Reality is about to strike
Today is the day that Michael Cohen will be cross-examined by the Trump defense team. The man who will say just about anything for anybody, said what Alvin Bragg wanted yesterday. Yesterday, the serial liar Cohen, who most decent prosecutors would never try to build a case with, testified that Trump "knew " he was going to pay for the nondisclosure agreement and that it would be buried before the election. The big problem with that is that it is perfectly legal. We also found out that Cohen taped his client without his client's knowledge which is a monstrous breach of attorney/client confidentiality. It had no bearing on this case whatsoever, just like the Stormy Daniels testimony.
Today the defense will rip Cohen apart with his many past statements and how he was so depressed that Trump wouldn't give him a job at the DOJ. Can you imagine anyone making Michael Cohen the nation's Attorney General?
It will also be a bad day for Alvin Bragg who is just about done with his presentation and still hasn't demonstrated what Trump is guilty of or what the "hidden crime" was. Last but not least, when the defense & prosecution are finished the ball will ultimately be in judge Merchan's hands. It will be left to him to do what Alvin Bragg failed to do. He will have to get a guilty verdict through duplicitous jury instructions. That would mark him forever as a devious, partisan judge who tried to frame a former President.
In other news:
Joe Biden, who once criticized President Trump for tariffs on China, will announce higher tariffs on China imports including electric vehicles and computer chips.
The U.N. said that a staff member was killed when one of its convoys came under fire in Rafah. That's the problem with trying to run a convoy through a war zone with Hamas firing on it.
Ukraine is short on troops and weapons as it tries to repel a new Russian offensive in the northeast.
As Russia advances, Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv to remind the Ukrainians that Biden is with them.
The government approved sweeping changes to electric grids. This could lead to many new high voltage power lines as well as more wind and solar power.
The New York Times falsely claimed that RFK JR said abortion should be legal early in pregnancy and restricted later. That may have once been his stand but recently he said that abortion should be unrestricted right up until birth.
Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she will update future editions of her recently released book, after a claim she made about President Joe Biden 's actions while at the dignified transfer of Marines killed in Afghanistan in 2021 was debunked.
Biden received significant criticism for looking at his watch to check the time while the remains of 13 Marines, who were killed during a bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan , during the U.S. withdrawal from the country in 2021, were returned to the United States. Psaki, then the White House press secretary, claimed, in her book Say More, that the incident was "misinformation."
Jen Psaki changing future reprints of book after Biden claim debunked (msn.com)
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Good morning
Yesterday MSNBC was telling everyone how different Michael Cohen seemed, as if he was somehow now believable. They tried to put a nice face on the disaster unfolding. Today reality will strike.
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I noticed that all the defense has is attacking his character, not the actual facts of the case. Very telling.
Cohen said their was only 3 people in the room including him. The defense could put Weisselberg on the stand, but he has the same character problem as Cohen OR perhaps they fear him corroborating the prosecutions case. They could put Trump on the stand, but that opens him up for perjury on cross examination, since Trump can't seem to ever tell the truth. That leaves tearing down Cohen's character as their easiest option.
100% spot on.
trump has hamstrung his defense team and upon his probable conviction, he'll blame them and then stiff them...
I enjoy watching trump require his VP hopeful sycophants to appear and violate his gag order by proxy though...
That scumbag Scott continues to attack the Judge's daughter.
I'm not certain the defense has proven their case since we still have cross today and everything hangs on Cohen's say so. In the end it won't matter what you, or I, think. Only what the jury believes.
But the defense doesn't need to prove their case since it's innocent until proven guilty. To me it doesn't seem like the prosecution has yet proven it's case. On the 34 charges in the indictments on bookkeeping, yesterday Cohen stated he submitted false invoices for legal services, if that was what was on the invoice then wouldn't the bookkeeping entry mirror that?
A guilty verdict wouldn't surprise me as this is New York City which is something like 90% Democrat and from what I can see from the other side of the country is rather fed up with all things Trump. It will be interesting to see what comes out of the jury on this. But I would also expect a guilty verdict to be overturned on appeal.
But at the end of the day, Trump is responsible for it. If Cohen did something in trump's name, that still falls on trump because he authorized Cohen to do it.
Right, it can't possibly be because he's fucking guilty. Always make up excuses, no matter how stupid, just never say he's guilty, got it, good talk.
Hum, do tell...
That is a civic duty. As I stated responsible prosecutors would NEVER base their case on the testimony of a repeated perjurer.
So does Merchan and Bragg, and they know it will be AFTER the election.
For what?
Of what?
That's not how criminal law works, at all.
They are going to have a hard time proving the records are false, let alone that Trump intended the records be falsified as part of a scheme to intentionally defraud someone of property or money which the New York law requires, and we know that never happened. And that would just be to satisfy the necessary requirements for the misdemeanor.
The endless defense of the indefensible
I miss typed. My mistake. I meant prosecution.
Cohen also stated Trump knew it was to bury the stories and we already know Trump signed the checks. It will be up to the jury to decide...
Very little would surprise me these days. I wouldn't put any money down on anything here - be it verdict, sentencing or appeal.
It's called a Freudian slip.
Why not turn on the TV and watch the live testimony Vic? Or are you waiting for the right wing fake news to formulate your opinion for you?
Didn't read the comment, that's ok Vic. Trump is responsible for what goes on in his own company. It's a well known fact that he is a micromanager as well.
It's called multitasking... Why must you make everything personal?
Kind of hard to do with no live television coverage don't you think?
What character..........he's was convicted for PERGURY, he went to fucking jail, there's nothing to tear down, just display his past. Or are one of those that say he's telling the TRUTH this time.
The REALITY is that:
1. Trump was accused by 23 women of RAPE. What % is that of the actual rapes by Trump?
2. Trump STOLE Top Secret documents from the WH. The CIA stated that shortly thereafter, 25-35 Intelligent Assets were killed throughout Europe. They claim that the ONLY way Russia could have know where and who these "assets" were is "If someone leaked that information"!
The incidents happened shortly after T-Rump stole those documents and refused to turn them over to the proper authorities.
These are FACTS, not opinions by angry, Republicans still desperately trying to find a grain of virtue in the WORST POTUS to ever hold that position, "Donnie J. Trump", a career CON MAN.
Cohen is one of the more despicable people out there, which doesn’t speak well of trumps judgment in trusting him with anything. That democrats now believe him despite his record and despite serving trump, the mane they view as the worst American ever, speaks even less well of them.
at the end of the day though his testimony doesn’t matter. He can’t actually pin a crime on trump, since no crime was committed, he negotiated NDA when stormy Daniels tired to exotort trump. Nothing illegal for trhno there. Per the FEC, it’s not a campaign contribution. Nothing illegal for trump there. Cohens going to testify that trump wanted to keep the story from the press? So what? That’s literally what every political campaign ever has done,
The judge is working with the prosecution to create the illusion of a crime. It’s all smoke and mirrors with nothing but ominous sounding words at the center “hush money” “conspiracy” etc. with no legal basis. They are. Banking on jurors taking the view so many progressives here take, that trump is a bad guy and guilty of something and needs to be convicted because of who he is. All they want is the conviction. Who cares if adults on the appellate courts throw it out in a year.
I'm sure nobody knows who Harry Greenberg was. He was a degenerate gambler who did very minor & unpleasant tasks for Meyer Lansky. Bugsy Siegal tried to spare Greenberg's life by reminding everyone that we never gave him anything important to do, only the stuff that we didn't want to soil our hands with. Cohen was a sort of Harry Greenberg. Cohen doesn't even talk like a lawyer. He sounds like some street guy from Brooklyn. In the scheme of things, he was a very minor player.
That democrats now believe him despite his record and despite serving trump, the mane they view as the worst American ever, speaks even less well of them.
I hope you are not surprised by that, Sean.
at the end of the day though his testimony doesn’t matter. He can’t actually pin a crime on trump, since no crime was committed, he negotiated NDA when stormy Daniels tired to exotort trump. Nothing illegal for trhno there. Per the FEC, it’s not a campaign contribution. Nothing illegal for trump there. Cohens going to testify that trump wanted to keep the story from the press? So what? That’s literally what every political campaign ever has done,
Yes Sean, all of it seems so straightforward. Somehow in this ridiculous case, they have a very willing jury thinking that Trump should have filed the payment as "a hush money payment.
I am kind of waiting for MSNBC to start to praise him as presidential material and if he's interested in a 2028 run. /s
That's usually the kiss of death as Michael Avenatti will attest to.
Nothing COMPARES to Trump!
If she were truthful and not the typical Biden administration bottom feeder, she wouldn't need to make edits after the fact.
They are so used to their blatant lies; they don't even realize that whole thing was televised.
You're talking about trump, right?
Then they cry like toddlers when they are called out on them.
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Oh I am.. Why doesn't trump take the stand? Because his lawyers know he would start lying as soon as his fat ass hit the chair and he would be in prison, just like Cohen was. Trump cannot speak without lying and his lawyers know it.
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No Ben Crump
Here they keep voting up the lie
That's what happens when they all take to gaslighting.
And a few have their instructions to keep the Crump lie on the front page.
We like to keep the truth and facts front and center
Start with the Russia hoax.
Do you accept the fact that it was a hoax created by the Clinton campaign?
You don't accept facts.
That makes 10.
He's involved in this case how exactly?
OOps.
Trump admits son met Russian for information on opponent
OOps that's not collusion.
It's getting old.
As opposed to hiring a foreign intelligence office to actively work with Russians to gather information on your opponent?
And then misreport the expense to the FEC
Is Russia an ally of the USA? No. Want to try again?
That can't be right, i heard they prosecute people for that.
Still not collusion. But don't let that get in the way of regurgitating defunct narratives.
10 what? Times I have told the truth in this 'article'?
Jeremy, as you may recall, it was TRUMP that ordered the immediate release of the AFGHANISTAN PRISONERS, who went on a murderous spree killing every known Afghanistan that aided
US TROOP.
The CHAOS, as every damn chaotic thing did, war created by this totally incompetent, CON ARTIST, that fooled the MASSES OF ASSES into believe that he had the RIGHT STUFF.
So trump has the ability to release prisoners in Afghanistan? When did a US president acquire those powers and why didn't Obama use this magic to get US prisoners back?
I can't believe that every last juror in this trial is going to fooled and bamboozled by the absurdity and lack of credibility of this case. We still don't know what actual crime that Trump is alleged to have committed. It takes just one intelligent and non-braindead juror to hang the verdict.
'Reality Is About to Sink in' for Alvin Bragg, Legal Analyst Warns (msn.com)
They’ve barely provided any evidence trump committed a misdemeanor, let alone any proof that he willfully committed felonies. But with this judge instructing the jury, I’d be very surprised at a not guilty verdict.
I think that when the judge gives them the final instructions, he will address them as my fellow democrats.
I asked a few days ago what the second charge was as the 34 counts in the indictment are all misdemeanors which are being elevated to a felony based on a second charge. That second charge is required by New York law in order to elevate the misdemeanor charge to a felony. Never could get an answer.
Based on digging it might be they are bootstrapping to New York law Section 17-152 which reads :
That's been implied by what some of the prosecution has stated previously, but not clearly defined.
While the jury is comprised of New Yorkers who are undoubtedly fed up with Trump and don't care much for him, a guilty verdict would not surprise me. But it's very possible that this ends with a hung jury due to at least one not being able to find Trump guilty of the charges. And if guilty, I really expect it to be overturned on appeal as it just seems like there's no real evidence tying Trump to any crime. I mean, Trump met with others and talked about how bad it would look for him in his campaigning, just like every other politician who has worried about some skeleton from his closet coming out.
Catch and bury : legal.
NDA's : legal
The money paid back to Cohen came from Trump's money, not campaign money. Even the DOJ said that was legal and not a campaign violation.
Wondering just how bad things will get both here and on the street should this trial conclude with a not guilty verdict.
the kicker being if they had followed Bragg's made up version of election law and categorized the NDA as an election expense, it still wouldn't have been submitted until 2017, after the election, making it impossible to play any role in the election anyway and impossible for Trump to have the necessary intent to willfully violate a known legal duty to commit a fraud.
And when will Bragg start taking other New York politicians to court over their campaigns funding opposition research?
According to the prosecution's questioning the second charge are the crimes of Cohen and Pecker. Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign crimes and Pecker admitted on the stand he knew he was committing campaign crimes. He was given immunity to testify. I think this part of the case is pretty well established, the issue will be having the jury believe the other part where only Cohen claims Trump was in on the conversation about paying him back. I'm not sure just Cohen's testimony will be enough.
Those "crimes" are not admissible as evidence that Trump committed a campaign finance related crime and shouldn't even have been allowed to be mentioned to avoid misleading the jury. Instead the judge ruled they could be discussed as evidence of the witnesses credibility and supposedly only their credibility, though of course the prosecutors will dishonestly use that to hint to the jury it is evidence Trump committed a crime.
I think, I'll leave that up to the courts to decide.
They did.
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-hush-money-trial-05-14-24/h_
'campaign funding opposition research'?
is that what they're calling it these days?
Yes, that's exactly what it's called. Political campaigns have for a very long time hired people to do opposition research against their opponents. This is old news, please don't try to treat it as something new.
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VIC: Remember, 23 women came forward, at considerable risk to themselves, their careers, families, and possibly putting their offsprings in jeopardy to warn the NATION of how erate Donald J. Trump is, and, the threat he is to everyone.
The BORDER WALLS were never completed by Wizard Trump, but the MONEY allocated was all spent. How much did Trump get as a kick back?
1.3 million of our fellow Americans died because of Trump's flip-flopping, attacks on the CDC, WHO, and suggesting that "BLEACH" may be a cure.
Trump, his Son-In-Law, Daughter and he, himself, made fortunes from his 4 years in office.
Why would anyone cling to a TRAITOR?
Ignorant uninformed drivel
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Great context
New Yorkers can't walk the street, especially women without being worried about getting punched in the face, but by God we got trump for lying about paying a hooker.
In conclusion:
Tomorrow will be an off day for the show trial. Today Fox News had one of its anchors in the courtroom: Laura Ingraham. A few of her observations were that Cohen seemed to be over prepared by the prosecution. That was early in the day when he was still under direct examination by the prosecution. That quickly changed after lunch when Cohen had to answer defense questions. The prosecution had no corroborating witnesses or evidence to back up Cohen's testimony. They ended their case with Cohen. The prosecution will come right back at him on Thursday.
All the checks that the prosecution used as exhibits were labeled as "legal expenses." Watch for judge Merchan's answer when a juror asks what constitutes "a legal expense."
In the end we may get jury instructions that pushes the jury to a guilty verdict or even if we have honest jurors, they may simply be afraid to vote not guilty. Either way Biden will have his guilty verdict.
What we are witnessing is a judge that does not want to give up his fifteen minutes of fame. He wants to be known as the judge that presided over a conviction of a former president, and what makes it even better is it is Donald Trump. To declare a mistrial or dismissal will not allow for that 15 minutes to continue or give him the label he wants.
Pure speculation. You have no idea what the judge is thinking. All you or anyone can do is evaluate his behavior against the norms of jurisprudence.
Merchan could have placed Trump in custody at this point. He has not done so. From what anyone on the outside can see, this judge has been trying to control loose-cannon Trump and has done so giving Trump all sorts of opportunities to behave. You would be hard-pressed to legitimately criticize his behavior as being unusual for what the typical judge might do in the same situation.
No...what I said is true.
It's obvious
It certainly seems that way
That would truly be an epiphany for a judge who by state law should have recused himself. He is going to have to commit the egregious act all by himself.