@Nonilex@masto.ai
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Nonilex

@Nonilex@masto.ai

… paring down time on social media … ?? Fully migrated to mastodon now that the bird self destructed. Though if you want to view my old posts, same username.

#BabySquirrel

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Nonilex, to Law
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🧵 Thursday 16 May 2024

Cross-examination of resumes, an opportunity for the defense to poke holes in his testimony & perhaps trip up or provoke the state’s key witness. The questioning of Cohen, ’s fmr fixer, is the beginning of the end of Trump’s trial, which began April 15 & might conclude before Memorial Day weekend at this pace.

Nonilex,
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A man w/a sign reading “GTFO of NYC” on one side & “Bootlickers” on the other was removed by police.

Another man approached Rep & handed her a “Beetlejuice” program, & asked for her to sign it — poking fun at when she was kicked out of the musical for outrageous & disruptive behavior — was blocked by security.

Across the street, someone else could clearly be heard yelling “Matt Gaetz is a pedophile.”

Nonilex,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

Almost a dozen showed up at the courthouse on Thurs, including trolls Reps & of ; of ; & Rep of . They said they were there to speak on behalf of because a has barred him from speaking for himself.

“We are here of our own volition [ok], because there are things we can say that President Trump is unjustly not allowed to say,” said outside the courthouse.

Nonilex,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

control the by such a slim margin, 217-213, that just 2 defections can sink even when all members are present — just a few absences can erase their majority altogether. The show of support for from such a large group meant that for much of Thurs, the GOP handed the majority to .

had a vote scheduled for Thurs to rebuke President for pausing an arms shipment to & compel his admin to deliver weapons.

Nonilex,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

The bill was designed to divide & embarrass , & had no chance of passing the or becoming . But w/so many off campus demonstrating their fealty to , they left open the possibility that the party’s own messaging bill gets defeated. Democratic leaders in the had advised their members to vote “no,” calling the measure “another partisan stunt by Extreme Republicans who are determined to hurt President Biden politically.”

Nonilex, (edited )
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

The that showed up to the today in Manhattan were lawmakers who are all about disrupting legislative business & have no issue w/embarrassing their own party on the floor. It included many members who have frozen the chamber for days on end, most recently voting down their party’s own rules as an act of protest.

Idiots.

Nonilex,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

@carstenfranke don’t forget refusing to stop vaping after being asked to stop by the pregnant woman sitting behind her getting smacked in the face by her exhaled smoke.

Nonilex,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

resumes

, defense lawyer, picks up w/ trying to clean up the indictment unsealing timing w/ as directed by Merchan earlier. The prosecution objects to a follow-up, & the judge tells the lawyers to approach.

So Blanche isn’t quite getting it right.

Blanche tries again to remove the implication that the DA gave Cohen advanced info ahead of the NYT story.

The DA sought to have the original line of questioning stricken.

Nonilex,
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#Blanche admitted into evidence #MichaelCohen’s texts w/ a 14-yr-old harasser, which occurred on 24 Oct, 2016 until roughly 7:24PM, when Cohen wrote: “Please have your parent or guardian contact me before secret service reaches out them.”

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

Totally irrelevant.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #Trump #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

Nonilex,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

#MichaelCohen is now speaking directly to the #jury about his longstanding relationship w/ #journalists.

#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 #TrumpOrganization asking for comment. He said he would immediately go to Trump’s office & they would come up w/a crafted response that he would take back to the reporter.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial

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

is trying to get Cohen to say that while working for Trump, he gave statements to reporters w/o checking in w/his boss. Cohen is refusing to concede this, & says that he would always talk to Trump about every story.

Nonilex,
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is trying to establish the idea for the jury that was a rogue agent who did things w/o consulting w/ -- which defense says is what happened w/the payment.

Blanche notes that Cohen often frustrated campaign ofcls w/statements he made to the press during the 2016 campaign. Cohen parries that by saying Trump had told them that Cohen reported to him.

Nonilex,
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Per Rebecca Shabad:

Earlier, prosecutor Susan raised an issue w/ Judge saying that on Tues, some of ’s guests filed into the courtroom in the middle of direct examination w/their security detail in tow.

"And I noticed that some of his guests are already here today w/their security detail," Hoffinger said, acc/to the released transcript. "But we would just ask that they not be allowed to file in, in the middle of Mr. Blanche’s cross-examination."

Nonilex,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

said, "I would advise that that not happen."

lawyer said, "Your Honor, I have less than zero control over what is happening on anything or anyone that’s behind me when I am crossing a witness."

Nonilex,
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continues questioning about his relationships w/ reporters over the years naming Maggie Haberman of The NYT & Katy Tur of MSNBC.

Cohen confirmed that he communicated w/ reporters over the phone & via text, & he would occasionally record phone calls w/ members of the press w/o their knowledge, including former CNN chief Jeff Zucker.
(reminder NY is a one party consent state)

Nonilex,
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also gets Cohen to say that he sent a recording of somebody else to Haberman when she was reporting on a story.

said he sometimes gave scoops to Haberman, who has covered extensively for years & wrote a biography of him.

Nonilex,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

Meanwhile …

🤬 Sen. says case 'doesn't make sense'

, supposedly a Democrat from West Virginia, told reporters today that 's trial "doesn't make sense."

When asked whether he believes Trump should be convicted in any case, Manchin responded that "there are 2 really solid cases: January 6 & Georgia."
"Everything else doesn't really make sense," he added as a reporter directly asked about the case in NY.

JFC! Manchin, get out of the way!

Nonilex,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

asks having specific memories of calls from 8 yrs ago. Cohen responds that the reason he remembers them is because he’s been talking about the conversations for 6 yrs.

Blanche digs in, asking if Cohen has been talking about the specific phone calls he has been testifying about for 6 yrs. Blanche is performing for & the jury laying his mock disbelief on thick, his tone is derisive & he’s acting as if Cohen's testimony is ridiculous.

Nonilex,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

’s eyes are glued to & they’re open for once.

is trying to damage prosecution’s argument that Trump’s team orchestrated the payments to the 2016 election. Blanche has already gotten Cohen to confirm under oath that Trump was worried about the story IN PART because of his wife & children.

Nonilex,
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Importantly the falsified documents at issue in the #TrumpTrial weren’t to hide Trump’s affair #KarenMcDougal, but the #StormyDaniels #situationship.

Blanche asks about the story about McDougal: “President Trump at least initially, did not think it would hurt him, correct?”

#MichaelCohen: “Initially, yes.”

Though, Cohen concedes that ONE of the things Trump was worried about w/that story was his wife & children — that was a nearly year long affair while Melania was preggers so yeah.

#law

Nonilex,
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previously testified that in June 2016, he was negotiating w/ The & over her story about having had an affair w/ . On the stand now, as digs in about whether he can remember a specific call from that year, Cohen says that seeing prosecutors’ other evidence has jogged his memory about calls he had back then. (That’s memory for ya)

Nonilex,
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asks about what it meant for to pay in "cash," noting that it did not necessarily refer to green paper money, but to a payment that was made directly & not through financing. Blanche is referencing the recording heard earlier in the trial in which Trump directs him to “pay in cash.”

Blanche asks Cohen if Trump often made deals to pay cash for buildings or properties.

Nonilex,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

may be suggesting that when referred to "cash" in that recording, he could have been referencing any number of payments.

(But the recording specifically
said “our friend David” meaning )

Trump aides & smile at this line of questioning w/ (maybe it was their idea)

Nonilex,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

notes that while has talked a lot about using Signal, an encrypted app that makes use of disappearing messages, many of the sensitive conversations that we’ve seen & heard about in this trial just took place over text.
(Probably because having not disappeared, they could be admitted into evidence. Duh.)

Nonilex,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

questions again on his interactions w/ reporters when he worked for .

Blanche asks about negotiations he had w/ ABC News reporter John Santucci regarding the story.

Blanche is restating his opening argument point that NDAs were typical among the wealthy & famous & that they were not illegal. (No one has said otherwise)

Nonilex,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

shows the contract that struck w/ . He gets Cohen to agree it’s a “perfectly legal contract.” He’s raises his voice for emphasis — trying to make the feel like this arrangement was business as usual.

It may be usual to have NDAs, but this was unusual for other reasons.

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