The Conversation -- May 21, 2024
New York Times reporters are liveblogging what is probably the last day of testimony in the Manhattan D.A.'s criminal case against Donald Trump unless El Pollo de Mar-a-Lardo decides to perjure himself today. ~~~
Maggie Haberman: "Trump, as he has in recent days, will be accompanied by a large entourage. Today's guests will include Donald Trump, Jr...; Matt Whitaker, the former acting attorney general of the United States; Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general; several Republican members of the House of Representatives, including Ronny Jackson of Texas, the former White House doctor; and the actor Joe Piscopo. Chuck Zito, the former Hells Angels leader and actor, will return after appearing on Monday.... Sebastian Gorka, Trump's former White House adviser, walks in with a silver case bearing what appears to be a presidential seal." [MB: Ab-so-fucking-lootly pathetic!] ...
"Robert Costello is back on the stand."
Jonah Bromwich: "We are looking at an email from Michael Cohen to Robert Costello and other lawyers -- the date not immediately clear -- in which Cohen asks Costello to stop contacting him. Cohen tells Costello in his email, point blank, that he is not his lawyer."
Haberman: Prosecutor "Susan Hoffinger is asking Robert Costello about his relationship with Rudy Giuliani, another former Trump lawyer who's been indicted, and whose son is in the courtroom as a news reporter for a right-wing website."
Benjamin Protess: "Costello confirmed that he is close to Rudy Giuliani and has known him for 50 years. It's worth noting that Costello and his law firm recently sued Giuliani for unpaid legal bills."
Bromwich: "Prosecutors have told a specific story about Robert Costello -- that he was part of a pressure campaign on Michael Cohen in 2018 as Cohen, who faced a federal investigation into his hush-mony payment to Stormy Daniels, was considering turning against Trump. The defense sought to muddy that story when Cohen was testifying. But by calling Costello as their own witness, they have given the prosecutors the opportunity to reinforce their own story on cross-examination, and the emails we have already seen yesterday and this morning suggest that they have ample evidence with which to do so....
"As expected, [the emails] corroborate prosecutors' story, suggesting that Costello was manipulating Cohen at the direction of Rudy Giuliani and Trump, while misleading Cohen so that he would not understand what was happening.... Costello wrote in an email that his mission was to 'get Cohen on the right page without giving him the appearance that we are following instructions from Giuliani or the president.'... These emails ... show Robert Costello misleading Michael Cohen, saying something to him directly and another thing behind his back."
Haberman: "Robert Costello answers 'no' when asked if he has animosity toward Michael Cohen. Susan Hoffinger points out that Costello went to Washington last week to testify before Congress about Cohen, and made aggressive comments about him. Costello says he didn't know his comments would be reported in the press, which is a little hard to fathom."
Bromwich: "Hoffinger's final question is an accusation: whether Costello's testimony to Congress was meant to intimidate Cohen as he testified in this trial. Costello asked her to repeat the question and then denied the accusation. 'No,' he said. 'Ridiculous.' The cross-examination concluded there.... Emil Bove, a defense lawyer, is back questioning Robert Costello.... Bove is now making it clear that Cohen, in 2018, used the back channel to Trump that he had been provided by Costello, communicating through the lawyer to Rudy Giuliani and presumably, Trump."
Jesse McKinley: "Emil Bove's re-direct ends with an objection sustained."
Haberman: "The defense rests, Todd Blanche says."
Bromwich: "Susan Hoffinger, in a brief, final series of questions and answers, again confirms that Robert Costello was never officially hired as Michael Cohen's lawyer. Costello steps down from the witness stand."
McKinley: "Jurors will be home in time for lunch, as Justice Merchan is sending them home until next Tuesday, when summations will begin. He hopes deliberations will start on Wednesday, May 29."
Bromwich: "This afternoon, we expect prosecutors and the defense lawyers to push for their preferred versions of the jury instructions during a charging conference, a hugely important moment that will come cloaked in very dry, legalistic language. Justice Merchan may also rule on the defense lawyers' latest attempt to dismiss the case, which they made in a motion yesterday. The effort is considered a long shot."
Michael Gold: "As he exited the courtroom, and raised his hand in a fist, Trump did not answer reporters' questions about why he had not testified in the trial....
"While a gag order prevents Trump from commenting on witnesses, his supporters and campaign surrogates have freer rein to comment. Outside the courthouse, his oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., attacked Michael Cohen as a liar. He also criticized Stormy Daniels, the prosecution's other star witness, and essentially said that their involvement in the trial made a mockery of jurisprudence.... Matt Whitaker, a former acting attorney general who was a top Trump campaign surrogate in Iowa, said: 'We have witnesses who are liars and stealers.'"
[Justice Merchan will hear arguments during the afternoon session regarding jury instructions. The Times reporters are following the arguments]
Bromwich: "The judge tells the lawyers that he will get them a final version of the jury instructions by the end of the day on Thursday. We won&'t know his final rulings until then, but court is adjourned.... The next time we see the jury will be a week from now, for closing arguments. Thanks for reading."
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Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "On a pivotal day in the first criminal trial of an American president, the courtroom threatened to spin out of control. The prosecution's star witness, Michael D. Cohen, admitted on the stand to stealing* from ... Donald J. Trump's company. Mr. Trump's courtroom entourage included three supporters charged with felonies of their own. And the defense's only real witness was so defiant that the judge, after excoriating him, cleared the courtroom. The trial's first five weeks featured dramatic descriptions of sex and scandal, and the final phase of testimony on Monday showed no signs of a letup, as the courtroom played host to a nonstop spectacle.... And when prosecutors received a second opportunity to question Mr. Cohen, they sought to blunt much of the impact of the cross-examination. 'Are you charged with any crimes in this case?' a prosecutor, Susan Hoffinger, asked him. 'No, ma'am,' Mr. Cohen replied, explaining that he was there merely as a 'subpoenaed witness.'" ~~~
~~~ * Marie: The reporters completely miss the underlying point here, and we'll have to hope the prosecution points this out to the jury. Showing that Cohen is a thief is immaterial, given that -- as the defense emphasized -- it isn't he who is on trial. The "theft" to which Cohen admitted during cross-examination was in boosting the reimbursement Trump paid him for some shady contractor work Cohen had commissioned. Cohen had paid the contractor only $20,000, but he billed Trump $50,000. And that bumped-up bill was one of the elements of the $420,000 Trump reimbursed Cohen. That's the crux of case against Trump: that he falsified business records when he claimed the $420K installment payments were for "legal services" and not for reimbursing Cohen for paying off Stormy Daniels and others. Trump's attorney Todd Blanche was so confused about his own theory of the case that he made a big deal of "proving" that the payments were really reimbursements; that is, he proved the prosecution's case, that those records really were reimbursements disguised as legal fees. Blanche set a trap for Cohen and fell into it. Astounding, really! ~~~
~~~ Bromwich noted in yesterday's liveblog (linked below): "... outside the courtroom, Trump told television cameras that 'we paid a legal expense,' arguing, as his defense lawyer has, that Michael Cohen was paid for legitimate legal purposes. With his use of the word 'we,' Trump assigns himself responsibility for the way the payment was categorized, before correcting himself and blaming a bookkeeper." That is, the prosecution has so effectively made its case that both the defendant and his lead lawyer are copping to essential parts of it. ~~~
~~~ Michael Sisak, et al., of the AP: "The judge in Donald Trump's hush money trial cleared the courtroom of reporters Monday and then threatened to remove the defense's witness from the trial altogether because of his behavior on the stand, which included making comments under his breath and rolling his eyes, a court transcript showed. Judge Juan M. Merchan told Robert Costello, a former federal prosecutor, that his conduct during testimony was contemptuous. Costello aggravated Merchan repeatedly in part by continuing to speak after objections were sustained -- a signal to witnesses to stop talking. At one point, Costello remarked 'jeez' when he was cut off by an objection. He also called the whole exercise 'ridiculous.'" MB: Costello probably will be the defense's only witness. So congrats with that choice, Team Trump! ~~~
~~~ New York Times reporters liveblogged developments yesterday in the Manhattan D.A.'s criminal case against Donald Trump. Details in yesterday's Conversation include two dramatic moments: one when defense witness Robert Costello's behavior so appalled Justice Merchan that the judge yelled "Clear the courtroom!" before chewing out the witness, and two when the prosecution, over strenuous defense objections, produced photographic evidence that Trump and his bodyguard were together at the time of a phone call in which the defense had spent a good deal of effort trying to show that the phone call from Michael Cohen was to the bodyguard only, and not to Trump." ~~~
~~~ Transcripts of proceedings, up through last week, are here, via the court.
Presidential Race
Rebecca O'Brien & Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump and the Republican Party out-raised President Biden and the Democrats last month for the first time in this election cycle, according to campaign officials, as Mr. Biden's pace of fund-raising slowed significantly from March. Mr. Trump's advisers have said privately that his campaign, together with the Republican Party and all of their affiliated committees, raised $76.2 million in April. The Biden campaign said on Monday evening that it had raised $51 million in April with the Democratic National Committee -- which was just over half as much as they raised in March, and also a touch less than they raised in February."
Lisa Friedman & Rebecca Elliott of the New York Times: President "Biden had imposed restrictions on drilling as part of his ambitious climate agenda, but he also approved an enormous $8 billion oil project in Alaska. The United States had become the world's leading exporter of natural gas, and no other country in history was pumping more crude. The industry was enjoying record profits. Then, in January, Mr. Biden paused new permits for export facilities for liquefied natural gas. That decision galvanized oil and gas companies against Mr. Biden, according to industry lobbyists. [A fundraising] luncheon [in Houston Wednesday], organized by three oil executives, will benefit ... MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC[. It] comes about a month after Mr. Trump hosted energy executives over dinner at Mar-a-Lago. He asked them to donate $1 billion to his campaign so that he could retake the White House and dismantle Mr. Biden's climate regulations, including the pause on permits."
Trump Team Goes Full Nazi, Promises to Establish a "Reich." Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump posted a video on Monday afternoon that features images of hypothetical newspaper articles celebrating a 2024 victory for him and referring to 'the creation of a unified Reich' under the headline 'What's next for America?'... Another headline in the video suggests that Mr. Trump in a second term would reject 'globalists,' using a term that has been widely adopted on the far right and that scholars say can be used as a signal of antisemitism. The Trump campaign said in a statement that the video had been posted by a staff member while Mr. Trump was in his criminal trial in Manhattan. The video was still up on his account late Monday night...." The AP's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "The Trump campaign put out a statement distancing itself from the video, blaming a staffer and making other excuses. But on Tuesday's edition of CNN News Central, [Sara] Sidner and [Alayna] Treene called BS on those efforts by pointing out that the video has not been taken down[.]
Young Trump -- the Movie. Jada Yuan of the Washington Post reviews the film "The Apprentice," which premiered at Cannes on Monday. "In details that seem to be based on a 1990 divorce deposition from Ivana Trump, we see him go under the knife, in gory detail, to get liposuction and a scalp reduction surgery, as a solution to his growing love handles and bald spot. And we watch when, as Ivana also alleged in that deposition, [Donald] Trump pushes her to the floor of their home during an argument and rapes her. (Ivana's testimony had brought the concept of marital rape into mainstream American conversation at the time, but she recanted her statements about it in 2015.)... 'We will be filing a lawsuit to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers...,' said Steven Cheung, Trump's campaign communications director.... '... the point is there is no nice metaphorical way to deal with the rising wave of fascism..., and it's not going to be pretty,' [the film's director Ali Abbasi] said." Here's the Guardian's report/review.
... democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried.... -- Winston Churchill, 1947 ~~~
~~~ Erik Loomis in LG&$: "Joe Biden may very well lose this election and Donald Trump may very well be the 47th president of the United States.... I am [blaming] the average masses who don't pay much attention to anything and exist on vibe politics. These are the kind of people who are nostalgic for Trump, who think the pandemic happened under Biden, who think that Biden is why Roe was overturned and don't understand what the Supreme Court even is.... They think Trump is this vigorous badass dude and Biden is ancient, even though Trump's mind is turning into pudding and Biden is barely any older than Trump." Loomis cites, for instance, a Wisconsin construction worker named Chris Myers, who "complained that Mr. Biden's visit last week celebrating the creation of Mr. Myers's job ended up slowing down the concrete trucks." Loomis: "I also want to push back against LGM's favorite horse to whip the mainstream media. Do you know who reads the New York Times? None of these people. None.... Joe Rogan is way fucking more important to this country's politics than Maggie Haberman."
Craig Whitlock of the Washington Post: "... a pattern of prosecutorial misconduct in the Fat Leonard investigation ... has caused several cases to unravel so far and is threatening to undermine more.... Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California are proposing throwing out the felony guilty pleas of [four] retired Navy officers and one retired Marine colonel who admitted pocketing bribes from [Leonard] Francis. If the judge approves, they'll be allowed to plead guilty to misdemeanors instead, with no prison time. The cases collapsed after defense attorneys alleged that prosecutors from the U.S. attorney's office in San Diego relied on flawed evidence and withheld information favorable to the defense during the 2022 bribery trial of five other officers who had served in the Navy's 7th Fleet in Asia.... The striking reversals have given the Justice Department a black eye and undermined the quest for accountability in the most extensive corruption case in U.S. military history."
Elisabeth Buchwald of CNN: "Martin Gruenberg, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation [and a Democratic appointee], will step down following a scathing independent investigation detailing pervasive sexual harassment, discrimination and bullying at the agency charged with regulating the banking sector.... Gruenberg's announcement of his intent to resign comes hours after Sen. Sherrod Brown, a top Democrat who leads the Senate Banking Committee, called for 'new leadership' at the FDIC. Gruenberg joined the FDIC board of directors almost two decades ago. He's served as chair of the agency for nearly 10 of the past 13 years. President Joe Biden will 'soon' announce a new nominee to lead the FDIC, White House Deputy Press Secretary Sam Michel said in a statement on Monday following the news. 'We expect the Senate to confirm the nominee quickly,' he added.... With Gruenberg remaining until a successor is named, there won't be a situation where Vice Chair Travis Hill, a Republican appointee, automatically becomes chair, leaving the agency deadlocked with one other Republican and two Democratic members on the FDIC's board of directors."
Megan Specia of the New York Times: "A London court ruled on Monday that Julian Assange, the embattled WikiLeaks founder, could appeal his extradition to the United States, a move that opens a new chapter in his prolonged fight against the order in Britain's courts. Two High Court judges said they would allow a full appeal to be heard because questions remained about his First Amendment rights in the United States and whether his status as an Australian citizen would be prejudicial. Mr. Assange's lawyers have until Friday to submit a full case outline to the court. Mr. Assange, 52, has been held in Belmarsh, one of Britain's highest-security prisons, in southeastern London since 2019 as his fight against the extradition order has proceeded through the courts." (Also linked yesterday.)
Matthew Goldstein of the New York Times: "On Monday..., Donald J. Trump's social media company reported taking in $770,000 in advertising revenue in the first three months of the year..., compared with $1.1 million in revenue in the year-ago quarter..., as it continued to incur hefty losses.... In the first three months of the year, Trump Media had a net loss of $327.6 million.... The company said that, on an operating basis, it lost $12.1 million in the quarter compared with $3.6 million in 2023. It said that roughly half of this year's first-quarter operating loss included merger-related costs. The operating figures reported by Trump Media do not follow generally accepted accounting principles...." CNBC's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: So if my understanding of generally unacceptable arithmetic is correct, the good news is that Trump Media made nearly three-quarters of a million dollars! during the first quarter. The bad news: it lost three-hundred twenty-eight'and-a-half million dollars. For Trump the good news is that he made lotsa money while nearly everybody else lost money. So another typical Trump enterprise.
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Nevada. Adam Adelman & Lindsey Pipia of NBC News: "A proposed amendment to enshrine access to abortion in Nevada's constitution is one step closer to appearing on the November ballot after a coalition of reproductive rights advocates submitted the required number of signatures to state officials Monday.... Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, the group leading the effort, announced it had collected more than 200,000 signatures of registered voters -- far more than the 103,000 it needed to move forward with the process of qualifying their proposal on the ballot."
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Israel/Palestine, et al.
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Tuesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "European countries including France and Germany issued statements affirming their support for the legitimacy of the International Criminal Court after its prosecutor sought arrest warrants for top Israeli and Hamas officials. President Biden criticized the prosecutor's decision, saying there is 'no equivalence -- none -- between Israel and Hamas.'... [President] Biden reaffirmed his support for Israel in a separate case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice, saying that what's happening in Gaza 'is not a genocide.' Israel also rejects South Africa's allegation." ~~~
~~~ CNN's live updates Tuesday are here. The New York Times' live updates are here.
Ivana Kottasová & Madalena Araujo of CNN: "The International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the October 7 attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, the court's prosecutor Karim Khan told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an ... interview on Monday. Khan said the ICC's prosecution team is also seeking warrants for Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as two other top Hamas leaders -- Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, the leader of the Al Qassem Brigades who is better known as Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' political leader. The warrants against the Israeli politicians mark the first time the ICC has targeted the top leader of a close ally of the United States." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~ Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "President Biden and U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle sharply criticized news Monday that the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor was seeking arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Israel-Gaza conflict. In a statement, Biden said it was 'outrageous' that ICC prosecutor Karim Khan had applied for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.... 'Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence -- none -- between Israel and Hamas,' Biden stated. 'We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.'"
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Reader Comments (8)
Missing the point…by miles
The disorder in the court yesterday, and every day in all of these trials comes down to one person: the Always Defendant, Donald Trump. All of his trials so far, and the others to come (should they ever be allowed to happen by judicial stooges) devolve into seamy, nasty messes involving illegal doings by disgusting people, all orbiting around the gross Death Star that is Trump himself.
Rape, fraud, lies, illegal shenanigans, underhanded schemes perpetrated by underhanded people—all because of Trump. Michael Cohen is painted as a nasty piece of work? He is! THAT’S WHY HE WAS HIRED!
Stormy Daniels and E. Jean Carroll testify to unpleasant and disgusting events? All because of Trump.
Yesterday the star witness for the defense, called, I’ve read, at Trump’s behest to attack Cohen causes the courtroom to be cleared by his astonishingly disrespectful actions? Why? To impress Trump. Also, this Costello person is likely a douchebag to begin with (also why he worked for Trump). But just think about that. Impressing Trump requires that you repeatedly insult a judge, in his courtroom, while the trial is going on.
Michael Cohen is a bad guy? Stormy Daniels has sex on camera for money and then has sex with Trump perhaps for some quid pro quo? E. Jean Carroll is forced to describe in great detail a sexual assault? Allen Weisselberg perjures himself on the stand and goes to prison? Cohen lies and goes to prison?
All Trump.
He’s the Typhiod Mary of his own stinking universe. But nothing is his fault, right? It’s everyone else.
Reporters breathlessly yapping about Todd Blanche’s “bombshell” revelations about Michael Cohen lying, and how the prosecution’s case is dead completely misses the point. None of this happens without Trump .
None of it. The schemes, the lies, the rape, the pussy grabbing, the decades of business fraud, the insurrection, the stolen documents, the trials, the disrespect, the outrageous behavior.
It’s all Trump. No one else. Don’t miss the fucking point.
One might fairly conclude that out there somewhere is an advanced course in missing the point that the current crop of journalists is required to take, pass, and retake through the course of their careers.
Gold stars to them.
Ken,
Yeah, and the other problem is reporting on a trial as if each new “revelation” is the end game. C’mon guys. You’re reporters, you must, at some point, have read a few books. There’s an arc to these things. Plots unwind over many pages. You gotta follow it through to the end. Todd Blanche scored a few points? Good for him. That’s his job. Of course he’s gonna score a few points. It’s not the end of the game. You’re watching a basketball game. Team A sinks a big three point shot. Is the game over? No. If only one team scored, no one would watch. The NBA would be the NFA: no fans anymore.
It’s like reading “Pride and Prejudice”, but halfway through you see that Mr. Darcy asks Elizabeth Bennet to marry him. She tells him to take a hike. And oh yeah, poor Mr. Wickham…
You think, well, that’s it. Darcy is cooked, Elizabeth will never get married, and Wickham is a good guy.
No! Finish the book. Making pronouncements about the storyline at that point gets things exactly wrong on all counts. Darcy and Elizabeth marry, and Wickham is an asshole.
Let the trial play out. Blanche scores a few points? Great. He’s getting paid a ton of money to do that (although, knowing his client, he might not get a penny). Report that, but don’t then announce that Trump will win.
Fuck’s sake.
Wait…Fatty didn’t take the stand in his own defense like he said he would? His ass was too fat for the chair? Or maybe his Manly Man “Ill tell them all the truth!” bullshit is all an act.
Why, just yesterday his (losing) lawyer and legal spokesperson-type…whatever…Alina Habba, promised that Trump would testify. He’s brave, he’s true, he’s Super Donald!
Umm…no. He’s a whiny bully and a coward. Plus, he’s guilty.
Habba, after promising Fatty would take the stand, almost immediately (as all Trump bootlickers do) backpedaled.
“Of course President Trump will testify!” (They all have to call him “President” Trump…I guess “Convicted felon Trump” doesn’t have the same ring) followed by the inevitable BUT…
“…but he’s up against evil forces. It’s all rigged, the judge is horrible, the DA is out to get him. They’re all liars…”
So….? No testifying. Right?
S’what I thought.
Cow-ard.
Guil-tee!
Some good distinctions about credulousness made in this one.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/22/dont-believe-what-theyre-telling-you-about-misinformation
Something I forgot to mention about Fatty’s declaration, before nuts obsessed with guns. That NRA convention at which Trump made a call for Biden to be assassinated?
It was in Dallas.
AP
"Israeli officials seized a camera and broadcasting equipment belonging to The Associated Press in southern Israel on Tuesday, accusing the news organization of violating a new media law by providing images to Al Jazeera. The U.S. privately urged the Israeli government to reverse the decision, two senior U.S. officials said."
Politico
"Four months after the FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago estate, Donald Trump’s attorneys discovered four documents marked “classified” in his personal bedroom.
That revelation was among several cited by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in a newly unsealed 2023 opinion that found prosecutors had presented compelling evidence that Trump knowingly stashed national security documents in his home and then tried to conceal them when the Justice Department tried to retrieve them."