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Items tagged with: MichaelCohen
#Blanche is arguing that #Trump has to respond to reporters who ask him about #witnesses.
Justice #Merchan replies, “It was your client who went down to that holding area & stood in front of the press & started to speak. It wasn’t the press that went to him. He went to the press. He didn’t need to go in that direction.” He adds, “Nobody forced your client” to go talk to reporters in the courthouse hallway when he attacked #MichaelCohen.
Conroy re #MichaelCohen,:
The judge, in ruling against #Trump after the first hearing, warned that #witnesses could not use the #GagOrder as a “sword,” attacking Trump while knowing that he would be fined for attacking them back. Conroy acknowledges that: “We understand the court's concern about Michael Cohen.” But he wants the violation recognized, as he says Trump is trying to “disrupt” the process & that his statements are “corrosive to this proceeding”
Davidson’s testimony on Tues ended w/how he had started to doubt #MichaelCohen would pay the $130k.
Before the day ended, Davidson said Cohen forwarded him an email from First Republic Bank vouching for his solvency.
In addition to #StormyDaniels, Davidson represented #KarenMcDougal, a Playboy model who had a year-long affair w/ #Trump. McDougal also received #HushMoney —$150k from the parent company of The #NationalEnquirer.
#criminal #law #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Joshua Steinglass asks #KeithDavidson if he knows 2 key witnesses: #DavidPecker, who the jurors already have heard from, & #MichaelCohen, who they’ve heard a lot about. Steinglass is tying Davidson into the case, helping the courtroom understand where he’s situated. Davidson just said that he represented #StormyDaniels as her lawyer — Daniels, whose name has been dangled in front of jurors several times, is of course another key player & potential witness.
#Trump #TrumpTrial #law #criminal
The third video shows #Trump at a news conference in 2017 during the presidential transition, saying, “#MichaelCohen is a very talented lawyer, he’s a good lawyer.”
Defense had no questions.
We've moved on to a new witness, someone named Phillip Thompson who works at a company supplying court reporters, interpreters that transcribed Trump's deposition in #EJeanCarroll trial. He was subpoenaed.
After briefly consulting w/ his defense team & leaning down to whisper to #Trump, Todd #Blanche asked #GaryFarro directly if he ever had any communications w/ #MichaelCohen about Trump & if he ever spoke w/Trump himself. Farro said no.
Blanche has finished his cross-examination of Gary Farro, & Rebecca Mangold, a prosecutor, has returned for re-direct questioning.
#Gary Farro is reportedly a bit irritated w/ #Blanche, #Trump's lawyer. Blanche suggests that Farro opened up a shell corporation, & Farro bites back: “I don’t open up shell corporations. I open up LLC accounts.” Blanche is directing jurors' focus to what #MichaelCohen did -- that is, effectively start a shell corporation that was used to pay #StormyDaniels. It’s a way to attack Cohen through Farro, making the former fixer sound deceptive & potentially criminal.
#Blanche is trying to cast some doubt on #GaryFarro’s testimony & use him to criticize #MichaelCohen. He asks Farro to say again that Cohen was a “difficult client.” Farro agrees that he was.
Blanche is also trying to separate Cohen's actions from #Trump's, arguing that the account was never established as related to Trump. Basically it’s defense's entire argument: that Cohen was acting on his own.
Mangold, one of the prosecutors, walked the banker Gary Farro through a wire transfer that occurred immediately after Essential Consultants LLC was created. The documents displayed show that on Oct. 27, 2016, #MichaelCohen & the LLC wired $130k to Keith Davidson, #StormyDaniels’ lawyer at the time. Cohen wrote that the purpose of the wire transfer was for a “retainer.”
#Trump #TrumpTrial #law
An email was shown from a FirstRepublic banker to #MichaelCohen, flagged as “high importance,” confirming his request to transfer $131k from his home equity line of credit acct to the Essential Consultants LLC acct.
Farro’s testimony is a reminder that moving money around always leaves an electronic footprint. There are wire transfers & paperwork inside the bank. It doesn’t always stop a fraud from happening but is helpful after the fact.
#Trump #TrumpTrial #law
First Republic did not do business w/the porn industry, as Farro testified last week. If the paperwork #MichaelCohen submitted had made allusions to its actual purpose, “there would be a determination made by the 2nd & 3rd line of defense” at the bank. The payment would have been flagged by bank auditors, as “it is an industry that we do not work with,” said Farro.
#Trump #TrumpTrial #law
#GaryFarro is testifying about LLCs & know-your-client forms. The prosecutor questioning him has asked him to spell out what LLCs are. Know-your-client forms are used by banks to verify who a client is.
“Everything was urgent w/ #MichaelCohen,” Gary Farro testifies about Cohen’s interest in opening his acct quickly. Cohen used the account to make the hush-money payment to #StormyDaniels.
He says Cohen did not make it clear that it would be used to pay a porn star.
#Trump #TrumpTrial #law
Justice #Merchan explicitly called #Trump’s claim that reposts don’t count as violations of the #GagOrder “counterintuitive and absurd.”
Justice Merchan rejected the defense’s claims that Trump had merely reposted the messages from others and that he had largely been acting in response to political attacks from two potential witnesses in the case: #MichaelCohen & #StormyDaniels.
#TrumpTrial 🧵
Testimony started w/a bang last week as David #Pecker, the fmr publisher of The #NationalEnquirer, said that he had entered into a secret plot w/ #Trump & #MichaelCohen to #CatchAndKill negative stories about Trump as he ran for president in 2016.
#GaryFarro, the 3rd to testify, started off w/dry details about banking transactions. But #Farro is leading us to the #HushMoney payment
#criminal #law
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04/30/nyregion/trump-hush-money-trial?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb
#Pecker suggested that #MichaelCohen buy #StormyDaniels's story, leading to the #HushMoney deal, repayments & records at issue.
The prosecution’s discussion of the deal w/ #KarenMcDougal —brokered in summer 2016— demonstrated that the payment was part of a #conspiracy to #influence that year’s #election.
Pecker said that McDougal’s payment was disguised as a contract for services, to avoid violating #CampaignFinance #laws.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #ElectionInterference #CatchAndKill
#Pecker testified that as part of the #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #AMI paid #KarenMcDougal $150k for her story, w/no intention of ever publishing it.
Pecker expected repayment from #Trump. He asked #MichaelCohen who would handle it, & Cohen responded, “The boss will take care of it.”
Because Pecker had such a hard time getting Trump to pay, he was unwilling to buy the 3rd story: #StormyDaniels’s.
“I am not a bank,” Pecker recalled saying.
#Pecker is now describing a post-election meeting he had w/ #MichaelCohen at #Trump Tower. Pecker said Cohen told him he had not been reimbursed for his payment to #StormyDaniels. Cohen, who also wanted to be paid a bonus for the year, asked Pecker “if I [Pecker] would talk to the boss on his behalf.”
#criminal #law #DeadBeat #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics #NodFarter
#Pecker has at least 3X described #MichaelCohen as warning him that “the boss” — meaning #Trump — would be “angry” if Pecker didn’t do whatever was being asked of him in that moment.
Prosecutors, who have focused on Trump’s tendency to #intimidate people in asking for a #GagOrder, know what they’re after in this line of questioning [#MobTactics #StochasticTerrorism].
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#Pecker, #MichaelCohen & others frequently contacted each other on the encrypted messaging app #Signal.
Prosecution showed #jurors this article, which 1st revealed #NationalEnquirer's $150k payment to #KarenMcDougal. It was published 4 days before the 2016 #election & introduced the term #CatchAndKill.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
http://www.wsj.com/articles/national-enquirer-shielded-donald-trump-from-playboy-models-affair-allegation-1478309380
Testimony about #StormyDaniels picks up, & #Trump is getting more animated.
The #jury seems rapt as the Daniels tale starts to unspool.
As #Pecker testifies about conversations he & #MichaelCohen had about Daniels, he keeps his eyes glued to the exhibit & to the prosecutors. Reportedly he has not glanced at Trump once.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
While #jurors were on break, the #lawyers argued about a complex #legal matter involving #hearsay in certain exhibits. Defense succeeded in not allowing in texts between #DylanHoward, editor of The #NationalEnquirer in 2016, & a family member about Trump's election. But Justice #Merchan also endorsed prosecution's interpretation of #Pecker's arrangement w/ #Trump & #MichaelCohen as a #conspiracy.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #ElectionInterference #CatchAndKill
Prosecutor #Steinglass wrapped up questions about #KarenMcDougal by asking #Pecker about a contentious exchange w/ #MichaelCohen, in which Pecker got concerned about the potentially #unlawful implications of the deal.
Cohen was upset & screamed: "The boss is going to be very angry at you."
Pecker — thoroughly anxious then - was firm.
“The deal is off," Pecker recalled telling him. Pecker concluded by saying that he was never paid for the McDougal deal & there was a 20-min break.
#MichaelCohen, who was then #Trump's #fixer, would later set up a similarly named company, #EssentialConsultants, to #payoff #StormyDaniels.
Lots of evidence per the disguised monetary transactions related to the #KarenMcDougal deal. But most of the #jurors are still paying close attention, turning their heads from the prosecutor, Joshua #Steinglass, to the #witness, #Pecker, & back again.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #GagOrder #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#DanielRotstein, the man #Pecker used in an ultimately failed effort to secretly obtain reimbursement for the #KarenMcDougal deal, was his own #fixer of sorts. Pecker had long used him to deliver the news that employees would be fired, to the point that Rotstein became known at Pecker's company as "Dr.
Death."
David Pecker is describing #MichaelCohen's creation of a #ShellCompany, #ResolutionConsultants, to reimburse Pecker for his #payoff to McDougal.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial
Because #Pecker had such a hard time getting #Trump to reimburse him, he was later unwilling to buy a third story, #StormyDaniels's story of having had sex w/Trump. Thus, #MichaelCohen bought her story instead, leading us straight to the #criminal charges at issue.
#law #TrumpTrial #GagOrder #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
"This is a very, very large purchase," #Pecker says of paying $150k to #KarenMcDougal.
Prosecution introduces invoices & vouchers showing the payments to McDougal.
#Steinglass, prosecutor, is walking Pecker through a pretty extensive set of exchanges w/ #MichaelCohen & then transactions to create a payment voucher for McDougal's lawyer.
There's a sense of anxiety around all that was taking place to try to justify this payment internally & to placate #Trump's team.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#Pecker testifies that he knew #MichaelCohen "didn't have any authorization to disperse any funds from" the TrumpOrg. Even when the 2 went for lunch, Pecker says, Pecker always paid.
Pecker testifies that after negotiating w/ #KarenMcDougal, he again asked Cohen who would pay. Cohen - who previously said that #Trump would - this time said, "You should pay." Pecker was reluctant, having already purchased another story on Trump's behalf, but Cohen swore he would eventually be made whole by Trump.
#Pecker is now describing a follow-up conversation w/ #MichaelCohen in which he asked Cohen who would pay for KarenMcDougal's story. This was a central concern for Pecker. Cohen reassured him, telling him, "The boss will take care of it."
A recurring theme is the concern over who would pay for these Trump-related efforts. Pecker is now attesting to a key point prosecutors made in their opening statement, that #Trump was famously frugal.
#Pecker says allegations about women & #Trump were always met by this response from #MichaelCohen, Trump's fmr fixer: "It's not true."
#Cohen, Pecker & #DylanHoward, the #NationalEnquirer editor who interviewed #KarenMcDougal, had a phone call after the interview. Howard said that McDougal claimed to have had an affair w/Trump. Cohen immediately denied the affair happened, but then said that he would look into it. Eventually, he said that a member of the group should try to buy the story.
#law
#Blanche downplayed the 34 charges of falsfying records #Trump faces as a "business records violation."
He highlighted the disparity between the $130k #HushMoney payment & what was paid to #MichaelCohen. He asks them, if Trump really was so frugal, would he have repaid Cohen so much? "This was not a payback," he said, adding: “He was President Trump's personal atty."
"would a frugal business man …repay [a] $130k debt to the tune of $420k?"
#Colangelo depicted #MichaelCohen as a flawed man who has lied before, saying he lied about the payment to #StormyDaniels initially "to protect his boss."
"This case is about a #criminal #conspiracy & a #coverup," Colangelo says, st the start of his conclusion of his opening statement, adding that at the end of the case, jurors will have no #ReasonableDoubt about #Trump's #guilt.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#Colangelo insists that much of #Cohen's testimony will be #corroborated, incl’g by witnesses from The #NationalEnquirer & "an extensive paper trail."
Because the prosecution bears the burden of proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt, it gets to go first (& last) in a #criminal case. The advantage of that can be seen in action here, as Colangelo gives the jury his own frame through which to view #MichaelCohen.
#law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#Colangelo says #Trump's willingness to go to the trouble of the convoluted repayment scheme to #Cohen “shows just how important it was to him to hide the true nature of Cohen's illegal payment to Ms. Daniels & the overall #election #conspiracy that they had launched."
#MichaelCohen is a key witness. Colangelo explained the litany of problems w/Cohen to get ahead of defense’s attempt to discredit him - something Trump's lawyers can't do, their client won't let them: admit mistakes were made.
Finished w/describing the series of payoffs, #Colangelo details the part the #criminal charges stem from. He is describing the paperwork arrangement to reimburse #MichaelCohen for the #HushMoney payment he made to #StormyDaniels, & how #Trump & #AllenWeisselberg, sought to “disguise” the repayment.
There were chuckles in the courtroom as Colangelo says Trump was a "very frugal businessman" who watched all the spending at his empire.
Colangelo is now describing the 2nd “#CatchAndKill” deal in question, relating to #KarenMcDougal, a fmr #PlayboyModel who said she had an affair w/ #Trump. #Colangelo says evidence will show that Trump “desperately” didn’t want that info public. “Before the meeting, during the meeting, after the meeting,” Colangelo says, #NationalEnquirer publisher was in touch w/ #MichaelCohen, putting this deal right at Trump’s doorstep.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney