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

[Cyber Liberty]

9 minutes ago
Playboy model Karen McDougal told her lawyer about 'sexual' affair with married Trump
By Ben Kochman

Karen McDougal, the Playboy model who says she had a year-long affair with a married Donald Trump, told her lawyer about the "sexual" and "romantic" relationship, the attorney testified Tuesday.

"Ms. McDougal alleged that she had had a romantic affair with Donald Trump some years prior," lawyer Keith Davidson said, while describing a series of texts he traded with National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard in the summer of 2016.

“When you say romantic, does that mean sexual?” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass then asked Davidson.

“That’s what she expressed,” Davidson testified.

Is this hearsay?

[Right_in_Virginia]

Is this hearsay?

Yes.

[catfish1957]

Is this hearsay?

If the dims are trying to make this about sex, they need to check the slick willie file of 1998, and see how that worked out.

[Right_in_Virginia]

lol...  just what constitutes "delete" in the modern era of social media.  I can't imagine that this judge is that stupid.

You don't need to imagine what the judge, himself, has proven.

[mystery-ak]

https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1785364377031369090

[catfish1957]

https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1785364377031369090

Some ideas...

Trump needs to pen a pseudonym as a surrogate and force the judge to spend 10,000's of court hours to prove it's him. 

Hold a reposting olympics, and award trophies to the subscribers re-posting the most DJT items about the judge.  Extra points for innovative typos and comedic jewels.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Jonathan Turley
@JonathanTurley

The Court notably includes the following statement in the contempt order: "It is critically important that Defendant's legitimate free speech rights not be curtailed, that he be able to fully campaign fot the office which he seeks and that he be able to respond and defend himself against political attacks."

However, he cannot respond to Michael Cohen who has continued to attack him, campaign against his election, and discuss the case. That is not what some of us view as a "narrowly tailored" order.


2:07 PM · Apr 30, 2024

[Right_in_Virginia]

Jonathan Turley
@JonathanTurley

The Court notably includes the following statement in the contempt order: "It is critically important that Defendant's legitimate free speech rights not be curtailed, that he be able to fully campaign fot the office which he seeks and that he be able to respond and defend himself against political attacks."

However, he cannot respond to Michael Cohen who has continued to attack him, campaign against his election, and discuss the case. That is not what some of us view as a "narrowly tailored" order.


2:07 PM · Apr 30, 2024

And then there's this:

Benny Johnson
@bennyjohnson

Judge Merchan fined Trump $9k for violating his Gag Order and threatened “incarceratory punishment” if he does it again.

They are going to JAIL HIM for talking.

For exercising his First Amendment rights.

The greatest threat to American democracy is not Trump, it’s corrupt activist Judges!


2:27 PM · Apr 30, 2024

[mystery-ak]

5 minutes ago
Lawyer for Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal resumes testimony

Keith Davidson, who represented both Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, has resumed testimony.

Right now he's being asked about details of the negotiations between McDougal and the National Enquirer magazine that ended with McDougal being paid $150,000 to stay quiet about her alleged affair with Donald Trump.

[mystery-ak]

10 minutes ago
'Trump is f—d,' Stormy Daniels' lawyer texted Enquirer editor after 'Access Hollywood' tape emerged
By Ben Kochman

After news broke in October 2016 of Donald Trump bragging on a hot mic about grabbing women by their genitals, Stormy Daniels' lawyer texted "Trump is f—d" to the editor of the National Enquirer, trial evidence released Tuesday shows.

“Wave the white flag. It's over people!” responded the Enquirer's editor, Dylan Howard, evidence shows.

But Daniels' attorney, Keith Davidson, noted in another text that things "could get a lot worse" for Trump if Daniels went public right before the 2016 election with her claim about having a one-night affair with the married real estate mogul, he testified.

[mystery-ak]

12 minutes ago
Stormy Daniels' lawyer based Trump's pseudonym in hush money deal on high school friend 'David Dennison' - who is now 'upset'

The non-disclosure agreement struck between Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump's camp before the 2016 election used fake names — "Peggy Peterson" for Daniels and "David Dennison" for Trump, Daniels' attorney testified.

Lawyer Keith Davidson told jurors that using the pseudonyms was his idea. The plan was to use names starting with "P" for plaintiff, and "D" for defendant, but Davidson ended up basing Trump's pseudonym on an actual man named David Dennison who member of his high school hockey team, he said.

"How does he feel about you now?" prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked Davidson, referring to the real Dennison.

"He’s very upset," Davidson replied, flashing a smile.

[mystery-ak]

17 minutes ago
Court breaks until Thursday with Stormy Daniels' lawyer still on the stand

Court just broke for the day, with Keith Davidson, a former lawyer for Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, still on the stand.

The trial is off Wednesdays, and will start back up at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday.




12 minutes ago
Trump slams 'conflicted' judge, 'nonsense' case in post-trial remarks
By David Spector

Trump left the courtroom at 4:30 pm and lamented that he's "sitting a courthouse all day long," in remarks after the trial.

The ex-prez said the case was "nonsense," and called the judge "totally conflicted."

Trump said he should be on the campaign trail instead of sitting in New York for trial.

Trump went on to call the case a "disgrace to New York."

[Cyber Liberty]

FNC is covering this live...

[libertybele]

17 minutes ago
Court breaks until Thursday with Stormy Daniels' lawyer still on the stand

Court just broke for the day, with Keith Davidson, a former lawyer for Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, still on the stand.

The trial is off Wednesdays, and will start back up at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday.




12 minutes ago
Trump slams 'conflicted' judge, 'nonsense' case in post-trial remarks
By David Spector

Trump left the courtroom at 4:30 pm and lamented that he's "sitting a courthouse all day long," in remarks after the trial.

The ex-prez said the case was "nonsense," and called the judge "totally conflicted."

Trump said he should be on the campaign trail instead of sitting in New York for trial.

Trump went on to call the case a "disgrace to New York."

Trump slamming judges is doing him no good.  Perhaps he's hoping they'll put him in cuffs in hopes that his supporters will rise up. 

[Hoodat]

But Daniels' attorney, Keith Davidson, noted in another text that things "could get a lot worse" for Trump if Daniels went public right before the 2016 election with her claim about having a one-night affair with the married real estate mogul, he testified.

Ah, so Daniels is guilty of extortion.  When does her trial begin?

[DB]

Ah, so Daniels is guilty of extortion.  When does her trial begin?

Is there any evidence to suggest Daniels did any of that, or just her attorney milking the situation...

[corbe]

   Trump was already on the ropes with the release of the 'grab them by the pu$$y' tape.  Had the Daniels/Mcdougal relationship been exposed, hellary would be finishing up her second term.  Trump cares about noone but himself.

[Hoodat]

Is there any evidence to suggest Daniels did any of that, or just her attorney milking the situation...

Who got the money?

[DB]

Who got the money?

I think Trump offered the money to close loose ends.

[Hoodat]

I think Trump offered the money to close loose ends.

Did he do so just to feel safe (which in itself exposed him to risk)?  Or was their a veiled threat?

Just speculating here.  None of this is relevant to the trial.  Paying Daniels off for whatever reason, whether threatened or not, is not illegal.

[DB]

Did he do so just to feel safe (which in itself exposed him to risk)?  Or was their a veiled threat?

Just speculating here.  None of this is relevant to the trial.  Paying Daniels off for whatever reason, whether threatened or not, is not illegal.

Trump knew where the loose ends were and he sent his fixer lawyer to close them up. I'm pretty sure all this was before it was publicly known he was running. Had the women known, they could have gotten far more from the tabloids. That's why Stormy tried to get he NDA nullified, for a far bigger payout. So it is pretty clear what went down, despite all the lies.

[mystery-ak]

Witnesses line up to slam Michael Cohen ahead of Trump trial star’s turn 

by Ella Lee and Zach Schonfeld - 05/01/24 11:16 AM ET

NEW YORK — In 2011, Stormy Daniels’s manager phoned a lawyer to complain that “some jerk” had called her up threatening to sue over a blog post claiming the porn actor slept with Donald Trump.

“I hate to ask it this way,” Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, said Tuesday while questioning the lawyer, “but who was that jerk?”

Keith Davidson, on the stand in Trump’s first criminal trial, frequently paused before answering Steinglass’s questions. But not this one.

“Michael Cohen,” Davidson replied without hesitation.

A onetime personal attorney and fixer to Trump, Cohen is expected to be a star witness for the district attorney’s office’s case against the former president on 34 counts of falsifying business records connected to hush money deals. Trump pleaded not guilty.

Cohen’s conduct is at the heart of the case. Prosecutors hope to convince a jury of 12 New Yorkers who will determine Trump’s fate that Cohen, now working against his former boss, is credible.

But the image of Cohen portrayed to jurors, at this point, is hardly one of valor.

Some of the prosecutors’ witnesses have torn into him, casting Cohen as difficult to work with to the point where they actively wanted to avoid him.

At one point, Davidson likened Cohen to the dog in Disney’s “Up” who repeatedly becomes distracted by squirrels.

“He was highly excitable, sort of a pants-on-fire kind of guy. He had a lot of things going on,” Davidson said. “I’d frequently be on the phone with him, he’d take another call, he’d be talking out of two ears.”

Cohen paid the hush money to Daniels that prosecutors say Trump unlawfully concealed and helped set up two other so-called catch-and-kill arrangements to keep quiet negative stories about Trump ahead of the 2016 election.

more
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4635754-witnesses-slam-michael-cohen-trump-trial/

[mystery-ak]

Trump’s Business Records Trial Resumes with More Witness Testimony

Simon Kent 2 May 2024

Donald Trump returns to a New York City courtroom Thursday as his business records trial resumes. Testimony is expected from a lawyer who represented two women who allege they had sexual encounters with the former president.

AP reports the testimony from attorney Keith Davidson is seen as a base for the prosecution’s case that Trump and his allies sought to bury unflattering stories in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.

He represented both Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal in their negotiations with the National Enquirer and Trump’s former lawyer and sometime personal fixer, Michael Cohen.

Davidson is one of multiple key players expected to be called to the stand in advance of Cohen, the prosecutor’s star witness.

Trump has denied all allegations and maintained his innocence throughout while claiming “election interference” for the judicial challenge.

more
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/05/02/trumps-business-records-trial-resumes-with-more-witness-testimony/

[mystery-ak]

DAY 10

16 minutes ago
Here's what to expect on Day 10 of Trump's 'hush money' criminal trial
By Ben Kochman

We're back inside the courtroom for day 10 of Donald Trump's criminal trial on charges of concealing $130,000 in hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.

First up today is a 9:30 a.m. hearing on whether Trump, 77, breached the court's "gag order" again by disparaging jurors and witnesses in public statements. The judge has already fined him $9,000 for breaching the order, and prosecutors are likely to urge the court to fine Trump again.

Then we'll hear more testimony from Keith Davidson, the lawyer for both Daniels and alleged Trump lover Karen McDougal, a former Playboy Playmate.

Davidson has so far walked jurors through his negotiations with Trump's ex-fixer Michael Cohen about the payoffs in the summer and fall of 2016.

Once prosecutors are done questioning him, he'll be cross-examined by Trump's lawyers.

[mystery-ak]

Trump lashes out at Judge in NY criminal trial over 'unconstitutional' gag order

Former President Trump lashed out at Judge Juan Merchan ahead of Thursday's proceedings in his Manhattan criminal trial.

Trump once again argued Merchan is a "conflicted" judge and a member of the "radical left." Trump has repeatedly raged against the gag order Merchan imposed on him in early April, which prohibits him from speaking publicly about witnesses in the case.

"WE CANNOT LET THIS RADICAL LEFT, CORRUPT AND HIGHLY CONFLICTED NEW YORK DEMOCRAT JUDGE INTERFERE WITH THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2024 — THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY. THE USA IS TRULY A NATION IN DECLINE! REMOVE THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL GAG ORDER," Trump wrote on social media.

Thursday's proceedings are expected to begin with yet another gag order hearing. Merchan fined Trump $9,000 for violating the order earlier this week. The court also warned Trump that further violations could result in jail time.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom