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☆ Defense Lawyers to Begin Closing Arguments in Trump’s Criminal Trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Jonah E. Bromwich | Ben Protess | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Former President Donald J. Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial will enter its final stage Tuesday as defense lawyers and prosecutors deliver their closing arguments in a last attempt to sway the 12 New Yorkers who will decide his fate. First the defense and then the prosecution will spend hours weaving disparate strands of evidence into a cohesive story that they hope will resonate with the jurors. The undisputed facts concern that $130,000 transaction; Mr. Cohen paid the porn star, Stormy Daniels, to silence her story of a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump. Prosecutors have argued that Mr. Trump directed Mr. Cohen to pay Ms. Daniels and approved a criminal scheme to reimburse Mr. Cohen, disguising the repayments by saying that they were made for legal services that in fact were nonexistent. Their case is backed by the testimony of Mr. Cohen himself, as well as Ms. Daniels, several other witnesses and phone records, text messages and emails.

Persons: Donald J, Yorkers, Trump, Michael D, Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Daniels, Mr Organizations: Prosecutors

“It was Michael Cohen,” Davidson responded. Cohen is the only witness who will testify about Trump’s alleged involvement in both the decision to pay Daniels and the plan to reimburse Cohen for advancing the money. Prosecutors allege that during the February meeting, Trump and Cohen agreed how Cohen would be paid back. Arguably the most negative assessment of Cohen came from Davidson, who negotiated the hush money deal with Cohen on Daniels’ behalf in 2016. “There were times where Mr. Cohen did things that you felt were not helpful to what you were trying to accomplish, right?” Bove asked Trump’s 2016 campaign press secretary.

Persons: Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s, Cohen, Stormy Daniels, David Pecker, Hope Hicks, “, Daniels, Keith Davidson, Daniels ’, Gina Rodriguez –, “ Gina, Keith, ’ ” Davidson, ”, Joshua Steinglass, ” Davidson, Trump, Trump’s, Pecker, ” Steinglass, Todd Blanche, Elie Honig, Cohen’s, antagonizing Trump, Juan Merchan, Merchan, Cohen ’, Emil Bove, ” Pecker, Bove, Gary Farro, ” Farro, Davidson, ” Cohen, Christ, I’m, I’ve, ’ ”, Jeff McConney, ” McConney, Matthew Colangelo, Hicks, –, ” Bove, ” Hicks Organizations: CNN, Trump, National Enquirer, American Media Inc, Prosecutors, Office, Daniels, Trump Organization Locations: Manhattan, Trump’s New York, Moscow, thedirty.com, Washington

☆ Trump Is Threatened With Jail at His Criminal Trial: 5 Takeaways
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Jesse Mckinley | Kate Christobek | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Donald J. Trump’s Monday began with a grave warning from Juan M. Merchan, the judge presiding over the former president’s criminal trial, threatening to imprison him if he continued to flout a gag order. That testimony was elicited from two employees, one current and one retired, of the Trump Organization. The former president is accused of falsifying business records to cover up that $130,000 payment. Mr. Trump, 77, the first American president to face criminal prosecution, has denied the charges and says he did not have sex with the woman, Stormy Daniels. If convicted, he could face prison time or probation.

Persons: Donald J, Trump’s, Juan M, Justice Merchan, Trump, “, Michael D, Cohen, Stormy Daniels Organizations: Mr, Trump Organization

☆ Hear the tapes: DA's theory of Trump as the hush-money mastermind takes a hit in newly-released defense recordings
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Defense tapes played in court Thursday have been posted to SoundCloud by Law360. They are recordings of 2018 phone calls between the two lawyers who struck the 2016 hush-money deal. They suggest an alternate reality to the DA's — where Trump is more victim than mastermind. Davidson's surmise — that Cohen was likely taping him at the time — makes a pair of newly-released defense tapes all the more compelling and perplexing. AdvertisementAnd while Colangelo told jurors that prosecutors will prove Trump "orchestrated" an election-influencing hush-money conspiracy, the charges do not require proof of who played whom.

Persons: Trump, —, Stormy Daniels, Keith Davidson, Michael Cohen, Cohen, Davidson, Donald Trump's fixer, Davidson's, Daniels, Trump’s, Keith Davidson hesitantly, ODuQQ4i1tg, Frank G, hesitatingly, Attorney Alvin Bragg, 89n0yKPqe3, Anthony Kotzev, Gina Rodriguez, Rodriguez, Matthew Colangelo, Colangelo Organizations: Law360, Service, Manhattan, Attorney, Trump, Prosecutors

☆ Live Updates: Stormy Daniels's Lawyer to Return to Stand in Trump Criminal Trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Matthew Haag | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

Mr. Trump, 77, is charged with falsifying 34 business records to hide the payment to Ms. Daniels. He has denied the felony charges, and having had sex with Ms. Daniels and Ms. McDougal. The tabloid had agreed to buy negative stories about Mr. Trump and then bury them. Image Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s former fixer, was the point of contact for a lawyer seeking to sell stories. Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, is planning rallies in Wisconsin and Michigan — both battleground states — on Wednesday.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Juan M, Trump’s, Stormy Daniels, Keith Davidson, Karen McDougal, she’d, Daniels, McDougal, Davidson, Dylan Howard, . Bauer, Griffin, ”, Howard, Mr, Ms, Michael D, Cohen, Justice Merchan, Michael Cohen, Gary Farro, Dave Sanders, Todd Blanche, Farro, Blanche, Cohen “, Melania Trump, Barron’s, Merchan Organizations: National Enquirer, Trump, Trump . Credit, Getty, Trump Organization, First Republic Bank, The New York Times, Prosecutors, SPAN, Republican Locations: Los Angeles, Trump ., Wisconsin, Michigan

☆ Trump Trial to Resume With Stormy Daniels’s Lawyer on the Stand
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Matthew Haag | More About Matthew Haag | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

That testimony ended on a cliffhanger: Would the presidential candidate’s lawyer pay up? Prosecutors have charged Mr. Trump with falsifying business records to cover up repayments to Mr. Cohen, disguising the checks as “legal expenses” by the Trump Organization. If convicted, Mr. Trump faces up to four years in prison. Mr. Davidson’s testimony on Tuesday ended with how he had started to doubt that Mr. Cohen would come through with the $130,000. Mr. Davidson portrayed Mr. Cohen as erratic and excitable — likening him to the dog in the animated movie “Up,” constantly distracted by a squirrel offscreen.

Persons: Keith Davidson, Donald J, Trump, Trump’s, Davidson, Stormy Daniels, Michael D, Cohen, Daniels, Mr, —, ” Organizations: Mr, Prosecutors, Trump Organization

☆ Trump Faces Possible $10,000 Contempt Fine as Trial Resumes
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Ben Protess | Jonah E. Bromwich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Trump, the first former president to face criminal prosecution, is accused of falsifying records to cover up the hush-money payment, which was made to a porn star, Stormy Daniels. The $130,000 payment — made by Mr. Trump’s fixer, Michael D. Cohen — silenced Ms. Daniels’s story of a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump. The prosecutors requested a $1,000 fine for each of Mr. Trump’s 10 statements that they say ran afoul of the order — including attacks on Ms. Daniels and Mr. Cohen, as well as the jury. Also on Tuesday, prosecutors are expected to wrap up their questioning of Gary Farro, a banker who helped Mr. Cohen open the account that he used to pay Ms. Daniels. Mr. Trump’s lawyers will then cross-examine Mr. Farro.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Stormy Daniels, Michael D, Cohen —, Juan M, Daniels, Cohen, Gary Farro, Farro

☆ Donald Trump hush money trial, explained
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Former President Donald Trump is set to go on trial this month in Manhattan for his alleged role in a hush money scheme to silence his alleged mistresses before the 2016 election. Here’s what to know to get up to speed on this first criminal trial:What’s the general outline of the hush money case? The judge overseeing the hush money case, Juan Merchan, expanded a gag order on Trump after the former president attacked Merchan’s daughter on social media. And the witness list for this hush money case includes former Trump aides such as Hope Hicks. So that’s why this New York case about hush money paid eight years ago is the one that’s going to trial first.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, Karen McDougal, David Pecker, Stephanie Clifford, Stormy Daniels, Trump’s, Michael Cohen, Cohen, Daniels, McDougal, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Juan Merchan, Merchan’s, Michael Avenatti, Hope Hicks Organizations: CNN, White House, Trump, National, American Media Inc, AMI, Street, McDougal, Federal, Commission, Manhattan, Attorney, Beverly, Hotel, Manhattan DA, New, Republican Party, Fulton County DA Locations: Manhattan, Georgia, New York, Lake Tahoe, Fulton County , Georgia, Miami, York

☆ Could Trump go to jail? Questions about Trump’s trial, answered
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

If Trump were sent to prison, would he still have his presidential Secret Service protecting him in jail? The judicial process is built around the idea that defendants are there to answer charges, and New York law requires that a defendant be present at trial. The felony charge here, which is the lowest level felony under New York law, is falsifying business records to further some other crime. His federal trial on classified documents is proceeding slowly in Miami. While Trump, under New York law, has a right to know their names, their identities will be kept from public view.

Persons: CNN —, Donald Trump’s, –, I’ve, Trump, Laura Coates, Coates, Watch Coates, David, Juan Merchan, Stormy Daniels, CNN’s, Daniels, Bruce, Karen McDougal, Trump’s fixer, Michael Cohen, Cohen, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Will, Francis, Elie Honig, Honig, SCOTUS, Mark Honig, He’s, Kathryn, Trump’s, It’s, hasn’t, Norman Eisen, ”, Scott, That’s, Frank Bowman, he’s, Bowman Organizations: CNN, Trump, Raleigh NC Daniels, Seattle Trump, National Enquirer, Playboy, of Justice, Manhattan, Attorney, New, University of Missouri, Prisons, White Locations: New York, Tokyo, York, Georgia, Seattle, Cupertino, Miami, Fulton County , Georgia, Philadelphia

Maryanne Trump Barry, a former federal judge who was an older sister of Donald J. Trump and served as both his protector and critic throughout their lives, has died. Ms. Barry died at her home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, according to two people familiar with the matter. Ms. Barry, the widow of John Barry, a veteran trial and appellate lawyer, had been a federal judge in New Jersey, a position that Mr. Trump’s fixer, the lawyer Roy M. Cohn, was credited with helping her attain during President Ronald Reagan’s tenure. She retired from the bench in 2019, at a time when inquiries were brewing after a New York Times investigation into the family’s tax practices. Mr. Trump seemed to heed the words of few people as much as he did his sister’s, according to confidants.

Persons: Maryanne Trump Barry, Donald J, Trump, Barry, John Barry, Roy M, Cohn, Ronald Reagan’s, Mary L Organizations: New York Times Locations: Manhattan, New Jersey

He said he never worked on the annual financial statements at the heart of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit. James alleges Donald Trump, his company and executives including Eric and Donald Jr. exaggerated his wealth by billions of dollars on financial statements given to banks, insurers and others. On Monday, Trump Jr. will be questioned first by the defense lawyers representing him, his father and other defendants. When he became president in 2017, Donald Trump handed day-to-day management of his company to Eric and Donald Trump Jr. and named Trump Jr. as a trustee of a trust he established to hold his assets while in office. “I had an obligation to listen to the people with intimate knowledge of those things,” Trump Jr. testified.

Persons: —, Donald Trump’s, Donald Trump Jr, who’ll, quizzed, Eric, Ivanka Trump, Letitia James ’, James, Donald Trump, Donald Jr, Judge Arthur Engoron, Michael Cohen, Engoron, Christopher Kise, ”, “, I’m, Trump, ’, ” Trump, Allen Weisselberg, Michael Organizations: Trump Organization, York, Trump, Democrat, New York, Trump Jr, ” Trump Jr Locations: New York, New, Michael Sisak, x.com

The July indictment accused Mr. Trump, Mr. De Oliveira and Mr. Nauta of trying to delete Mar-a-Lago security footage. The government had requested a trial date in December, while Mr. Trump’s lawyers asked for an indefinite postponement. Once he was sworn in as president, Mr. Trump reimbursed Mr. Cohen. Rather than publish her account, the tabloid suppressed it in cooperation with Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen, prosecutors say. Ms. Maddock, who has close ties to Mr. Trump and is married to Matt Maddock, a state representative, accused Ms. Nessel of “a personal vendetta.”“This is part of a national coordinated” effort to stop Mr. Trump, she added.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Trump’s, Jack Smith, Fani, Willis, Mr, Alvin L, Bragg, Rudolph W, Giuliani, Mark Meadows, —, “, ” Mr, Brad Raffensperger, Joseph R, Biden, Emily Kohrs, “ You’re, ”, Ms, Smith’s, Smith, Prosecutors, Mike Pence, Walt Nauta, Carlos De Oliveira, De Oliveira, Nauta, ’, Stormy Daniels, Michael D, Cohen, Daniels, Karen McDougal, McDougal, Bragg’s, Juan M, Merchan, “ Trump, Merchan’s, Cyrus R, Vance Jr, Daniels’s, Hope Hicks, Kellyanne Conway, Allen H, Weisselberg, Mimi E, Rocah, Letitia James, James, Donald Jr, Eric, Ivanka Trump, Michigan’s “, Dana Nessel, Meshawn Maddock, Maddock, Matt Maddock, Nessel, Wright Blake, Mayra Rodriguez, Kris Mayes, Richie Taylor, Maggie Haberman, Glenn Thrush, Jonah E, Rebecca Davis O’Brien, Michael Gold, Michael Rothfeld, Ed Shanahan, Richard Fausset, Ashley Wong Organizations: Mr, Democrat, New, New York City, White House, Department, Georgia Republican Party, Trump, The New York Times, Capitol, Federal, Court, Congress, Justice Department, Mar, Manhattan, National Enquirer, Trump Tower, U.S, National, Trump Organization, Trump National Golf Club Westchester, New York, Civil, Michigan, Michigan Republican Party Locations: Manhattan, Georgia, Fulton County, Lago, New York, United States, Washington, Palm Beach, Fla, Mar, Lower Manhattan, Westchester County, Michigan, Arizona, Bromwich

The indictment said Mr. Trump and six unnamed co-conspirators had pushed state legislators and election officials to change electoral votes won by Mr. Biden to votes for Mr. Trump. The July indictment accused Mr. Trump, Mr. De Oliveira and Mr. Nauta of trying to delete Mar-a-Lago security footage. Once he was sworn in as president, Mr. Trump reimbursed Mr. Cohen. Rather than publish her account, the tabloid suppressed it in cooperation with Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen, prosecutors say. The court papers also referred to a payment to a former Trump Tower doorman who claimed that Mr. Trump had fathered a child out of wedlock.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Trump’s, Jack Smith, Alvin L, Bragg, Joseph R, Biden Jr, Biden, Prosecutors, Mike Pence, Mr, Smith, Walt Nauta, Smith’s, Carlos De Oliveira, De Oliveira, Nauta, ’, Stormy Daniels, Michael D, Cohen, Daniels, Karen McDougal, McDougal, Bragg’s, Juan M, Merchan, “ Trump, Merchan’s, Mimi E, Rocah, Letitia James, James, Donald Jr, Eric, Ivanka Trump, Maggie Haberman, Glenn Thrush, Jonah E, Rebecca Davis O’Brien, Michael Gold, Michael Rothfeld, Ed Shanahan, Richard Fausset, Ashley Wong Organizations: Mr, Capitol, Federal, Court, Congress, Justice Department, Mar, Manhattan, National Enquirer, Trump Tower, U.S, Trump Organization, Trump National Golf Club Westchester, New York, Civil, New, Trump Locations: Manhattan, Lago, United States, Palm Beach, Fla, Mar, New York, Westchester County, Bromwich

Mr. Trump was also charged with attempting to obstruct an official proceeding — the certification of the election results by Congress. The indictment said Mr. Trump and six unnamed co-conspirators had pushed state legislators and election officials to change electoral votes won by Mr. Biden to votes for Mr. Trump. The July indictment accused Mr. Trump, Mr. De Oliveira and Mr. Nauta of trying to delete Mar-a-Lago security footage. Rather than publish her account, the tabloid suppressed it in cooperation with Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen, prosecutors say. Mr. Trump faced a second criminal investigation in New York related to financial dealings at a Trump Organization golf course in Westchester County.

Mr. Trump was also charged with attempting to obstruct an official proceeding — the certification of the election results by Congress. The indictment said Mr. Trump and six unnamed co-conspirators had pushed state legislators and election officials to change electoral votes won by Mr. Biden to votes for Mr. Trump. The July indictment accused Mr. Trump, Mr. De Oliveira and Mr. Nauta of trying to delete Mar-a-Lago security footage. Once he was sworn in as president, Mr. Trump reimbursed Mr. Cohen. Rather than publish her account, the tabloid suppressed it in cooperation with Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen, prosecutors say.

Once he was sworn in as president, Mr. Trump reimbursed Mr. Cohen. Rather than publish her account, the tabloid suppressed it in cooperation with Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen, prosecutors say. Legal experts say that Mr. Trump and others appear to be at “substantial risk” of prosecution for violating a number Georgia statutes, including the state’s racketeering law. But if she were to prevail at trial, a judge could impose steep financial penalties on Mr. Trump and restrict his business operations in New York. Ms. James’s investigators questioned Mr. Trump under oath in April, and a trial is scheduled for October.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Trump’s, Jack Smith, Alvin L, Bragg, Stormy Daniels, Michael D, Cohen, Daniels, Karen McDougal, McDougal, Brad Raffensperger, Biden’s, —, Emily Kohrs, “ You’re, ”, “, Willis, Jan, Mr . Biden, Smith, Mike Pence, Mark Meadows, Letitia James, Mr, James, Donald Jr, Eric, Jonah E, Rebecca Davis O’Brien, Michael Gold, Michael Rothfeld, Ed Shanahan, Richard Fausset, Ashley Wong Organizations: Capitol, Manhattan, National Enquirer, Mr, ., The New York Times, Justice Department, Trump, Prosecutors, White House, Trump White House, New York, Civil, New Locations: Manhattan, Georgia, . Georgia, Fulton County, United States, Washington, Trump’s, New, New York, Bromwich

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