The idea is to behave as contemptuously as possible, and any reaction to that from the judge is evidence of “bias.” Once again, the domestic abuser’s playbook explains everything there is to know about Trump.
As for Blanche, I can’t improve on the words of George Conway: I don’t know whether Todd Blanche is a crying little shit, but the fact that he began the cross-examination of the major witness in the most important trial of his life by talking about whether he called him a crying little shit is pretty strong evidence that he’s a crying little shit.
It was reported that Hope Hicks was in a domestic abuse situation when she worked with Trump. Intuitively, I do see this potential pattern in the women who attach to him. And I mean all of them.
I think you give Trump and his team too much credit, by looking far enough ahead to see this in terms of an “abuser’s playbook.” Also, I think the reason they called Costello as a witness was because Trump wanted him on the stand after seeing his congressional testimony from the day before, and how well that testimony went over with a receptive audience of Republicans.
But another big mistake by the defense that has not been talked about much, was that it did not zero in on the fungible nature of the payments to Cohen and the fact that Trump, this so-called micromanager, did not know that Cohen was stealing $60k from him in those payments. If Cohen was able to do that, then who can say what else he was able to do without the go ahead from this supposed micromanager. It seems to me a legitimate defense that Trump is just to dumb and unfocussed to truly keep track of all the layers of something like this.
Perhaps "Trump is just too dumb and unfocused to truly keep track of all the layers" is an argument that the man running for President of the United States (or his handlers anyway) thought might work against him politically. I can certainly see the Lincoln Project, Dark Brandon and maybe Randy Rainbow having a field day with it.
But they did get "the Orange Turd" in the official transcript at least ten times (during the bumbling cross of Stormy D.). . . Along with a couple of lovely insults from Cohen. The defense team doesn't seem terribly bright . . .
I think you’re overestimating the intelligence and complexity of the abuser’s playbook. It just comes down to “No one has any authority over me, ever.” Just different manifestations.
I’m not sure how much the “Trump didn’t know” defense will hurt him. Legally it’s valid, I think; politically, it would hurt him if he were an actual candidate for president; as an insurrectionist cult leader who’s only “running for president” in the way a burglar would check whether your front door was locked before kicking it in, his support is pretty baked in.
As I’ve said before, I think his real strongest defense (which he doesn’t even have to raise explicitly) is that he’s been such a thoroughly, openly repulsive pig for so long that it’s legitimately going to be hard for jurors to go back eight years and remember a time when he’d be desperate to bury this story because it would hurt him. Even his supporters will tell you he banged Stormy Daniels. They admire him for it.
Thing is... whether they remember that or not, his signature is on the cheques and he has witnesses testifying about Catch and Kill. Whether or not he had reason at the time to want to bury the story, we have evidence that he *did* pay to bury the story, and the prosecution will be spelling this out.
And let us not forget one of tRump's outside-the-courtroom standups a couple of weeks ago when he whined at length about Judge Merchan's gag order and how that stricture will - wait for it - "...stop me from testifying!...First Amendment!...yadda-yadda!".
Guess who ISN'T testifying for the defense? That's right, the cowardly, orange POS will instead catch up on lost sleep rather than take the stand, surprise-surprise.
I live outside of Asheville NC in a hotbed of so called christians who whoreship and adore this obese rapist. it has ruined christianity for me forever. not only do i not have a drop of respect for fake christians, they now present a danger to all women in america. could you imagine the evil that speaks little girls who are raped by their fathers should be forced to give birth even if they are ten years old. absolutely the most evil thing i have heard in a long long time. i will forever despise all fake christians.
Actually, Judge Merchan responded shortly after that tRump rant to assure him that he has "every right" to testify in his defense, but of course the vermin declined to take the stand.
Oh, *I* know he wasn't prevented from testifying. I'm talking about how Trump will spin it. It's not as though the facts are going to stop him this time when they never have before.
I was wondering if Costello was actually trying to spark a mistrial. Forcing the judge to “display bias” is more subtle and looks forward to appeal. Since Judge Merchan saw through Trump’s goading him into jail time for witness and jury intimidation, I think in either case, he recognized antics and got in front of the problem.
We’re not wrong, in the sense that this supposed bias only has to exist in the minds of Trump and his followers. They’re looking for an excuse to ignore a conviction, by force if necessary.
Watched a short vid of yesterday's tRump standup outside the courtroom...the POS is claiming - yet again! - of "more cops than he's ever seen" blocking all streets leading to the Manhattan courthouse, "preventing" his armadas of MAGA supporters from showing up...a massive, EASILY disproved lie by countless of witnesses and cameras, but what really was mind-blowing was the presence of lead lawyer Todd Blanche standing at tRump's shoulder, grim-faced and all, while the shithead went off. WTF? Where did this man's integrity and self-respect disappear to? Blows up his career for a big (pre-paid?) fee and all the shit he can eat...brutal, just brutal.
The Deep State Operatives let them in. Trust me, there is an explanation for anything when you do not have to pay attention to logic or facts. It's why you can't kill conspiracy theories--everything just gets folded into a more intricate iteration of the conspiracy.
"Blanche’s questioning allowed a brutal redirect by the state, which argued successfully that it was the defense who had opened the door to needing to explain the Red Finch payments. And the truth was both embarrassing and hurtful to the defense."
Damn. The Defense hates when it turns out that the Defense team is the one that OPENED THE DOOR to harmful, prosecutorial evidence.
Ouch, that HURTS to the Defense!
"Cohen should have been an easy target. He’s a felon, he’s got a big mouth, and he lied to Congress and to prosecutors. But Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, failed to tell a coherent story, jumping from point to point and losing the thread often. Some members of the jury struggled to stay awake. And Trump fell asleep. Again."
Maybe Todd Blanche "failed to tell a coherent story", because there is no real story to tell on Trump's defense.
Blanche stepped squarely into the poo in his opening by claiming that Cheetolini is "completely innocent". Asinine approach that opens up opportunities for the prosecutor to prove that their witnesses are believable (i.e. Stormy D's testimony).
Bringing up the "reimbursement" in the final cross of Cohen is an epic self-own by Blanche. The weenie got Cohen to admit the he did something shady (but the prosecution spent the first few days clearly establishing that Cohen is an A-hole, bully, and generally not a nice guy (yet Cheetolini employeed him for TEN YEARS, so this was not something that was likely to change the jury's opinion of Cohen . . .).
I was sort of wondering if Cohen padding the bill and taking the money - would that actually endear him to the jury? Nobody likes it when their bonus gets cut. Anyone who works in a job with a bonus structure, can understand the sentiment of getting your bonus even if they wouldn't be so bold faced as to steal it. Just take it out in post it notes and long breaks like the rest of us!
And does the admission put Cohen in any new legal jeopardy or is the statute of limitations already run?
You have outdone yourself with this analysis. NO ONE ELSE was talking about these details and my hope is the jury will arrive in the same place.
In reviewing it all I came away with yesterday being a very poor day for the defense. Putting Costello on the stand was nothing short of an F4 tornado going right over the entire defense effort to create doubt. He effectively proved beyond a doubt consciousness of guilt on the part of Rudy "Nosferatu" Giuliani and Orange Von Shitinpantz. If I were in the jury room, Id be asking "why in the world would they care what Michael Cohen had to say in any interview with prosecutors — unless, they knew he had a story to tell, and knew they had criminal exposure?"
It almost feels like Blanche, Necheles and Bove are so sick of their client — from his behavior, his stench and his overt criminality — they handed the prosecutors a witness to ensure they blow up their own case. I cannot see how the jury can ignore all of the evidence here. Take Cohen OUT of the entire case, and i have to believe one would still get to guilty!
I tried following the live updates and I quickly reached the point that it wasn't worth my time. Just wait for Jay. 99% of the time his brain seems to go in the same direction as me, anyway, and this way I don't need to parse all the legalese. Works like a charm.
I'm grateful for your explanation of these testimonies, Jay, because ABC News reported only that Cohen admitted to stealing $30K from Trump and that Costello testified that Cohen told him Trump knew nothing about the payments to Stormy Daniels, with no context. I was shocked and disheartened until I read your report. Thanks. (and I'm not sure I'll be watching network news anymore).
CNN's front page story a few days ago was about how Cohen "lying" about that phone call blew up the prosecution's entire case, only in paragraph nine or so admitting "other legal scholars point to the massive amounts of evidence that the jurors will have to consider". it was dumb then but feels 100x dumber now. never forget how much MSM tries to push a horserace narrative.
That's how ABC framed it, too, as if the prosecution's whole case fell apart. Thank goodness for Jay! If only more people read Jay's substack than watch ABC news.
Part of it is that everyone in the media wants drama!!!!!! If it's just boring, no one is watching. So I get it from that angle. But yes, it's a bit much. It's like those breaking news banners when there really isn't any breaking news.
Sometimes I wonder if MSM's skewed portrayal of Trump, the polls, his trials, etc. is them hedging their bets, in case he does get elected and starts his fascist agenda. My guess is the press wouldn't fare well in the long run, especially MSM.
I posted a similar thought a while back, they are fools if they think they'd remain operational, one can take a look at where they appear regularly to see what would be their “State” run media and the currently flailing Truth Social “ would be the only social media option. An example of how much their fawning won't matter was when NBC gave the traitor a “Town hall” filled with a magat audience and it might have been a month later he said he was going to sue them over some slight, loyalty is one way.
I have the same thoughts and I doubt that any mainstream media would survive beyond a 2nd (and 3rd and 4th--because he WON'T leave office at the end of 4 years) Trump administration.
Totally agree. I only got some info from MSM and it sounded so bad for the case that I was disheartened. I should have known that Jay would make sense of it.
I'm sure the prosecutors will point out all these things in their closing arguments. Jay is smart, but so are the prosecutors. I don't know how smart Trump's lawyers are. They took on a client who will limit their arguments to what feeds his ego rather than what gets him acquitted; who won't follow advice; and who won't pay. That does not seem like something a smart, successful lawyer would do.
Prime example was not wanting to pay for the bots, even though the poll rigging bot service was performed as requested, because the list wasn't published ...in Disloyal it was stated he wanted to sue the publisher too!
Lawrence O'Donnell's show on MSNBC has been doing a good job detailing each day of the proceedings with multiple people (lawyers) that were in the courtroom (or sometimes the overflow room).
Something else I have not heard the media latch onto (except for one guest on MSNBC) is the 1 + 1 = 2 in the questions by the defense here. "Is it true you stole 30K of the reimbursement money"? Blanche used the word reimbursement twice in his questioning of Cohen - which is actually feels very much like an admission that their opening statement was false - this money WAS a grossed up reimbursement as Cohen claims, not payment for legal fees. That feels important.
Welp, the photo is nice, of course, but the biggest item of proof supporting Cohen’s version of “ the call”, is that the neither of the only two people ( other than Cohen) who could counter his version (Schiller & Trump) were called by the defense. Jurors may want to know why…Schiller has no 5A reason not to testify, so ????
Hopefully, prosecutors will show in closing argument just how long 90:seconds can be…
Excellent point, it would be great if they start closing argument summarizing the case and at the 90 second point pause to say, ' I know that's a lot of information to take in but that was 90 seconds and we have more to cover so please stay with me'...may justice prevail. 💙
I'd think it does, if his silence was about a crime. So you gotta be able to show probable cause on that (which at this point shouldn't be difficult). And he'd probably keep his mouth shut anyway for the sake of his family. The money's to keep them from the poorhouse - it's how the mob does it. "Be a standup guy and we'll take care of your family; sing and they will have a very bad time".
Just an ordinary 76 yo patriot here observing that Costello is just an ordinary MAGA insurrectionist who feels he is entitled. Judge M didn’t buy into MAGA “reasoning”. Allowing Trump’s enablers to stay in court to hear his chastisement was also a message to those same enablers. That is how bullies are handled. Well done Judge. Well done. Thank you for the lesson.
It seems the oafish buffoonery, besides being intended to appease the fetid yam, is intended to ‘prove’ to the knuckle-dragging mouth breathers who support him that the trial is being presided over by a judge who is hateful toward and biased against their golden hero. 🤢
I have some memory about a lot of conflicting stories regarding Costello at the time this all was happening. Struck me as the kind of guy who makes you want to wash your hands after shaking his.
I was so glad that the defense opened the door for questions on the poll rigging, I wish MSM were highlighting that more, in Disloyal there was much more detail given but bottom line is that tfg tries to cheat at everything.
Of we now know that the liar-in-chief officially lied when he said he would "absolutely testify." But the cross today was even worse for the defense than yesterday's escapades. The prosecution showed emails from Costello explaining the pressure campaign to keep Cohen in line.
"...should Trump manage to avoid a guilty verdict—and I honestly think that is unlikely at this point—it will not be from anything his defense team did. To the contrary, they and their witnesses demonstrated a level of incompetence and disrespect that was frankly shocking but in many ways so very on-brand for Trump."
No wonder in every picture of Todd he looks dyspeptic. Just as the prosecution didn’t pick these witnesses, DJT did, Mr. B- you CHOSE to represent this clown- deal with it!!
There may not have been a lot of choices. He was looking for reputable lawyers and then he seems to have insisted that they run his playbook. Big mistake. Like hiring a plumbing and then deciding to do it yourself when you know nothing about plumbing.
The idea is to behave as contemptuously as possible, and any reaction to that from the judge is evidence of “bias.” Once again, the domestic abuser’s playbook explains everything there is to know about Trump.
As for Blanche, I can’t improve on the words of George Conway: I don’t know whether Todd Blanche is a crying little shit, but the fact that he began the cross-examination of the major witness in the most important trial of his life by talking about whether he called him a crying little shit is pretty strong evidence that he’s a crying little shit.
Domestic abuser's playbook
Domestic abuser's playbook
Domestic abuser's playbook
Many people who still stick with Trump have been abused and cannot leave their abuser.
It was reported that Hope Hicks was in a domestic abuse situation when she worked with Trump. Intuitively, I do see this potential pattern in the women who attach to him. And I mean all of them.
From experience, a bad boss is exactly like a bad boyfriend.
I think you give Trump and his team too much credit, by looking far enough ahead to see this in terms of an “abuser’s playbook.” Also, I think the reason they called Costello as a witness was because Trump wanted him on the stand after seeing his congressional testimony from the day before, and how well that testimony went over with a receptive audience of Republicans.
But another big mistake by the defense that has not been talked about much, was that it did not zero in on the fungible nature of the payments to Cohen and the fact that Trump, this so-called micromanager, did not know that Cohen was stealing $60k from him in those payments. If Cohen was able to do that, then who can say what else he was able to do without the go ahead from this supposed micromanager. It seems to me a legitimate defense that Trump is just to dumb and unfocussed to truly keep track of all the layers of something like this.
Perhaps "Trump is just too dumb and unfocused to truly keep track of all the layers" is an argument that the man running for President of the United States (or his handlers anyway) thought might work against him politically. I can certainly see the Lincoln Project, Dark Brandon and maybe Randy Rainbow having a field day with it.
Not to mention that Trump would go ballistic if his lawyers claimed he was too dumb to <fill in the blank>!
But they did get "the Orange Turd" in the official transcript at least ten times (during the bumbling cross of Stormy D.). . . Along with a couple of lovely insults from Cohen. The defense team doesn't seem terribly bright . . .
Or possibly they are tired of trump as much as the rest of us. A little passive aggressive action on their part?
Well I did hear somewhere that one of his lawyers is a crying little sh*t.
Interesting point.
I think you’re overestimating the intelligence and complexity of the abuser’s playbook. It just comes down to “No one has any authority over me, ever.” Just different manifestations.
I’m not sure how much the “Trump didn’t know” defense will hurt him. Legally it’s valid, I think; politically, it would hurt him if he were an actual candidate for president; as an insurrectionist cult leader who’s only “running for president” in the way a burglar would check whether your front door was locked before kicking it in, his support is pretty baked in.
As I’ve said before, I think his real strongest defense (which he doesn’t even have to raise explicitly) is that he’s been such a thoroughly, openly repulsive pig for so long that it’s legitimately going to be hard for jurors to go back eight years and remember a time when he’d be desperate to bury this story because it would hurt him. Even his supporters will tell you he banged Stormy Daniels. They admire him for it.
Thing is... whether they remember that or not, his signature is on the cheques and he has witnesses testifying about Catch and Kill. Whether or not he had reason at the time to want to bury the story, we have evidence that he *did* pay to bury the story, and the prosecution will be spelling this out.
And let us not forget one of tRump's outside-the-courtroom standups a couple of weeks ago when he whined at length about Judge Merchan's gag order and how that stricture will - wait for it - "...stop me from testifying!...First Amendment!...yadda-yadda!".
Guess who ISN'T testifying for the defense? That's right, the cowardly, orange POS will instead catch up on lost sleep rather than take the stand, surprise-surprise.
I saw a great meme yesterday that was along the lines of this:
So the man who is selling Bibles refuses to put his hand on one and testify in court in his own defense?
I live outside of Asheville NC in a hotbed of so called christians who whoreship and adore this obese rapist. it has ruined christianity for me forever. not only do i not have a drop of respect for fake christians, they now present a danger to all women in america. could you imagine the evil that speaks little girls who are raped by their fathers should be forced to give birth even if they are ten years old. absolutely the most evil thing i have heard in a long long time. i will forever despise all fake christians.
Sadly, no where is safe from fake Christians.
The thing about them I find most appalling is how the things they righteously condemn in public are unhesitatingly practiced by them in private.
Which he will no doubt then use to claim that he was 'prevented' from testifying.
Actually, Judge Merchan responded shortly after that tRump rant to assure him that he has "every right" to testify in his defense, but of course the vermin declined to take the stand.
Oh, *I* know he wasn't prevented from testifying. I'm talking about how Trump will spin it. It's not as though the facts are going to stop him this time when they never have before.
"The idea is to behave as contemptuously as possible, and any reaction to that from the judge is evidence of 'bias.'”
This thought occurred to me as well, proud. Hope we're both wrong.
I was wondering if Costello was actually trying to spark a mistrial. Forcing the judge to “display bias” is more subtle and looks forward to appeal. Since Judge Merchan saw through Trump’s goading him into jail time for witness and jury intimidation, I think in either case, he recognized antics and got in front of the problem.
We’re not wrong, in the sense that this supposed bias only has to exist in the minds of Trump and his followers. They’re looking for an excuse to ignore a conviction, by force if necessary.
Watched a short vid of yesterday's tRump standup outside the courtroom...the POS is claiming - yet again! - of "more cops than he's ever seen" blocking all streets leading to the Manhattan courthouse, "preventing" his armadas of MAGA supporters from showing up...a massive, EASILY disproved lie by countless of witnesses and cameras, but what really was mind-blowing was the presence of lead lawyer Todd Blanche standing at tRump's shoulder, grim-faced and all, while the shithead went off. WTF? Where did this man's integrity and self-respect disappear to? Blows up his career for a big (pre-paid?) fee and all the shit he can eat...brutal, just brutal.
Representing Trump is the last job any of his attorneys will ever have.
Lance Khrome, if no one ca getting near the courthouse, how did the protesters get in?
The Deep State Operatives let them in. Trust me, there is an explanation for anything when you do not have to pay attention to logic or facts. It's why you can't kill conspiracy theories--everything just gets folded into a more intricate iteration of the conspiracy.
My understanding was that that area was never closed to the public during the entire trial. Saying it was just another Trump lie.
Which doesn't matter, if you are a Cult member, because it is, by definition, True.
True, that.
There’s also an explanation for anything when the real explanation for everything is “We’ll send a mob to kill you if you don’t give us what we want.”
Oops. If no one can get
Lol!!
Jay Kuo: How well you recount the drama!
First:
"Blanche’s questioning allowed a brutal redirect by the state, which argued successfully that it was the defense who had opened the door to needing to explain the Red Finch payments. And the truth was both embarrassing and hurtful to the defense."
Damn. The Defense hates when it turns out that the Defense team is the one that OPENED THE DOOR to harmful, prosecutorial evidence.
Ouch, that HURTS to the Defense!
"Cohen should have been an easy target. He’s a felon, he’s got a big mouth, and he lied to Congress and to prosecutors. But Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, failed to tell a coherent story, jumping from point to point and losing the thread often. Some members of the jury struggled to stay awake. And Trump fell asleep. Again."
Maybe Todd Blanche "failed to tell a coherent story", because there is no real story to tell on Trump's defense.
Blanche stepped squarely into the poo in his opening by claiming that Cheetolini is "completely innocent". Asinine approach that opens up opportunities for the prosecutor to prove that their witnesses are believable (i.e. Stormy D's testimony).
Bringing up the "reimbursement" in the final cross of Cohen is an epic self-own by Blanche. The weenie got Cohen to admit the he did something shady (but the prosecution spent the first few days clearly establishing that Cohen is an A-hole, bully, and generally not a nice guy (yet Cheetolini employeed him for TEN YEARS, so this was not something that was likely to change the jury's opinion of Cohen . . .).
I was sort of wondering if Cohen padding the bill and taking the money - would that actually endear him to the jury? Nobody likes it when their bonus gets cut. Anyone who works in a job with a bonus structure, can understand the sentiment of getting your bonus even if they wouldn't be so bold faced as to steal it. Just take it out in post it notes and long breaks like the rest of us!
And does the admission put Cohen in any new legal jeopardy or is the statute of limitations already run?
You have outdone yourself with this analysis. NO ONE ELSE was talking about these details and my hope is the jury will arrive in the same place.
In reviewing it all I came away with yesterday being a very poor day for the defense. Putting Costello on the stand was nothing short of an F4 tornado going right over the entire defense effort to create doubt. He effectively proved beyond a doubt consciousness of guilt on the part of Rudy "Nosferatu" Giuliani and Orange Von Shitinpantz. If I were in the jury room, Id be asking "why in the world would they care what Michael Cohen had to say in any interview with prosecutors — unless, they knew he had a story to tell, and knew they had criminal exposure?"
It almost feels like Blanche, Necheles and Bove are so sick of their client — from his behavior, his stench and his overt criminality — they handed the prosecutors a witness to ensure they blow up their own case. I cannot see how the jury can ignore all of the evidence here. Take Cohen OUT of the entire case, and i have to believe one would still get to guilty!
I tried following the live updates and I quickly reached the point that it wasn't worth my time. Just wait for Jay. 99% of the time his brain seems to go in the same direction as me, anyway, and this way I don't need to parse all the legalese. Works like a charm.
I'm grateful for your explanation of these testimonies, Jay, because ABC News reported only that Cohen admitted to stealing $30K from Trump and that Costello testified that Cohen told him Trump knew nothing about the payments to Stormy Daniels, with no context. I was shocked and disheartened until I read your report. Thanks. (and I'm not sure I'll be watching network news anymore).
CNN's front page story a few days ago was about how Cohen "lying" about that phone call blew up the prosecution's entire case, only in paragraph nine or so admitting "other legal scholars point to the massive amounts of evidence that the jurors will have to consider". it was dumb then but feels 100x dumber now. never forget how much MSM tries to push a horserace narrative.
That's how ABC framed it, too, as if the prosecution's whole case fell apart. Thank goodness for Jay! If only more people read Jay's substack than watch ABC news.
Part of it is that everyone in the media wants drama!!!!!! If it's just boring, no one is watching. So I get it from that angle. But yes, it's a bit much. It's like those breaking news banners when there really isn't any breaking news.
MSM framing has been just that... framing ....their failure at our peril. 💔
Sometimes I wonder if MSM's skewed portrayal of Trump, the polls, his trials, etc. is them hedging their bets, in case he does get elected and starts his fascist agenda. My guess is the press wouldn't fare well in the long run, especially MSM.
I posted a similar thought a while back, they are fools if they think they'd remain operational, one can take a look at where they appear regularly to see what would be their “State” run media and the currently flailing Truth Social “ would be the only social media option. An example of how much their fawning won't matter was when NBC gave the traitor a “Town hall” filled with a magat audience and it might have been a month later he said he was going to sue them over some slight, loyalty is one way.
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-2024-nbc/
I have the same thoughts and I doubt that any mainstream media would survive beyond a 2nd (and 3rd and 4th--because he WON'T leave office at the end of 4 years) Trump administration.
Totally agree. I only got some info from MSM and it sounded so bad for the case that I was disheartened. I should have known that Jay would make sense of it.
I'm sure the prosecutors will point out all these things in their closing arguments. Jay is smart, but so are the prosecutors. I don't know how smart Trump's lawyers are. They took on a client who will limit their arguments to what feeds his ego rather than what gets him acquitted; who won't follow advice; and who won't pay. That does not seem like something a smart, successful lawyer would do.
Prime example was not wanting to pay for the bots, even though the poll rigging bot service was performed as requested, because the list wasn't published ...in Disloyal it was stated he wanted to sue the publisher too!
Lawrence O'Donnell's show on MSNBC has been doing a good job detailing each day of the proceedings with multiple people (lawyers) that were in the courtroom (or sometimes the overflow room).
Something else I have not heard the media latch onto (except for one guest on MSNBC) is the 1 + 1 = 2 in the questions by the defense here. "Is it true you stole 30K of the reimbursement money"? Blanche used the word reimbursement twice in his questioning of Cohen - which is actually feels very much like an admission that their opening statement was false - this money WAS a grossed up reimbursement as Cohen claims, not payment for legal fees. That feels important.
Welp, the photo is nice, of course, but the biggest item of proof supporting Cohen’s version of “ the call”, is that the neither of the only two people ( other than Cohen) who could counter his version (Schiller & Trump) were called by the defense. Jurors may want to know why…Schiller has no 5A reason not to testify, so ????
Hopefully, prosecutors will show in closing argument just how long 90:seconds can be…
Excellent point, it would be great if they start closing argument summarizing the case and at the 90 second point pause to say, ' I know that's a lot of information to take in but that was 90 seconds and we have more to cover so please stay with me'...may justice prevail. 💙
Jay, why wasn't Schiller called to testify? Would he tell the truth?
Trump has people loyal to him who will lie on his behalf. Cohen was one of them. Weisselberg another. Schiller? Probably.
Weisselberg is in Rikers because he lied on the stand for Trump. Maybe Schiller doesn't want to join him.
From what I understand, Weisselberg's million dollar retirement is contingent on his keeping silent. Doesn't that break some law?
I'd think it does, if his silence was about a crime. So you gotta be able to show probable cause on that (which at this point shouldn't be difficult). And he'd probably keep his mouth shut anyway for the sake of his family. The money's to keep them from the poorhouse - it's how the mob does it. "Be a standup guy and we'll take care of your family; sing and they will have a very bad time".
Just an ordinary 76 yo patriot here observing that Costello is just an ordinary MAGA insurrectionist who feels he is entitled. Judge M didn’t buy into MAGA “reasoning”. Allowing Trump’s enablers to stay in court to hear his chastisement was also a message to those same enablers. That is how bullies are handled. Well done Judge. Well done. Thank you for the lesson.
I'm constantly amazed that anyone would think rude, disrespectful behavior toward the judge - as shown by Costello - is a good strategy.
I do very much agree. It will make the Aileen Cannon trial difficult to handle, though.
It seems the oafish buffoonery, besides being intended to appease the fetid yam, is intended to ‘prove’ to the knuckle-dragging mouth breathers who support him that the trial is being presided over by a judge who is hateful toward and biased against their golden hero. 🤢
Thank you again and again for breaking this down for us! You are a gem!
I have some memory about a lot of conflicting stories regarding Costello at the time this all was happening. Struck me as the kind of guy who makes you want to wash your hands after shaking his.
So much better understanding what Red Finch is! Thanks, Jay!
The whole defense is a spectacle.
Who's on first (sorry!)......?
I was so glad that the defense opened the door for questions on the poll rigging, I wish MSM were highlighting that more, in Disloyal there was much more detail given but bottom line is that tfg tries to cheat at everything.
Of we now know that the liar-in-chief officially lied when he said he would "absolutely testify." But the cross today was even worse for the defense than yesterday's escapades. The prosecution showed emails from Costello explaining the pressure campaign to keep Cohen in line.
And that means that trump knew all about it.
"...should Trump manage to avoid a guilty verdict—and I honestly think that is unlikely at this point—it will not be from anything his defense team did. To the contrary, they and their witnesses demonstrated a level of incompetence and disrespect that was frankly shocking but in many ways so very on-brand for Trump."
Chef's kiss!
little todd blanche is proving to be a totally ineffective trial lawyer.
No wonder in every picture of Todd he looks dyspeptic. Just as the prosecution didn’t pick these witnesses, DJT did, Mr. B- you CHOSE to represent this clown- deal with it!!
There may not have been a lot of choices. He was looking for reputable lawyers and then he seems to have insisted that they run his playbook. Big mistake. Like hiring a plumbing and then deciding to do it yourself when you know nothing about plumbing.
Starting to believe this is a trial strategy
It isn’t very smart, and I doubt it’ll be effective.
I think it's trump's strategy. The lawyers were stupid to go along with it but I'm guessing he wore them down.