Live Thread: Trump's hush money trial begins in NYC

[mystery-ak]

10 minutes ago
Hope Hicks resumes testifying after breaking down in tears
By Kyle Schnitzer

Hope Hicks resumed testifying Friday afternoon after breaking down in tears at the beginning of cross-examination by Donald Trump attorney Emil Bove.

6 minutes ago
Hicks: Cohen is a fixer 'only because he first broke it'
By Kyle Schnitzer

Hope Hicks testified that Michael Cohen's reputation as a "fixer" is because he's usually cleaning up his own mess.

“He liked to call himself a fixer, or Mr. Fix It," Hicks said. "It’s only because he first broke it so he could fix it.”

Her response, under cross-examination by Donald Trump's attorneys, drew a few chuckles inside the courtroom.

[DB]

Isn't Trump's fixer a direct reflection of Trump?

[WhatWouldReaganDo]

Isn't Trump's fixer a direct reflection of Trump?

He hires only the best people. 

[mystery-ak]

18 minutes ago
Why Trump was worried about WSJ paper reaching Melania: Hicks
By Kyle Schnitzer

Hope Hicks testified that Donald Trump "really values" wife Melania's opinion and that what she thinks can be "really meaningful" to him — which is why he didn't want the Wall Street Journal to get delivered to his home.

“He really values – President Trump really values Mrs. Trump’s opinion. She doesn’t weigh in all the time, but when she does, it’s really meaningful," Hicks said, responding to a question by Trump attorney Emil Bove, who asked her about the couple's relationship.

"He really respects what she has to say. I think his concern was what her perception would be. I knew that was weighing on him.”

Hicks then added that Trump didn't want anyone from his family to "be hurt" by stories that were "going on in his campaign."

17 minutes ago
Hope Hicks finishes testifying in Trump's hush money trial
By Kyle Schnitzer

Hope Hicks wrapped up her testimony Friday afternoon. As she exited the courtroom, it didn't appear that she made eye contact with Donald Trump.

[Hoodat]

What crime is Trump defending himself against?

The crime of being Donald Trump.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Isn't Trump's fixer a direct reflection of Trump?

Only if Trump designated him the "fixer", fool ---- which was the point of the questioning.  It was a commentary on Cohen.

[LMAO]

What's more disturbing is those who believe those blatant lies. But those lies have nothing to do with any actual crime committed. The actual massive crime here is what the legal system is doing to itself to burn some one's house down at any cost.

Agree

It seems James and Bragg are trying to keep a campaign promise to bankrupt Trump. Nifong did something similar several years ago in the Duke Lacrosse team rape case when he made a campaign promise of a conviction to the black community

[mystery-ak]

12 minutes ago
Hope Hicks testimony 'very interesting' — and it's 'a shame' what 'vicious radical left lunatics have done to this country,' Trump says leaving court
By Kaydi Pelletier

Leaving court just now, Trump railed against Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and the Department of Justice:

"They've been after us for years — Democrats, the radical left — they've destroyed people's lives.

"It's a shame what they've done to this country. ... These are vicious, vicious radical left lunatics. ... In the meantime the country's going to hell."

He cited the border crisis, inflation, Afghanistan, and Russia's war in Ukraine, saying it "never would have happened," seemingly meaning if he was in office.

"I was very interested in what happened today," Trump said of watching one of his closest White House aides, Hope Hicks, testify.

[berdie]

The crime of being Donald Trump.

Sure seems like it.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Paul Ingrassia
@PaulIngrassia

They keep rehashing the Access Hollywood Tape and have been questioning Hicks about it over and over again.

Bragg and the Prosecution have absolutely no case other than to sensationalize ancient stories and “throw everything at the wall to see what sticks” to muddy the waters.


12:16 PM · May 3, 2024

[Right_in_Virginia]

Mike Davis
@mrddmia

President Trump has an outstanding legal team.

It is a perfect mix of long-time loyalists, seasoned trial attorneys, and serious Supreme Court advocates.

We should particularly commend Emil Bove and Todd Blanche’s trial performance in New York City.


10:48 AM · May 3, 2024

[Right_in_Virginia]

The insanity at the heart of the Trump trial
Washington Examiner, May 3, 2024, Byron York

https://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,531042.msg3010913.html#msg3010913

[Right_in_Virginia]

Good answer, Hope   

Jack Poso
@JackPosobiec

Prosecutor: Did Paul Ryan say he was sickened with Trump after the Access Hollywood tape?

Hope Hicks: Sounds like something he would say


3:37 PM · May 3, 2024

[corbe]

   Most voting Americans was sickened by that 'grab em by the Gentelia' tape and had the Daniels/McDougal tryst been leaked before the election he would have been toast.  TPTB would have pulled a John Dean/Richard Nixon on his azz so fast your movement would have been dead in its tracks, sacrificed at the alter of Orange.   

[Right_in_Virginia]

NY vs. Trump: Bragg's own witness, Hope Hicks, implodes case against Trump
Fox News, May 4, 2024, Gregg Jarrett

In an epic miscalculation that backfired spectacularly, prosecutors in the Manhattan hush money trial of Donald Trump called Hope Hicks to the witness stand. The moment cross-examination began, their misbegotten case against the former president began to collapse. 

Hicks, who served as press secretary during the 2016 presidential campaign, explained that Trump’s motive for suppressing salacious stories was to protect his wife, Melania.  "Absolutely…I don’t think he wanted anyone in his family to be hurt or embarrassed about anything on the campaign.  He wanted them to be proud of him." 

The account by Hicks demolishes District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s primary claim against Trump that he paid porn star Stormy Daniels for her silence with the intent to benefit his campaign and, thereby, influence the election by "unlawful means."  To the contrary, it nicely corroborates the findings of a federal investigation that no crimes were committed, or campaign finance laws broken because there was another purpose for the non-disclosure agreement that Daniels signed. 

Like the prosecution witnesses before her, Hicks disparaged Bragg’s planned star witness, Michael Cohen, Trump’s one-time personal lawyer.  "He used to like to call himself Mr. Fix-It, but it was only because he first broke it." Ouch!  But that denigrating remark is tame compared to the other derisive comments that have been leveled thus far at the insufferable Cohen.

[...]

Hicks confirmed that Trump was aware that Cohen paid off Daniels to end what can fairly be described as aggressive blackmail demands. When the election drew near, Daniels ratcheted up her greedy scheme to profit from Trump by threatening to go public about a supposed affair, which he denied.  Not incidentally, she renounced the purported tryst. Then, in a head-spinning maneuver, she recanted her repudiation.

[...]

The payments made were not illegal.  Non-disclosure contracts in exchange for silence are not unlawful. Killing negative stories violates no statutes.  More to the point, it is not a crime for Trump to know about a non-crime. That would be a senseless syllogism. 

So, where exactly is the crime? To quote a memorable line from "Shakespeare In Love," "I don’t know…it’s a mystery!"


More:  https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/ny-vs-trump-braggs-witness-hope-hicks-implodes-case-against-trump