I'm anxiously awaiting two things: a final verdict... and will Judge Merchan do something about the obvious gag order violations: "Making or directing others to make public statements..." The politicians who showed up on the taxpayer dime to support a criminal, all wearing their red ties, to disparage the judge and his daughter should be held accountable. I just cant imagine despising anyone as much as I despise tRump.
Those surrogates issuing Trump-edited denunciations on his behalf are people who at the very least want to benefit in the event of a Trump victory in November, and in several cases will want to be pardoned for any involvement in January 6th. If (as I fervently hope) Trump loses in November his other trials WILL go forward and he very likely WILL be found guilty. At some point, the other participants who have heretofore escaped with their Congressional careers intact can expect to be subpoenaed and indicted. I am surprised that Jordan, Greene, Comer, Gosar, and Johnson weren't sitting in the courtroom as well.
"I am surprised that Jordan, Greene, Comer, Gosar, and Johnson weren't sitting in the courtroom as well." Millions of law-abiding, pro-democracy Americans are just as surprised. I'm outraged that 3+ years later they are roaming free and spreading more lies to help MAGA and destroy our democracy.
Sadly, I think millions more America aren't surprised b/c the sheer horror of the dismantling of the rule of law by the GOP and Trump isn't being reported by most regular news sources, and certainly not accurately (hello, NYT).
And so many people, including pro-democracy activists I know, are overwhelmed w/ news and are barely following politics. It feels like many news sources (hello, NYT and NPR) are hedging their bets and obeying in advance, just in case tfg wins.
I think action (postcards, LTEs, etc), gardening, and chocolate help me, but oh my the anger, sadness, and helplessness is still there. Plus total mystification as to why so many people don't seem to care about the threats to our freedoms.
I'm sorry that happened to you Marge. Perhaps you could put a sign on the damage, stating, "This was done by a Republican". I would do that, but then, I drive a rusty, 15 year old Chevy pickup.
My take on the closed eyes is that it is a tactic to disassociate himself from the situation, his narcissism causess him to perk up when his posts are being read or footage of himself is shown, taking the stand would put him in a participating position and he's too big a coward for that. Hoping for justice to prevail.
It may be that we need a new pathological term for someone who can't help themselves either from stealing or from falling asleep on the spot. Narcoklepsy.
Here's a new one I learned today, only applies to the pathological lying, but I liked the ‘myth' part since their big lie claims were just that, a myth of their own making.
As in, as I suspect, Trump demanding that in the opening arguments that everything Stormy Daniels said was a lie. Thus challenging her credibility. Which is why she had to testify.
It doesn’t hurt to dream. For that matter, that would also mean that 99% of Republicans should resign due to ethical reasons. They have committed or have been complicit in treason.
There's a story about that somewhere. Sorry, I can't remember where. I think if Trump is found guilty, Blanche will still be applauded for giving the clown a high-end defense. Criminal attorneys consider that a civic duty. If he's found not guilty, he'll be known as the guy who helped the slick eel get away, but he'll be a hero in the Trump community. Which is not a blessing at all, since they all make an art of throwing each other under the bus.
Yeah, I was thinking when I wrote that comment, that if Blanche does manage to bring in a verdict of innocent (despite everything his buffoonish client from hell can do to hex the defense) then he'll be a MAGA hero. Ugh...who would want THAT on their resume (other than it's a victory for him--but is that all they care about?)
All MAGA victories are short-lived. Very few of those closest to him in his inner circle last long. Stephen Miller is one of the few i can think of. And the perpetually awful Steven Cheung.
The whole celebrity defendant thing SO needs to go away. I don't care if the defendant is the Secretary General of the Known Universe. If they are a criminal - they are a criminal. We all know that, had any of us done one hundredth of what Trump did, we would be in the slammer already. There would have been no upmteen appeals or requests for information or repeated this and that. I think the law should apply to the people of status even more rigorously than to regular citizenship - because status means greater responsibility and greater impact.
In the OJ case, the prosecution made several huge mistakes in presenting the evidence, including asking OJ to put on the black glove that had been found at the scene. Yes! It was the prosecutor, not his defense counsel, who asked OJ to try on the glove.
It's a real thing, I agree. But times were different then: Rodney King's videotaped assault by the LAPD was fresh. I believe racism and police brutality had some effect on the jurors.
Trump thought it was clever to copy the mobster technique of surrounding himself with criminals and liars, so if they ever turned on him he could say “You’re gonna believe these people? They’re criminals and liars!”
He’s also using the domestic abuser’s tactic of goading people into hating him, which he will then call “bias.”
But he’s been subjected to his worst nightmare: a slow, steady focus on him and what he’s done, without his being able to yell “Whatabout …”
So in the end he doesn’t really have an argument. His defenses are:
1. You can’t do this to me because I’m Donald Trump; and
2. You can’t do this to me because it would be a shame if anything happened to you or your daughter.
Unfortunately, these could still work.* And as we’ve seen this week, he has at least several members of Congress willing to sign on to both of these defenses.
*(Like I’ve said before, Trump has been such an openly repulsive pig for so long it could be legitimately difficult to get all the jurors to go back eight years and imagine a time when Trump would pay to bury this story because it would hurt him.)
I’ll be surprised if the Defense offers any witnesses, because they really don’t have a credible alternative explanation of what happened and why. So they’ll do what most defense attorneys do when the client is guilty-try to distract and confuse the jury. Sometimes it works, but the prisons are full of people where the tactic didn’t work. Only time will tell.
Can you prove beyond a reasonable doubt the farts came from Trump? Can you prove the “so-called” smelly fart was composed of hydrogen sulfide? Where are your spectrographic analyses?
You have these analyses? Oh!!! Do you have scientific proof of the gas dispersal pattern to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the gas emanated from Trump’s ass? You do?
The wonderful press. Let’s watch on TV Trump slur to the cameras that the chemist and the physicist are Trump haters and part of the biggest witch hunt in the entire history of humanity.
What is “reasonable doubt”? What IS the meaning of the word IS?
The lyon speaks but we do not understand him and the ghost of Wittgenstein weeps.
I don't think the defense has anything. Dumpy, micromanager that he is, is insistent that he never, ever slept with Stormy Daniels, and he wants his lawyers to follow his instructions to the letter. They try to follow his commands even if it makes them look silly. So I think all they've got is "President Dumpy didn't have sex with Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen is a felon and a proven lawyer." It'll be interesting to see what they come up with.
If Trump is convicted of the felonies, I'm looking forward to the debates between Trump and President Biden. Biden should then go after Trump for his immorality, the fact he is a convicted felon, and facing felony criminal trials in three other jurisdictions. Take the gloves off Joe!
Someone aptly pointed out elsewhere that Trump isn't trying to argue that he is innocent, he's trying to argue that he should be able to commit crimes.
Do you think Trump's attorneys ever advised him that it would be better (and cheaper) to plead guilty at the outset and throw himself on the mercy of the court? I go back and forth on this .... whether his attorneys were ever brave enough to even suggest to Trump that he's guilty. He clearly is and would have probably garnered a lesser, plea-bargained penalty had he pled guilty right away. I imagine it would have faded from the public mind quicker, too. Trump's malignant narcissism, his inability to admit he's less than perfect, works against him time and time again. At least I hope so. I'm crossing my fingers for an honest jury.
Oh boy, I hate to say this but: I think the poor cross by Todd Blanche was intentional. Why? Well he's a former prosecutor, and not an experienced defense attorney. So he does a terrible job with his cross of Cohen. THEN he gets a whole sh** load of good legal advice from the talking heads on MSNBC and other media outlets. (full disclosure: I like most of these talking heads, most of the time) But people like Andrew Weissmann are dishing out free legal advice. saying things like "I don't understand why Blanche didn't do... (insert expert legal defense tactic). And I bet he'll get more good legal advice in the news today! AND he has a day "off" to take note and practice before court tomorrow! In this day and age of instant news and commentary, I think this a good strategy if you're not an experienced defense attorney.
I hope that continues to be true. I just remember the Stormy Daniels cross, the defense lawyer was much better on Thursday than on Tuesday; not that it mattered much.
Can’t wait. Then again I’ve been waiting since 2016. Well, we all know any guilty verdict is ready to be appealed. They’ve probably already written it up.
It's going to be fascinating to see if Trump's hubris overrides his counsel's advice to not testify. SBF thought he was smarter than the people defending him and we see where that got him.
May someone with money fly a banner near Trump saying to not be a coward & get on the stand.
"Besides, Trump has been actively losing the respect of the jury through his inattentiveness and near daily naps in court, even during some of the most important testimony"
Also, waves of foul, intestinal gas floating over the jury box hadn't helped the defendant either.
I agree. The only way they could actually try to put on a defense would be to put DEMENTIA DON on the stand, which would likely prove disastrous. There don’t seem to be any other witnesses who could help his case. They'll argue for dismissal after the state rests its case (and expect more mistrial motions). But I think the defense will be stuck trying to rely on the arguments you raised about the prosecution's case, which are really weak in light of the evidence presented thus far.
The body guard should be able to say under oath that Ms.Clifford was never in trumpies hotel room if indeed that was true. But you know they won’t put him on the stand because, unlike Weisselberg the guy doesn’t likely want to end up in Rikers
My 2 cents: the defense knows this is a lost cause. They're not so much trying to prove reasonable doubt as they are trying to make the trial look like a political sham to his supporters. They're collecting soundbites for Fox News, likely to foment a Jan-6 style "uprising" once he's found guilty.
I'm anxiously awaiting two things: a final verdict... and will Judge Merchan do something about the obvious gag order violations: "Making or directing others to make public statements..." The politicians who showed up on the taxpayer dime to support a criminal, all wearing their red ties, to disparage the judge and his daughter should be held accountable. I just cant imagine despising anyone as much as I despise tRump.
"I just can't imagine despising anyone as much as I despise tRump."
Yes.I think I'll get that on a bumper sticker.
https://youtu.be/v6rc1hbfUiE?si=T5japgBn1y3CJe5U
I’d add to that let’s get the FDA to take Viagra off the market.
In this video Jasmine Crockett gives an excellent reason for doing so.
We definitely need more representatives like her!
Jasmine Crockett is brilliant! Yes, indeed, "we definitely need more representatives like her"! Thank you, Vickie, for sharing this video.
You’re welcome!
The sign I saw a young woman carrying said: "If you don't like abortions, ignore them like you do mass shootings."
Or wear a condom
Those surrogates issuing Trump-edited denunciations on his behalf are people who at the very least want to benefit in the event of a Trump victory in November, and in several cases will want to be pardoned for any involvement in January 6th. If (as I fervently hope) Trump loses in November his other trials WILL go forward and he very likely WILL be found guilty. At some point, the other participants who have heretofore escaped with their Congressional careers intact can expect to be subpoenaed and indicted. I am surprised that Jordan, Greene, Comer, Gosar, and Johnson weren't sitting in the courtroom as well.
"I am surprised that Jordan, Greene, Comer, Gosar, and Johnson weren't sitting in the courtroom as well." Millions of law-abiding, pro-democracy Americans are just as surprised. I'm outraged that 3+ years later they are roaming free and spreading more lies to help MAGA and destroy our democracy.
Sadly, I think millions more America aren't surprised b/c the sheer horror of the dismantling of the rule of law by the GOP and Trump isn't being reported by most regular news sources, and certainly not accurately (hello, NYT).
But I fervently hope you are right.
And so many people, including pro-democracy activists I know, are overwhelmed w/ news and are barely following politics. It feels like many news sources (hello, NYT and NPR) are hedging their bets and obeying in advance, just in case tfg wins.
I know I often feel overwhelmed...mostly by anger, sadness and helplessness over all of this.
I think action (postcards, LTEs, etc), gardening, and chocolate help me, but oh my the anger, sadness, and helplessness is still there. Plus total mystification as to why so many people don't seem to care about the threats to our freedoms.
Mine is, “I hate that I hate, but DAMN, I hate this asshole.”
Daniel - My bumper stickers from the Orange Administration say “Resist” and “Facts Matter.” And someone keyed my car.
I'm sorry that happened to you Marge. Perhaps you could put a sign on the damage, stating, "This was done by a Republican". I would do that, but then, I drive a rusty, 15 year old Chevy pickup.
My take on the closed eyes is that it is a tactic to disassociate himself from the situation, his narcissism causess him to perk up when his posts are being read or footage of himself is shown, taking the stand would put him in a participating position and he's too big a coward for that. Hoping for justice to prevail.
It may be that we need a new pathological term for someone who can't help themselves either from stealing or from falling asleep on the spot. Narcoklepsy.
Here's a new one I learned today, only applies to the pathological lying, but I liked the ‘myth' part since their big lie claims were just that, a myth of their own making.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mythomania
He's already a mythogynist.....
Trump did not sleep. He was in meditative communication with the god of unreasonable doubt.
😂😂😂
😂
I see it as infantile behavior along the lines of “na-na-na, I can’t see you?”
Hoping the jury finds it just as offensive as the evidence was impressive! May justice prevail. Vote 💙
💙💙💙❣️❣️❣️
Excellent point...I hadn't thought about that aspect.
Unreasonable doubt is why OJ was not convicted of murder. It's a real thing, particularly where celebrity defendants are involved.
It could also be argued that OJ had much better lawyers.
Trump has had a few good lawyers, but he doesn’t let them do their job. He micromanages everything, in this case to his own detriment. Thank goodness.
As in, as I suspect, Trump demanding that in the opening arguments that everything Stormy Daniels said was a lie. Thus challenging her credibility. Which is why she had to testify.
(sorry BJTS, I wrote my comment before I read yours! Oops)
I think Trump’s lawyers are only as good as Trump allows them to be. Their hands are essentially tied.
Well, golly gee, they could resign and tell the court they can't do their jobs in accordance with legal ethics and rules. As if that would happen. Ha!
It doesn’t hurt to dream. For that matter, that would also mean that 99% of Republicans should resign due to ethical reasons. They have committed or have been complicit in treason.
Blanche is supposed to be pretty well respected in legal quarters. Also a turncoat (former Dem). He must have gotten a big retainer.
Yeah, but will his "big retainer" compensate him for a shattered rep?
There's a story about that somewhere. Sorry, I can't remember where. I think if Trump is found guilty, Blanche will still be applauded for giving the clown a high-end defense. Criminal attorneys consider that a civic duty. If he's found not guilty, he'll be known as the guy who helped the slick eel get away, but he'll be a hero in the Trump community. Which is not a blessing at all, since they all make an art of throwing each other under the bus.
Yeah, I was thinking when I wrote that comment, that if Blanche does manage to bring in a verdict of innocent (despite everything his buffoonish client from hell can do to hex the defense) then he'll be a MAGA hero. Ugh...who would want THAT on their resume (other than it's a victory for him--but is that all they care about?)
All MAGA victories are short-lived. Very few of those closest to him in his inner circle last long. Stephen Miller is one of the few i can think of. And the perpetually awful Steven Cheung.
And remember he moved his family to Florida and then registered as a Republican (he was a registered Democrat).
Big retainer coupled with a BIG ego.
And OJ probably didn't think he was smarter than his lawyers and therefore try to personally micromanage the defense.
The whole celebrity defendant thing SO needs to go away. I don't care if the defendant is the Secretary General of the Known Universe. If they are a criminal - they are a criminal. We all know that, had any of us done one hundredth of what Trump did, we would be in the slammer already. There would have been no upmteen appeals or requests for information or repeated this and that. I think the law should apply to the people of status even more rigorously than to regular citizenship - because status means greater responsibility and greater impact.
In the OJ case, the prosecution made several huge mistakes in presenting the evidence, including asking OJ to put on the black glove that had been found at the scene. Yes! It was the prosecutor, not his defense counsel, who asked OJ to try on the glove.
It's a real thing, I agree. But times were different then: Rodney King's videotaped assault by the LAPD was fresh. I believe racism and police brutality had some effect on the jurors.
Trump thought it was clever to copy the mobster technique of surrounding himself with criminals and liars, so if they ever turned on him he could say “You’re gonna believe these people? They’re criminals and liars!”
He’s also using the domestic abuser’s tactic of goading people into hating him, which he will then call “bias.”
But he’s been subjected to his worst nightmare: a slow, steady focus on him and what he’s done, without his being able to yell “Whatabout …”
So in the end he doesn’t really have an argument. His defenses are:
1. You can’t do this to me because I’m Donald Trump; and
2. You can’t do this to me because it would be a shame if anything happened to you or your daughter.
Unfortunately, these could still work.* And as we’ve seen this week, he has at least several members of Congress willing to sign on to both of these defenses.
*(Like I’ve said before, Trump has been such an openly repulsive pig for so long it could be legitimately difficult to get all the jurors to go back eight years and imagine a time when Trump would pay to bury this story because it would hurt him.)
I’ll be surprised if the Defense offers any witnesses, because they really don’t have a credible alternative explanation of what happened and why. So they’ll do what most defense attorneys do when the client is guilty-try to distract and confuse the jury. Sometimes it works, but the prisons are full of people where the tactic didn’t work. Only time will tell.
It surely will be very interesting to see what they do!
They also had to smell his fetid rectal emissions.
Can you prove beyond a reasonable doubt the farts came from Trump? Can you prove the “so-called” smelly fart was composed of hydrogen sulfide? Where are your spectrographic analyses?
You have these analyses? Oh!!! Do you have scientific proof of the gas dispersal pattern to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the gas emanated from Trump’s ass? You do?
The wonderful press. Let’s watch on TV Trump slur to the cameras that the chemist and the physicist are Trump haters and part of the biggest witch hunt in the entire history of humanity.
What is “reasonable doubt”? What IS the meaning of the word IS?
The lyon speaks but we do not understand him and the ghost of Wittgenstein weeps.
I don't think the defense has anything. Dumpy, micromanager that he is, is insistent that he never, ever slept with Stormy Daniels, and he wants his lawyers to follow his instructions to the letter. They try to follow his commands even if it makes them look silly. So I think all they've got is "President Dumpy didn't have sex with Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen is a felon and a proven lawyer." It'll be interesting to see what they come up with.
If Trump is convicted of the felonies, I'm looking forward to the debates between Trump and President Biden. Biden should then go after Trump for his immorality, the fact he is a convicted felon, and facing felony criminal trials in three other jurisdictions. Take the gloves off Joe!
Someone aptly pointed out elsewhere that Trump isn't trying to argue that he is innocent, he's trying to argue that he should be able to commit crimes.
Do you think Trump's attorneys ever advised him that it would be better (and cheaper) to plead guilty at the outset and throw himself on the mercy of the court? I go back and forth on this .... whether his attorneys were ever brave enough to even suggest to Trump that he's guilty. He clearly is and would have probably garnered a lesser, plea-bargained penalty had he pled guilty right away. I imagine it would have faded from the public mind quicker, too. Trump's malignant narcissism, his inability to admit he's less than perfect, works against him time and time again. At least I hope so. I'm crossing my fingers for an honest jury.
I doubt it.
I doubt it, because his lawyers are incompetent, paid hacks who follow his directives, no matter how ridiculous they know they are.
Oh boy, I hate to say this but: I think the poor cross by Todd Blanche was intentional. Why? Well he's a former prosecutor, and not an experienced defense attorney. So he does a terrible job with his cross of Cohen. THEN he gets a whole sh** load of good legal advice from the talking heads on MSNBC and other media outlets. (full disclosure: I like most of these talking heads, most of the time) But people like Andrew Weissmann are dishing out free legal advice. saying things like "I don't understand why Blanche didn't do... (insert expert legal defense tactic). And I bet he'll get more good legal advice in the news today! AND he has a day "off" to take note and practice before court tomorrow! In this day and age of instant news and commentary, I think this a good strategy if you're not an experienced defense attorney.
It’s hard to teach someone how to do a good cross. You learn by doing, and he’s no defense attorney.
Could this be a ploy to lay the grounds for a motion of mistrial due to inadequate/incompetent representation?
I hope that continues to be true. I just remember the Stormy Daniels cross, the defense lawyer was much better on Thursday than on Tuesday; not that it mattered much.
Can’t wait. Then again I’ve been waiting since 2016. Well, we all know any guilty verdict is ready to be appealed. They’ve probably already written it up.
Thank you for the great write up, Jay!
It's going to be fascinating to see if Trump's hubris overrides his counsel's advice to not testify. SBF thought he was smarter than the people defending him and we see where that got him.
May someone with money fly a banner near Trump saying to not be a coward & get on the stand.
Ooh, that's good! That really plays to his psychology, his narcissism. I think the taunt of “coward” would be an irresistible lure to his psyche.
Or protesters out there chanting “Since you say you’re innocent, get on the stand and prove it”.
"Besides, Trump has been actively losing the respect of the jury through his inattentiveness and near daily naps in court, even during some of the most important testimony"
Also, waves of foul, intestinal gas floating over the jury box hadn't helped the defendant either.
Buttstench loser, all that one can say.
Is this true or just wishful thinking on our part?
I agree. The only way they could actually try to put on a defense would be to put DEMENTIA DON on the stand, which would likely prove disastrous. There don’t seem to be any other witnesses who could help his case. They'll argue for dismissal after the state rests its case (and expect more mistrial motions). But I think the defense will be stuck trying to rely on the arguments you raised about the prosecution's case, which are really weak in light of the evidence presented thus far.
The body guard should be able to say under oath that Ms.Clifford was never in trumpies hotel room if indeed that was true. But you know they won’t put him on the stand because, unlike Weisselberg the guy doesn’t likely want to end up in Rikers
My 2 cents: the defense knows this is a lost cause. They're not so much trying to prove reasonable doubt as they are trying to make the trial look like a political sham to his supporters. They're collecting soundbites for Fox News, likely to foment a Jan-6 style "uprising" once he's found guilty.