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

[mystery-ak]

DAY 12

Trump returns to Manhattan courtroom as prosecutors build toward Michael Cohen testimony

Former President Trump returns to his Manhattan courtroom Monday as prosecutors continue to call witnesses, ultimately building toward testimony from former lawyer Michael Cohen. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg claims Trump reimbursed Cohen for hush money payments to pornography actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.

[mystery-ak]

Stormy Daniels, Michael Cohen testimony nears as prosecutors approach end of witness list

The New York v. Trump trial could hear testimony from pornography actress Stormy Daniels as soon as this week, with Manhattan prosecutors quickly moving through their list of witnesses.

Prosecutors with Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's office are ultimately building toward testimony from former lawyer Michael Cohen, who worked for former President Trump ahead of the 2016 election.

They argue Trump reimbursed Cohen for hush money payments made to Daniels just weeks before election day in 2016, and they seek to establish that those payments falsified in Trump's business records.

Los Angeles attorney Keith Davidson, who represented Daniels in 2016, testified last week. He said he represented Daniels in hush money discussions with Cohen near the close of the 2016 presidential campaign.

Daniels and Cohen remain the star witnesses for the prosecution, and their testimony will likely take place at the very end of Bragg's witness list.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom

[mystery-ak]

1 min(s) ago
Judge Merchan threatens jail time for Trump instead of fines for further contempt of court charges

 Judge Juan Merchan says the $1,000 fines imposed on former President Trump "are not working" to prohibit him from violating the gag order against him, and he may resort to imposing jail time.

Merchan made the announcement at the start of proceedings in the New York v. Trump trial on Monday. Merchan found Trump in contempt of court for violating the gag order for a 10th time.

"The last thing I want to consider is jail," Merchan said. "You are former president and possibly the next president. The magnitude if that decision is not lost on me.”

“Your continued willful violation of the court’s order…constitutes a direct attack on the court and will not be allowed to continue," Merchan added.

Merchan also ordered that that all Trump's posts violating the gag order must be removed by 2:15 pm on Monday.

"Defendant is hereby put on notice that if appropriate and warranted, future violations of its lawful orders will be punishable by incarceration," Merchan's Monday order reads.

Merchan's gag order prohibits Trump from speaking publicly about witnesses in the case, such as former lawyer Michael Cohen and pornography actress Stormy Daniels.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom

[rustynail]

Judge Big Juan dares Trump to cross this line.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkzWyOaS8kU

[mystery-ak]

an hour ago
Here's what Trump said that got him this latest fine
By Ben Kochman

"You know [the judge is] rushing the trial like crazy. Nobody's ever seen a thing go like this. That jury was picked so fast — 95% Democrat," Donald Trump said in an April 22 interview with the Real America's Voice cable channel.

[mystery-ak]

Jeff McConney, former longtime controller at Trump Organization, testifying now
By Kyle Schnitzer

Jeff McConney, the former longtime controller of the Trump Organization, was sworn in and has taken the stand as the next witness in Donald Trump’s hush money trial.

McConney worked directly under the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, who was sentenced to five months in jail in April after admitting to lying during Trump’s civil fraud trial.

McConney previously testified in two trials tied to Trump including the civil fraud trial, where he was a co-defendant.

The real estate mogul was ordered to pay a total of $450 million for inflating the value of Trump’s property assets. A judge ruled that McConney was banned from serving in any financial management role at any New York company.

A judge also ruled that he was banned from holding an officer role at any New York company for three years.

He testified that the Trump Organization is paying for his lawyer today.

[libertybele]

Judge Big Juan dares Trump to cross this line.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkzWyOaS8kU

  Appropriate cartoon. 

Yes, he's just waiting to throw him in the slammer.  Trump needs to think things through--what does he think they're going to do with him or to him once they have him out of the public eye???

[mystery-ak]

Breaking News4 min(s) ago
Ex-top Biden DOJ official now prosecuting Trump was once paid by DNC for 'political consulting'

EXCLUSIVE: The Democratic National Committee paid Trump prosecutor Matthew Colangelo thousands of dollars for "political consulting" in 2018, Fox News Digital has learned.

Colangelo delivered opening statements in the unprecedented criminal trial of former President Trump and serves as a top prosecutor with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's Office on the case.

Colangelo joined Bragg’s office in December 2022 after the resignations of Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne — prosecutors who were investigating Trump and resigned in protest of Bragg’s initial unwillingness to indict the former president. Colangelo left a senior role at the Biden Justice Department to join Bragg's team. Bragg afterward brought charges against the former president in April 2023, raising questions among some in the GOP about alleged politicization of the case.

Posted by Brooke Singman
Fox News

[mystery-ak]

11 minutes ago
Trump once pretended to fire me: testimony
By Kyle Schnitzer

Former Trump Organization controller Jeff McConney testified Monday morning that Donald Trump once told him he was fired — only he wasn’t.

Describing the moment that sounds like it could've come straight from "The Apprentice," McConney said that once when he walked into Trump’s office, Trump, who was on the phone, jokingly told him that he was fired because his cash balances went down the week before.

“Jeff, you’re fired,” McConney testified, adding that Trump, when he got off the phone, told him: “You’re not fired but my cash balances went down from last week.”

Trump then told McConney to “negotiated my bills,” according to the witnesses.

McConney said it was a “teaching moment” for him.

[mountaineer]

McConney said it was a “teaching moment” for him.

I hope it taught him that he had no sense of humor.