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☆ Opinion | A Tongue-Lashing for a Defense Witness Isn’t Great News for Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Jonathan Alter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Eight times a day during his felony trial, the former president of the United States must stand and honor 12 jurors and six alternates as they walk past, eyes straight ahead or down, casting no glances at him. It’s inspiring to watch these ordinary citizens as sovereign soldiers for justice. On Monday, this calm processional was disrupted, as jurors were forced to hurry out after a pro-Trump witness for the defense mocked the authority of the court. Moments later, Justice Juan Merchan ordered the courtroom immediately cleared and reporters fled in a frenzy. Michael Cohen had testified earlier that Costello and Rudy Giuliani were assigned by Trump to open a “back channel” to Cohen to keep him in the Trump fold.

Persons: Juan Merchan, Robert Costello, George Steinbrenner, Leona Helmsley, Michael Cohen, Costello, Rudy Giuliani, Cohen, Trump Organizations: Trump Locations: United States

☆ Opinion | When Michael Cohen’s Lies Help the Case Against Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Jonathan Alter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If the lie is told by the serial liar Michael Cohen in the right context, the answer is yes. Credit the prosecution in the Trump felony trial for pulling off this tricky maneuver. On Monday, we finally got closer to a key factor in this case: campaign finance law. At that time, Cohen was still in Trump’s camp, telling the world that he had paid the $130,000 to Daniels on his own. In other words, because Cohen was such a known liar, it is more plausible than not that he was lying when he said the payment was not a campaign contribution, to protect Trump and himself.

Persons: Michael Cohen, Trump, Donald Trump, ” Trump, Susan Hoffinger —, —, Stephen Ryan, Daniels, Cohen, Ryan, ” Hoffinger, “, ” Cohen Organizations: Street, Trump

☆ Opinion | The Boring Documents That May Be Devastating to Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Jonathan Alter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In Donald Trump’s felony trial last week, we heard about Hulk Hogan’s sex tape, and we watched Hope Hicks cry. So far this week, we heard all about ledgers, invoices and accounts payable stamps. We watched as a loyal Trump accountant authenticated Allen Weisselberg’s handwriting. The same documents with different dates popped up not once or twice but over and over again. The documents were validated today by a former senior vice president of the Trump Organization, Jeffrey McConney, and an accounts payable supervisor, Deborah Tarasoff, both of whose legal fees are being paid by the company.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Hope Hicks, Allen, Trump, Michael Cohen, Jeffrey McConney, Deborah Tarasoff Organizations: Trump, Trump Organization

☆ Opinion | Jail for the Chief? There’s a Better Punishment.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Jonathan Alter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Before summoning the jury on Monday, Justice Juan Merchan directly addressed the defendant, whom he called “Mr.” and not President Trump. In a measured and by-the-book tone that showed no hint of his exasperation, Merchan told Donald Trump that he had now found him in contempt of court on a 10th charge. Each carries a $1,000 fine, the most allowed by New York State law. “The magnitude of that decision is not lost on me,” Merchan said. “But at the end of the day, I have a job to do.” Trump’s offenses, he noted calmly, represented “a direct attack on the rule of law, and I cannot allow that to continue.”

Persons: Juan Merchan, ”, Trump, Merchan, Donald Trump, ” Merchan, jailing Trump Organizations: New York, Secret Locations: New York State, United States

☆ Opinion | The Formidable Rosalynn Carter
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Jonathan Alter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Known as the Steel Magnolia, a nickname she liked, Mrs. Carter sparked controversy when she sat in (silently) on cabinet meetings. In 1980, Mrs. Carter thought her husband was “seemingly pompous” in explaining why he wouldn’t make politically expedient decisions. When Mr. Carter rejected that idea out of hand, she helped him reinvent the post-presidency by establishing the Carter Center. When I was at work on my biography, Mrs. Carter shared with me her husband’s letters from sea. Rosalynn Carter kept those letters in a drawer close by until the day she died.

Persons: Carter, ”, “ Rosalynn, Cy ”, Cyrus Vance, ” — Zbigniew Brzezinski, — “, Ham ” — Hamilton Jordan, Hugh Sidey, Carter White, Betty, Dale, “ I’ll, Reagan, Rosalynn Carter Organizations: Carter

“I was in all the states,” Rosalynn Carter told the AP. At The Carter Center, she launched a fellowship for journalists to pursue better coverage of mental health issues. Years later, Rosalynn and Jimmy would quietly support integration — and call for it more vocally at Plains Baptist Church. Ruth Carter later engineered a date between her brother and Rosalynn during one of his trips home from the U.S. But the void would not begin to close until the former president conceived The Carter Center.

Persons: Rosalynn Carter, Jimmy Carter’s, ”, Kathy Cade, “, Cade, ” Jimmy Carter, Jonathan Alter, Eleanor Roosevelt, Hillary Clinton, Rosalynn, ” Cade, Ronald Reagan, ” Rosalynn Carter, Reagan, ” Grandson Jason Carter, She “, Jason Carter, Carter, Eleanor Rosalynn Smith, Lillian Carter, “ Miss Lillian ”, Jimmy, Smith, James Earl Carter Sr, Jim Crow, Rosalynn’s, Alter, Ruth Carter, Earl Carter, ” Alter, Stu Eizenstat, Anwar Sadat, Israel’s Menachem Begin, ” Miss Lillian, Pat Caddell, They’ve, ” Jason Carter, Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Mrs, Paige Alexander Organizations: Washington, Georgia Democrat, The Carter, Carter Center, Associated Press, White, AP, East Wing, Mental Health Systems, Kennedy Center, Plains Baptist, Smiths, U.S . Naval Academy, Navy, Plains Methodist Church, Georgia Southwestern College, Naval, “, Brigade, Democratic, Wing, White House, Camp David, Carter, ” Carter Locations: Ga, Georgia, Iran, Plains, Plains Baptist Church, Washington, Iowa, Spanish, America, Cambodian, U.S, COVID, Panama, Atlanta, Guinea

☆ Opinion | A Fitting Final Gift From Jimmy Carter
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Daniela J. Lamas | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

But Mr. Carter and his family were able to see it differently. After a series of short hospital stays, this winter Mr. Carter made what for so many is an impossible decision. It would have been easy for him to obfuscate the truth of his medical condition, but Mr. Carter had no interest in doing so. When it came to the transition to hospice care, Mr. Carter was no different. “This is intentional,” Mr. Alter noted.

Persons: Carter, ” Jonathan Alter, ” Mr, Alter’s, “, Carter’s, Mr, Alter, ” Organizations: White Locations: U.S

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