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Attorney Todd Blanche asks Michael Cohen about work he did for the "The Apprentice" or members of Donald Trump's family.
Blanche confirms with Cohen again that he did personal work for Melanie Trump and Donald Trump Jr.

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"And you never had a retainer agreement with those individuals did you?"
Cohen agreed.
"And the reason why you didn't have a retainer agreement was because you didn't need one."
Yes."

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Blanche then asks if he ever had a retainer agreement while working at the Trump Organization.
"I never had a retainer agreement," Cohen says.
"It's not just January 2017," Trump's attorney says. "It's from the day you never went back to your law firm" and was hired by Trump.
Blanche then asks Cohen to confirm that under New York ethics rules, a lawyer doesn't need a retainer agreement for a client.
For context: Blanche is raising this because prosecutors noted in their direct that Cohen didn't have a retainer when he became personal attorney for the president in 2017.

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Cohen was a salaried employee plus large annual bonuses when he first started working for Trump.

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There's been a "tonal shift" today as Donald Trump's attorney Todd Blanche continued cross-examining Michael Cohen, CNN's Audie Cornish said.
CNN reporters saw Blanche walking back into the courtroom after a break side-by-side with Trump, which has only been seen once before. Trump is usually walking out front solo with his lawyers trailing.
"I think you could interpret for that to Donald Trump giving an 'attaboy' to Todd Blanche," CNN's Gloria Borger said.
This comes as defense continued its attempt to discredit Cohen in front of the jury, which CNN analyst Elie Honig deemed to be successful.
"I don't think I've ever seen a star cooperating witness get his knees chopped out quite as clearly and dramatically as what just happened with Michael Cohen," he said.

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Trump attorney Todd Blanche is now bringing up a 2018 letter Michael Cohen's attorney sent to the Federal Election Commission in response to a complaint from a watchdog group about the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels.
The group, Common Cause, alleged Trump had violated campaign finance laws in making the payment.
Cohen was asked to read a section of the letter his attorney sent in response to Common Cause at the time, which said the $130,000 payment was a private transaction using Cohen's own personal funds, and that, "Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford and neither reimbursed Mr. Cohen for the payment directly or indirectly."

Blanche asks Cohen if he asserts the statement is true because he used his own personal funds.
Cohen says yes, Trump either reimbursed Cohen from his own funds of from the revocable trust.

Jurors are following along, heads swaying back and forth between Blanche and Cohen, and then looking down at the document on the monitor as the two discuss the letter.

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I'm trying to understand what the actual crime was. Cohen claims these records were false, but doesn't ever say what other crime was being committed.

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Judge Juan Merchan is stopping proceedings for the day.
Trump's attorney Todd Blanche was ready to move onto a different area in his cross-examination of Michael Cohen.
The cross-examination is not over.

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The jury is leaving and Trump is reading papers he's holding close to his face at the defense table.

Michael Cohen is also leaving. He's keeping his head facing forward as he exits through the side door.

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So Cohen will be back for more cross on Monday.

Anderson Cooper was left stunned by Trump's attorney's cross examination of Michael Cohen

"It was incredible...lawyers want to build a box around the witness & slam it shut--that's what Todd Blanche did to Cohen...it was an extraordinary cross...Cohen was cornered in...a lie" pic.twitter.com/WKnKCs8TkU

— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) May 16, 2024

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We're not quite done in court, as the lawyers and Judge Juan Merchan still have some other issues to discuss.

Trump attorney Emil Bove is now up to discuss potential testimony of the campaign finance expert. Bove is focusing on potential testimony about the "general definitions" and terms related directly to this case, such as "campaign contribution."

Trump is sitting back, looking up at Bove. He stopped writing on his papers to look up at his lawyer.

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Bove is focusing on potential testimony about the "general definitions" and terms related directly to this case, such as "campaign contribution."

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Who's gonna tell her.

captkirk said:

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Anderson Cooper was left stunned by Trump's attorney's cross examination of Michael Cohen

"It was incredible...lawyers want to build a box around the witness & slam it shut--that's what Todd Blanche did to Cohen...it was an extraordinary cross...Cohen was cornered in...a lie" pic.twitter.com/WKnKCs8TkU

— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) May 16, 2024

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Not sure why he would be stunned that they were able to corner Cohen in a lie when all Cohen does is lie. I mean, he was literally convicted for LYING.

Most of us expected this and are not surprised.

Well the discussion about the scope of Brad Smith's expert testimony answers that question. There will be a defense case in chief.

Sounds like Anderson got hard.

Gyles Marrett said:

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BMX Bandit said:

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Trump attorney Todd Blanche asks Michael Cohen whether there are 95 "secret recordings" on his cell phone, which Cohen confirms.

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there was a thread here once about secretly recording phone calls. I was surprised how many were okay with it.

its a sleezy practice in my opinion. not surprised cohen does it so often

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I certainly can't think of a reason to do it where you'd have good intentions.

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I did it back when I was having some child custody issues. Wanted everything on record in case things went south.

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Michael Cohen has testified for almost six hours over two days during the cross-examination by Donald Trump's attorney Todd Blanche.

The cross-examination is expected to resume on Monday.

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Is the prosecution able to meet with Cohen to continue to prep him further or is it hands off now that he's on the stand?

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Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is arguing against allowing the defense to call a campaign finance expert to testify.

Addressing Judge Juan Merchan, Colangelo says nearly all of the testimony offered by the expert "flies directly in the face of your extremely clear (pre-trial order)," which says an expert cannot testify about the interpretation and application of federal campaign finance laws.

As the defense alluded to earlier, the judge will issue instructions to jurors about how to define certain aspects of the law relevant to the case, and it's important that those are clear.

Colangelo says the two sides presenting dueling experts to testify about campaign finance concepts would confuse the jury.

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"Then we've got three people telling the jury what the law is, when we should only have one," Colangelo says.

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The prosecutor says there's a reason expert witnesses are typically not allowed to testify on legal matters, noting that only the judge presiding over a trial should instruct the jury as to the law relevant to a case.

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Judge Juan Merchan is now reading from his original decision on the scope of the expert witness' testimony.

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Defense attorney Todd Blanche said he expects to finish cross of Michael Cohen before the morning break on Monday.

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger said she will have under an hour of redirect.

Judge Juan Merchan said he will look into starting early some days, and added that he thinks they could definitely stay late.

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aggiehawg said:

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Michael Cohen has testified for almost six hours over two days during the cross-examination by Donald Trump's attorney Todd Blanche.

The cross-examination is expected to resume on Monday.

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We saw Stormy on the stand and the prosecution given great leeway on relevance.

So Stormy testifies on condoms, pert plus and old spice. Now with the key witness on cross the judge will start watching the clock.

What we'll see on Monday is the judge start pressing the defense on time and how long they got left.

AgLiving06 said:

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Is the prosecution able to meet with Cohen to continue to prep him further or is it hands off now that he's on the stand?

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They can but Blanche will ask Cohen about that when they reconvene on Monday.

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Judge Juan Merchan says he wants to avoid big breaks between summations, the jury being instructed and charged and the deliberations.

"The deliberations should follow immediately after the jury charge," Merchan says. "It's not ideal for there to be a lapse in time between summation and jury charge."

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Attorney Todd Blanche said there is no decision on Trump testifying.

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Judge Juan Merchan says parties should be prepared to give summations on Tuesday "if we do wrap up on Monday."

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Wait, what? Have I mentioned how much I dislike this judge? Putting time limits on a criminal defendant or implying that he might do so? Due process judge, look it up.

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Trump attorney Todd Blanche said the defense could still call a rebuttal witnesses, but if they do, they won't be long.

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The court is adjourned for the week. Michael Cohen wrapped up his testimony for the day saying that he thought the Stormy Daniels contract was legally binding and answered questions on an alleged campaign finance violation.
Here are the highlights of his end-of-day testimony:
Former Trump Tower doorman's claim: Cohen confirmed American Media Inc. paid former Trump Tower doorman Dino Sajudin to suppress his false claim that Trump had an alleged love child with a maid. Trump "initially" didn't think the story would hurt his campaign.
Stormy Daniels contract: Cohen confirmed the contract for adult film actor Stormy Daniels was a legally binding document. Earlier, Cohen recalled saying he believed Stormy Daniels was extorting Trump.
Concerns about AMI files on Trump: In a 2016 call with Trump, Cohen expressed about the files American Media Inc. had on Trump. He said he was worried someone beside David Pecker, the former National Enquirer publisher, could get control of the files.
Campaign finance allegations: Cohen's attorney sent a letter in 2018 to the Federal Election Commission in response to a complaint from a watchdog group who alleged the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels was a campaign finance law violation. Cohen asserted the payment was a private transaction using his personal funds. In a statement to reporters about the complaint, Cohen said neither the Trump Organization nor Trump campaign was involved in the transaction.
Back on Monday: Cross-examination of Trump's former lawyer resumes Monday.

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aggiehawg said:

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AgLiving06 said:

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Is the prosecution able to meet with Cohen to continue to prep him further or is it hands off now that he's on the stand?

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They can but Blanche will ask Cohen about that when they reconvene on Monday.

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If Cohen lies, will the Prosecution have to stand up and admit it?

FireAg said:

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captkirk said:

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Anderson Cooper was left stunned by Trump's attorney's cross examination of Michael Cohen

"It was incredible...lawyers want to build a box around the witness & slam it shut--that's what Todd Blanche did to Cohen...it was an extraordinary cross...Cohen was cornered in...a lie" pic.twitter.com/WKnKCs8TkU

— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) May 16, 2024

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When Anderson Cooper and CNN say the case against Trump is screwed, it is screwed…

This was all political nonsense…just like Steele, just like Crossfire Hurricane, just like quid pro quo, and just like insurrection…

This is all political bull**** because they don't want the man back in power again…

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They drank Bragg's Kool aid.
They hate more than they think.

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Judge Juan Merchan says parties should be prepared to give summations on Tuesday "if we do wrap up on Monday."
He says if the testimony concludes Monday, a charge conference would take place the same day.
A charge conference is held to discuss the instructions to be given to the jury.

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Yuck. Sounds to me it is going to be one of those time crunch matters wherein still working on jury instruction briefings and closing statement overnight. That really sucks, BTW. All nighter.

Bu maybe Merchan will do the right thing on the jury instructions and both sides will be okay with them? Hope springs eternal but I give that a very slim chance given Merchan's prior judicial behavior during this trial.

AgLiving06 said:

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aggiehawg said:

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AgLiving06 said:

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Is the prosecution able to meet with Cohen to continue to prep him further or is it hands off now that he's on the stand?

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They can but Blanche will ask Cohen about that when they reconvene on Monday.

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If Cohen lies, will the Prosecution have to stand up and admit it?

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No. Only reason the prosecution would do that is if they are so pissed off at Cohen that they have decided to pursue perjury charges against him. We all know that aint gonna happen.

aggiehawg said:

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Wait, what? Have I mentioned how much I dislike this judge? Putting time limits on a criminal defendant or implying that he might do so? Due process judge, look it up.

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Everyone knows Trump isn't testifying, and the defense may only call a single witness. I don't think this a big deal... Plus, the judge has been there in the courtroom the whole time, I think he can see how this thing is going.

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The moment when defense indicated that Michael Cohen's call to Donald Trump's bodyguard Keith Schiller was for help with harassment he was receiving not to speak with Trump about Daniels, as he testified Monday "was the most dramatic" point of the cross-examination, CNN's Kara Scannell said.

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"It was the most dramatic moment of the cross examination. Cohen looks like he made up that one call after he saw some records form the prosecution and filled in the blank. It casts doubt on Cohen's memory of phone calls in 2016," Scannell said.

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But, she added: "It's up to the jury to decide whether he made up this one call or all calls."
Here's how Cohen explained it in the afternoon, according to CNN's Jeremy Herb: "Even if he didn't recall the circumstances of every call, he remembers the calls themselves."

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Given that time frame of the date and time on the call with Schiller, there's a good possibility that Trump was at a campaign event, doing an interview or on stage at that time.

AgLiving06 said:

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aggiehawg said:

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AgLiving06 said:

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Is the prosecution able to meet with Cohen to continue to prep him further or is it hands off now that he's on the stand?

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They can but Blanche will ask Cohen about that when they reconvene on Monday.

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If Cohen lies, will the Prosecution have to stand up and admit it?

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I don't see what their case is without Cohen. They have Cohen saying the NDA contract was a legal document that people use all the time, he admits he sent invoices to trump to cover the payment. Trump paid the invoices and coded them to legal services. So the case revolves around whether Trump paid with his own money and whether he knew the payment was for Stormy's NDA? And the prosecution offered no evidence for either besides Cohen's testimony claiming it to be true that Blanche spent the day shooting holes in? I am not seeing a case here against anybody but Cohen, who admitted on the stand to filing invoices he claims he knew were fraudulent.

txags92 said:

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AgLiving06 said:

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aggiehawg said:

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AgLiving06 said:

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Is the prosecution able to meet with Cohen to continue to prep him further or is it hands off now that he's on the stand?

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They can but Blanche will ask Cohen about that when they reconvene on Monday.

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If Cohen lies, will the Prosecution have to stand up and admit it?

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I don't see what their case is without Cohen. They have Cohen saying the NDA contract was a legal document that people use all the time, he admits he sent invoices to trump to cover the payment. Trump paid the invoices and coded them to legal services. So the case revolves around whether Trump paid with his own money and whether he knew the payment was for Stormy's NDA? And the prosecution offered no evidence for either besides Cohen's testimony claiming it to be true that Blanche spent the day shooting holes in? I am not seeing a case here against anybody but Cohen, who admitted on the stand to filing invoices he claims he knew were fraudulent.

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Call the Judge. We have reached a verdict.

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Everyone knows Trump isn't testifying, and the defense may only call a single witness. I don't think this a big deal... Plus, the judge has been there in the courtroom the whole time, I think he can see how this thing is going.

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It is a very bad look however. The only words from the judge to criminal defense counsel should be how long do you need? Ballpark guess?

Don't discuss ending the evidentiary portion of the case while the state is still in their case in chief.

Couple that with Merchan's attitude towards proposed defense witnesses?

Casual Cynic said:

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So why would the records be falsified to cover up a completely legal agreement?

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The records were "falsified" by marking monies paid to a lawyer as legal expenses. No need to attribute mal intention. Indeed, Cohen bought the NDA, not Trump, and Trump was reimbursing his lawyer from his own funds for the cost of the NDA. That seems like legal expenses to me.

TexAg1987 said:

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txags92 said:

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AgLiving06 said:

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aggiehawg said:

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AgLiving06 said:

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Is the prosecution able to meet with Cohen to continue to prep him further or is it hands off now that he's on the stand?

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They can but Blanche will ask Cohen about that when they reconvene on Monday.

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If Cohen lies, will the Prosecution have to stand up and admit it?

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I don't see what their case is without Cohen. They have Cohen saying the NDA contract was a legal document that people use all the time, he admits he sent invoices to trump to cover the payment. Trump paid the invoices and coded them to legal services. So the case revolves around whether Trump paid with his own money and whether he knew the payment was for Stormy's NDA? And the prosecution offered no evidence for either besides Cohen's testimony claiming it to be true that Blanche spent the day shooting holes in? I am not seeing a case here against anybody but Cohen, who admitted on the stand to filing invoices he claims he knew were fraudulent.

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Call the Judge. We have reached a verdict.

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You obviously disagree, so what is your pathway to guilty beyond a reasonable doubt from what has been presented by the prosecution? What else did they present that overcomes the impact of the implosion of Cohen's testimony?

At this point in the trial, for folks who have been following it closely (I've only casually kept up with it), what are the thoughts on Trump's chances for acquittal? Ya'll lean that way, too close to call, or lean the jury will convict?

Of course given this is being tried in New York, where Trump my understanding got less than 15% of the vote in 2020, that would seem to have the jury pool deck already stacked against him.

My casual understanding of the prosecution accusation against Trump:

- Had sex with Daniels in 2006
- In 2016 while Trump was running for office, Cohen took out a 130K loan against his house to pay Daniels.
- Cohen was later paid 400K+ plus in 'legal expenses' by the Trump Organization which included reimbursing him for the Daniels payment.
- That Trump both knew about the payment and did it to help his election campaign (getting into the murky campaign finance laws waters)

The above is a simple Cliff Notes version of the prosecution case?

WHOOP!'91 said:

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Casual Cynic said:

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So why would the records be falsified to cover up a completely legal agreement?

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The records were "falsified" by marking monies paid to a lawyer as legal expenses. No need to attribute mal intention. Indeed, Cohen bought the NDA, not Trump, and Trump was reimbursing his lawyer from his own funds for the cost of the NDA. That seems like legal expenses to me.

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Exactly. Your lawyer executed a legal document for you. He invoiced you for that among other things, you paid him out of your pocket and coded it as a legal expense. Where is the fraud?

AustinAg2K said:

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aggiehawg said:

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Wait, what? Have I mentioned how much I dislike this judge? Putting time limits on a criminal defendant or implying that he might do so? Due process judge, look it up.

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Everyone knows Trump isn't testifying, and the defense may only call a single witness. I don't think this a big deal... Plus, the judge has been there in the courtroom the whole time, I think he can see how this thing is going.

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Trump;s lawyers said they might be done with witnesses on Monday. The judge said if that happens, be ready for the charge conference.

he didn't put any time limitations on the defense.

Meanwhile, adderralled up baby-fed lawyers gonna be pouring over transcripts trying to figure out if prosecution met each element of any crime that's been alleged.

We'll anticipate some kind of procedural anomaly on Monday when they figure this out.