As we wait for the jury to get seated, per the hallway pool, Trump ignored the following questions on his way back in:
Mr. Trump how do you feel about the 1st Department's gag order ruling?
Mr. Trump, will you testify?
Will you call any witnesses?
How's it going in there?
Blanche steps up to deliver the cross, and comes out swinging.
"Mr. Cohen, my name is Todd Blanche," he begins. They've never met but Blanche says you know me, right? "You went on Tiktok and called me a crying little shit?"
"Sounds like something I would say," Cohen spits back.
Objection—sustained
Blanche swings again, asking about whether Cohen posted something about him and Necheles, objection again, please approach.
👉🏼"This is going to be so much fun," I overhear one reporter say
On April 23, you said you heard what a witness had testified about correct?
Objection—overruled.
It's possible, yes, Cohen says.
Q: Do you recall saying on Tiktok when Pecker was on the stand, that Pecker is corroborating what you've been saying for 6 years?
A: Yes, I said that
Someone called him and told him that, Cohen says.
Q: And have you been following the trial on CNN and MSNBC?
A: Yes I've watched, but not following this trial.
👉🏼Meanwhile, Trump is watching the back of his eyelids.
Q: You've watched because this trial is important to you, correct?
A: Yes, but there are other issues too: like the protests, Israel.
Q: But is this trial important to you, Mr Cohen?
A: Personally, yes.
11/ [Me: Lawrence O'Donnell will likely note that all these names Trump is being called are now being repeated/part of the record and he'll exploit the hell out of it]
McB:
Blanche continues to dig up recent comments Cohen made on social media, one in which he called Trump a "dictator douchebag"?
Sounds like something I said, Cohen repeats, a few subdued chuckles.
Blanche has not a shred of humor in his voice. He sounds serious, disgusted.
Rewind now to 2021: is it true that the Manhattan DA's office told you repeatedly to stop talking publicly about this case?
Yes, Cohen says.
Blanche asks about Cohen's former lawyer, Lanny Davis.
On 1/15/21—there was a leak to the AP—Davis and Cohen denied being the source of the leak to the DA's office. Blanche shows an exhibit to Cohen, reading glasses back on, to refresh his memory.
BLANCHE: Do you recall Davis asking line prosecutors to "report to the top"?
Objection—sustained.
Now, 02/2021, do you recall your lawyer talking to you—objection, sustained—do you recall the DA's office being frustrated about you talking about the case on TV?
Blanche shows B55.
Trump's lawyer Blanche: Lanny Davis, your lawyer, do you recall him saying line prosecutors to report to the top?
Prosecutor Hoffinger: Objection!
Justice Merchan: Sustained.
Blanche: Do you remember the prosecutors being frustrated you leaked to the press?
A: No
Q: Document aside: do you remember in 02/21 going on TV talking about the investigation?
A: I go on TV often, so I'm not sure what the topic was, Cohen sounds, faintly annoyed.
Q: Do you remember making promises to your attorney you'd stop talking/going on TV?
Objection—sustained
So far, he's entirely focused on Cohen's public statements and his continued media appearances.
It's hard to tell exactly where this is going or why Trump's legal team wants the jury to pay attention to this.
Do you recall that you went on CNN and told the news anchor, Don Lemon, that you'd been contacted by the DA's office and been asked to provide your cell phone?
I think so.
And do you remember the District Attorney's office being frustrated about that?
Q: You continue to talk to the press to this day?
A: About many topics.
Q: Including this case?
A: Sounds correct.
Q: I don't want it to sound correct, is it correct?
A: Yes, it would be correct.
Blanche bounces around in time, now 02/23:
Prior to testimony, you gave cell phones to prosecutor named Jeremy Rosenberg, two phones, two different days? (Yes) Then you went on CNN and told Don Lemon you were contacted by the DA's office? (Sounds correct)
BLANCHE: Do you recall the DA's office was frustrated you went on TV and said you turned over your phones?
Cohen doesn't recall, no.
BLANCHE: Are you the one that leaked to CNN that you gave your phones to the DA in Jan '23?
Cohen doesn't recall that either.
Q: If you didn't leak it, who else knew that you gave the phones to the DA's office?
A: Well, clearly Lanny Davis, could be others, idk.
Q: Members of the DA's office knew too, correct?
A: Yes
With heavy sarcasm, Blanche asks whether Cohen has detailed telephone recollections of years-old conversations with Trump—but can't recall his promise to the DA's office from last year.
Anna Bower:
So just so I understand, Blanche says, you testified about very specific recollections of conversations with Trump in 2016. But you can't recall things that happened about a year ago?
During all of this, Trump's eyes appear to be closed and his head appears to be tilted up.
McB:
So let me get this straight, Blanche asks, you remember multiple phone calls with Trump from 2016, but you can't remember these promises you made to the Manhattan DA's office last year?
You don't recall the DA's office telling you that you were unwittingly helping Trump by going on TV? asks Blanche.
No sir, Cohen says, looking at Blanche, then toward the jury box.
Blanche turns to after the indictment. You've been warned repeatedly not to talk about the case? Yes.
What do they say? "Please don't talk about the case."
They called my attorney, Cohen says.
McB:
Were you called to the DA's office on 3/20/23 as a possible rebuttal witness to Costello (yes)—then you went on TV that night and said you didn't need to be a rebuttal witness bc Costello's testimony lacked veracity? (also yes)
Blanche hammers Cohen on his phrasing, that he recalled, post-indictment, the DA's office told him it would "probably better off" if he not speak about the case.
Well I have a 1A right, Cohen says, but Blanche says he's not asking about his 1A right.
You haven't followed that request not to talk about the case? Correct. I'm responding--before Cohen can finish, Blanche cuts him off. He does some witness control: I'm asking you "yes" or "no," he says quickly, before moving on to the next question.
Fair to say that in the course of this investigation, you've gone on TV several dozen times? (I don't recall) More than 20? (Could be) Any doubt in your mind that it's more than 20? (No doubt)
But that's not all—Blanche asks about Cohen's hundreds of podcast episodes as well.
You're active on Twitter? Correct.
And TikTok? Correct.
You do a nightly live TikTok? Correct. It's more than n hour.
What's the point? Build an audience, create community, vent. I'm having trouble sleeping, so it's an outlet.
Klasfeld:
Blanche turns to Cohen's podcast, "Mea Culpa."
Q: Of those more than 200 episodes, would you agree that you have talked about President Trump in every single one?
Q: Of those more than 200 episodes, did you talk about Trump in every one?
A: I'd say he's mentioned in every one, yes.
Cohen says he's active on X, Tiktok (nightly, live for more than an hour, in order to build an audience, create a community, "really vent bc I'm having a difficult time sleeping, so I found an outlet"). It does make money, Cohen admits, though it's not significant.
Blanche asks about Cohen's prep for testifying, including a binder he received from the DA's office that included publicly available documents, such as his allocution.
Q: On Mea Culpa, have you said you want Trump to be convicted in this case?
Sounds like something I would say, Cohen says, much to Blanche's frustration. He wants a yes or no, so he asks again, but gets another frustrating "Probably."
Trump's lawyer Blanche: You've regularly commented that you want President Trump in jail?
Cohen: Yes I would like to see that. Sure.
Blanche: You sell a T-shirt depicting President Trump in an orange jumpsuit behind bars?
Cohen: Yes sir.
We see a couple of choice items from the Mea Culpa merch store:
$32 t-shirt with a picture of Trump in an orange jumpsuit behind bars; a t-shirt that says CONVICT 45, also $32; and a $22 coffee mug with the words: SEND HIM TO THE BIG HOUSE NOT THE WHITE HOUSE.
Blanche: You sell a T-shirt depicting President Trump in an orange jumpsuit behind bars?
Cohen: Yes sir. That's 1 item.
Trump's lawyer Blanche: We offer this into evidence: a $32 t-shirt with President Trump in jail?
Cohen: Yes
Blanche: And the coffee cup, Send Him To The Big House Not the White House - so it's not just the tshirt?
Justice Merchan: Sustained.
Q: When did you change your view of Trump from what it is now compared to what it was prior?
A: Around the time I went on George Stephanopoulos in 2018.
Q: You enjoyed working for Trump, and started working for him in 2006?
A: Very much so, and yes, 2006.
BLANCHE: You still live in a building with Trump's name on it, correct?
There's a line of questioning now establishing just how many properties of Trump's that Cohen and members of his extended family invested in since 2000 at one point or another. I'll save you the back and forth, but it's a lot.
Blanche: You rent out an apartment you own in Trump building for $15,000 a month?
Cohen: To an embassy...
Blanche: You made millions in taxi medallions?
Cohen: I did.
Blanche: President Trump was happy with your results?
Cohen: He was
Yes, Cohen says, he made millions of dollars in the taxi medallion business.
In the early 2000s, you were a bit of a dealmaker? Blanche asks.
Yes, Cohen says.
We cover well-trodden ground of Cohen's Trump Org origin story, then Blanche clarifies, that, as Trump's personal attorney, you only reported to him right? (Yes.)
But it wasn't only representing Trump, you also represented his family on occasion? (Yes, Cohen says.)
Blanche asks whether about Cohen's "obsession" and admiration for Trump, even before working for him, and he pulls up Cohen quotes, in 2015"a good man," and "a man who cares deeply about this county," "a man who tells it straight," "speaks from the heart."
Do you recall a Vanity Fair profile that was done in Sept of 2017? I do.
You participated in that article? Written by Emily Jane Fox.
You said you were the guy who protects the Pres & the fam? I believe so.
You said you'd take a bullet for Trump? Yes.
You had no intention of writing a book at that time in 2017? I had no intention at that time.
You said there was no $ in world that wd get you to disclose anything about fam? OK.
You described Trumps as a surrogate family? Correct.
At the time, Blanche says Cohen said he was offered $10 million for a tell-all book deal, but counteroffered a ridiculous sum—$100m—as if to say he'd never write a book.
Correct, I had no intention of writing a book at that time, says Cohen.
After the initial slugfest, Blanche and Cohen have settled into a needlefest, jabbing each other where they can, but saving the haymakers, presumably, for later.
Q: In 2017, you publicly spoke abt disappointment/frustration abt not spending enough time w Trump & his children bc of the investigation?
A: Where was that said?
Cohen seems genuinely confused, Blanche rephrases, & Cohen confirms he was advised not to speak to the kids
Q: On 10/24/17, did you lie in other areas of your testimony, or only about the Russia part?
Just that part, Cohen thinks
Blanche brings up one bit of positive testimony about Trump, Cohen confirms that was truthful.
Bouncing around again, now to 4/26/18, Blanche asks, Did you say on the phone, "Boss I miss you so much, I wish I was down there with you, it's hard for me to be here"? He shows Cohen an article to refresh his recollection.
COHEN: No, I don't recall.
BLANCHE: Fair enough.
CORRECTION: Cohen did say that this is the @MeidasTouch
merch store, though Blanche tried to portray it as a Mea Culpa/Cohen-specific store. (My apologies)
Quote
MeidasTouch
This is NOT a Mea Culpa merch store. It is our merch store and not in any way run by Michael Cohen. That being said, you can buy all these items here: http://store.meidastouch.com
Q They asked you about the Trump-Moscow project, and you lied to them?
A Yes, the information I gave was not accurate.
Q So is not accurate information a lie in your book?
A Sure.
Q Is it a lie?
A It was inaccurate, yes.
Q So, was it a lie?
...believe it or not, they keep going.
BLANCHE: Do you recall lying about that or other things as well?
COHEN: I don't know, I'd have to—he gestures toward the monitor in front of him—refresh my memory.
Blanche clarifies that he only had to plead guilty about lying about the Mosccow project.
That's right, says Cohen
Cohen name-checks a restaurant called LOULOU, if you want to add that to your restaurant tour of the NY Trump Trial, along with the Winged Foot Golf Club.
You testified yesterday that you have a specific recollection of speaking with Trump about the Access Hollywood tape?
Objection—sustained.
But when speaking to the SC office Cohen says he said he "might have," bc he was trying to be deceptive and leave the door open, and remain loyal to Trump.
We move briskly through Cohen's guilty pleas and sentencing, pausing again in Feb 2019, at which point Cohen had changed his views about Trump.
Q You had been talking for years and years about your views on Trump, but in Feb 2019 you called him a "conman" and you were "ashamed"?
After an hour and 15 minutes of cross, most of it boring and seemingly aimless, we haven't spoken about the payments or business records one single time.
@GottaLaff@ClassyT Last time I moved back in '08, I didn't have any choice but PODS (there was a 3 month gap between moving out of the old place & into the new); worked out brilliantly. It was a really good solution for me to move/temporarily store my stuff until the new place was ready!
Blanche resumes with Cohen's first meeting with Manhattan prosecutors, while he was in prison.
BLANCHE: One of the first things you asked the Manhattan DA about was what the benefit to you would be?
COHEN: Yes
BLANCHE: And you mentioned that you'd been "screwed over by the system"?
Cohen can't recall, so Blanche refreshes his memory via exhibit on his monitor.
You wanted to know the benefit of meeting with them—which is fair—Blanche concedes. Are you familiar with a Rule 35 motion in federal court? (yes) And you understand that sometimes it entitles the judge who sentenced you to give you a lower sentence?
Blanche continues to ask about how long Cohen thought it would take for the DA to bring charges, or whether it mattered to him, and Cohen seems confused.
A second meeting, also in Otisville, Sept 2019, then a third in Oct.
Eventually, Cohen's lawyer—Roger Adler, whom he retained in Aug—filed a Rule 35 motion for reduction of sentence in federal court, which Cohen reviewed pre-filing.
It's clear that Trump's legal strategy here is to make Cohen seem like he was willing to say anything to get out of prison—especially if it could happen fast.
On that point, Blanche mentions that Cohen's lawyers asked the DA to help with a "Rule 35" motion—and indeed they did.
That means Manhattan prosecutors asked a federal court to reduce Cohen's original sentence, believing that he provided substantial assistance to them.
The bases of the motion was because of Cohen's cooperation with the special counsel's office (yes), thrice with the Manhattan DA (yes), and with the SDNY (I can't recall).
As Blanche winds up for clarifications, he apologizes for "talking about lawyers so much."
78/ Press:
Blanche: Federal judge denied your motion, right?
Cohen: He did.
Blanche: But after you got out due to COVID, you tried again, w Disloyal & Mea Culpa - you called Trump a boorish cartoon misogynist?
Cohen: Sounds like something I would say
Blanche: You called Pres Trump a Cheetos-dusted cartoon villain?
Cohen: Yes.
Blanche: You said, I f*cking want to see him locked up?
Cohen: Sounds like my language on Mea Culpa.
Blanche: I want you to listen to it, not the jury [headphones on]
SDNY characterized Cohen's description of his assistance to their investigation as "overstated" and "incomplete," as opposed to Mueller's office, which found him cooperative.
Blanche instructs Cohen to don headphones to listen to an episode of his Mea Culpa podcast.
BLANCHE: You just heard a portion of your podcast. You said in that same podcast that Trump needs to wear handcuffs and do a perp walk? People won't be satisfied until he's in a cell?
COHEN: I don't recall saying that but wouldn't put it past me.
Cohen, Merchan, and counsel put on headphones to listen to some of Cohen's podcast, but Cohen struggles to get them on. (It's an episode of the Mea Culpa podcast on Oct 23 if you want to listen at home.)
Cohen is now listening to his own podcast—Mea Culpa—from the witness stand.
Perhaps struggling with the too on-the-nose irony of Cohen listening to Mea Culpa from the witness stand, Hoffinger objects, and parties approach for sidebar.
I wouldn't go so far as to say Cohen's refusal to use "yes" or "no" instead favoring "sounds like something I'd say" or "I believe it may be true" is getting under Blanche's skin, but it's certainly interrupting his rhythm.
Blanche is trying to suggest that Cohen was motivated to cooperate with the investigation in order to get a sentence reduction so that he could be released earlier from home confinement.
Blanche is getting into the conditions of Cohen's sentence, calculations done by the Bureau of Prisons, home confinement vs. prison. It seems we're back to Cohen's desire to lower his prison sentence which, as Blanche said earlier, "is fair."
At some point you understood that there was a new DA? Correct.
Have you met DA Bragg? No, sir.
Then in October 2022, you publish your second book, "Revenge." How much money have you made from "Revenge"? I don't know exactly, but I would say about $400,000.
Todd Blanche's cross-examination has no rhyme or reason. It's all over the place. It reminds me of his Opening Statement, which similarly felt rudderless.
If he scores a zinger against Cohen, it gets lost the second Blanche moves on to a new area of inquiry, which is often wholly unrelated to the prior area in a distracting way.
Okay, Merchan did the right thing. He just asked the lawyers to go over what was said.
Looks like Cohen will be on all day tomorrow, and👉🏼 maybe then some. Also, defense had a question about their own 👉🏼expert witness. (So I guess they will put on a case!)
@GottaLaff men are most leaders most of history and men kill the planet too much for biz and politics commit most crimes and have always enslaved way to many in poverty wage and allowed the masses to be underpaid overcharged cannibalized abused n used by the rich who did not do 10 times more hours nor 10 times more better more important work and we can replace all rich with 2 average pay people at 40 hrs a week
@GottaLaff 40 hrs a week and use the old rich wage to pay the poverty wage people more as better world for most , men have enslaved most too much in poverty age and overcharged raising the cost of living too much too often over war-mongered instead of getting rid of the warmonger leaders in week one , , woman have 1 million yrs of caring for the home reasonably ok and caring for the kids reasonably fare n equal so get women in 51 %
@GottaLaff get women in 51 % of company and country leadership roles and do that for the masses and home = planet as more vegetation on all properties and half the roofs for clean oxygen carbon cleaning shade animal food and shelter , play robin hood on the rich and use what they and military of the world has to fix poverty and nature as better world for most , please share with many - i have many back ups and additions interconnected for these
I'm not entirely sure what the defense is going for. The cross sounds like he's made Cohen seem more human and approachable -- rather than a traitor and a turncoat, instead a man who was fanatically loyal until he was thrown under the bus. That's not a very good way to make him out to be the villain of the piece.
@GottaLaff
This is not the way the defense should have wrapped up their cross-examination, leaving the jury to think about the whimper of a cross-examination until Thursday..
@GottaLaff
I understand. But for me, I'm like all attorneys; I'm listening for a half dozen things even when laying a foundation for admission of simple documents. You don't have time to get bored. At the end of the day, all the attorneys in the Trump case are probably dead tired because it's like being on stage for eight hours solid.
@hasani@GottaLaff The best part of this is that no matter how many printouts of "you're so great" stories he is handed, he still has to listen to all the bad stuff people are actually saying about him.
@GottaLaff
NFL
I’ve maybe watched too many episodes of Law & Order, but this sounds like a trick a lawyer would know how to use to throw off the rhythm of the questioner. So much theater for the jury’s “benefit.”
@GottaLaff NFL is this little shit Vinny gonna do anything useful for his client or just keep trying to snipe at Cohen's integrity? Jury already knows Cohen lied for Trump and now isn't lying for Trump, so YAWN.
Starting to think Trump's PAC Save America wasted their $4 million here.
Good luck, @GottaLaff, with your PODs. We had a less than stellar experience with them.
Late drop off, late delivery, high pressure sales to use their unloading crew (4 hours late, only 2 of 3 showed up, and did a terrible job), and worst of all, their storage service must have been in the Mojave because a number of plastic storage boxes were heat damaged and melted, several leather items ruined, damaged appliances, candles were puddles.
@GottaLaff HMM…THANKS BLANCHE FOR HELPING THE DA WITH THEIR REDIRECT. DA: MR. COHEN, WHY DO YOU WANT MR. TRUMP TO GO TO JAIL? COHEN: I WOULD LIKE HIM TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE LIKE I WAS FOR THE CRIME WE COMMITTED TOGETHER. 🤣
@GottaLaff NFL - WHAT IS WITH THIS LINE OF QUESTIONING OTHER THAN TO MAKE COHEN BLOW A GASKET? WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THE FACTS PRESENTED? WHERE IS THE DEFENSE REBUTTAL EVIDENCE THAT SLEEPFARTICUS DIDN’T SLEEP WITH STORMY, OR THAT HE DIDN’T SIGN THE CHECKS. 😂
@GottaLaff NFL Seems like the expanded entourage is there to show solidarity with him against Michael Cohen. But I think that Trump and his supporters sense that this trail has gone south for him and they've missed an opportunity to turn it into a show trail. They wanted to turn the trial into a show trial, like Oliver North, but Trump lacks the skills to manage the lawyers. Witness how he clumsily prods them to object and engage in stunts.
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