported to him.

Michael Cohen is now speaking directly to the jury about his longstanding relationship with journalists.

Todd Blanche is going back in time, asking Cohen about positive stories he had planted, not just about Trump but also about himself.

He says that reporters would often call him or the Trump Organization asking for comment. He said he would immediately go to Trump’s office and they would come up with a crafted response that he would take back to the reporter.

Cohen adds that it was his routine to advise Trump about these matters, because if the resulting story was not to his liking, “it would cause him to blow up at me” and “it would probably be the end of my job.”

To recap, right before the lunch break, Todd Blanche extracted one of the most helpful bits of testimony from Michael Cohen that he’s gotten from any witness on cross-examination so far. During that exchange, he sought to create reasonable doubt that Cohen had accurately and truthfully recounted a conversation he said he had about Stormy Daniels with Trump on his bodyguard's phone on Oct. 24, 2016.

Blanche is now driving home that Cohen threatened to turn the Secret Service on a prank caller who said they were 14 years old.

Todd Blanche, the defense lawyer, immediately picks up with an earlier line of questioning about the grand jury indictment of Trump becoming public. The prosecution objects to a follow-up, and the judge tells the lawyers to approach.

 

The atmosphere outside as the trial nears its conclusion is increasingly circus-like. Shortly after noon on Thursday, a U-Haul truck stopped in front of the courthouse. A Trump supporter who has been a regular at the courthouse then released dozens of large, pink, phallus-shaped mylar balloons bearing pictures of Justice Merchan, Alvin Bragg and Jack Smith, the special counsel prosecuting Trump in Washington.

But Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who brought the case that's on trial here, has supporters outside the courthouse, too. One of them, visiting from Maryland, caught one of the balloons and remarked that it actually resembled Trump.

 

To catch you up during the lunch break: The cross-examination of Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and fixer, continued, as Todd Blanche, one of the defense lawyers, sought to highlight his past lies and his 2018 guilty plea to federal charges. The proceedings were interrupted numerous times by legal objections from prosecutors, making it slow-going for spectators and, perhaps, jurors.

Trump's high-profile Republican supporters continued their steady march to the courthouse, with Representatives Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Matt Gaetz of Florida among those who appeared in court. Gaetz went so far as to post on X this morning, “Standing back and standing by, Mr. President,” referencing Trump’s 2020 shoutout to the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group. So many members of the House traveled to the Manhattan courthouse today that the actual work of Congress in Washington has been stalled.

This afternoon’s testimony will be the last for the week before the trial resumes on Monday.

Edited by Francisco 2.0
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17 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

 

What is she even talking about?  Everyone knows what crime he's accused of committing.

Is she just saying that he's committed so many crimes that he's not sure which one this is?  

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14 minutes ago, DixonHur said:

What is she even talking about?  Everyone knows what crime he's accused of committing.

Is she just saying that he's committed so many crimes that he's not sure which one this is?  

Just one of the talking points that is, obviously, not true. "Every legal analyst in the history of the world agrees that no crime was committed here!"

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4 hours ago, 4th&Five said:

 

Well the new John Grisham soft-core adaptation certainly looks like it has potential.  

Will somebody please help me convince myself that we are still in a reality on Earth.  I am freaking the fuck out right now.  

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8 hours ago, texasdago said:

Was thinking of the comments above re: Rush Limbaugh.  I used to gobble up books and the drivel by Limbaugh, O'Reilly and their ilk.  Good God I was dumbass back then.  If there's one thing I can say Cheeto did that was a positive for me is he snapped me out of it.  When he came along, I was like, WTF y'all?  Are we not seeing this?  He caused me to reevaluate a LOT!

High Five Sacha Baron Cohen GIF by filmeditor

Iraq snapped me out of it, but yeah, I don't want to think about how much Limbaugh, etc. I listened to in the 90s.

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In an Uber with a boomer driver listening to Fox News Radio.  Apparently Cohen was pantsed today and the entire case is blown and Bragg should just give up now.  Jury clearly ready to acquit etc etc. Defense may not even need to bring a witness. 

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Some more detailed and narrative discussion of Cohen's testimony from Lawfare.

https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/michael-cohen-on-the-stand-part-i

Including an indication that the only defense witnesses may be an expert and Trump himself.

And more on his cross.

https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/michael-cohen-on-the-stand-part-ii

 

 

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If I was Trumps lawyer there would be no way I’d let him get within 100 miles of the witness stand.  I can’t imagine anyone having more material on them that would show they have a tendency to lie.  

A lawyer can not stop his client from testifying if they really want to do so.
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14 minutes ago, BamaATL said:

The judge just stated he expects closing arguments next Tuesday.  I presume that means the defense will have some witnesses between now and then.  

I think it mostly has to do with the calendar. They're letting the jurors take Friday off for vacation plans and you don't want closing arguments followed by a long holiday weekend before the jury deliberates. 

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