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Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial will resume at Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday, after the former president’s estranged ex-lawyer Michael Cohen concluded his testimony on Monday and the prosecution rested its case.
Cohen endured something of a rocky ride on the stand over the course of his 17 hours of giving evidence, particularly when he was accused of lying by defense attorney Todd Blanche and challenged over inconsistencies in his public statements about the Stormy Daniels payoff at the heart of the case.
Mr Trump denies having an affair with the adult film star and all of the 34 felony charges he faces over the falsification of business records to hide the $130,000 payment made to Ms Daniels in October 2016 to ensure her silence during his presidential campaign.
It is still not clear if the defendant himself plans to testify, although it is now thought unlikely.
The defense has begun to present its case and its first witness, lawyer Robert Costello, was angrily admonished by Judge Juan Merchan for “staring him down” and muttering in response to the justice’s decisions.
Closing arguments are currently scheduled for next Tuesday.
Alex Woodward is covering the trial for The Independent at Manhattan Criminal Court.
New York hush money trail: Cohen admits to stealing from Trump while clawing back Daniels payment
Let’s recap the action from another intense day at Manhattan Criminal Court.
First up, the final prosecution witness Michael Cohen completed his 17 hours of testimony on the stand by admitting that he had “stolen” tens of thousands of dollars from the Trump Organization as part of his reimbursement plan with Trump to recoup the $130,000 he shelled out to Stormy Daniels in 2016.
Under cross-examination from Trump’s defense attorney on Monday, the businessman’s former attorney and one-time “fixer” testified that he pocketed $60,000 from his former boss by overstating the amount he paid a tech company that rigged online opinion polls in Trump’s favor.
He said the extra money was “like self help,” an apparent attempt to extract more money from Trump after Cohen was upset that he didn’t receive a larger annual bonus, even after paying Daniels out of his own pocket.
Here’s Alex Woodward’s report from court.
Truth Social: Trump renews criticism of Judge Merchan and posts series of Biden attack videos
Your Favourite President (TM) has been busy on social media since court wrapped yesterday, attacking the judge presiding over his hush money trial and releasing a string of attack videos going after his successor.
“Judge Juan Merchan, who has thus far been the exact Conflicted Democrat Operative his Comrades expected, has a chance to take a real step toward rehabilitating both his Reputation and the Justice System of New York by dismissing the Biden Election Interference Witch Hunt brought by Soros funded D.A. Alvin Bragg. Every serious Legal Expert and Scholar is unequivocally stating that the ‘prosecutors’ have not come close to putting on a case, THERE IS NO CRIME, which means that the right thing to do is to END THIS SCAM NOW AND FOREVERMORE. It would be a Big, Bold, Beautiful, but Highly Unexpected, yet BRILLIANT, step toward Justice in New York, and our Nation as a whole!”
“IF A PRESIDENT DOES NOT HAVE IMMUNITY, THE COURT WILL BE “OPENING THE FLOODGATES” TO PROSECUTING FORMER PRESIDENTS. AN OPPOSING HOSTILE PARTY WILL BE DOING IT FOR ANY REASON, ALL OF THE TIME!”
…and a golf video!
He’s got this folks, every angle covered.
“Tremendous, people are saying, ‘Sir, we’ve never seen a feed like it.’”
Watch: Dramatic moment court is cleared in midst of defense case
An ‘act of near-insanity’ if Trump had testified in own defence at hush money trial
Over the last few weeks, the former president touted that he would “absolutely” testify in his criminal trial “if necessary”, adding that he would probably do so.
He did not.
Biden says 2020 election loss left Trump ‘unhinged’
Joe Biden described Donald Trump as “unhinged” following the Republican’s loss of the 2020 presidential election. The US president was delivering commencement address at Morehouse College, a historically Black men’s college in Atlanta, in a visit to the battleground state of Michigan on Sunday, 19 May. Discussing the January 6 Capitol insurrection, Mr Biden said: “Surely something snapped in Trump… That’s why on January 6, what happened? Every legal avenue Trump tried to challenge the election failed. “He’s not only obsessed about losing 2020. He is clearly unhinged… He calls the insurrectionists who stormed Capitol Hill – patriots.”
Did a 14-year-old prank caller blow up Michael Cohen’s testimony?
Alex Woodward reports on a call the defence claims is at the center of the case against Donald Trump:
After blaming 2020 loss on mail balloting, Trump tries to convince GOP voters it’s ok now
Marta Moehring voted the way she prefers in Nebraska’s Republican primary Tuesday — in person, at her west Omaha polling place.
She didn’t even consider taking advantage of the state’s no-excuse mail-in ballot process. In fact, she would prefer to do away with mail-in voting altogether. She’s convinced fraudulent mailed ballots cost former President Donald Trump a second term in 2020.
“I don’t trust it in general,” Moehring, 62, said. “I don’t think they’re counted correctly.”
But now Republican officials — even, sometimes, Trump — are encouraging voters such as Moehring to cast their ballots by mail. The GOP has launched an effort to, in the words of one official, “correct the narrative” on mail voting and get those who were turned off to it by Trump to reconsider for this year’s election.
Read on…
ICYMI: Trump surrogates drowned out by protesters outside court
Cohen ‘stealing’ is ‘more serious’ than Trump’s charges claims CNN legal analyst
During CNN’s coverage, legal analyst Elie Honig said that the practice, which is considered larceny in New York state, was “crushing” the prosecution’s credibility.
Ariana Baio reports:
It’s been another long day in court…
Here’s a music break courtesy of Randy Rainbow:
Source: independent.co.uk
