Nonilex
Tues 28 May 2024 🧵 #ClosingArguments to Begin in #TrumpTrial
#Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection w/a #HushMoney payment made to a porn star to influence the 2016 election. The case could be in the jury’s hands as early as Wed.
#law #ElectionInterference
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/05/28/nyregion/trump-trial-closing-arguments?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb
Nonilex
#Blanche argues #MichaelCohen’s testimony about an all-important meeting w/ #Trump in Jan 2017, in which the president-elect signed off on the repayment scheme, is not “corroborated by anything, there’s not a shred of evidence.” And it's true that no one other than Cohen has directly testified about that conversation.
But it’s not true that there is not a “shred of evidence” — in fact, there is lots & lots of circumstantial + documentary evidence about what happened.
Nonilex
#Blanche argues that the 12 ledger entries at issue in the case were classified as #legal services because the #TrumpOrganization's software used a dropdown menu in which one of the limited options provided is: “legal expense.”
Needless to say, the dropdown menu does not have a “repayment for hush-money deal” option.
That Cohen did actual legal work for #Trump around when he received the payments from Trump has always been one of the defense’s strongest arguments.
Nonilex
#Blanche is now mocking prosecutors’ inclusion of #Trump’s own words in one of his partially ghostwritten books from years ago, which was entered into evidence as proof of him being a micromanager. “If the government reads to you quotes from a book a decade, more than a decade earlier, you should be suspicious,” Blanche says. “That’s a red flag”
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
#Blanche key themes:
the documents —referring to this as a “paper case.”
Distance from it —#Trump, saying the leader of the free world had nothing to do w/the way documents were classified at the #TrumpOrganization.
+ Attack #MichaelCohen as a liar who was too greedy to do #legal work for free.
“What makes more sense?” Blanche asks now, asking whether the prosecutors’ allegations are more logical than the simple idea that Trump agreed to pay Cohen for legal work.
Nonilex
In NY, written retainer agreements are generally required between lawyers & their clients, though there are exceptions that might apply in the case of #Trump & #MichaelCohen. Specifically, lawyers don’t always need to establish a written retainer when they are performing the same type of legal work they’ve done previously.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
#Blanche manipulates the phrase “retainer agreement.” He has insisted loudly that #MichaelCohen testified there was no retainer, multiple times. Then he gestures toward an email from #AllenWeisselberg, #TrumpOrganization’s CFO, referencing an “agreement.” But that email says nothing about a “retainer agreement” specifically, & in fact, per Cohen’s testimony, refers back to his agreement w/ Weisselberg & #Trump to disguise reimbursements for the #HushMoney payment.
Nonilex
#Blanche said during the trial that #MichaelCohen had an “oral” retainer agreement with #Trump, meaning that he had agreed to do legal work on Trump’s behalf. So in his closing, just now, when he said there was a retainer agreement, he may have been out on a limb. We’ll see if & how the prosecutors respond in their own closing.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
Todd #Blanche argues that the documents weren’t false because #MichaelCohen really was doing #legal work for #Trump in 2017. He’s casting aspersions on the government’s theory of Cohen being repaid for his payment to #StormyDaniels, saying that if that were so, Cohen would have been doing unremunerated legal work.
Blanche’s voice rises as he again insists Cohen lied in his description of the work he was doing for Trump.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
As busy as he may have been, jurors have heard from numerous witnesses that #Trump is a lifelong micromanager. For instance, he frequently sought to reduce the size of bills he owed. For decades he insisted on signing pretty much every check leaving the Trump Organization.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
#Blanche emphasizes the image of #Trump in the WH, conjuring up his long days in the Oval as the “leader of the free world.” 🥱It seems to be an effort to flatter Trump & put distance between him & the docs, while also reminding the jury that the defendant was —unlike every other #criminal defendant ever—an American president.
#law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
#Blanche talks about the first batch of docs: 11 invoices that were sent by #MichaelCohen. The invoices said that Cohen required payment for #legal services, but Cohen testified at trial that he was directed to say that by the #TrumpOrganization. Prosecutors say #Trump himself initiated the false documents.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
#Blanche is focusing on the 34 docs that led to the 34 #felony charges. He sounded as if he was getting close to making a #legal argument about “intent to defraud.” The #jurors would have to find that #Trump acted w/ #intent to #defraud when he directed the falsification of the docs in order to find him #guilty.
Justice #Merchan appeared to glare at Blanche as he came close to commenting on the #law. But the defense lawyer moved away & the judge said nothing.
Nonilex
Blanche says he is going to talk a lot about #MichaelCohen today. “You cannot convict *President* #Trump on any #crime beyond a reasonable doubt on the words of Michael Cohen,” Blanche says, adding that Cohen took the stand during the trial & told “lies” while there.
#ClosingArguments have many visual components. #Blanche is currently breaking down #evidence that is being displayed on screens.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
Nonilex
#Blanche, #Trump’s atty begins by thanking jurors then reminds them of that in the court system, they decide the facts “not the prosecution… not the judge.”
Blanche says that his client is innocent, that the prosecution hasn’t met its burden of proof & that the evidence presented “should leave you wanting more.”
He says the case “is about documents. It’s a paper case.” It is not, he says, about an encounter w/ #StormyDaniels, noting that the defendant has denied it occurred.
Nonilex
Justice #Merchan cautions the jurors that the lawyers are simply making “arguments for your consideration.” He underscores that their words are not #evidence.
Already, the judge, both in & out of the presence of the jury, is dictating clear lanes. 1st he told the lawyers, then the jurors,that his instructions on the law were the only remarks on the #law that mattered. Merchan will listen to the closing arguments, & may be compelled to weigh in as each side objects to the other’s argument.
#Trump
Nonilex
Before he summons the #jury, the judge warns to the lawyers, asking them not to comment on the #law in their closings. That is his job, he reminds them, telling them to focus on the facts.
The jury is in. They have had almost a week off, but now, the focus of the #TrumpTrial is shifting to them. The judge explains how closing arguments work, that they'll hear from the defense first & then the prosecution. “The lawyers may not speak to you after that,” the judge says.
Nonilex
Todd #Blanche, #Trump defense lawyer, says his closing argument will take ~2½ hours, & Joshua #Steinglass, the prosecutor, responds that his will be between 4-4 ½ hours. The judge says that means we may or may not finish at 4:30, & that he will ask the jurors if they can stay late in order to finish closing arguments if necessary.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
Nonilex
After 5 wks of testimony, prosecutors & defense attys now present #ClosingArguments aka summations. Closing arguments give each side several hrs to highlight the #evidence that best proves its case. While similar to the opening statements delivered at a trial’s start, closing arguments tend to be more forceful.
When both sides are finished, Judge Juan #Merchan, will instruct the jurors on the #law & how to apply it to the evidence, & they will be sent off to deliberate.
Nonilex
#Trump will be joined by several members of his family in court today: Donald Trump Jr; Eric & wife Lara Trump who is also co-chair of the #RNC; & Tiffany Trump & husband, Michael Boulos.
Non-family members joining Trump are Steve Witkoff, a real-estate investor & “friend”; Will Scharf, a #Republican candidate for Missouri AG & a Trump lawyer in another case; & Deroy Murdock, a #conservative #political “commentator”.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
#Trump spent Monday both posting on social media about this case & attacking #EJeanCarroll.
Trump also falsely claimed the prosecutors in this case were somehow getting an undue edge by getting to deliver their closing arguments after the defense; that is actually the #law in NY.
Trump & entourage are in the courtroom. Alvin Bragg has joined as well.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics #GagOrder #StochasticTerrorism
Nonilex
Neither Rodriguez nor Howard testified, & their absence may give #Blanche room to *spin* his theory. He notes that, in a text, Howard said that he was not working on #Trump’s behalf. Blanche suggests Howard was acting against the interests of David #Pecker, his publisher.
Blanche again tells the jury, that NDAs are not inherently problematic, adding that there is nothing “illegal,” “sinister” or “criminal” about them.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
#Blanche, draws on a 2018 recording in which #StormyDaniels's lawyer at the time said that his client had “settler’s remorse” for having agreed not to tell her story. Blanche claims that Daniels changed not because she decided to tell the #truth, but because she wanted to make #money.
Blanche introduces what he calls a “separate conspiracy” between Daniels, #GinaRodriguez, her manager at the time, & #DylanHoward, who was the editor of The #NationalEnquirer.
Nonilex
After the break, #Blanche says that he has ~½ hr left of his closing argument. Judge Merchan says the jurors have agreed to stay late if needed, meaning closing arguments may end today.
Blanche discusses statements by #StormyDaniels that she testified she was coerced into making. This doesn’t seem to have much to do w/the case but is the kind of client-pleasing shit we’ve seen from #Trump attys.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
#Blanche 2X notes that #StormyDaniels denied having sex w/Trump.
While this is technically true —she did put out a statement denying they had an AFFAIR in early 2018— she subsequently provided her account of the sexual encounter to “60 Minutes,” in a book, in a documentary & in this trial, on the stand, where she testified under oath.
#Trump has repeatedly denied the sex occurred, but has never done so under oath.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
While other witnesses testified about #Trump’s knowledge of the payment — notably #HopeHicks — #MichaelCohen connected Trump to the case like no other witness, including when he testified about the Jan 2017 conversation at Trump Tower, when Trump okayed the arrangements to hide the reimbursements.
“There is no way that you can find that President Trump knew about this payment at the time it was made w/o believing the words of Michael Cohen — period,” Blanche says.
Nonilex
#Blanche argues that if #StormyDaniels's allegations were so scary to the #Trump campaign, why didn’t it swing into action in April 2016, when a woman working w/ Daniels got in touch w/The #NationalEnquirer's parent company?
Obvious answer: the #AccessHollywood tape
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
Blanche mocks #MichaelCohen's suggestion that there would have been essentially a duffle bag of cash that was used to make the #HushMoney payment, & says Cohen made it up. Perspective: #Trump was once paid a portion of a lease for a parking garage in gold bricks.
Defense's closing argument has now been going for >2 hrs. Blanche attacks Cohen, but he’s not focused on the docs at issue, or Trump’s role in creating them. Instead, he’s all over the place.
Nonilex
#Blanche moves on to the 3rd #HushMoney payment at the heart of the case: The one #MichaelCohen made in 2016 to #StormyDaniels, who said she'd had sex w/ #Trump a decade earlier.
Blanche lays the groundwork for his most important attack on Cohen, saying he is the only witness who testified that Trump knew everything about the hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
#Blanche attacks the recording. “This conversation is Mr. Cohen & President Trump literally talking past each other about what is going on,” he says, arguing that his client “has no idea what #MichaelCohen is talking about.”
Blanche comes up with an alternate version of why #Trump asked about “financing” in their taped conversation: that Trump was simply caught off guard & had no idea what was being discussed.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
#Blanche is skipping around in his summation, which is making it a little hard to follow.
He now turns back to the recording that #MichaelCohen secretly made of a conversation he had w/ #Trump about the #KarenMcDougal payment.
Blanche suggests there is some kind of dispute over the authenticity of this recording. There isn’t. The recording sounds exactly the same as the one CNN played in 2018.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
#Blanche claims that #MichaelCohen fully fabricated an encounter that he had w/Pecker in which #Pecker expressed anger that he had not been repaid for 1 of the #HushMoney deals. “Ladies & gentlemen, that lunch did not happen,” Blanche said. “Cohen made it up.”
Blanche doesn’t provide any #evidence Cohen made it up. Instead, Blanche reminds jurors that they should pay close attention to documentary evidence in assessing Cohen’s testimony.
Nonilex
Prosecutors have objected to #Blanche 2X,
w/1 overruled & 1 sustained, as #Blanche talks about #Pecker saying he consulted lawyers about the deal.
Blanche attacks the phrase #CatchAndKill as if it were central to prosecution’s case. Prosecutors have stayed away from using it. It wasn’t in their opening statement, or the portion of the statement of #facts they released when #Trump was #indicted explaining their theory of the #conspiracy.
Nonilex
#Blanche doesn’t harp on the idea that her story was a lie to damage #Trump. But he is very animated as he argues that McDougal, who did not testify, was not initially interested in selling her story.
Blanche argues both that #CatchAndKill deals are normal & that these weren’t catch-&-kill deals.
FYI #AMI, #NationalEnquirer's parent co, was fined $187,500 in 2021 by the #FEC to settle accusations that it violated #CampaignFinance #Law by making a 6-fig payment to McDougal.
Nonilex
#Blanche addresses the 3 specific #CatchAndKill deals prosecutors allege #Pecker was involved in, all of which they say were designed to protect #Trump. Defense argues all 3 stories are false.
He characterizes the 1st, involving a doorman at a #TrumpOrganization bldg, as “literally a made up story designed to harm President Trump.”
Blanche talks about Playboy model #KarenMcDougal who sold the rights to her story of an affair w/Trump to The #NationalEnquirer's parent co, #AMI.
Nonilex
Meanwhile, President #Biden's campaign is holding a news conference outside the courthouse in Manhattan, a guarantee of attention since the media has been stationed here for week.
The speakers have focused not on the #TrumpTrial, but largely on the insurrection by #Trump supporters on #Jan6, 2021, & the threats the Biden campaign argues Trump poses to #democracy & the nation's future.
#criminal #law #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
While it’s true that circulation for The #NationalEnquirer wasn’t huge, #Trump had a hugely popular Twitter feed & giant rallies, & during the 2016 campaign, he & his allies would post & he would talk about this stuff to amplify them.
+ The Enquirer has broken several stories over the yrs involving politicians & celebrities having affairs, incl’g fmr Senator John Edwards, who was a presidential candidate, & Tiger Woods.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
#Blanche says that despite the prosecution arguing that David #Pecker agreed to suppress negative stories on #Trump’s behalf in 2015 — a practice known as #CatchAndKill — the phrase "catch & kill" was not used at that meeting. “Make no mistake about it,” Blanche says.
Blanche argues there was “nothing unusual” about catching & killing, & that Pecker testified that The #NationalEnquirer only published ~½ of the stories it purchased.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
#Blanche is trying to suggest that the meeting that Trump & #MichaelCohen had in 2015 w/ #Pecker, of The #NationalEnquirer, when prosecutors say they hatched a plan to suppress damaging stories about #Trump & promote negative ones about his rivals, was SOP between a presidential #candidate & the #press. It was not.
Blanche suggests that bc Pecker’s relationship w/Trump, & their #CatchAndKill agreement, was not an #election #conspiracy bc it predated the campaign.
Nonilex
#Blanche reminds #jurors that The #NationalEnquirer #Pecker testified that #Trump was a top celebrity who sold magazines.
“Absurd.” “Preposterous.” “Makes no sense.” Blanche’s closing is filled w/terminology ridiculing the government’s argument.
He argues it’s absurd to think that Trump would have entered a #conspiracy w/ The Enquirer to sway a national election, because they’re a tabloid.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
#Blanche: “This is the #campaign, this is an #election, this is not a #crime.”
Blanche argued this in his opening statement, when he said “spoiler alert” — campaigns try to #influence elections.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
#Blanche tries persuading the #jurors that in order to #convict, they must find that #Trump sought to promote his own candidacy for president “by unlawful means.” Blanche is trying to cast doubt on some of the “unlawful means” the prosecutors will argue later.
Blanche says that it didn’t matter if there was “a conspriacy to win an election … Every campaign in this country is a conspiracy.”
[umm, okay…]
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
FYI: declaring a payment to the #IRS doesn’t automatically make it #legal (it’s called #TaxFraud & it’s a #crime we know #Trump commits regularly).
Blanche is repeatedly calling #MichaelCohen both a liar & Trump’s personal attorney.
The jury is going to have to grapple reconcile something Blanche isn’t, namely that Trump hired Cohen & worked w/him for over a decade.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
The prosecution alleges that #Trump was present when his employees hatched a plan to falsify the records, & did not stop them from doing so. The prosecution could even argue that Trump, as the boss, effectively approved the plan & thus caused it.
#Blanche shows the #jury the #tax documents sent to #MichaelCohen & the #IRS as #evidence that the payments to Cohen were all above board.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
In his follow-up to this argument about a #tax scheme, #Blanche asks why #MichaelCohen didn’t remember the amount he was meant to be owed each month & why the checks didn’t always come from #Trump. Again, even as he seeks to cast doubt on the prosecution’s argument, he reminds jurors of what the other side wants them to believe.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
#Blanche argues there was no #intent by #Trump to #defraud — a #legal concept at the heart of the case. Every time Blanche says the phrase “intent to defraud,” the judge looks at him — but so far, Justice #Merchan has not interrupted him.
Blanche argues the prosecution must show that Trump “caused” the false records. He’s correct about the wording in NY’s #FalseRecords #Law, but “caused” is not a super high bar.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
#Blanche says that #Trump wasn’t known for overpaying, & testimony suggested #MichaelCohen didn’t deserve to be paid much for his campaign work, particularly #HopeHicks's testimony that Cohen occasionally went “rogue”.
Blanche: “That’s not exactly a glowing performance evaluation that justifies a larger bonus.”
At the same time, Blanche argues the $420k Trump did pay Cohen was for unspecified #legal work.
That’s a serious contradiction in #logic.
Nonilex
Confusing: Blanche highlights that “some sort of tax scheme” was involved in the repayment to #MichaelCohen. Prosecution’s theory of the case is that #Trump falsified records to cover up a #conspiracy to #influence the 2016 #election — & one way to prove the conspiracy is that #tax #crimes were involved. It’s unclear why Blanche would draw the jury’s attention to an important aspect of the prosecution’s case.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
Nonilex
Evidence including notes made by #AllenWeisselberg about how #MichaelCohen would be repaid for the #HushMoney, & an email that the defense just highlighted in its own closing referring back to the agreement.
#Blanche depicts #Trump as too distracted to focus on the matters of the checks & the payments. Cutting against a long-acknowledged #Trump trait: his proclivity for attention to minutiae in times of stress.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
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