#FaniWillis#wins#primary
Willis now proceeds to November’s general #election, where she will face Courtney Kramer, a Republican lawyer who interned in the #Trump White House.
Yesterday, Costello behaved so atrociously on the witness stand that Juan Merchan cleared the courtroom to admonish him & the defense attorneys. Costello is due back on the stand
We’re witnessing a concerted effort by #Trump & #MAGA#politicians to cast doubt on the legitimate & strong #FultonCounty#ElectionInterference case by attacking the prosecutor. It’s an effort that takes advantage of every avenue of #government#power to which Trump’s allies have access. Their goal? #Delay#accountability for Trump’s alleged attempt to illegally overturn a presidential election.
"[The New York Case] may be the least serious of the four criminal cases against [Trump], and I’m worried that Trump’s successful stalling of the other three cases will cause the news media to sideline coverage of those charges – involving the plot to overturn the 2020 election and the theft of secret documents."
"If news outlets don’t keep those cases front-and-center in the run-up to the 2024 election, they’ll be playing into the hands of the MAGA Republicans who are desperately delaying justice. …
The right-wing propagandists who say Trump is the victim of 'lawfare' and a 'witch hunt' won’t stop trying to undermine the credibility of our courts, so honest journalists can’t stop bringing the facts either."
#Trump has a huge posse today, including #KashPatel; #GerryKassar, a #conservative party leader in NY; #BernieKerik, fmr NYPD commissioner who was imprisoned for tax fraud & false statements; #AlanDershowitz, lawyer who defended Trump during his first impeachment, & #BorisEpshteyn, legal adviser who was #indicted in AZ for attempts to keep Trump in power after the 2020 election.
#Blanche suggests that the famously frugal #Trump would have been unlikely to overpay anyone — again harping on the disparity between the $130k that #MichaelCohen paid #StormyDaniels & the $420k that Cohen was repaid. “Did he happily write checks to lawyers, for example?” Blanche asks.
#Blanche concludes his re-cross-examination by asking #MichaelCohen if, in the 11 yrs he worked for #Trump, he ever recalled his boss having willingly overpayed for something. Cohen started by answering no, this was the first time — but then, he seemed to answer a different question, saying it was the first time he recalled Trump paying for a #NDA. Which wasn’t the question asked — confusing.
He recently testified before the #House#Judiciary Cmte, where he assailed Cohen’s credibility.
Costello also testified before the #GrandJury last year, in a last-ditch plea to the panel to not accept Cohen’s word. Which obviously didn’t work since the grand jury #indicted#Trump.
#RobertCostello wasn’t a potential witness in this #TrumpTrial until recently. Prosecutors are objecting to the scope of the questions the defense lawyers want to ask him about #MichaelCohen’s credibility.
Justice #Merchan sounds frustrated that this wasn’t worked out beforehand, which falls on the defense, not the prosecutors.
Prosecutors point out that #MichaelCohen testified that he didn’t tell Costello the truth.
Bove argues “there’s no mystery” about why Costello should testify — he will contradict Cohen’s recollections of conversations the 2 men had in 2018 (remember there is audio).
Justice Merchan sounds disinclined to allowing much of Costello’s testimony.
#RobertCostello testifies that #MichaelCohen then asked, “What's my escape route?” adding that he had told Cohen then that he could cooperate w/the govt.
“I swear to God, Bob, I don’t have anything on Donald Trump,” Costello recalls Cohen telling him. As prosecutors just pointed out — w/the #jury out of the room — Cohen testified that he lied to Costello at this point about the #StormyDaniels payment.
#RobertCostello shakes his head in apparent frustration w/ Justice #Merchan after Merchan sustains several objections by prosecutors. (Not a good look for jurors)
When Justice Merchan sustains yet another objection, he gets visibly irritated.
#Trump also shakes his head when the lawyers approach the bench for another sidebar.
He testifies that w/respect to #StormyDaniels, Cohen said “numerous times” that #Trump “knew nothing about those payments, that he did this on his own.”
Prosecutor #Hoffinger objects to many of Emil #Bove's questions, often being sustained by #Merchan.
Costello is ignoring the judge’s rulings, so Justice Merchan warned him directly to wait for a ruling before answering.
Hoffinger gets under Costello’s skin quickly. “The email speaks for itself,” he keeps saying when asked about an email exchange between his law partner & Cohen.
Costello is now scolding Hoffinger for getting his past title wrong. (This guy is a shit show)
#Hoffinger shows #RobertCostello an email he sent to his own son. The email says “I will be on the team,” & it quotes #MichaelCohen as saying that he would be “eternally grateful” to have him.
Costello told his son that he did not know when the announcement would be made. His son responded: "Wow. That’s big news. Congrats Dad. I hope this leads to a lot of good things coming your way.”
The judge tells the jurors that we will stop for the day, & begins to excuse them.
Susan #Hoffinger asks that #RobertCostello be reminded that he is not meant to interact w/either party while still on the stand. But Justice #Merchan says he doesn’t normally give that instruction & allows Costello to step down. Hoffinger says she has ~45 mins of questions left for Costello.
Justice Merchan asks whether #Blanche wants him to rip the case away from the #jury & decide it himself. Blanche agrees that this is what the defense wants (not bloody likely — #Trump has repeatedly claimed Merchan is out to get him).
“You said that his lies were irrefutable but you think he’s going to fool 12 New Yorkers into believing this lie?” #Merchan says referring to #MichaelCohen.
Justice #Merchan says he will reserve his decision for tomorrow. We are done w/ another long #TrumpTrial day. Prosecution rested its case against #Trump, & the defense got through a significant portion of theirs. If things go acc/to schedule, the defense will rest tomorrow, & the jury will be excused for the rest of the week, returning after the holiday weekend to hear closing arguments.