The prosecution asks that the defense be precluded from asking #StormyDaniels whether she was arrested. Justice #Merchan agrees w/the prosecutors, saying that “anybody can be arrested” & that it “doesn’t prove anything.”
The people call Stormy Daniels back to the stand
#Trump atty #Necheles begins questioning by saying that in 2011, Daniels denied having had sex w/Trump.
The defense showed a statement released in Jan 2018, in which #StormyDaniels said that she did not have an AFFAIR w/ #Trump. But #Necheles changed the wording to suggest she denied having SEX w/ Trump - & Daniels agreed, not splitting hairs about the wording here.
The Trump team has relied on this statement, which Daniels later rescinded
This is the statement Trump posted on social as having been "JUST FOUND," leading to a contempt ruling for violation of his #GagOrder.
#StormyDaniels takes a page from the Trumpian playbook & says that she is allowed to punch back at social media jousts from her adversaries. She’s not under a #GagOrder.
If they want to make fun of me, then I can make fun of them, Daniels says as she explains why she responded to a tweet attacking her by calling #Trump an "orange turd."
Necheles is working hard to show the jury how much Daniels hates Trump & is prejudiced.
The defense is asking for a mistrial & that #Trump be allowed to respond in public (not court) to #StormyDaniels's testimony. To be clear. Trump is asking the court to lift the #legal restrictions of the #GagOrder, so he can publicly attack a witness’s testimony.
#Trump has sought maximum press coverage of this trial, & now his atty Todd #Blanche is complaining about the press coverage of #StormyDaniels's testimony.
Blanche says that Trump will get asked about Daniels & won't be able to answer because of his #GagOrder.
Blanche concludes & Chris Conroy, a prosecutor, responds, saying the defense team seem to almost live "in an alternate reality." He says the gag order was designed to protect the trial & has been eftective thus far.
#Merchan says he is concerned, not only w/protecting #StormyDaniels & other #witnesses who have testified, but w/protecting those who have yet to testify & protecting the proceedings as a whole. The judge says that he himself wrote down a version of Conroy's argument "I can't take your word for it that, 'no no, this is going to be low key," Merchan says, referring to the comments #Trump would make if the #GagOrder was altered. "That's just not the track record."
Trump leans forward & glares at the judge as he denies the motion.
Now Todd #Blanche is arguing for a #mistrial, again. Trump's lawyers have been known to call for multiple mistrials in the course of a proceeding. It could exhaust the judge’s patience, & lose credibility.
🤦🏻♀️ Lawyers for Donald #Trump asked a New York appeals court to rule on their challenge to the #GagOrder limiting what the former president can say about witnesses in the criminal hush money trial, according to people familiar with the matter. #legal
"Judge Merchan has been more than deferential to Trump's status as a former president and candidate. If Judge Merchan fails to punish future violations with confinement, Trump will have established that he is above the law. That is an exception our democracy cannot abide. However difficult and unsettling imprisoning a former president will be, the alternative would be far worse."
#Trump posted an angry message on TruthSocial saying he’d just learned who the next witness was [#StormyDaniels] & that his lawyers had “no time” to prepare.
The post remained up for 30 mins before Trump removed it, probably bc it was another violation of the #GagOrder & #jail is fully on the table.
Reportedly, Trump hates deleting posts — he sees it as a sign of weakness 🙄.
Justice #Merchan says that, w/the consent of the defense lawyers, Susan #Hoffinger, the prosecutor, has stepped out to confer w/ #StormyDaniels about keeping her #testimony within the confines set by the judge, & avoiding any “unnecessary” details. [to avoid a fricking mistrial ffs]
Note, when the judge in Trump’s civil fraud trial denied a mistrial, #Trump stormed out of the room.
We could see a #GagOrder violation today if he follows his typical behavior.
#StormyDaniels is now being asked about a statement she signed denying having had an affair w/ #Trump, given to her by her lawyer & dated 10 Jan, 2018. This is the same statement that Trump recently posted on Truth Social had been "JUST FOUND."
#Blanche was unable to defend the post last week in the contempt hearing related to Trump's #GagOrder. The statement clearly had not just been found.
Daniels makes it clear that she didn’t want to sign the statement, & that it wasn’t true.
As I was unable to do a #TrumpTrial 🧵 today, here’s a #GiftArticle on the day’s proceedings:
“After 2 wks of enthralling jurors w/stories of sex & scandal, prosecutors delved into the documents at the heart of Trump’s #criminal trial on Mon, a pivotal turn in the case that came on the same day the judge held #Trump in #contempt & threatened to #jail him.”
“After the judge rebuked #Trump for violating a #GagOrder & mounting ‘a direct attack on the rule of #law,’ the prosecutors provided jurors w/their first look at the 34 records they say he falsified to #coverup an infamous payment.
“Trump made the payment to his longtime fixer, #MichaelCohen, reimbursing him for a $130k #HushMoney payoff to a porn star, #StormyDaniels, prosecutors say. Before Trump repaid Cohen, prosecutors say, he orchestrated a scheme to falsify the records.
“#Trump, the first American president to face prosecution, is on #trial for 34 #felony counts of falsifying business records, 1 for each doc: 11 checks to #MichaelCohen, 11 invoices from Cohen & 12 entries in Trump’s general ledger. The invoices & ledger entries claimed that Cohen had been repaid for ‘legal expenses’ that arose from a ‘retainer agreement.’”
Trump's a lying coward. He didn't break the #GagOrder today that I know of. He made a point of avoiding it, in fact... so far.
If he were really willing to be a martyr, he would have made sure he was in jail by now by bashing the jury. He's doing this to rile up his base, but he does NOT want to be in jail.
@darthstar@GottaLaff@atrupar
Trump knows what he is doing. He is claiming the #GagOrder which includes "narrowly tailored restrictions" on what he, as a defendant out on pretrial release in a felony case, can say means he can't "say anything."
He's lying about what the gag order is, what it covers and what he can and can't say.
Justice Merchan starts off will the prosecution motion for contempt.
He tells Trump he's about to issue his ruling, in which he will again find Trump in contempt of court.
The last thing I want to do is put you in jail, Justice Merchan says to Trump. You are the former President of the United States and possibly the next President as well.
But "going forward," he continues, "this court will have to consider jail sanctions" if necessary.
Merchan addresses Trump directly regarding his continued violations of #GagOrder
“It appears that the 1,000 fines are not serving as a deterrent.”
“The last thing I want to do is to put you in jail. You are the former president of the United States, and possibly the next president as well.”
“There are many reasons why incarceration is truly a last resort for you.”
“To take that step would be disruptive to the proceedings”
“But at the end of the day, I have a job to do.”
“I find you in #criminal#contempt for the 10th time,” said Justice Juan #Merchan, who said he is concerned that Donald #Trump has apparently not taken heed of his prior findings.
“Going forward, this court will have to consider a #jail sentence. The last thing I want to do is put you in jail.”