*** Official Trump Hush Money Trial Thread ***

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jrdaustin
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DTP02 said:

Ellis Wyatt said:

No doubt those are the talking points they were given to put out for a long weekend plus. The whole thing is psychotic.


I think it's a fair analysis of Costello's testimony, actually.

He's a witness, not a judge. He's not a party. He's not entitled to anything other than answering the questions the judge allows to be put to him.

Given both the restrictions on what the judge allowed him to get into and Costello's behavior, I think putting him on the stand was a net negative for the defense.

The defense knew they were taking a gamble, especially with how narrow the judge was going to limit Costello's testimony, and it backfired.
I disagree with this assessment. Costello is a career Federal Prosecutor who is currently a defense counsel. He knows how the game is played.

He also knows a hack job from the bench when he sees it, and it disgusts him. He has 100s of emails to refute the legal theory being put forth by the prosecution that were blocked at both the Grand Jury phase, and now the trial itself, by the SAME JUDGE.

He sees, as many of us do, that this was never a true criminal trial. It is a political one. The judge is ethically compromised, and not allowing a criminal defendant to exercise a defense. My guess is that he was fighting back in the only way he could against being a pawn in a carefully scripted hit job.

This judge, court, and the New York judicial system as a whole are also on trial here. And by extension, the judicial system of the nation as a whole. We're watching it be torn down brick by brick. As stated above, this is a trial for the general public, not for Trump. If the fix is truly in, and he's going to be convicted regardless of what happens in the courtroom, at least expose the scam for what it is.
4stringAg
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How I know this judge is a partisan hack: both witnesses for the defense were hamstrung badly from providing exculpatory testimony (one so badly that the defense didn't even call him to testify or it may not have even been allowed) while he allowed the prosecution witnesses free reign to suggest Trump raped Daniels and to allow Cohen to interpret FECA laws.

A joke. Complete and utter joke.

I fully expect a guilty verdict.
annie88
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This judge is a corrupt piece of **** who wants to trial to go the way he wants it. He's just as bad as Engeron, Who did fix that case.

It's absolutely disgusting what he has done throughout and I pray that professional consequences will happen to him least of which being disbarred. This is absolutely absolutely disgusting.

I hope this jury is smart enough to see what's going on here, but I don't have a lot of faith in that. Trump must be acquitted.
annie88
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aezmvp said:

He's either not a good judge or really good at being this biased (or both). He was hand picked for this case and there was no way they were not aware of what his daughter does. He was chosen for a reason and that reason was to get Trump. The not wanting a battle of the experts is a clear sign and on it's face should be a reversible error. In a case that is built around a technical issue of the law and just as importantly a secondary violation not being able to present your own expert to explain the technicalities is such a huge omission as to not be believable. And people wonder why there is falling or no faith in the system.


Exactly. He never should've been on this case to begin with in this case never should've gone to troll either. It is absolutely disgusting to see this piece of **** doing what he is. It was bad enough with the guy in the other trial, but this is just awful.

This case would've never been brought against anyone else, nor would the one against the defamation trial for the loony. It's just gross. Truly gross.

I'm ashamed of the judicial system in my country right now.
Ellis Wyatt
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4stringAg said:

How I know this judge is a partisan hack: both witnesses for the defense were hamstrung badly from providing exculpatory testimony (one so badly that the defense didn't even call him to testify or it may not have even been allowed) while he allowed the prosecution witnesses free reign to suggest Trump raped Daniels and to allow Cohen to interpret FECA laws.

A joke. Complete and utter joke.

I fully expect a guilty verdict.
And he allowed sordid details of an encounter that are in no way material to the case, and are most likely not even true.
Gyles Marrett
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Im Gipper said:

Do you have a link to what you read that shows that?
Don't have the time right now to go back and search or I would, but there was 3-4 articles on the trial I read since yesterday evening that mentioned it when just browsing stories about the trial. I don't remember who but a reporter on air on Fox yesterday who was in the courtroom also mentioned it.
Im Gipper
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Found a transcript!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/05/21/read-transcript-trump-trial-judge-scolds-witness-monday/73783614007/

Not seeing where that happened, but I could have missed it!

I'm Gipper
TXAggie2011
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The Defense should have not called Costello. That accomplished nothing for them and surely leaves the jury wondering "what the heck was that, that's their best shot?"

The State has some work to do tying everything together in their closing argument.
Ellis Wyatt
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TXAggie2011 said:

The Defense should have not called Costello. That accomplished nothing for them and surely leaves the jury wondering "what the heck was that, that's their best shot?"

The State has some work to do tying everything together in their closing argument.
They'd better find some evidence of a crime. Seems like it would be pertinent and necessary to their case, but maybe not.
Tramp96
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Forgive my repetitiveness, but surely there has to be a couple of people on that jury with the moral fortitude to realize this is a complete sham and stand their ground.

Tramp96
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Ellis Wyatt said:

TXAggie2011 said:

The Defense should have not called Costello. That accomplished nothing for them and surely leaves the jury wondering "what the heck was that, that's their best shot?"

The State has some work to do tying everything together in their closing argument.
They'd better find some evidence of a crime. Seems like it would be pertinent and necessary to their case, but maybe not.
There was plenty of evidence of a crime...multiple crimes, actually. None by the defendant who is on trial, but plenty by a couple of the witnesses.
100% Pure Aggie
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aggiehawg said:

Quote:

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is now up for the prosecution and arguing that several documents corroborate Michael Cohen's testimony, namely the records brought in through Jeffrey McConney "memorialize" the reimbursement plan.
Colangelo says "at minimum a reasonable juror could conclude the invoices, the ledger entries, the signed checks with check stubs all contain false information."
The prosecutor now says that there is also an "overwhelming record of concealment" that supports an intent to defraud on Trump's part.
Quote:

Judge Juan Merchan says he will reserve his decision on the defense's arguments for a dismissal of the charges.
"Thank you both," he tells the attorneys.
"As I said I'm going to reserve my decision. I'll see you tomorrow at 9:30," Merchan says as he leaves the bench.

I guess I missed his decision re dismissal, or did he rule?
Im Gipper
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Tramp96 said:

Forgive my repetitiveness, but surely there has to be a couple of people on that jury with the moral fortitude to realize this is a complete sham and stand their ground.


Never been to New York, eh?

I'm Gipper
Sharpshooter
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Tramp96 said:

Forgive my repetitiveness, but surely there has to be a couple of people on that jury with the moral fortitude to realize this is a complete sham and stand their ground.


There is no known cure for TDS.
Mr Mojo Risin
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TXAggie2011 said:

The Defense should have not called Costello. That accomplished nothing for them and surely leaves the jury wondering "what the heck was that, that's their best shot?"

The State has some work to do tying everything together in their closing argument.
Glad to have you and CNN back in better moods.
America was built on speed, hot, nasty, badass speed.
Ellis Wyatt
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100% Pure Aggie said:

aggiehawg said:

Quote:

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is now up for the prosecution and arguing that several documents corroborate Michael Cohen's testimony, namely the records brought in through Jeffrey McConney "memorialize" the reimbursement plan.
Colangelo says "at minimum a reasonable juror could conclude the invoices, the ledger entries, the signed checks with check stubs all contain false information."
The prosecutor now says that there is also an "overwhelming record of concealment" that supports an intent to defraud on Trump's part.
Quote:

Judge Juan Merchan says he will reserve his decision on the defense's arguments for a dismissal of the charges.
"Thank you both," he tells the attorneys.
"As I said I'm going to reserve my decision. I'll see you tomorrow at 9:30," Merchan says as he leaves the bench.

I guess I missed his decision re dismissal, or did he rule?
He didn't rule as far as I heard. I think he's going to continue to make sure Trump is found guilty.
aggiehawg
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100% Pure Aggie said:

aggiehawg said:

Quote:

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is now up for the prosecution and arguing that several documents corroborate Michael Cohen's testimony, namely the records brought in through Jeffrey McConney "memorialize" the reimbursement plan.
Colangelo says "at minimum a reasonable juror could conclude the invoices, the ledger entries, the signed checks with check stubs all contain false information."
The prosecutor now says that there is also an "overwhelming record of concealment" that supports an intent to defraud on Trump's part.
Quote:

Judge Juan Merchan says he will reserve his decision on the defense's arguments for a dismissal of the charges.
"Thank you both," he tells the attorneys.
"As I said I'm going to reserve my decision. I'll see you tomorrow at 9:30," Merchan says as he leaves the bench.

I guess I missed his decision re dismissal, or did he rule?
He did not rule. At least not in open court today, he did not mention it.
TXAggie2011
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Im Gipper said:

Found a transcript!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/05/21/read-transcript-trump-trial-judge-scolds-witness-monday/73783614007/

Not seeing where that happened, but I could have missed it!
Its not there. If someone finds and can post it, then happy to be corrected.

Costello's testimony starts around page 237. "Objection" appears 29 times after his testimony starts.

One objection followed "well, what do you recall about this general topic?" "Objection" (Page 248)


I see there was one objection which followed an incomplete question by the defense. That objection was overruled and the defense asked the full question. (Page 250)

"And were there some times when" "Objection" "Overruled" "Were there some times when Michael Cohen instructed you to ask questions of Rudy Guiliani?"
TXAggie2011
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Mr Mojo Risin said:

TXAggie2011 said:

The Defense should have not called Costello. That accomplished nothing for them and surely leaves the jury wondering "what the heck was that, that's their best shot?"

The State has some work to do tying everything together in their closing argument.
Glad to have you and CNN back in better moods.
Huh?
Gyles Marrett
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Im Gipper said:

Found a transcript!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/05/21/read-transcript-trump-trial-judge-scolds-witness-monday/73783614007/

Not seeing where that happened, but I could have missed it!
You read a 302 page transcript that fast? Highly impressive.

Not sure why reporters that were in the court room would make that up. But if you read all that and didn't find it I'll trust you bc I'm certainly not about to read that novel lol.
TXAggie2011
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Gyles Marrett said:

Im Gipper said:

Found a transcript!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/05/21/read-transcript-trump-trial-judge-scolds-witness-monday/73783614007/

Not seeing where that happened, but I could have missed it!
You read a 302 page transcript that fast? Highly impressive.

Not sure why reporters that were in the court room would make that up. But if you read all that and didn't find it I'll trust you bc I'm certainly not about to read that novel lol.
Its a searchable transcript. Its not hard to review for something specific.
TXAggie2011
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By the way, the interns or whoever are making the transcripts single, searchable documents are doing the Good Lord's work for those interested in this trial. The transcripts on the New York courts' website are nearly worthless.
We fixed the keg
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I don't see any path where this clown show doesn't end up going to the jury. I will be happy to be proven wrong, but nothing so far has stopped this. Just as COVID has destroyed my faith in the "medical experts", democrat lawfare has done the same with the justice system. At this point, do we have any institutions we can trust? Not the 3 letter agencies, not the house/senate, not the VA, etc etc etc
Ellis Wyatt
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All by design.
Im Gipper
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Quote:

You read a 302 page transcript that fast? Highly impressive.
Ha! I wish!

Found where the Costello testimony started, then "CTRL-F" and typed in "recall"


Quote:

Not sure why reporters that were in the court room would make that up.
I don't think they are necessarily making it up, just that as we have seen on the CNN blog, its not always an accurate portrayal of what is happening.

I'm Gipper
MD20/20
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Does anyone on here know if a unanimous jury is required for a conviction in New York? If so, one of these jurors could become a celebrity with a book deal by holding out.
aggiehawg
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MD20/20 said:

Does anyone on here know if a unanimous jury is required for a conviction in New York? If so, one of these jurors could become a celebrity with a book deal by holding out.
Yes. Has to be unanimous on each count.
Gyles Marrett
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Im Gipper said:

Quote:

You read a 302 page transcript that fast? Highly impressive.
Ha! I wish!

Found where the Costello testimony started, then "CTRL-F" and typed in "recall"


Quote:

Not sure why reporters that were in the court room would make that up.
I don't think they are necessarily making it up, just that as we have seen on the CNN blog, its not always an accurate portrayal of what is happening.
Gotcha...regardless of the exact timing of the objections, after the absolute non sense character assination testimony he's allowed in this case, this span of testimony was the most bias blocking of relevant info clearly terrified of what he'd say I've ever seen. Only thing worse in my opinion is not letting an FEC campaign finance expert testify while he lets a dribbling lying idiot in Cohen give his opinion on the stand on campaign finance violations.

Anyone defending this garbage (not saying you are) to me is an absolute enemy of our country and a fair justice system. God forbid it ever be used against them in this biased of a manner.
SwigAg11
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I may have missed it, but did the defense object to Cohen being asked his opinion on FECA violations?
Im Gipper
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SwigAg11 said:

I may have missed it, but did the defense object to Cohen being asked his opinion on FECA violations?
I don't believe he was asked for an opinion. I believe he testified he plead guilty, correct?

I'm Gipper
SwigAg11
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Thank you for the clarification. I've been confused on that based on discussions on this thread.
aggiehawg
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Quote:

The tweets are a doozy, he points out that his testimony would have clearly pointed out that there was no 'underlying crime' and the agency he once headed to regulate elections, the Federal Election Commission, never prosecuted such issues, because they simply weren't crimes.

This one stands out:
Quote:

Picture a jury in a product liability case trying to figure out if a complex machine was negligently designed, based only on a boilerplate recitation of the general definition of "negligence." They'd be lost without knowing technology & industry norms. /3
...and this...
Quote:

/4 Someone has to bring that knowledge to the jury. Thatnot the lawwas my intended testimony. For example, part of the state's case is that they wrongly reported what they knew to be a campaign expenditure in order to hide the payment until after the election.
He was the guy to bring that kind of knowledge, as he stated here, but here's the guy who got that job instead:
Quote:

/7 but While judge wouldn't let me testify on meaning of law, he allowed Michael Cohen to go on at length about whether and how his activity violated FECA. So effectively, the jury got its instructions on FECA from Michael Cohen!
Which he noted, shows just how rigged Justice Merchan's courtroom really is:
Quote:

/9 So you've got a judge who contributed to Trump's opponent presiding over a trial by a prosecutor who was elected on a vow to get Trump, for something DOJ and FEC chose not to prosecute, on a far-fetched legal theory I which the prosecution has been allowed …


/10… To repeatedly misstate the law or elicit incorrect statements of law from witnesses (and unlike Cohen's, my testimony would not have gone to the ultimate legal issue). The judge's bias is very evident.


Quote:

As for the faulty instructions, the burglary analogy comes from this legal commentator cited by Newsweek:
Quote:

On May 21, Joyce Vance, a former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, wrote in her Civil Discourse blog about a comment Judge Juan Merchan made while discussing jury instructions. A judge gives such instructions to explain the laws a jury must use to decide a case.
...and...
Quote:

"If I enter your home without permission, that's trespass, a misdemeanor. But, if I do it with the intent to commit another crime while I'm there, it's burglary, a felony. The false records violation works the same way," she wrote.
The underlying "crime" of course is trying to influence an election. Apparently no one is allowed to influence an election, and especially not a candidate.
LINK
Gyles Marrett
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Im Gipper said:

SwigAg11 said:

I may have missed it, but did the defense object to Cohen being asked his opinion on FECA violations?
I don't believe he was asked for an opinion. I believe he testified he plead guilty, correct?
You might need to check the transcript on that as well.

The CNN feed said he was asked "is that a campaign finance violation" to which he answer yes it was. He was answering about the act, not the charge, which was giving his opinion.
Ag with kids
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Im Gipper said:

SwigAg11 said:

I may have missed it, but did the defense object to Cohen being asked his opinion on FECA violations?
I don't believe he was asked for an opinion. I believe he testified he plead guilty, correct?
This is what Hawg posted:

Quote:

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger reads the line from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) statement, "The payment in question does not constitute a campaign contribution."
"Was that a true statement?" she asks Michael Cohen.
"No ma'am," he says.
Note...it came from this post by Hawg.
Gyles Marrett
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Ag with kids said:

Im Gipper said:

SwigAg11 said:

I may have missed it, but did the defense object to Cohen being asked his opinion on FECA violations?
I don't believe he was asked for an opinion. I believe he testified he plead guilty, correct?
This is what Hawg posted:

Quote:

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger reads the line from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) statement, "The payment in question does not constitute a campaign contribution."
"Was that a true statement?" she asks Michael Cohen.
"No ma'am," he says.

Exactly...Pretty sure that's his opinion, to which he's in no way qualified to give on that topic.
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