jrdaustin said:

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SwigAg11 said:

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To be fair on the deleting of pages of calls, that was a summary document, and all of the calls were still submitted as evidence. However, the defense did get to insinuate that the prosecution was hiding something to the jury.

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Yes, but it does leave me wondering if this is more of an attempt by the paralegal to remove redundant or irrelevant information; or, if this is a case of "Oh yes, the the deleted calls are still in evidence. You can find them somewhere in those 17 bank boxes we've given you over in the corner if you look real hard."

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I agree with you. I don't believe the prosecution mentioned it on direct, so the defense pounced on it during cross. The state then tried to have it explained during redirect, but I bet it cast doubt or at least misgivings for some jurors. Overall, it felt sloppy.

ETA: Forgot the LINK

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Serious question: In light of Merchan's original ruling that the state could have alternative theories of what the predicate crime is in their theory of the case, based upon the evidence adduced at trial, will Merchan at least address those? Meaning throw one or more out? A partial directed verdict, so to speak?

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i don't think partial directed verdict is proper as the underlying crime isn't listed in the indictment. it would have to be complete dismissal. this is a guess as I don't do criminal law.

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Obviously the reason I ask is because of the campaign finance violation allegations, which as a matter of law is outside of Bragg's jurisdiction and thus is not a question of fact for the jury to decide.

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while its outside Bragg's jurisdiction to charge him with a campaign finance, I have not seen any case that says it could not be used as the underlying crime for the fraudulent document charge.

aggiehawg said:

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ETA: Forgot the LINK

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Is that getting admitted into evidence? That seems damning to the prosecution?

he's going to say he lied in the letter to help Trump, the same reason he lied and was convicted of perjury.

Should be perfect for New York's kangaroo court judges!

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Is that getting admitted into evidence? That seems damning to the prosecution?

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We'll see. He didn't write it. (Or did he?) If he says he doesn't recall directing his lawyer to write it? Cohen is not a party nor the defendant here so it is impeachment evidence nor a declaration against interest for that hearsay exception.

I still cannot believe that this entire case comes down to the testimony of a single person who has been caught in perjury multiple times. Who also was posting on social media just last week (during the trial which he is not supposed to following along) about sending Trump to jail.

Edit: Has there been any material evidence on the "collusion" between Trump and Cohen (e.g. texts, emails, voicemails, recordings, conversations in front of other people)? Or is the entirety of the evidence going to come from his word alone?

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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has entered the courtroom.

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Wants to see if his case blows up in his face, I guess.

To this point, it is his word alone.

"Michael Cohen is far from solid evidence:" Cohen's former legal advisor Robert Costello attacked his ex-client's credibility as the "star witness" in the hush money case against former President Donald Trump. More: https://t.co/crLKBCYjsW pic.twitter.com/TYRpvSmR9W

— NewsNation (@NewsNation) March 20, 2023

Cohen runs through lawyers a lot.

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Judge Juan Merchan is on the bench and the court is in session.

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Cohen has been called to the stand.

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Michael Cohen has entered the courtroom. He is facing forward and his eyes are darting around the gallery.

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Michael Cohen is testifying pursuant to a subpoena.

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Michael Cohen is giving his family background information. He said he's been married for "going on 30 years."

"Actually, I really didn't want to be a lawyer. My grandmother wanted me to be a lawyer. My family is comprised of doctors and lawyers," Cohen said.

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Michael Cohen said he invested in taxi medallions when a client moved to Israel and he "gave me the opportunity" to buy a 50% interest in a company.

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Michael Cohen is now describing how he began working for Trump when he lived at Trump World Tower, explaining how he had helped orchestrate a co-op board takeover to resolve an issue, which was "to Mr. Trump's satisfaction."

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Michael Cohen is testifying about the time that Trump offered him a job when he met him at the office to inquire about a $100,000 bill for work he did for Trump Entertainment Resorts.
Cohen says that Trump asked whether he was happy at his "sleepy old firm," and then asked whether Cohen wanted to work for him.
"And I was honored, I was taken by surprise," Cohen says.

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Michael Cohen is looking at Manhattan prosecutor Susan Hoffinger as he testifies in the Trump hush money trial. He has not looked over to the jury.

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Remember what I said about Cohen not having trial experience? There it is. You always tell your witnesses to look at the jury as they are answering questions.

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Michael Cohen says he never went back to his old job after accepting the position at Trump Organization, "not even that day."
Trump sent over some Trump Org. employees to pack up his stuff, Cohen says.

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Great employee, there.

Bridge burner.

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Michael Cohen says he didn't work for the general counsel's office at the Trump Organization.
Asked by the prosecutor who he reported to at the time, Cohen responds, "Mr. Trump."

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Michael Cohen said he would renegotiate bills on behalf of Donald Trump.
One example he gave was when they received an invoice from a law firm.
"He didn't believe that the invoice was fair, reasonable, justified. So he'd give me the task of renegotiating a specific bill," Cohen recalled in court.

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Michael Cohen said he would go into Donald Trump's office to tell him when he accomplished a goal.
It was "really to obtain credit so that he understood that again I was accomplishing what he wanted."
Cohen said he felt, "like I was on top of the world" when Trump said it was "fantastic or great."

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Glory hound, brown noser.

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Michael Cohen describes renegotiating payment for vendors working with Trump University.
"Trump University fell into trouble and approximately 50 vendors had not been paid," Cohen says.
Cohen offered to pay those vendors 20% of their invoices. All but two vendors accepted the offer. He had them paid within 48 hours of them accepting the renegotiated bill.
Asked about the other two that didn't accept, Cohen said: "They just went away."
"Meaning did you pay them?" Hoffinger asks.
"No, ma'am," Cohen says.

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Michael Cohen is testifying about the different problems he'd solve for Trump.
"With press as an example, they said something that angered him, I would reach out to the press and I would express to them their need to either redact or take the article down or we would file an action against them," he said.
"I would say so," Cohen says when asked if he was aggressive. "Not all the time. Often."

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So more Trump bashing and not much relevance to any of the made up charges.

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Jurors are watching intensely, volleying between prosecutor Susan Hoffinger and Michael Cohen as he testifies.

Many are taking notes, though not all.

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A lot of jurors stopped taking notes during Stormy's testimony too.

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Michael Cohen says he'd speak to Trump in person or on a cell phone.
"Mr. Trump never had an email address," Cohen says.
Cohen says he'd get to Trump through others like his executive assistant Rhona Graff or his longtime bodyguard Keith Schiller who Cohen called Trump's "personal attache."

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Michael Cohen's office was moved closer to Donald Trump's in Trump Tower.
He testifies he took Ivanka Trump's old office on the 26th floor when he started working there.
Eventually, he moved to an office about 50 feet from Trump's office. He spoke to him "every single day and multiple times a day."

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Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked if part of Michael Cohen's job was to keep Donald Trump updated on his work.
"It was actually required," Cohen testified.
"When he would task you with something he would then say, 'keep me informed. Let me know what's going on.' What he was saying, what everybody did, as soon as you had a result an answer you could go straight back and tell him especially if it was a matter that was troubling to him," Cohen testified.

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Michael Cohen explains that Donald Trump wanted to always know what was happening.

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"If you didn't immediately provide him with the information and he learned it in another manner that wouldn't go over well for you," he says of his days working for the Trump organization.

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Michael Cohen says he'd address Donald Trump as "boss" and "Mr. Trump."
Eric Trump appeared to watch Cohen on the stand as he said this.
Cohen seems wistful as he's recounting his time at the Trump Organization.

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I guess Eric Trump is not going to be called as a witness by the defense then if he's at the trial in person?

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Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asks whether Michael Cohen would sometimes lie for Donald Trump.

"Yes, ma'am," Cohen says.

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