Michael Cohen is a key witness in the trial

Todd Blanche in the White House: Making Misogynist Mistakes in a Prosecutor’s Office

For months, we’ve known that the cross-examination of Michael Cohen would be the decisive moment of Donald Trump’s New York felony trial — the day we learned whether his defense team could plant reasonable doubt in the minds of jurors.

Todd Blanche, Trump’s lead defense lawyer, was like a baseball pitcher assigned to start Game 7 of the World Series after only two or three wins in his major-league career. He didn’t have much experience as a defense attorney despite being a former federal prosecutor.

We are only about a third of the way through the journey, but he is too pleasant and meandering for what is needed for the role.

Blanche spent more than an hour showing that Cohen, like Stormy Daniels last week, despises Trump, and this line of inquiry was entertaining if not informative. Cohen used the same rejoinder that he used twice before, “Sounds like something I would say.” When Cohen was quoted saying Trump was a misogynist, he used a milder and effective rejoinder. My kids would love to see me in that shirt.

Blanche had trouble finding a rhythm. For instance, he asked Cohen if he had appeared on MSNBC shows anchored by Ali Velshi and Joy Reid. When Cohen said yes, Blanche had no follow-up.

His real issue is that he can’t work with a lot of people. Cohen delivered devastating direct testimony all day Monday and again Tuesday morning, and he has been careful and low-key on cross.

Blanche had been handcuffed by a client with a perverse desire to see Cohen reveal his dirty secrets in court.

At around 4 p.m. Tuesday, shortly before court adjourned for the day, Blanche began delving into why other prosecutors have passed on this case. It might be promising for him. But after all the runs the prosecution has already scored, he’ll have to strike Cohen out with the bases loaded to get back into the game.

The Donald Trump hush-money trial in Manhattan: a “political persecution” for the country and for the future of the United States

“I’m just fascinated, you know? This object of my fury for about eight years — we have the opportunity to see him,” Trippet said. I will try to get a glimpse of what’s happening when I’ve not had to work.

Moni Mohan, a Manhattan resident, has attended seven days of the trial. Wearing her red, white and blue “Make America Great Again” hat, she said she wanted to see and hear the trial for herself, echoing Trump’s sentiment by calling it “political persecution.”

Mohan said that she supports him because she thinks his policies are good for the United States and the world. “America comes first, I really believe that. Every president needs to think about their country before they think of any other.

The trial is historic. This is the first time a sitting or former president has been tried on criminal charges. Trump, the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee, is accused of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records with the intent to further other crimes ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Source: These people waited hours to see the Trump hush-money trial up close. Here’s why

The Donald Trump trial crowd waited hours to see it up close. Why: David Mandt, Cameron Cauffman, and Randy Weinstein

Neil Mandt from Los Angeles paid for a line sitter to keep his spot at the front of the line. A former ABC producer on the O.J. Simpson criminal trial, Mandt said he was curious to see another big trial.

“It’s a little bit hard to get to New York City from where I live, but I thought I’m just going to do it,” Cauffman said. I’ve been following the trial closely and haven’t read any of the transcripts yet but I have a feeling what the mood is like. So I want to just have that experience with it.”

The opportunity to witness the proceedings firsthand was enough for several people to pay for dedicated line-sitting services. Cameron Cauffman, who took a four-hour train from Massachusetts with a friend, paid more than $400 for their line sitters.

“That’s what history is.” It’s kind of great, too, to make sure to see things like this,” Eileen said. “And I wanted to kind of see for myself how it … all works and how it’s going.”

There were other family members of Craig and Jessica Weinstein. Eileen and Andrew were near the front of the line because Andrew was home from college after just a few days. It was 3 a.m. when they arrived downtown.

The general public is welcome to watch the proceedings but not all make it inside. The overflow room down the hall will be occupied by about 30 people, who will watch the proceedings on closed-circuit TV. Some line standers say they start camping out at midnight, or even the night before. Usually the doors open about an hour and a half before the trial starts.

Source: These people waited hours to see the Trump hush-money trial up close. Here’s why

First Day of Michael Cohen’s Testimony at Trump’s Under-Extended Law Firm: How Much Did Trump Tell Daniels?

“We always like to do the historical events,” Weinstein said. The last game was at Yankee Stadium. Last game at Shea Stadium. Anything that’s big, we do. So this is our thing.”

Craig Weinstein and his daughter Jessica were among those in line on Monday — the first day of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s testimony — visiting from California for Mother’s Day. They arrived in New York just before 5 a.m. and decided they wanted to watch the proceedings in the overflow room.

Maybe this is the last trial before the election, because I’m very upset. “So I thought something went wrong with me, in my opinion,” Weinstein said.

Topp said that she didn’t like how Trump ran the government and that she felt betrayed because she knew him as being a New Yorker. “I’m sorry, but Donald Trump has not been following the rules. I hope that New York City shows itself here.

It was on Monday when jurors heard Cohen testify that Trump directed Cohen to make a payment of $130,000 to Stormy Daniel in order to keep her allegations of an affair from being made public. Trump’s lawyers will try to show that he lied under oath, while also trying to debunk Cohen’s testimony.

Cohen testified to various conversations he allegedly had with the former president about the deals. And he also testified to how Trump and other executives at the Trump Organization promised to pay him $420,000, which covered reimbursement for the payment to Daniels, $50,000 for some technology services, a $60,000 bonus, plus some extra to cover taxes, paid out over a year. Cohen said that the former president said that it would be “one heck of a ride” in D.C.

Cohen read over statements that he made when denying the media reports that Trump didn’t know about the deals.

Jurors have also heard from former National Enquirer publisher Pecker, who first testified to the details of the deals made to flag potentially damaging stories to Cohen and Trump. The jury heard from the lawyer who negotiated nondisclosure agreements for Daniels and Karen McDougal. McDougal won’t be called to testify.

Trump faces 34 felony counts alleging that reimbursements to Cohen for paying Daniels violated campaign finance law. Trump has pleaded not guilty, and he has denied the allegations of extramarital affairs.