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☆ In a baffling closing argument, Trump attorney Todd Blanche used DA's evidence against his own client
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Laura Italiano | Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

AdvertisementTrump was not involved with any such conspiracy to influence the 2016 election, Blanche told jurors in great detail on Tuesday, during a three-hour summation. "The government has to prove to you that President Trump caused these entries — even if they were false — with an intent to defraud," Blanche told jurors. "That was outrageous, Mr. Blanche," state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan told Blanche after jurors were dismissed for lunch. Advertisement"President Trump tweeted what happened when it came out," and then signed a government ethics form that also admitted to the reimbursement, Blanche told jurors Tuesday. Cohen is "literally like an MVP of liars," Blanche told jurors.

Persons: —, Donald Trump's, Todd Blanche, Blanche, Trump, Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, reimbursing Cohen, Cohen, Juan Merchan, It's, they'd, Allen Weisselberg, what's, he's Organizations: Service, Business, Prosecutors, New, BI, Trump Organization —, Trump, — Trump Locations: Manhattan, York, New York, Blanche's summations

☆ Trump’s family members have visited court during the hush money trial. Notably missing: Melania and Ivanka Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Steve Contorno | Kristen Holmes | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

With a jury verdict potentially days away, Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump have yet to join the former president as he defends himself against 34 charges. Melania Trump, though, has not appeared alongside her husband at a single Trump rally and rarely joins him in public. A spokesperson for the Trump campaign did not respond when asked if she intends to accompany him for any of the final days of his trial. Ivanka Trump’s absence from the Manhattan trial is not surprising to many close to the former president after she and Kushner’s public distancing from Trump’s latest presidential campaign. “When [Ivanka Trump] was at the White House, her kids were still at the age where they might not know exactly what was going on,” the source said.

Persons: Donald Trump, –, Melania Trump, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Ivanka’s, Trump, hasn’t, Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr, Eric’s, Lara, Trump’s, Tiffany, Michael Boulos, Michael Cohen, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Robert De Niro, Joe Biden’s, De Niro, it’s, ”, Lara Trump, Ronna McDaniel, Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal, Barron, Ivanka, “, Charles, Seryl Kushner, Howard Lutnick, Charles Kushner, Daniels, CNN’s Kate Sullivan Organizations: CNN, Manhattan, Attorney, Trump, Trump Jr, Biden, White, Republican National Committee, House, New, Federal, Commission, Republican Locations: Manhattan, Washington, New York, Florida, Trump

☆ How Trump could turn a guilty verdict into a win
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Twelve New Yorkers will then weigh the possibility of a historic verdict: finding the first-ever former president guilty in a criminal trial. Polling shows that a guilty verdict has some potential peril. AdvertisementIn a recent Quinnipiac University nationwide poll, 62% of voters said a guilty verdict would not affect their vote in November. It's not hard to imagine that in responding to a potential guilty verdict Trump lashes out in a way that causes him more problems. During the Manhattan criminal trial, Trump has sent repeated fundraising appeals, including when Justice Juan Merchan found Trump in contempt for violating his gag order.

Persons: —, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Trump, Jean Carroll, Cook, Mike Johnson, Donald Trump's, Justin Lane, It's, Paul Ryan, couldn't, Kevin McCarthy, Mike Pence, Ron DeSantis, Tish James, Justice Juan Merchan Organizations: Service, Business, Trump, Quinnipiac University, Republicans, GOP, Yahoo, New York Times, Siena College, Justice Department, Florida Gov, Politico, New York, Save Locations: Manhattan, Quinnipiac, Donald Trump's Manhattan, weaponized, Florida

☆ 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

Mr. De Niro said that Mr. Trump had engaged in a “coward’s violence” after the 2020 election. The news conference was the sort of thing the Trump campaign would have done from the beginning if the political situation were reversed. The Biden campaign has rarely discussed that case or the verdict against Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump has sought to tie together all four of his pending criminal cases and has argued baselessly that Mr. Biden is behind them all. Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, said the Biden campaign was “making a political mockery” of the criminal case with its appearance.

Persons: Donald J, Biden’s, Biden, Robert De Niro, Harry Dunn, Michael Fanone, Trump, De Niro, ”, surrogates, Trump’s, —, Jean Carroll, Carroll, The Biden, “, Mr, “ We’re, ” Michael Tyler, Jason Miller, De, Steven Cheung, Karoline Leavitt Organizations: U.S . Capitol Police, Mr, Capitol Police, Biden Locations: Manhattan, Trump’s Manhattan, Georgia

☆ Trump’s Case Heads to the Jury: 5 Takeaways From Closing Arguments
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Jesse Mckinley | Kate Christobek | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As the criminal trial of Donald J. Trump began its seventh week, the prosecution and the defense made their final pitches to jurors, sending the landmark case into deliberations on Wednesday. A defense lawyer, Todd Blanche, spent three hours Tuesday hammering Michael D. Cohen, the prosecution’s star witness, including accusing him of perjury. He attacked Stormy Daniels, the porn star whose account of a tryst with Mr. Trump in 2006 set in motion the charges the former president faces. Mr. Trump, 77, is charged with falsifying 34 business records to hide Mr. Cohen’s reimbursement for a $130,000 hush-money payment he made to Ms. Daniels. Mr. Trump has denied the charges and the sexual encounter.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Todd Blanche, Michael D, Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Joshua Steinglass, Daniels

Cohen testified that Trump bodyguard Keith Schiller put Trump on the phone so Cohen could tell him he was going forward with the Daniels payment. Blanche also said that prosecutors offered no evidence connecting Trump to the payment to Daniels outside of Cohen’s testimony. They speak in coded language, and they speak fast,” Steinglass said of Cohen and Trump. “Trump is deputizing Cohen right in front of Pecker so that Pecker knows that any go ahead from Cohen is a go head from Trump. When the “Access Hollywood” story came out in October 2016, Steinglass said that Trump and the campaign went into panic mode.

Persons: ”, Donald Trump, Michael Cohen –, Stormy Daniels, Cohen, Juan Merchan, Michael Cohen’s, Todd Blanche, Trump’s, Blanche, Tom Brady, ” Blanche, Keith Schiller, Trump, Daniels, Schiller, texted Schiller, “, Michael Cohen, Merchan, there’s, Joshua Steinglass, David Pecker, ” Steinglass, Steinglass, “ Hey, Keith, how’s, Karen McDougal, “ Trump, deputizing Cohen, Donald J, Pecker, Allen Weisselberg, Weisselberg, Jeff McConney, “ I’m, –, Dino, McDougal Organizations: CNN — Prosecutors, Trump, Defense, ” Prosecutors, CNN, AMI, ”, Trump Organization, Trump Org, ” Defense, Trump . Trump Locations: Trump’s New York, Trump, Weisselberg

☆ Trump trial closing arguments to begin in New York hush money case
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Former President Donald Trump looks on before the start of trial at the Manhattan Criminal Court during trial in New York City May 20, 2024. Closing arguments in the criminal hush money trial of Donald Trump are set to begin in New York on Tuesday, with jurors on track to begin deliberations in the historic case the following day. If convicted, Trump faces a possible maximum sentence of four years in prison for each felony count. He denies Daniels' claim that the two had sex once in 2006, months after his wife Melania gave birth to their son, Barron. Matthew Colangelo told jurors that the hush money payment to Daniels, and the reimbursements to Cohen, amounted to "election fraud.

Persons: Donald Trump, Michael Cohen, Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Trump, Daniels, Melania, Barron, D.A, Matthew Colangelo, Joe Biden Organizations: Manhattan, New York City, Attorney's Locations: New York, U.S, Manhattan

☆ Opinion: Trump trial verdict now hinges on these three questions
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Opinion Norman Eisen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —On Tuesday, we at last came to closing arguments in the Manhattan criminal trial of former President Donald Trump after 20 days of trial, testimony from 22 witnesses and over 200 exhibits. Were the 34 allegedly false records actually false? The first pivot point is whether the 34 business records at the heart of the case actually contain false information. And Steinglass pushed back on Blanche’s emphasis on the much-discussed October 24, 2016, Cohen call to Trump’s bodyguard, Keith Schiller. Indeed, Blanche continued, Trump repeatedly disclosed the reimbursement — including on Twitter, a 1099 form to the IRS and a federal financial disclosure form.

Persons: Donald Trump, Todd Blanche, Joshua Steinglass, Trump, Stormy Daniels, Michael Cohen, Blanche, Daniels, ”, Norm Eisen, Madame Tussaud’s, Cohen, Steinglass, Keith Schiller, Schiller, Allen Weisselberg, “, ” Steinglass, …, ” Blanche, Hope Hicks, Madeline Westerhout, Cohen — Organizations: CNN, Trump, Trump Foundation, Trump Organization, Twitter, IRS, New, White House, Facebook Locations: Manhattan, New York

For nearly three hours on Tuesday, Donald J. Trump’s lawyer did his level best to persuade the jury to acquit his client, wielding a scalpel to attack nearly every strand of the criminal case against the former president. Rather than using a fine blade, he swung a sledgehammer. The prosecutor, Joshua Steinglass, wove together witness testimony and documents to drive home the key points of the weekslong case, the first criminal trial of an American president. Facing the judge’s 8 p.m. deadline, Mr. Steinglass raced to the wire, stopping only to take a gulp of water as the sky darkened outside the towering courtroom windows. “Everything Mr. Trump and his cohorts did in this case was cloaked in lies,” Mr. Steinglass said as the jurors, who had been glued to most of his presentation, began to fidget in their seats.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Joshua Steinglass, Steinglass, ” Mr

☆ Robert De Niro slams 'clown' Trump outside NY criminal trial, as Biden campaign ramps up attacks
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"He doesn't belong in my city," De Niro, a native New Yorker, said of Trump during a press conference hosted by President Joe Biden's reelection campaign outside Manhattan Supreme Court. Immediately following the Biden campaign event, Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller accused Biden of employing a "washed-up actor" to campaign for him in a Hail Mary attempt to reverse Trump's narrow lead in 2024 election polls. The De Niro event marks the first time the Biden campaign has appeared outside Trump's trial, which began more than five weeks ago. As the criminal trial winds down, the president's reelection campaign is planning to crank up its attacks on Trump, NBC News reported Friday. Defense attorney Todd Blanche began Tuesday's closing arguments by declaring, "President Trump is innocent."

Persons: Robert De Niro, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, De Niro, Joe Biden's, —, Trump, Trump's, Harris, Niro, Harry Dunn, Jason Miller, Biden, Mary, Miller, Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Todd Blanche, Blanche, Joshua Steinglass, Bragg Organizations: Republican, Trump, U.S, Capitol, Biden, U.S . Capitol Police, NBC, Democratic, Manhattan, Attorney Locations: Manhattan, New York City, New Yorker, United States, White

☆ Live Updates: Closing Arguments to Begin in Trump Criminal Trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Jonah E. Bromwich | Ben Protess | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +15 min

The defense did not call Mr. Weisselberg either, nor did Mr. Trump take the stand in his own defense. And for weeks, Mr. Weisselberg’s absence has loomed large over Mr. Trump’s case, the first criminal trial of an American president. And when Mr. Trump was sworn in as president in 2017, he entrusted Mr. Weisselberg, along with Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, with running his company. Mr. Trump, Mr. Cohen told the jury, “approved” of the arrangement and knew that they would falsify records to cover it up. Over the course of their decades together, Mr. Cohen knew, Mr. Trump and Mr. Weisselberg had become more or less symbiotic.

Persons: Donald J, Allen Weisselberg, Trump, Michael D, Cohen, Allen H, Weisselberg, Trump’s moneyman, Trump’s, lucre —, Eduardo Munoz, Stormy Daniels, Weisselberg’s, beholden, ” Emil Bove, Juan M, Justice Merchan, “, Evan Vucci, Fred Trump, Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump, ” Mr, ” “, Mr, Jefferson Siegel, —, Arthur F, Engoron, Justice Engoron, ”, ‘ Frick, Frack, Cohen’s, Daniels, Susan Hoffinger, Todd Blanche, Dave Sanders, Blanche, Kate Christobek Organizations: Prosecutors, New York Times, Trump, Mr, Reuters, Manhattan, Trump Organization, “ Trump, New, The New York Times, The Trump Organization, Credit, Frick Locations: Washington, New York, Trump, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, York, tatters

☆ Opinion | What Barack Obama Understood About America
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Thomas L. Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The conventional wisdom is that Donald Trump’s trial over his alleged efforts to buy the silence of a porn star on the eve of the 2016 election is the least important of the cases against him. Politically that may be true. But more than any of the other cases, this one is revealing of a trend ailing America today: how much we’ve lost our moorings as a society. To my mind, one of the saddest things that has happened to America in my lifetime is how much we’ve lost so many of our mangroves. They are endangered everywhere today — but not just in nature.

Persons: Donald Trump’s Organizations: Conservation International Locations: America, Brazil

☆ 10 Smoking Guns in Trump Hush-Money Trial That Speak for Themselves
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-27 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Manhattan district attorney's office/BIWhy is this evidence — our third smoking gun — so important? AdvertisementEvidence People's 35 in the Trump hush-money trial. Robert Costello, a key defense witness in the Donald Trump hush-money trial in New York. Manhattan district attorney's office/BI"Rudy was thrilled and said this could not be a better situation for the President or you. From People's 374 Manhattan district attorney's office/BICohen testified that immediately after these calls with Trump, he took the elevator down from his Trump Organization offices at Trump Tower.

Persons: —, Donald Trump, Michael Cohen, David Pecker, Stormy Daniels, Trump, Michael Cohen Alex Brandon, Eduardo Munoz, " Cohen, Cohen, Karen McDougal's, Karen McDougal, McDougal, Daniels, Trump's, Allen Weisselberg, Jonathan Ernst, Jon Elswick, MARK PETERSON, Todd Blanche, Mamaroneck , New York —, Madeleine Westerhout, Westerhout, Cohen —, Weisselberg, Robert Costello, Jane Rosenberg, Rudy Giuliani, Costello, Bob Costello, Rudy, Jay Sekelow, Giuliani, It's Trump, Timothy A, Clary, Donald, he's, — Trump, reimbursing Cohen, Pecker —, Pecker, — that's, Cohen's, Melissa Duran, Duran, Susan Hoffinger Organizations: Service, Business, Reuters, Trump, Prosecutors, National Enquirer, Trump Org, Manhattan Criminal, Getty, Defense, White House, —, Read, Wall Street Journal, FBI, Giuliani, CQ, Cohen's, AMI, Department of Justice, Federal, First Republic Bank, Trump Organization Locations: Manhattan, Trump, New York City, Mamaroneck , New York, Republic, New York, United States

They met on the 26th floor of Trump Tower, Mr. Cohen says, and struck a $420,000 deal. Seven years later, Mr. Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan hinges on that fleeting encounter, which is both critically important and completely in dispute. Mr. Cohen says he paid off a porn star at his boss’s behest, and in that meeting, he and Mr. Trump settled on a plan to repay him and conceal the reimbursement as legal expenses. But prosecutors say there was a third man in the room that day: Allen H. Weisselberg, Mr. Trump’s moneyman, the keeper of the balance sheet. Prosecutors never called Mr. Weisselberg to testify, because, although he knows the truth, he has not always told it.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Michael D, Cohen, Allen H, Weisselberg, Trump’s moneyman Organizations: Prosecutors Locations: Washington, New York, Trump, Manhattan

☆ Trump will try to spin his Manhattan trial verdict in his favor, no matter what happens
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-26 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Twelve New Yorkers will then weigh the possibility of a historic verdict: finding the first-ever former president guilty in a criminal trial. Polling shows that a guilty verdict has some potential peril. It's not hard to imagine that in responding to a potential guilty verdict Trump lashes out in a way that causes him more problems. The easiest prediction is that Trump's verdict will likely spawn a wave of donations. During the Manhattan criminal trial, Trump has sent repeated fundraising appeals, including when Justice Juan Merchan found Trump in contempt for violating his gag order.

☆ Opinion | Men Fear Me, Society Shames Me, and I Love My Life
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-25 | by ( Glynnis Macnicol | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

I was once told that the challenge of making successful feminist porn is that the thing women desire most is freedom. If that’s the case, one might consider my life over the past few years to be extremely pornographic — even without all the actual sex that occurred. It definitely has the makings of a fantasy, if we allowed for fantasies starring single, childless women on the brink of turning 50. It’s that I’ve exempted myself from the central things we’re told give a woman’s life meaning — partnership and parenting. The world is more available to me than it’s ever been.

Persons: It’s, I’ve, we’re

☆ Opinion | With ‘Unified Reich’ the Trump Campaign Takes It Up a Notch
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( David Austin Walsh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The former president’s trial over hush money paid to a porn star has made history, and his performance in court has been so farcical that Mr. Trump was threatened with jail time for contempt of court. He has called his political enemies “vermin” and said that immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of America. Mr. Trump’s transgressions against American political norms are by now almost a cliché. But the “unified Reich” video shows a different kind of danger in another Trump presidency. That underscores the bigger problem in the Republican Party today, one that goes far beyond Mr. Trump: a generation of young Republican staff members appears to be developing terminal white nationalist brain.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, ”, “, America ”, Nick Fuentes Organizations: America, Trump, Nazi, Associated Press, Republican Party, Republican Locations: America, Nazi Germany, Charlottesville, Va

☆ Defense Strategy in Gilgo Murder Case: Blame a Corrupt Police Chief
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Corey Kilgannon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After Rex Heuermann was arrested last summer and then charged with murdering four women whose bodies were found in 2010 along Gilgo Beach on Long Island, prosecutors disclosed a barrage of details to support their case, including genetic evidence and sadistic porn sites they said Mr. Heuermann visited. Now, with the trial still months away, the defense’s strategy is beginning to take shape. Brown, has begun to float an alternate theory about the case: that the investigation into the murders was tainted years ago by the involvement of a now-disgraced Long Island police chief. At a hearing last month following a procedural court appearance by Mr. Heuermann, Mr. Brown repeated his client’s claims of innocence. He also suggested that the real killer might have eluded arrest years ago when Mr. Burke was running the investigation.

Persons: Rex Heuermann, Heuermann, Heuermann’s, Michael J, Brown, James Burke, Burke Organizations: Long, police, Suffolk County Police Department Locations: Gilgo, Long Island, Suffolk

☆ Latest Trump hush-money battle: how to instruct jurors on the coverup of a coverup and crimes within crimes
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Read previewLawyers in the Donald Trump hush-money trial spent Tuesday afternoon in a spirited battle over this question: what will the judge tell jurors right before they begin their deliberations next week? The jury charge is so important, so sacrosanct, that Merchan will order the doors to his courtroom sealed for its duration, with no one in the well or audience allowed to enter or leave. AdvertisementThe jury charge for this single felony should be easy, right? But it's not the only law jurors must understand and weigh when they begin deliberations as early as Wednesday. Or can some jurors find that Trump conspired to violate tax law, while other jurors see the falsification of National Enquirer business records as the central offense?

Persons: —, Donald Trump, Juan Merchan, Trump, There's, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Bragg, Michael Cohen, Cohen, — Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Getty, Daniels, it's, Prosecutors, he's, It's, reimbursements, Emil Bove, Matthew Colangelo, Colangelo, Merchan, I'm, Yuki Iwamura, Bove, he'll Organizations: Service, York, Business, Trump Organization, Prosecutors, Attorney, Trump, Manhattan, Federal, National Enquirer Locations: New York, York, Manhattan

☆ America's Surge of Dumb Neighborhood Names, Real-Estate Rebrands
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Neighborhood names are also shorthand for your rent or mortgage payments. In 2017, real-estate brokers in the historically Black New York neighborhood of Harlem sparked backlash when they tried to rebrand its south end as SoHa. At their best, new neighborhood names bring people together over a shared sense of pride in their little corner of the world. Along the way, these neighborhood names have veered into parody territory. I'm not saying that neighborhood names should be set in stone — in fact, I think it's natural for them to evolve alongside their populations.

Persons: you've, MoRA, Nashville's, they're, Let's, Gill Holland, Holland, Nestor Davidson, David Fagundes, Grant McKenzie, McKenzie, Hakeem Jeffries, Jeffries, Davidson, They're, Bob Dylan's, Marshall, Lily, I'm, Willy, Dirtbag, Little Italy — Organizations: Market, McGill University, University of Maryland, Houston, Financial, Tribeca, McGill, Google, Democratic, New York State Assembly, New York Times, Apple, North Arts District, Congress, Little Locations: Denver, Charlotte , North Carolina, LoSo, Boston, Louisville , Kentucky, NuLu, Austin, America, New York City, Louisville, Holland, North Carolina, Greenwich, Louisville's, Phoenix, Holland's, York, New York, Manhattan, Side, Chelsea, Maryland, Harlem, SoCo, Soho, Dowisetrepla, Charlotte, East Williamsburg

☆ Trump trial resumes with defense witness Robert Costello after judge scorches him for disrespectful conduct
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The man who might be the most significant defense witness for former President Donald Trump — and the last witness in his New York criminal hush money trial — resumes testimony Tuesday, a day after a judge ripped him for disrespectful conduct on the witness stand. The witness, criminal defense lawyer Robert Costello, was sharply warned Monday afternoon by Judge Juan Merchan for glaring at the judge and muttering in disdain when Merchan upheld objections from prosecutors. "I'm putting you on notice that your conduct is contemptuous now," Merchan told Costello, after clearing the courtroom of most of the public and press when he had had enough of the former federal prosecutor's antics. "If you stare me down one more time, I will remove you from the stand," Merchan warned, according to a transcript of the verbal beatdown. Cohen has said he paid Daniels to keep her quiet about a one-off sexual tryst with Trump in 2006 to keep her from damaging his chances in the 2016 presidential election.

Persons: Robert Costello, Juan Merchan, Donald Trump's, Stormy Daniels, Donald Trump —, Judge Juan Merchan, Merchan, Costello, Trump's, Michael Cohen, Cohen, Daniels, Trump Organizations: FBI Locations: Manhattan, New York City, U.S, New York

AdvertisementThe first-ever criminal trial of a former American president is now nearing its end after several weeks of witness testimony. Related storiesIn some of those hallway appearances earlier in the trial, Trump has told reporters that he planned to testify. He told jurors that Cohen told him that Trump didn't know anything about the payments. "If you don't like my ruling, you don't give me side-eye, and you don't roll your eyes," Merchan told Costello before he cleared the room. Trump " wasn't thinking about Melania — this was all about the campaign," Cohen told jurors.

Persons: —, Donald Trump, Todd Blanche, Blanche, Juan Merchan, Trump, Robert Costello, Costello, Emil Bove, muttered, Michael Cohen, Cohen, Susan Hoffinger, Merchan, Stormy Daniels, Cohen —, Trump —, Daniels, didn't, Rudy Giuliani, audibly, Judge Juan Merchan, castigates, Elizabeth Williams, Daniel Sitko, Brad Smith, Smith's, Smith, reimbursing Cohen Organizations: Service, GOP, Business, New, Trump, Republican, Manhattan, Attorney's Office, Attorney's, Prosecutors, FBI, AP, Federal, Washington Examiner Locations: New York, American, Manhattan, Trump

☆ Opinion: Diddy’s apology to Cassie Ventura rings hollow
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Opinion Jill Filipovic | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

He is happy they got to a mutual settlement and wishes Ms. Ventura the best.”Well, now there’s a video. My behavior on that video is inexcusable.”Combs added: “I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted now.”Here’s the thing, though: Combs had the opportunity to take full responsibility last year, when Cassie filed her claim. Resources for victims of domestic violenceNational Domestic Violence Hotline Call 1-800-799-7233 or text LOVEIS to 22522. If you, or someone you know, is being affected by domestic violence, a worldwide list of directories is provided by UN Women.

Persons: Jill Filipovic, CNN —, Cassie Ventura, “ Cassie ”, Sean “ Diddy ” Combs, Combs, ” Ben Brafman, “ Mr, Ventura, “, ”, ” Combs, I’m, Cassie, Combs ’ Organizations: Twitter, CNN, US, Facebook, UN Locations: New York, ”

☆ Bob Menendez: Trump circus overshadows senator’s corruption trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Gregory Krieg | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

So it goes for Menendez, who is likely pleased to have his legal drama playing out in relative obscurity. More recently, Fetterman mocked the senator’s defense, which relies in part on pointing the finger of blame on Nadine Menendez, his wife. Republicans in Washington, as they’ve done during these first two weeks of the Menendez trial in New York, have been consistently deferential to the New Jersey Democrat. Rep. Andy Kim, a popular Democrat from South Jersey, is expected to win the nomination to succeed Menendez. Andrew Giuliani, pressed for a thought on the senator’s trial or the allegations against him, shrugged.

Persons: New York CNN — Andrew Giuliani, Donald, ”, Rudy Giuliani squinted, “, ” He’s, Sen, Bob Menendez’s, –, Michael Cohen, Daniels, Menendez, Trump, Donald Trump Jr, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Ronny Jackson, Bob Costello, Pam Bondi, Missouri Sen, Eric Schmitt, Matt Whitaker, Sebastian Gorka, Gov, Dan Patrick, Jackson, María Elvira Salazar, Troy Nehls, Dale Strong, Daniel Webster of, Vladimir Putin’s, Cory Booker, Chuck Schumer, John Fetterman, George Santos, Fetterman, Nadine Menendez, ” Fetterman, Jake Tapper, Mitch McConnell, ” North Dakota Sen, Kevin Cramer, he’s, Andy Kim, Andrew Giuliani, haven’t, ” CNN’s Sabrina Souza Organizations: New, New York CNN, New York, Manhattan Criminal, Court, Republican, Democrat, The New, The New Jersey Democrat, Foreign Relations, Trump, Democratic, Manhattan, Attorney, Texas, Dale Strong of, Pennsylvania Democrat, New York Rep, “, Union, ”, Republicans, New Jersey Democrat, Democrats, GOP, ” North, Politico Locations: New York, Lower Manhattan, Manhattan, The, The New Jersey, Menendez’s, Florida, Sebastian Gorka , Texas, María Elvira Salazar of Florida, Texas, Dale Strong of Alabama, Daniel Webster of Florida, North Korea, Vladimir Putin’s Russia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington, Egypt, ”, “ State, Israel, ” North Dakota, South Jersey, New York City

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