Ask Me Help Desk - How far will the left go to get rid of Trump ?

I have no comment on Cohen's lies at this time. I am waiting for cross examination.
Trump got clever . He can't comment on the proceedings because he doesn't want to go to jail for contempt . He brought surrogates to the court to do it for him.
Senator J D Vance , NY Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, Alabama AG Steve Marshall and Iowa AG Brenna Bird were all in attendance yesterday .

JD Vance, Ohio Senator and VP contender, joins Trump at hush money trial (usatoday.com)

Today Vivek Ramaswamy will be there .
Trump is successfully managing to turn pre-and post trial appearances as campaign events.

Vivek Ramaswamy to join Trump at his trial on Tuesday - Washington Examiner

Campaign ads are expensive. The compliant press ;including MSNBC ;have given Trump free coverage for weeks.

According to Miranda Divine of the NY Post he is raking in free press.

Quote:

His monologues, carried live by most TV networks and amplified online, have delivered his campaign an average of $260 million in earned (a k a free) digital media each day, according to a report by the Meltwater media monitoring agency, which estimates the equivalent cost of placing advertisements.
The first day of the Trump trial, April 15, delivered a whopping $440 million equivalent. The average weekly earned media during the trial has been $1.2 billion per week.

Dems pin Trump in NYC courtroom and he just turns it into his own personal campaign stage (nypost.com)

As PT Barnum said ;"no publicity is bad publicity "

The Cohen cross-exam should be a sight to behold.

Wondering if this will be discussed

NY Dem Rep Dan Goldman coached and prepped Cohen for his testimony .

Besides the obvious question of propriety of an elected Rep coaching a witness for a trial against a Presidential candidate from a different party ;it turns out that Goldman is a client of Lauren Merchan (daughter of Judge Merchan ) and her firm 'Authentic '

see client list
Authentic - Our Work

(1) johnny maga on X: "Rep. Goldman says he met with Michael Cohen “a number of times to prepare him” Why is a Democrat Congressman preparing Michael Cohen? https://t.co/jT3kBf97oY" / X (twitter.com)

Conflicts of interest not considered .

So far from accounts I have read ; Cohen can't deny that he is a POS so he admits it openly in court .

Quote:

Trump attorney Todd Blanche is going through some of the insults Michael Cohen has said against Trump. Blanche asks if Cohen, speaking on his podcast, called Trump a "boorish cartoon misogynist."
"Sounds like something I would say," Cohen says.
Blanche then asks if Cohen has called Trump a "Cheeto-dusted cartoon villain."
"That also sounds like something that I said," Cohen says.

Live updates: Michael Cohen testifies in Donald Trump's hush money trial (cnn.com)

Not sure how effective this line of cross will be when considering the " impartiality" of the jury. Hoping for some more probing cross Thursday

OK, Tom. I'm sitting here in amazement. I have just learned that congressional districts are apportioned based on total population, legal AND illegals. If we look looked at citizens only, it would result in a gain of about 20 House seats for repubs. I find that to be astonishing. Is that your understanding for this thing???

Speaker Mike Johnson's statement in front of the court about the Trump trial here .

Campaign 2024: Speaker Johnson News Conference at Trump Hush Money Trial in New York | C-SPAN.org

I suspect the next time a clown like MTG tries to oust him ;the Dems will be less likely to come to his rescue.

Here's a good one ,former Federal prosecutor Eric Lisann is making the case that Trump could be held in contempt of court for having surrogates speak in his behalf .

I kid you not .

The charge is that Trump wrote notes during deliberations and then passed them on to GOP supporters who used the notes in their post trial statements .

(1) Eric Lisann on X: "Direct evidence of contempt: Journalist Andrew Rice tells Alex Wagner that he, literally, saw over Trump's shoulder that Trump was editing remarks (such as attacking Merchan's daughter) that his declared surrogates for the day (Donalds. Ramaswamy, Burgum) later parroted. So he" / X (twitter.com)

Tom, wondering what your view is on Biden agreeing to debate Trump. Is it an indication of the desperation in the Biden campaign, or do they believe they have a genuine chance to come off looking good?

I answered the debate question on a new posting .

One thing about telling the truth is that you only have to remember one story. A liar has to remember which lie is the most current . Michael Cohen has demonstrated that he lied and then lied again and again.

My best take from what I have read about the cross examination is that Cohen was obsessed with Trump. He saw loyalty to Trump as his meal ticket. The jury has heard enough evidence of this to have reasonable doubt.

He was already working with a tabloid to squash negative press about one alleged Trump tryst . When he saw that Stormy Daniels was going to go public ;he acted .

He may very well have approached Trump who most likely told him to deal with it . I do NOT believe that Trump told him to take out a home equity loan to cover up the NDA .

When Trump was informed that the NDA had been done and that Trump had to sign off on checks to Cohen for reimbursements I'm sure that he did not think twice about it . Cohen was his fixer and Trump did not get into the nuts and bolts about how it was done. He was a big time businessman running a business empire and running for President at the same time. He had lawyers and accountants and thousands of staffers to deal with the minutia When his accountant gave him a check ;he asked a few basic questions and then signed.

Cohen thought he was showing loyalty to Trump and expected a return. It is clear his ambitions were to become either AG or perhaps Chief of Staff at the White House. Like Chris Christie ;when he did not get what he wanted ,he felt betrayed .

He also thought that Trump had his back when he told his initial lies to prosecutors; Congress ;judges ;and just about anyone else who would listen. He probably thought that if he got into a bind then a Presidential pardon was coming his way.

When that did not happen ,he decided to cash in by becoming a celebrity anti-Trump informant . He created a new set of lies and parlayed them into a book and talking head gigs .

It sorta reminds me of 'Stan' by Eminem ;a song about an obsessed fan who does not think he is getting his due recognition. In the song ,Stan apparently commits suicide . In Cohen's case ;he dealt with the rejection by going on the attack.

Robert Costello is a sleaze bag lawyer who advised Cohen and claims he was a back channel between Trump and Cohen when Cohen was under investigation. He gave testimony yesterday to the House Committee on Weaponization of Politics .

Quote:

"I advised him that the SDNY thought he had committed crimes and that he might have evidence they could use for a prosecution of President Trump," Costello testified Wednesday. "I explained to Cohen how he was not the target of the investigation but was a bump in the road and that the U.S. Attorney’s Office would run over him if it led them to Donald Trump."
Costello testified that he explained to Cohen that if he had "truthful information that would implicate Donald Trump, I could get him out his legal trouble by the end of the week — if he cooperated against Donald Trump."
"I emphasized that any information Cohen could give would have to be truthful, otherwise it was useless," Costello testified, saying he did this "numerous times" during their first meeting.

Each time, Cohen said to me, ‘I swear to God, Bob, I don’t have anything on Donald Trump,’" Costello recalled Cohen saying. "Cohen must have said this at least ten times because I kept coming back to it from different approaches."
During the conversation, Costello said, Cohen told him he would do "whatever" he had to do to not spend even one day in prison.
Costello then referred back to a conversation he had on the phone with Cohen days earlier, saying Cohen indicated he was "seriously contemplating jumping off" the roof of the New York City Regency Hotel because he "couldn’t handle the pressure of the upcoming criminal case."
Costello said he pressed Cohen to reconsider.
"Isn’t it easier to cooperate against Donald Trump if you have truthful information, than it is to kill yourself?" he asked.

Michael Cohen once swore Trump wasn't involved in Stormy Daniels payment, his ex-attorney testifies | Fox News

Here is his written testimony .

Here is some audio of the hearing (must listen)

What Michael Cohen Told Me That's 'Contrary' To His Testimony At Hush Money Trial: Ex-Legal Advisor - YouTube
Costello Testimony.pdf (house.gov)

“In the Trump case, they are seeking a conviction by any means necessary,” “They do not care if it is overturned on appeal because that will likely not happen until after the election. In the meantime, they will have effectively interfered with the 2024 presidential election and perhaps influenced some voters because of an ill-gotten conviction.”

The prosecution's contention (I guess since charges are still not clear even though prosecution is going to rest it's case soon) is that Trump orchestrated a conspiracy to hide bribing Stormy Danial's to keep quite about her allegation that she and Trump did the nasty ; using campaign funds in violation of Federal law(which a local DA has no business charging ).

Quote:

“This was a planned, long-running conspiracy to influence the 2016 election, to help Donald Trump get elected through illegal expenditures to silence people who had something bad to say about his behavior,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said. “It was election fraud, pure and simple.”

Trump tried to ‘corrupt’ the 2016 election, hush money prosecutor alleges in opening statement | PBS NewsHour

Prosecution's star witness Michael Cohen has been front and center all week. He produced a secretly recorded tape that I guess was assumed to be the '
smoking gun' proof of the charge.

LISTEN: Michael Cohen recording of Trump talking Karen McDougal payment (nbcnews.com)

But the tape sounds more like an OJ Simpson's glove moment if the defense uses it properly .

It proves instead that Trump was not aware of the details of the payoff . He never mentions it's impact on the campaign . What the tape proves is that Cohen orchestrated the details of the payments .

In fact ;Trump Organization comptroller Jeffrey McConney testified last week that Trump did NOT direct his staff to set up reimbursement payments to Cohen.

Quote:

"Michael Cohen was a lawyer?" defense attorney Emil Bove asked McConney.
"Sure, yes," McConney said.
"And payments to lawyers by the Trump Organization are legal expenses, right?" asked Bove.
"Yes," said McConney.
"President Trump did not ask you to do any of the things you just described ... correct?" Bove asked.
"He did not," McConney replied.
"And as far as you know, President Trump did not ask anyone to do those things?" Bove continued, before an objection.
"In none of the conversations that you had with Mr. Weisselberg, did he suggest that President Trump had told him to do these things?" Bove asked again.
"Allen never told me that," McConney said.

Trump trial: Stormy Daniels tells (almost) all about alleged sexual encounter with Trump - ABC News (go.com)

And previously Hope Hicks testified that Trump was not concerned about the election. He was more concerned about how the revelation would impact his relationship with Melania.

That is 3 prosecution witnesses who have for all intent discredited the charges against Trump .

If the glove don't fit ..........

Let's assume the prosecution can convince the jury that Trump paid off Stormy Daniels because of the election. Does that prove their case ? No because the payoff was not a crime. They need to also prove that Trump orchestrated a cooking of the books to hide the payments.
I see nothing that says so. Oh the prosecution produced a bunch of business records showing that on the ledger the reimbursements to Cohen were expenses . But even if they were falsely filed as such (which I don't believe to be true) ;they do not show that Trump orchestrated a conspiracy . They would need another star witness to collaborate that Trump directed the so called "conspiracy" .

In testimony Cohen said he met with Trump and Trump comptroller Allen Weisman at Trump tower to plot the conspiracy. You would think the logical choice would be for the prosecution to call Weisman to the stand for collaboration. But they did not . They have said Cohen is their last witness.

Weisman is in Riker's Island serving time for perjury during the bogus Letitia James civil fraud case.

The best witnesses they have are 2 convicted perjurers . And they choose to not use one of them . Why ?

Cohen today during cross examination admitted that he stole at least $30 thousand from Trump

So other than him being a liar and a thief, there is no real reason not to believe his testimony??

If I am the Dems I question Trump's character and judgement based on his circle of business associates . That is really the only thing I get from this case.

What is worse ..... making questionable ledger entries or grand larceny ?

Yesterday Judge Merchan lost his cool and left no doubt that he is biased.
Trump had 2 witnesses in his defense One was a minor clerk who submitted phone ledgers into record. The other was the star witness Robert Costello....a 40 year attorney and former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York.

Costello had served as Cohen's lawyer / advisor . Lawyer -lawyer confidentiality had been waived . So he has been speaking freely to The House of Reps ;and now as a witness for Trump.

He skewered Cohen . But the real entertainment came when the judge lost his cool over eye gestured Costello was making from the witness chair in reaction to the judge allowing just about every prosecution objection ;while at the same time denying the defense ones.

The judge cleared the court so he could scold Costello . For some reason he forgot the remove Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz from the court . He witnessed what came next .

Quote:

Losing his cool and showing his thin skin, the judge cleared the courtroom of everyone including the media.

For some reason, I was allowed to stay, and I observed one of the most remarkable wrong-headed biases I have ever seen. The judge actually threatened to strike all of Costello’s testimony if he raised his eyebrows again.
That of course would have been unconstitutional because it would have denied the defendant his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses and to raise a defense.
It would have punished the defendant for something a witness was accused of doing.
Even if what Costello did was wrong, and it was not, it would be utterly improper and unlawful to strike his testimony — testimony that undercut and contradicted the government’s star witness.

The judge’s threat was absolutely outrageous, unethical, unlawful and petty.
Moreover, his affect while issuing that unconstitutional threat revealed his utter contempt for the defense and anyone who testified for the defendant.
The public should have been able to see the judge in action, but because the case is not being televised, the public has to rely on the biased reporting of partisan journalists.
But the public was even denied the opportunity to hear from journalists who saw the judge in action because he cleared the courtroom.
I am one of the few witnesses to his improper conduct who remained behind to observe his deep failings.

I was inside the court when the judge closed the Trump trial, and what I saw shocked me (nypost.com)

The defense rested after the prosecution cross examined Costello today.

The case resumes after Memorial Day with jury instructions and deliberations. That is unless Judge Merchan comes to his senses and dismissed the case because the prosecution did not prove it's case .

Greg Germain ;law professor at Syracuse U agrees the case is absurd.

Case Against Donald Trump Is 'Absurd'—Law Professor (msn.com)

deleted duplicate post

It is unusual in the extreme for a judge to allow a delay of almost a week from the time a defense rests until closing arguments and jury instructions. The jury is not sequestered . They will be going to family and friends barbeques and parties . There is zero chance they will not be influenced by press reporting and the opinions of the people around them . Most likely it will be suggested to them how unpopular an acquittal will be among the bluest of blue NYC population .

Jury instructions will be important because whatever charge there is comes from the weaving together of misdemeanors that have gone past the statutes of limitations . The judge can tell them what evidence is important to consider .

My prediction has not changed . Trump will be found guilty and will it will be overturned in appeal. The intended damage done. He will be running as a convicted candidate. The unintended consequence is that this could backfire by making Trump a martyr who was convicted in a political show trial .

In Georgia Fanni Willis won her reelection primary . She is defiant as ever. She lashed out at Rep Jim Jordan calling him a clown . He has subpoenaed her over his investigation of her misuse of funds.

Just to reiterate ;Trump can run if convicted . Two candidates have done so in the past ;although this will be the first time a major party candidate runs.

Socialist party Eugene Debs got close to a million votes while in a jail for defying court orders when he led a rail strike.Lyndon LaRouche, was a serial candidate between 1976 and 2004. He was in jail between 1989 to 1994 serving time for a fraud conviction.

Trump has a good chance of getting elected . But since this is not a Federal case....even though the phony charges are related to allegations he violated Federal campaign finance law.....he could not pardon himself

This is all, I think, going to work to his benefit. Any fair-minded person can see how ridiculous it all is. It illustrates the dangers of a large, corrupt government that the founding fathers warned us about.

You and I see it that way. I am not sure about how many fair minded people there are or how many people pay attention to the details .

The judge let one prosecution witnesses after another say without a challenge that he had committed a Federal election crime . All defense objections were over ruled.

Then Trump was denied having a FEC official as a star expert witness explain why Trump did not violate election laws because the judge said he was not being charged with a Federal crime and it was up to the judge to decide what laws he is to be charged with. This is information I had to dig at to get.

Judge limits scope of testimony from Trump's planned expert witness - Live Updates - POLITICO

Was this fair ? No . I did not hear any reporting on the compliant press about this . It will eventually get him a successful appeal After the election . Don't forget ;to make it to SCOTUS ,an appeal has to go through 2 levels of NY State courts .

Most of the country will just know that Trump was found guilty .