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☆ Opinion: Trump’s defense ends on one disastrous witness
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Opinion Norman Eisen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Part of the reason for those modest hopes was the fact that the defense case would not include testimony by the defendant. Later, the charging conference to agree on jury instructions showed how daunting the law is that Trump faces. All of that is bad news not just for Costello, whose clash with Merchan won Trump’s praise outside the courtroom Monday, but also for the defense. Because Costello was one of Trump’s only witnesses, there is also the risk that he — and the jury’s reaction to his poor attitude — will taint the defense case overall. There was little the defense could do about the law in the charging conference beyond their usual able argument.

Persons: Norman Eisen, “, Donald Trump, Juan Merchan, Robert Costello, Costello, Michael Cohen, Susan Hoffinger, ” Cohen, Rudy Giuliani, Cohen, —, Trump, Norm Eisen, Stormy Daniels, ”, parrying, Merchan, it’s, Matthew Colangelo, “ I’m Organizations: CNN, Trump, Trump —, FBI, Prosecutors, Twitter, Facebook Locations: Manhattan, , New York

☆ Michael Cohen gives Donald Trump his best day in hush money trial so far
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Donald Trump finally had a good day in court. But on Thursday, he got to savor his former fixer-turned-enemy Michael Cohen wobbling on the stand under a fearsome cross-examination. And now, the prosecution faces a stiff challenge in repairing the damage when they get to their redirect examination of Cohen’s testimony following the close of cross-examination next week. “I think it was a very interesting day, it was a fascinating day. And it also raises the possibility that some jurors might believe that they have been lied to by Cohen earlier in the trial.

Persons: Donald Trump, Michael Cohen wobbling, Cohen, Stormy Daniels, “, ” Ryan Goodman, CNN’s Erin Burnett, ” Trump, Matt Gaetz, Trump, Todd Blanche, Blanche, Daniels, ’, Keith Schiller, Schiller, …, ” Blanche, President Trump, doesn’t, ”, Juan Merchan, Nikki Lotze, “ Jim, Norm Eisen, ” Eisen, CNN’s Anderson Cooper, George Conway, ” Cohen, kingpins, Cohen’s Organizations: CNN, GOP, Trump, NYU Law, Florida, Conservative

☆ The Trump hush-money trial is thrusting reporters into an uncomfortable spotlight
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —The Donald Trump hush money trial is dragging reporters into uncomfortable territory and laying bare the complicated relationships journalists often have with sources. Michael Cohen, who continued to testify Thursday, invoked from the stand the names of several high-profile media figures, putting their relationships with the former Trump fixer in the spotlight. Cohen named The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman and MSNBC’s Katy Tur as reporters which he had established relationships with. And he spoke about having recorded dozens of phone calls with media figures, including former CNN boss Jeff Zucker. That reporters are playing a starring role in the trial is also a function of the Trump years.

Persons: Donald Trump, Michael Cohen, Cohen, Maggie Haberman, Katy Tur, John Santucci, Stormy Daniels, Jeff Zucker, Haberman, Trump, —, It’s, Todd Blanche Organizations: New York CNN, Trump fixer, The New York Times, ABC, CNN, Trump, Queens Locations: New York

☆ Opinion: Did Trump’s defense think this strategy would work on Cohen?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Opinion Norman Eisen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —The forceful direct examination of former Trump fixer-turned-star prosecution witness Michael Cohen concluded Tuesday in the Manhattan criminal trial of former President Donald Trump. But the cross was uneven and Cohen, like Stormy Daniels before him, held his own. Whether that will change in the days ahead remains to be seen, but in any event, the cross of Cohen got off to an inauspicious start. ), his anti-Trump podcast (showing bias, but Cohen owned it) and even selling anti-Trump merchandise (showing financial motive, but again failing to get a rise out of Cohen). However, even when Blanche confronted Cohen with his most inflammatory social media comments, such as calling Trump a “dictator douchebag” and a “Cheeto-dusted cartoon villain,” Cohen was utterly unfazed.

Persons: Michael Cohen, Donald Trump, Todd Blanche, Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Trump, Allen, Weisselberg, Daniels, Norm Eisen, Susan Hoffinger, ”, Hoffinger, “, Blanche, ” Cohen, Susan Necheles, Necheles, Judge Juan Merchan, douchebag ”, mercifully, Blanche’s Organizations: CNN, Trump fixer, Trump, Trump Organization, Trump “, Twitter Locations: Manhattan

☆ Michael Cohen testifies
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Justin Porter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s onetime fixer and now the star witness at his criminal trial, today described for jurors how Trump told him to pay off Stormy Daniels: “Just do it.”The testimonies of Cohen and Daniels are intended to show jurors that Trump falsified business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to buy Daniels’s silence about a sexual encounter. Trump faces 34 felony counts related to the records, and probation or up to four years in prison if convicted. Cohen testified that when Trump ordered him to pay Daniels off, Cohen financed the payment with a home equity line of credit. The former Trump fixer’s testimony ground away at the defense’s assertion that Trump wasn’t aware of Cohen’s actions. Instead, Cohen testified, Trump was a micromanager in the process to head off a story that would have been “catastrophic” for his presidential campaign in 2016.

Persons: Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s, Trump, Stormy Daniels, “, Cohen, Daniels Organizations: Trump

Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan has reached the third week of testimony, and there are only a few key witnesses who have yet to take the stand. There is Michael D. Cohen, the Trump fixer who made that payment and is expected to be crucial for the prosecution. And there are several employees of the Trump family business, who helped the then-president reimburse Mr. Cohen. The exact order of witnesses is unclear, but the trial is zipping along and the prosecution could wrap up in little more than two weeks. Ms. Daniels could testify as soon as this week, bringing her face to face with Mr. Trump, who for years has attacked her.

Persons: Donald J, Stormy Daniels, Trump, Michael D, Cohen, Daniels Organizations: Trump fixer Locations: Manhattan

☆ Opinion: Trump attorney gives David Pecker an embarrassing courtroom apology
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Opinion Norman Eisen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Indeed, Bove was forced to apologize to Pecker in front of the jury to open the day. Bove got Pecker to concede that the National Enquirer did “catch and kill” stories to bury damaging information about high-profile people all the time. Bove also contrasted Pecker’s testimony with what was in the FBI notes of Pecker’s first 2018 interview with the feds. And Bove intimated that Pecker cannot directly connect Trump to the allegedly illegal payments then-Trump fixer Michael Cohen made to Daniels at a later date. As for Trump’s recognition of yours truly, it happened again as he left the courtroom Friday for the mid-day break.

Persons: Norman Eisen, “, Trump, Donald Trump, David Pecker, Norm Eisen, Emil Bove, Bove, Stormy Daniels, —, Juan Merchan, Bove’s, Pecker, Daniels, Hope Hicks, Merchan, Trump’s, ” Merchan, blunting, Pecker’s, Michael Cohen Organizations: CNN, Trump, National Enquirer, White House Communications, Twitter Locations: New York, Manhattan, Washington, York, —, Trump

☆ Opinion: Shaking off the Trump effect
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-21 | by ( Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

We’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets. CNN —“We are most deeply asleep at the switch,” wrote Annie Dillard, “when we fancy we control any switches at all. When the Senate voted to send new aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan two months ago, House Speaker Mike Johnson took no action. With the help of Democrats, the House approved aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on Saturday. Writing for CNN Opinion, he emphasized that there are legal principles that require universities to prohibit expressions of antisemitism.

Persons: CNN —, ”, Annie Dillard, “, time’s, —, Mike Johnson, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Trump, Biden, Sleepy Joe ”, Israel, Johnson, MAGA, Julian Zelizer, Walt Handelsman, Marjorie Taylor Greene’s, Kevin McCarthy’s, Clay Jones, Fareed Zakaria, Alejandro Mayorkas, “ Biden, ” Zakaria, Bill Clinton, ” Trump, Jack Ohman, Agency Donald Trump’s, dozed, Elliot Williams, Patrick T, Brown, …, ‘, ’, Attorney Alvin Bragg, ” Will, Jeffrey Abramson, ” “, Norm Eisen, Stormy Daniels, ” Eisen, Michael Cohen, Elie Honig, Frida Ghitis, Benjamin Netanyahu, ” Lisa Benson, GoComics.com Peter Bergen, Daniel R, DePetris, Dean Obeidallah, Susanne DeWitt, ” David Schizer, ” Schizer, Danielle Campoamor, Caitlin Clark, Simone Biles, Campoamor, Latika Bourke, John Howard, Justin J, Pearson, Winston Churchill, Holly Thomas, Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak’s, It’s, ” Thomas, YouGov, ” Don’t, Drew Sheneman, Agency David M, Perry, Frankie de la, Angel Reese, Roy Schwartz, Joni Mitchell —, Raul A, Reyes, Sonia Sotomayor, Jules Boykoff, Jaime M, Valiathan, Ed Manning, Sara Stewart, Noah Berlatsky, Taylor Swift Amy Bass, Taylor Swift, Swift, Department ”, ” Bass, “ Swift, Joe, Alwyn, Diana, they’re, Clara Bow, Dylan Thomas, Patti Smith — Organizations: CNN, Republicans, MAGA Republicans, Agency, Congress, Biden, Homeland, National Guard, ‘, Manhattan, Attorney, New York Democrats, Twitter, Facebook, New York Times, Trump, Berkeley, Nazism, Columbia, Nike, Team USA, Sydney, Port, Conservative, Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, Central Press, Hulton, National Health Service, WNBA, Ungentlemanly, Department Locations: Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, Manhattan, Iran, Russia, China, ‘, New, CNN Iran, “ Israel, Gaza, Israeli, Damascus, Iraq, America, Dearborn, Nazi Germany, Berkeley , California, Berkeley, East Bay, Sydney, Port Arthur, Tennessee, Surrey, Croydon, Quebec, Britain, Vancouver, London, Welsh

☆ Trump complains in latest hush-money delay bid that Manhattan already thinks he's guilty, and Michael Cohen keeps saying 'Donald von Shitsinpants'
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

This eleventh-hour effort to push back Trump's April 15 trial date is the latest of a half-dozen such requests since August. Bad polls, bad pressManhattan is not Trump country, the defense delay motion notes. AdvertisementPollsters surveyed a sample of 400 Manhattan residents, the delay motion says. Trump's motion implies that those sources were, or involved, Bragg, ignoring that the stories could have been sourced through multiple other individuals, including court staff, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses. Advertisement"President Trump cannot get a fair trial in Manhattan County right now," the delay motion concludes, asking for unspecified adjournment "until prejudicial press coverage abates."

Persons: —, Donald, Trump's, Juan Merchan, It's, Trump, They've, pollsters, Michael Cohen, Cohen, Donald von shitsinpants, Donald Van, Donald Trump's, Says, Donald Trump, Eduardo Munoz, Stormy Daniels, Daniels, Stephanie Clifford, She's, Peacock, Norm, DONALD J, Matthew Colangelo, Colangelo, Juan Merchan AP, Seth Wenig, Merchan, Bob Moore, Jeb Bush's, Alvin Bragg Craig Ruttle, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Allen Weisselberg, Bragg Organizations: Service, New, Business, GOP, Defense, Moore Information Group, York County Clerk's, Trump fixer, Twitter, New York County Clerk's, FBI, REUTERS, Trump, Prosecutors, Moore, National Republican Senatorial Committee, Manhattan, Attorney, Trump Organization Locations: Manhattan, York County, New York County, New York City, U.S, Trump, Manhattan County

☆ Trump's NY hush money trial may be delayed a month or more by a last-minute evidence feud: court docs
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Trump's felony hush money trial had been scheduled to begin March 25 in Manhattan. Talk of delay was triggered by federal prosecutors producing 73,000 pages of long-awaited evidence. AdvertisementDonald Trump's felony hush money trial, long scheduled to begin March 25, may be delayed by a month or longer due to federal officials' last-minute production of 73,000 pages of evidence concerning their 2018 prosecution of Michael Cohen. The defense has only dragged its feet in seeking the same evidence, prosecutors said. The assistant prosecutor blamed the late, ongoing evidence dump — and the resulting need for a delay — on federal prosecutors and the Trump defense.

Persons: —, Donald, Michael Cohen, Juan Merchan, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Todd Blanche, Blanche, Trump, Matthew Colangelo, Colangelo, Cohen —, Cohen, Donald Trump, Eduardo Munoz, Joe Raedle, Stormy Daniels, Daniels, Melania Trump, Barron Trump, Merchan Organizations: Prosecutors, Service, Manhattan, New, Defense, Trump, Attorney, US, Trump fixer, REUTERS, US Attorney's Office Locations: Manhattan, tranches, Lake Tahoe

☆ Trump trial tantrum: "Be more respectful!" an AG lawyer shouted, to which a Trump lawyer sniped, "No."
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tempers flared Thursday during a heated sidebar discussion at Trump's fraud trial in New York. AdvertisementAdvertisementAttorney tempers flared Thursday at the Trump civil fraud trial in New York, where a quiet sidebar discussion erupted into cross-accusations of rudeness and disrespectfulness. a lawyer for state Attorney General Letitia James could be heard telling Donald Trump's lead lawyer, Christopher Kise. In the letter, the state accused the Trump Organization of failing to turn over emails concerning Trump's triplex apartment. Kise, the former president's lawyer, kicked off the sidebar by protesting that such a search would potentially derail the trial, the sources said.

Persons: —, Letitia James, Donald Trump's, Christopher Kise, Colleen Faherty, Arthur Engoron, Kise, Allison Greenfield, Michael Cohen, Faherty Organizations: Service, Trump, Manhattan, New, Trump Organization, AG Locations: New York

☆ Trump trial tantrum: "No!" a Trump lawyer sniped after an AG lawyer demanded, "Be more respectful!"
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tempers flared Thursday during a heated sidebar discussion at Trump's fraud trial in New York. AdvertisementAdvertisementAttorney tempers flared Thursday at the Trump civil fraud trial in New York, where a quiet sidebar discussion erupted into cross-accusations of rudeness and disrespectfulness. a lawyer for state Attorney General Letitia James could be heard telling Donald Trump's lead lawyer, Christopher Kise. Kise, the former president's lawyer, kicked off the sidebar by protesting that such a search would potentially derail the trial, the sources said. On Wednesday, lawyers for both sides raised their voices during a heated dispute over a former Trump property appraiser's testimony.

Persons: —, Letitia James, Donald Trump's, Christopher Kise, Colleen Faherty, Arthur Engoron, Kise, Allison Greenfield, Michael Cohen, Faherty, Trump Organizations: Service, Trump, Manhattan, New, Trump Organization, AG Locations: New York

CNN —President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden capped South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s official state visit with a glamorous state dinner at the White House Wednesday night to celebrate the two nations’ 70-year alliance. May we do it together for another 170 years.”But Biden wasn’t the only leader who took the mic. Following a round of musical performances, his South Korean counterpart joined him on stage to give his own – a karaoke rendition of Don McClean’s “American Pie” – which received a standing ovation from the crowd. The elaborate dinner is the result of weeks of careful diplomatic preparations, with each detail meticulously planned by a team of White House chefs, social staff, and protocol experts. U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden pose with South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee in front of the Grand Staircase of the White House before an official State Dinner, in Washington, U.S. April 26, 2023.

☆ What’s Missing in the Trump Indictment
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The public can now read Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg ’s indictment against former President Trump, as well as his more voluble “statement of facts,” but the speculation and leaks of recent weeks were well informed. There are few surprises, except perhaps astonishment that Mr. Bragg’s case looks even weaker than we expected. Mr. Trump “repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election,” the DA says. The charges are based on the $130,000 that former Trump fixer Michael Cohen paid to hush up Stormy Daniels about her alleged affair with Mr. Trump. Mr. Cohen was reimbursed via a monthly retainer “disguised as a payment for legal services.”

Keep up to date on the latest of Trump's legal travails, both criminal and civil, with this guide to the ever-evolving Trump docket. The Issues: Trump's real estate and golf resort business is accused of giving its executives pricey perks and benefits that were never reported as income to taxing authorities. The issues: They say Donald Trump sicced his security guards on their peaceful, legal protest outside Trump Tower in 2015. Donald Trump, right, sits with his children, from left, Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump during a groundbreaking ceremony for the Trump International Hotel on July 23, 2014, in Washington. The Issues: Donald Trump is accused of promoting a scam multi-level marketing scheme on "The Celebrity Apprentice."

☆ Why is Trump calling NY AG Letitia James 'Peekaboo?' Michael Cohen has a theory, and it isn't X-rated or racist
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Donald Trump coined a nickname for New York's AG after she sued him: Letitia 'Peekaboo' James. Trump had already called Letitia James "racist" for months prior to her suing him, in a not-so-veiled allusion to the AG being African American. "Racist A.G. Letitia "Peekaboo" James, the failed Gubernatorial candidate," Trump called the AG in a new Truth Social post. Trump fixer-turned-critic Michael Cohen doesn't like the odds on either of the leading peekaboo nickname-origin theories, one of which is X-rated and the other of which is deeply racist. Cohen didn't think much of the X-rated theory, floated around AG circles, which references some of the more graphic definitions of "peekaboo" from Urban Dictionary.

What's next: Court-ordered depositions of Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, and Donald Trump, Jr., were delayed by the death of family matriarch Ivana Trump. But their depositions finally wrapped on August 10, when Donald Trump testified before investigators in James' Manhattan offices. The issues: They say Donald Trump sicced his security guards on their peaceful, legal protest outside Trump Tower in 2015. Donald Trump Jr, Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump during the filming of the live final tv episode of The Celebrity Apprentice on May 16 2010 in New York City. The Issues: Donald Trump is accused of promoting a scam multi-level marketing scheme on "The Celebrity Apprentice."

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