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☆ Trump Asks Judge to Lift N.Y. Gag Order Following Conviction
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-04 | by ( Jonah E. Bromwich | Michael Gold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Donald J. Trump’s lawyers on Tuesday asked the judge who oversaw the former president’s criminal trial to lift a gag order on their client as the presidential campaign intensifies. The lawyers said in a letter to the judge, Juan M. Merchan, that the end of the trial on Thursday nullified the need for the gag order, which bars the former president from attacking witnesses, the jury and others involved in the case. Mr. Trump was convicted of 34 felonies, with a jury determining that he had falsified documents related to a hush-money payment his former fixer made to a porn star in 2016. “Now that the trial is concluded, the concerns articulated by the government and the court do not justify continued restrictions on the First Amendment rights of President Trump,” the lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, wrote in the letter.

Persons: Donald J, Juan M, Trump, Todd Blanche, Emil Bove

“This is long from over,” Donald J. Trump, the former president and current felon, declared on Thursday, moments after a Manhattan jury convicted him on 34 counts of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal. Mr. Trump, the first American president to be branded a criminal, is banking on the jury not having the final word on his legal fate or his political fortunes. He will now appeal, both to a higher court and the American people, seeking to contain the fallout as he campaigns for the White House. But even if the former — and possibly future — president persuades voters to toss his conviction aside, the appellate courts might not be so sympathetic.

Persons: ” Donald J, Trump Organizations: White

☆ The Trump Case May Come to Define Alvin Bragg. He Has Other Work to Do.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( Jonah E. Bromwich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A few hours after winning a case that will forever define him, Alvin L. Bragg sent an email to his staff at the Manhattan district attorney’s office. He did not celebrate, or describe the case in detail. Instead, Mr. Bragg thanked the more than 500 prosecutors in his office who were not on the trial team for their patience and hard work. “I want to assure you that we will do everything in our power to restore normal operations as quickly as possible,” he said. On Friday, less than 24 hours after he watched jurors announce the first criminal conviction of an American president, Mr. Bragg himself seemed to be seeking a return to normal.

Persons: Alvin L, Bragg, Donald J, Trump, Mr, “, ” Locations: Manhattan

Donald J. Trump was convicted on Thursday of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened to derail his 2016 presidential campaign, capping an extraordinary trial that tested the resilience of the American justice system and transformed the former commander in chief into a felon. The guilty verdict in Manhattan — across the board, on all 34 counts — will reverberate throughout the nation and the world as it ushers in a new era of presidential politics. Mr. Trump will carry the stain of the verdict during his third run for the White House as voters now choose between an unpopular incumbent and a convicted criminal. While it was once unthinkable that Americans would elect a felon as their leader, Mr. Trump’s insurgent behavior delights his supporters as he bulldozes the country’s norms. Now, the man who refused to accept his 2020 election loss is already seeking to delegitimize his conviction, attempting to assert the primacy of his raw political power over the nation’s rule of law.

Persons: Donald J, Trump Organizations: White Locations: American, Manhattan —

☆ This Is What It Was Like Inside the Courtroom When the Trump Verdict Was Read
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Jonah E. Bromwich | More About Jonah E. Bromwich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The jury filed into the courtroom and climbed into the jury box. The jurors confirmed that they had reached a verdict. According to Jane Rosenberg, a courtroom sketch artist who had a clear view of Mr. Trump in the moment, the former president looked over at the foreman as he began to stand up, but then immediately closed his eyes as the verdict came rolling in. The decision had come at what seemed to be a routine moment in the jury’s deliberations. Around 4:15 p.m., the judge, Juan M. Merchan, had told the prosecution and Mr. Trump that he was planning to dismiss the jury within the next 15 minutes.

Persons: Donald J, Jane Rosenberg, Trump, Ms, Rosenberg, Juan M Organizations: Trump Locations: “

☆ Judge’s Instructions Will Be a Road Map for Jury Weighing Trump’s Fate
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( William K. Rashbaum | Jonah E. Bromwich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Within about an hour, a Manhattan jury will begin a discussion of historic import: determining whether Donald J. Trump is guilty of 34 felonies. But before the jurors begin to deliberate, the judge, Juan M. Merchan, will deliver legal instructions that will help guide the 12 New Yorkers who will hash out Mr. Trump’s fate. Justice Merchan will describe the legal meaning of the word “intent” and the concept of the presumption of innocence. He will remind the jurors that they pledged to set any biases aside against the former president before they were sworn in, and that Mr. Trump’s decision not to testify cannot be held against him. Then, according to a person with knowledge of the instructions that Justice Merchan plans to deliver, he will explain the 34 charges of falsifying business records that Mr. Trump faces.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Juan M, Yorkers, Merchan, Trump’s Locations: Manhattan

Eric Krupke andOn Tuesday, lawyers for the prosecution and the defense delivered their final arguments to the jury in the criminal case of The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump. Jonah Bromwich, one of the lead reporters covering the trial for The Times, was there.

Persons: Eric Krupke, Donald J, Trump, Jonah Bromwich Organizations: The Times Locations: New York

☆ Jury Will Consider Felony Charges Against Trump on Wednesday
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Ben Protess | Jonah E. Bromwich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Jurors in Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial will begin deliberations on Wednesday after hearing hours of closing arguments that portrayed the case in stark and irreconcilable terms. It could take hours, days or even weeks for the 12 New Yorkers to reach a verdict in the first criminal trial of an American president. And before they begin deliberating, the jurors will receive instructions from the judge on the relevant law. This last stage of the weekslong case comes a day after the jurors watched both sides deliver their final flurry of arguments. The woman, Stormy Daniels, kept quiet after Mr. Trump’s onetime fixer, Michael D. Cohen, bought her silence with a $130,000 hush-money deal.

Persons: Donald J, Joshua Steinglass, Trump, Stormy Daniels, Trump’s, Michael D, Cohen

☆ Live Updates: Jury to Consider Felony Charges Against Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Ben Protess | Jonah E. Bromwich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

Mr. Bragg has accused Mr. Trump of concealing a federal campaign finance violation and a state election-law crime. The defense argued that Mr. Trump was a victim of extortion, led by Mr. Cohen. The defense’s main witness was a lawyer linked to Mr. Trump’s circle, Robert J. Costello, who in 2018 had acted as Mr. Cohen’s back channel to Mr. Trump’s legal team. The maximum sentenceThe charges against Mr. Trump are all Class E felonies, the lowest category of felonies in New York. But nothing in the law requires Justice Merchan to imprison Mr. Trump if he’s convicted by a jury.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Stormy Daniels, Trump’s, Michael D, Cohen, Daniels, Alvin L, Bragg, Juan M, Karen McDougal, Playboy’s, ”, McDougal, Cohen’s, Hope Hicks, Mr, Robert J . Costello, Merchan, Justice Merchan Organizations: Prosecutors, The National Enquirer, Trump Tower, White, Trump, Defense, Mr Locations: New York City, Manhattan, Nevada, New York

☆ 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

is an investigative reporter, who digs into a broad range of topics from Pentagon spending to toxic chemicals.

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

☆ Trump Leans Into an Outlaw Image as His Criminal Trial Concludes
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Maggie Haberman | Jonah E. Bromwich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Over the past week, Donald J. Trump rallied alongside two rap artists accused of conspiracy to commit murder. He promised to commute the sentence of a notorious internet drug dealer. And he appeared backstage with another rap artist who has pleaded guilty to assault for punching a female fan. There was a time when so much confirmed and alleged criminality would be too much to tolerate for supporters of a candidate for president, an office with a sworn duty to uphold the Constitution. That might have been especially true in the case of a candidate who has been indicted four times and stands accused of rank disregard for the law.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Trump’s Organizations: U.S, Capitol

☆ 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

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

But in the end, the 12 New Yorkers weighing the fate of Donald J. Trump did not see him testify. On Tuesday, the defense rested its case after Mr. Trump declined to take the stand at his own criminal trial, forfeiting his only opportunity to defend himself but also avoiding what could have been a calamitous error. Defendants rarely testify, but Mr. Trump stands apart as the only American president to ever face a criminal trial, a serial litigant who thinks of himself as his own best advocate. Mr. Trump, who is once again the presumptive Republican nominee, had said repeatedly that he wanted to testify. But on Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump said in front of television cameras in the courthouse hallway that his lawyers would rest without his taking the stand.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Robert J . Costello, Michael D, Cohen Organizations: Yorkers, Republican

Once Mr. Trump was elected, he agreed to repay Mr. Cohen for the $130,000 hush-money deal and more. And at a meeting in Trump Tower just weeks before he was sworn in, Mr. Trump signed off on the fakery, Mr. Cohen recounted from the stand. “What, if anything, did Mr. Trump say at that time?” a prosecutor asked Mr. Cohen. There, he said, Mr. Trump’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, explained how Mr. Trump would reimburse Mr. Cohen for the payoff. To reach Mr. Trump, Mr. Cohen testified, he called the candidate’s bodyguard, Keith Schiller.

Persons: Donald J, Todd Blanche, Blanche, Michael D, Cohen, Trump, Trump’s, —, Alvin L, Bragg, Cohen —, Marc F, Scholl, ”, ” Mr, Stormy Daniels, Mr, “, Michael M, Joshua Steinglass, Juan M, Merchan —, “ Trump, David Pecker, Pecker, Hope Hicks, Penny, Daniels, Allen Weisselberg, Weisselberg, Susan Hoffinger, Cohen’s, Keith Schiller, Schiller, William K, Rashbaum Organizations: Trump, Mr, Trump “, New, National Enquirer, Playboy, fixer Locations: Manhattan, New York

☆ Prosecutors Poised to Conclude Trump Case as Trial Enters Final Days
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Jonah E. Bromwich | Ben Protess | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Donald J. Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial will enter its final phase on Monday with the prosecution poised to complete its case and the defense considering whether to call witnesses of its own. The witness, Michael D. Cohen, has already testified over the course of three days, telling jurors that in 2015 he entered a conspiracy to suppress information damaging to the presidential campaign of his then-boss, Mr. Trump. Mr. Cohen, who was Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer, suppressed one of those stories himself, paying $130,000 to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, just weeks before the election to bury her story of having had sex with Mr. Trump. After the election, Mr. Cohen testified, the president-elect approved a plan to reimburse him for the payment, knowing that the reimbursements would be classified as ordinary legal expenses. The Manhattan district attorney’s office has charged Mr. Trump with 34 felonies, arguing that what Mr. Cohen described was a crime: the falsification of business records.

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

☆ Cohen Endures Cross-Examination Under the Eyes of Trump’s Entourage
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Ben Protess | Jonah E. Bromwich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The star witness against Donald J. Trump took the stand on Monday for a fourth and final day at the former president’s criminal trial in Manhattan, fending off a fusillade of attacks from defense lawyers and acknowledging that he once stole from Mr. Trump’s company. The witness — Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s onetime personal lawyer and longtime henchman — capped the case for the prosecution, which rested once he left the stand. Over his week of testimony, Mr. Cohen was the only person to offer firsthand evidence directly linking Mr. Trump to the falsified records that underpin the charges against him. Mr. Trump, he said, approved a plan to fake the records to cover up a sex scandal involving a porn star.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, — Michael D, Cohen, Trump’s, — Locations: Manhattan

☆ As Trump Trial Nears Its End, the Law May Give Prosecutors an Edge
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-19 | by ( Ben Protess | Jonah E. Bromwich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Over the course of his monthlong criminal trial, the evidence against Donald J. Trump has piled up. And a parade of 18 witnesses who together told a compelling story: that Mr. Trump orchestrated a conspiracy to suppress sex scandals during the 2016 election, and after winning, sought to bury a porn star’s story for good. But the 19th and final witness of their case — the only one to directly link Mr. Trump to the 34 business records he is charged with falsifying — is Michael D. Cohen. Though Mr. Cohen got off to a strong start, Mr. Trump’s lawyer eventually hammered his credibility, highlighting his criminal record and painting him as a serial liar bent on taking down the former president. Between the reams of circumstantial evidence and some very favorable laws underpinning the charges, the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, has retained inherent advantages.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Michael D, Cohen, Trump’s, —, Alvin L, Bragg Organizations: Trump Locations: Manhattan

A state ethics panel quietly dismissed a complaint last summer against the New York judge presiding over the criminal trial of Donald J. Trump, issuing a warning over small donations the judge had made to groups supporting Democrats, including the campaign of Joseph R. Biden. The judge, Juan M. Merchan, donated a total of $35 to the groups in 2020, including a $15 donation earmarked for the Biden campaign, and $10 to a group called “Stop Republicans.”Political contributions of any kind are prohibited under state judicial ethics rules. “Justice Merchan said the complaint, from more than a year ago, was dismissed in July with a caution,” the spokesman for the court system, Al Baker, said in a statement. A caution does not include any penalty, but it can be considered in any future cases reviewed by the state’s Commission on Judicial Conduct. A letter outlining the caution was not released because of the commission’s rules, and Justice Merchan did not make the letter available.

Persons: Donald J, Joseph R, Biden, Juan M, ”, Merchan, Al Baker Organizations: New, Trump, Republicans, state’s, Judicial Locations: New York

☆ Trump’s Criminal Trial, Explained
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( Jonah E. Bromwich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Stormy Daniels was on the witness stand, Donald Trump was at the defense table and I could feel a queasy energy flow through the Manhattan courtroom. This is the third of Trump’s trials that I’ve covered, but there’s still something striking about seeing a ubiquitous media figure in the flesh. Trump is not on trial for sleeping with Daniels, which he denies, or for paying her to keep silent. Even though it’s a documents case, the trial has thrummed with high-octane moments like his face-off with Daniels. Each time the prosecution calls a witness, rows of onlookers watch a figure from Trump’s past swear an oath that could threaten his future.

Persons: Stormy Daniels, Donald Trump, Daniels, I’ve, Trump, it’s Organizations: Trump, Prosecutors Locations: Manhattan, today’s

This episode contains explicit language. Michael Cohen, Donald J. Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, took the stand in the former president’s hush money trial. Jonah E. Bromwich, a criminal justice reporter, discusses how Mr. Cohen could cause problems for Mr. Trump himself.

Persons: Michael Cohen, Donald J, Trump’s, Jonah E, Cohen, Trump Locations: Bromwich

Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial entered a critical and combative phase on Thursday as his lawyer grilled the prosecution’s star witness, Michael D. Cohen, about a medley of misrepresentations, manipulations and outright lies. Trying to destroy Mr. Cohen’s credibility with the jury, the lawyer, Todd Blanche, portrayed him as an unrepentant criminal and a serial deceiver who took the stand only to exact revenge on Mr. Trump. “There’s no doubt that you know what perjury means, correct?” Mr. Blanche asked Mr. Cohen. During the 2016 presidential campaign, he made a $130,000 payment to a porn star to suppress her account of a sexual liaison with Mr. Trump, who later reimbursed Mr. Cohen from the White House. Prosecutors accused Mr. Trump, who denies the sex, of falsifying related records so he could cover up the scandal for good.

Persons: Donald J, Michael D, Cohen, Todd Blanche, Trump, Mr, Trump’s, “, Blanche, Cohen’s Organizations: Mr

The Biden administration is increasingly concerned that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is gathering enough momentum to change the trajectory of the war in Ukraine. Credit... Nanna Heitmann for The New York Times

Persons: Biden, Vladimir V, Putin, Nanna Heitmann Organizations: The New York Locations: Russia, Ukraine

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