The judge returned to the bench but #Trump took some extra time to return to the courtroom, which is unusual in this case. Now Trump is back & #Merchan has warned Todd #Blanche, his lawyer: “Let’s try to keep the breaks short.”
Trump is joined by his son Eric again, although Susie Wiles & Dan Scavino, two of his aides, have not re-entered the courtroom.
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.
#Trump's lawyer Todd #Blanche, will conduct cross. It’s Blanche’s 1st #CrossExamination this trial.
It’s also the 1st time we’ve seen Blanche since the hearing last week in which he sought to argue that Trump had not violated the judge’s #GagOrder. Blanche lost that hearing.
Gary Farro was asked by Blanche about speaking with “the people,” (the prosecutors) Trump shook his head pointedly when Farro talked about meeting w/ prosecutors he had in DC ahead of his testimony.
#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?"
It seems like #Blanche will seek to convince the jury that everything was appropriate & done by the book, not even worthy of notice. That #Cohen was #Trump's lawyer, & he was paid for #legal services. But he'll also seek to distance his client from the matter: "President Trump had nothing to do w/the invoice," he said.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
"I have a spoiler alert: There's nothing wrong w/trying to influence an election," #Blanche says. "It's called democracy." [not the charge. The charge is falsifying business records, the #MensRea is to influence. Besides which, influencing an election through illegal means is duh illegal]
"They put something sinsiter on this idea as if it were a crime," he continued. "You'll learn it's not."
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#Blanche said that the prosecution told a “clean nice story," but that it is not as simple as they would have the #jury believe. He said that many of the docs in evidence are almost a decade old. The testimony, he suggests, is similarly old. He said, the story that #jurors heard "is not true."
#Trump largely avoided looking at the jury during prosecution's opening statement. He shifted his body in their direction during defense’s.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #ElectionInterference
Todd #Blanche presented the defense's opening statement.
"President Trump is innocent," are the first words of Blanche's opening.
“President Trump did not commit any crimes."
"He is cloaked in innocence.”
Blanche highlights that #Trump is entitled to the presumption of innocence, which is something that some of his more heated critics sometimes lose sight of.
Blanche seeks to have the jurors relate to his client, as he says Trump is doing "what any of us would do."
#Blanche said #Trump put up "a wall" between himself & his company when he became president. We know from the civil #fraud ruling that isn’t true.
Trump always seems to get his lawyers to basically testify about how *successful* the #TrumpOrganization, has been. - Blanche went off on this success narrative for a while.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
