Trump’s history-making hush-money trial begins ...(Mod Warning)

Good luck.

 

5m ago / 2:19 PM EDT
Trump legal team is laying groundwork to try to discredit trial

+3
Adam Reiss, Jillian Frankel, Gary Grumbach and Alex Seitz-Wald
In asking for a mistrial, Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche laid the groundwork for Trump and his team to try to discredit the trial later, arguing the jury has now been prejudiced and that a fair trial is no longer possible.

"This is extraordinarily prejudicial testimony and you can’t fix it," he said of Stormy Daniels' testimony about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump. "This is the kind of testimony that makes it impossible to come back from."

Blanche argued that much of Daniels' testimony had nothing to do with the trial itself, which is about falsification of business records and said her testimony was merely meant to embarrass Trump and "inflame the jury."

He went on to say that testimony was "so prejudicial that there’s a risk the jury won’t be able to focus on the evidence" of the case itself.

8m ago / 2:15 PM EDT
Judge Merchan denies defense motion for a mistrial


Gary Grumbach and Rebecca Shabad
Merchan has denied the motion for a mistrial that was brought by Trump's defense team.

“As a threshold matter, Mr. Blanche, I agree that there were things that would have been better left unsaid," the judge said. “I think the witness was a little difficult to control.”

“I don’t believe we’re at the point where a mistrial is warranted," he added. “I’m also surprised

 

1 min ago
Blanche talks to Trump while lawyers gather at the bench


Lawyers are at the bench while attorney Todd Blanche is still talking to Donald Trump with his hand covering his mouth.

3 min ago
Lawyers appear to be hashing out language for jury instruction
The lawyers appear to be hashing out language for a limiting instruction to the jury.

Trump is chatting with attorney Emil Bove at the defense table. Todd Blanche whispered something to him when he returned.



4 min ago
Analysis: Why Stormy Daniels may not be an ideal witness but an important one
From CNN's Aditi Sangal

Adult film actress Stormy Daniels’ testimony in the morning has been fairly smooth, but coming back from lunch break, it may get a little bumpy, CNN legal analyst Elie Honig said.

“Already her testimony about her motivations have been a little bit contradictory. She said at one point, I only wanted to tell my story. She said another point, I didn't want it to come out. Later on, she ends up denying that she ever had sex with Donald Trump. She's now denied that denial. So they're going to have to get through this terrain here,” Honig said.

However, she is a key witness for the prosecution.

“What they just want to establish is she had this story. It's on the brink of the election happening in 2016, and there was this agreement in place to keep her silent. And in her understanding, Donald Trump — even though she didn't negotiate it with Donald Trump — [he] was the beneficiary,” Honig explained.
Remember: The hush money payment on its own is not a crime. Michael Cohen sent the payment to a trust for Daniels’ then-lawyer Keith Davidson. It’s the payments Trump made to Cohen, which prosecutors allege was reimbursement for paying off the adult-film star ahead of the election, that are at the heart of the 34 charges of falsifying business records.

3 min ago
Trump attorney says defense felt the judge had ruled prosecution was OK "to do what they were doing"
Trump attorney Susan Necheles tells Judge Merchan that once he signaled he thought Stormy Daniels' testimony had gone too far, the defense started to consistently object.

"But up until that point, we really had felt your honor had ruled at the bench that they were allowed to do what they were doing."
Merchan responded: "I think that I signaled to you and to the prosecution that we were going into way too much detail."

6 min ago
Merchan says he will give limiting instruction to jury about Daniels' account of being threatened
Judge Juan Merchan reiterates that he will give a limiting instruction to the jury about Stormy Daniels' testimony of being threatened in 2011.



7 min ago
Judge says defense has to "take some responsibility" for making few objections
Judge Juan Merchan also says he was surprised there weren't more objections from Trump's team during Stormy Daniels' testimony.

"The defense has to take some responsibility for that," he says.

"When you say 'the bell has been rung,' the defense has to take some responsibility for that," Merchan adds, referring to Trump attorney Todd Blanche's arg

 

The defense team is simply setting up a checkpoint(the motion) for reversible error.

 

This:

'However, she is a key witness for the prosecution.'

“What they just want to establish is she had this story. It's on the brink of the election happening in 2016, and there was this agreement in place to keep her silent. And in her understanding, Donald Trump — even though she didn't negotiate it with Donald Trump — [he] was the beneficiary,” Honig explained.

Remember: The hush money payment on its own is not a crime. Michael Cohen sent the payment to a trust for Daniels’ then-lawyer Keith Davidson. It’s the payments Trump made to Cohen, which prosecutors allege was reimbursement for paying off the adult-film star ahead of the election, that are at the heart of the 34 charges of falsifying business records.

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-n...l-05-07-24/h_9c063539e0e7b051bb185e8b9663a8d7

 

1 min ago
Stormy Daniels is back on the stand


Stormy Daniels walked in and looked at the back of Trump's head. He was facing forward. She is seated as we wait for the jury.

Trump glanced over in her direction as she walked past him.


https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-n...l-05-07-24/h_9c063539e0e7b051bb185e8b9663a8d7

 

5 min ago
Analysis: Motion for mistrial is part of a larger overarching strategy, CNN legal correspondent says

From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury

The motion for a mistrial is part of a wider strategy for the defense in the hush money trial against Donald Trump, CNN Chief Legal Correspondent Paula Reid said.

The motion was put forth because Trump was not happy about Stormy Daniels testimony, but despite the judge denying it, this plays into a bigger strategy.

“This will preserve the issue for their appeal and remember, that is the overarching strategy. We’ve said from day one, assert every objection, preserve every single option so that if this doesn’t go your way, if your client is convicted, try to overturn this on appeal through death by a thousand cuts," Reid said.




4 min ago
Prosecutor steps out to give instruction to Daniels to stay focused while answering, judge says
Judge Juan Merchan says it will take some more time to hash out the language of the limiting instruction for the jury.

"With consent of defense counsel," prosecutor Susan Hoffinger stepped out to give instruction to the witness to stay focused while answering questions, Merchan says, referring to Stormy Daniels.

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-n...l-05-07-24/h_9c063539e0e7b051bb185e8b9663a8d7

 

This trial is classic for a win on appeal if Trump is found guilty.

 

1 min ago
Prosecutor starts with question about the delay in payment from Cohen to Daniels


The prosecutor began with a question to Stormy Daniels about delays in the promised payment from Michael Cohen in 2016.

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-n...l-05-07-24/h_9c063539e0e7b051bb185e8b9663a8d7

 

Come back if he wins an appeal.
Until then like every other trial it's a moot point.

 

Clink the link, it's in there.

 

You can't claim victory until the appeals process is over.

 

Pretty darn obvious they can't win on the evidence nor the merits so they are clutching at "Hail Marys".

 

Tedious. No thanks.

 

Its not a kagaroo court FFS. Trump lawyers are just ridiculously bad.

I love how you righties always blame the system, and yet dont really debate the issues at hand. Trump paid off Stormy Daniels, and now he is being prosecuted for paying her from his campaign which is illegal. The BILLIONAIRE is so *******n dumb that he paid hush money from his campaign and not out of his own pocket. Its a FACT that he paid her for her silence, thats not in dispute, but he paid her from his campaign which is illegal

 

if you actually did that you would see that it is universally reported (except Faux and Newsmax) that he did pay her out of his campaign funds.....

The charges are very clearly spelled out in the indictment

 

Actually, he has a very good legal team, Blanche gave up his lucrative career and moved to Florida, Trump will be his only client unless he gets fired. The lady lawyer has AMAZING credentials.
The case is just not good for Trump since all the evidence leads to the verdict unless the defense can either get a mistrial or create a situation for appeal.

 

Hicks didn't say that.
Stormy got paid to be silent because it came on the heels of the "Access Hollywood" tape's release..

 

4 min ago
Her life turned to chaos after Wall Street Journal story about hush payment, Daniels says


After the Wall Street Journal story ran on January 12, 2018, Stormy Daniels said her life turned into "chaos."

"Suddenly I was front and foremost everywhere," she says. "People on the front lawn."
"Blew my cover, I guess, for lack of a better way of explaining it," she says.
4 min ago
Daniels says she didn't want to sign 2018 statement denying sexual encounter
Stormy Daniels is now addressing the January 10, 2018 statement denying the sexual encounter with Donald Trump. Daniels said she didn't want to sign it because it wasn't true.

She was asked if it was "not true in details."

"Correct," Daniels says.



5 min ago
Daniels says she didn't comment on second Wall Street Journal article because of NDA
Stormy Daniels says Wall Street Journal reporters reached out to her again in January 2017 as they were about to publish a story about her $130,000 payment.

Daniels says she didn't respond to them because she was under the non-disclosure agreement.

"I was respecting that and didn't want to comment," she says.

8 min ago
2016 was probably her best year ever, Daniels says
Stormy Daniels says 2016 was probably her best year ever, as she rattles off several highlights from that year.





8 min ago
Jury is shown Wall Street Journal story about Daniels and McDougal deals
The jury is being shown the November 4, 2016, Wall Street Journal story about American Media Inc.'s "catch and kill" deals involving Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal.

Before the article came out, WSJ reporters reached out to Daniels for comment. She said she didn't respond.

"Because I had a NDA," Daniels said, referring to the nondisclosure agreement.





9 min ago
Daniels says she ended up with around $96,000 from deal after attorney and her agent took their fees
Stormy Daniels testifies she signed the new hush money deal.

After attorney Keith Davidson and her agent Gina Rodriguez took their fees, she ended up with "approximately $96,000," she said.


https://www.cnn.com/

 

And yet you seem to be doing exactly that.

 

My point for the post from Cohen's 2019 testimony is that he admitted that Trump had sex with Stormy and he said he lied to Melania about Trump having done so.

 

It doesn't work like that.
Victories remain victories until they don't.
Everyone and their mothers try to get an appeal.
Going for an appeal does not equate to even getting one.

 

1 min ago
Analysis: Why the Wall Street Journal story matters

From CNN's Allison Morrow

Adult film star Stormy Daniels is testifying about a Wall Street Journal story that ran four days before the 2016 election.

That story broke the news that the publisher of the National Enquirer agreed to pay $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal for her story about an alleged affair with Trump a decade earlier. The tabloid then declined to publish the story, a process known as "catch and kill."

Daniels said she couldn’t respond to the WSJ’s request for comment because of an NDA she had signed.

Prosecutors are attempting to establish what was happening within Trump campaign headquarters in the hectic weeks before the election. The WSJ story ran just weeks after the "Access Hollywood" tape, which caught Trump making lewd statements about women, was released.

2 min ago
Daniels says she knew the "60 Minutes" interview risked violating the non-disclosure agreement
Stormy Daniels says he did the "60 Minutes "interview despite understanding there was a risk of violating the non-disclosure agreement.



2 min ago
Daniels says she didn't include "every detail" of Trump encounter in her book
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asks whether Stormy Daniels included "every detail of what occurred in the room" with Donald Trump.

"Not every detail, no," Daniels says.

Daniels said she wrote the book "so that my daughter would have an account from her mom’s own words about what I had been through, and the reason why I did the things I did."



2 min ago
Trump leans back as Daniels testifies about aftermath of hush money deal
Trump is leaning back and is less engaged with his attorneys as Stormy Daniels talks about the aftermath of the hush money deal.

3 min ago
Trump and Cohen agreed not to enforce NDA by fall 2018, Daniels testifies
Before her "60 Minutes" appearance, Michael Avenatti filed a lawsuit in March 2018 trying to get Stormy Daniels out of the nondisclosure agreement with Donald Trump.

By the fall of 2018, Michael Cohen and Donald Trump agreed not to enforce the NDA, Stormy Daniels confirms.

Daniels says she published a book after being freed of the NDA, titled "Full Disclosure." She says the book is about her life, and it includes some descriptions of Trump.



5 min ago
Daniels says some statements made about her by Michael Cohen were upsetting
The prosecutor is asking Stormy Daniels about statements made by Michael Cohen,

Daniels was asked whether certain public statements upset her.

"Yes," Daniels says. "He could talk about it and I couldn’t."
Daniels said she then went on "60 Minutes" to speak with Anderson Cooper "to get my story out.”

 

9 min ago
Daniels testifies that Cohen in 2018 was saying she had a relationship with Trump


Stormy Daniels testified that Michael Cohen in February 2018 was publicly saying she had a relationship with Trump "and he was the fixer." She used air quotes and shrugged as she said fixer.

Trump shook his head then commented to his attorney reacting to this.

https://www.cnn.com/

 

1 min ago
Daniels says she went on Cohen's podcast because she wanted an aplogy


Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is asking Stormy Daniels why she went on Michel Cohen's "Mea Culpa" podcast.

"Because I wanted him to apologize to me," Daniels says.

Asked if Cohen apologized, Daniels says "he did."

Asked why she went on Cohen's podcast again, Daniels says "because we had a good rapport," and he wanted to ask specific questions about the Michael Avenatti case.

3 min ago
Daniels says she has not yet paid all of the legal fees that she owes Trump
Stormy Daniels says she has not yet paid all of the legal fees the courts say she owed Trump.

She says she has not paid them because she did not have the means and she did not think it was fair.

https://www.cnn.com/