·
OK – now #TrumpTrial with Michael Cohen still on cross examination by Blanche; Cohen booklet coming, here’s on Stormy: https://amazon.com/dp/B0D3XRBQG5
If like and can: paypalme/matthewleeICP
Venmo: [at] Matthew-Lee-675
Inner City Press will live tweet, thread below
9:23 AM · May 16, 2024
·
Trump is here, blue suit, red tie, talking to Todd Blanche to his right. Pool photos taken, kerfuffle solved.
All rise!
Clerk: This is the People of the State of New York against Donald J. Trump!
Justice Merchan: Any updates on scheduling?
·
Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche: May we approach?
[Sidebar – Bove goes up, Susan Nechless stays at defense table, Bove’s empty seat away from Trump. They do not speak, at least not this time]
·
[This is a long sidebar, with Trump’s lawyer Emil Bove appearing to check his calendar and Justice Merchan standing up with arms crossed. Scheduling what remains of the trial?]
·
[During this ever-longer sidebar, there’s nothing to do but look around the courtroom. There’s a water bottle on the witness stand. Pre-positioned today for Michael Cohen? Or left there since Tuesday? Sidebar over, now the defense lawyers huddle behind Trump
·
Justice Merchan: I apologize that took so long. [No explanation give. Cohen takes the stand]
Justice Merchan: Good morning, Mr. Cohen.Y ou are still under oath. Please get the jury.
[Cohen takes out a new bottle of water, put the other on the floor]
·
Justice Merchan: Jurors, we had to take care of some business. Our schedule is broken up. We may need to work next Wednesday, if you can. Mr. Blanche.
Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche: Who is Detective Jeremy Rosenberg?
Cohen: He works with the DA’s office.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: Please look at this document, your texts with Detective Rosenberg.
Prosecutor Hoffinger: May we approach, your Honor?
[Another sidebar]
Blanche: We can take that down, and put up the redacted version of 845
Justice Merchan: In private only
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: Are the texts, you and Detective Rosenberg, accurate?
Cohen: Yes.
Blanche: We introduce B45.
Prosecutor: We object.
[Sidebar]
Justice Merchan: The objection is sustained.
Blanche: They were around when you testified to the grand jury?
Yes
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You remember when the fact that President Trump had been indicted was leaked-
Prosecutor Hoffinger: Objection to the work “leak”
Justice Merchan: Rephrase
Blanche: That the public & you learned – did Detective Rosenberg told you “it’s done”
·
Cohen: He pointed me to a newspaper article.
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: Isn’t it true that he wrote you, I know you heard, nice heads-up, huh, telling the NYT before you
Cohen: I don’t remember.
Blanche: You went on CNN and said it was like David v. Goliath?
Yes.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: Didn’t Detective Rosenberg congratulate you for your CNN appearance where you said you had Goliath on his back?
Prosecutor: Objection!
Justice Merchan: Sustained.
Blanche: May be approach?
Justice Merchan: No.
·
[Mea Culpa podcast is played, Cohen congratulating Bragg with whom he spent countless hours]
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You never met Alvin Bragg, right?
Cohen: Correct
Blanche: And this next podcast, let me play B25 for you
[Cohen puts on headphones. Then for jury
·
[Cohen saying he wants to see Trump in jail]
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You said your work played a large role in the indictment of President Trump, right?
Cohen: Correct.
Blanche: You responded to this Truth by President Trump?
Cohen: I’m not on Truth Social
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: On April 21, 2024 you said you were mentally excited about this trial beginning?
Cohen: Yes.
Blanche: You knew a DANY paralegal was monitoring your social media and still tweeted this?
Cohen: I did.
Blanche: You testified 7 x to Congress?
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You took the same oath as you have in this trial, right?
Cohen: Yes.
Blanche: You’ve met with federal agents 17 times?
Cohen: I have.
Blanche: 2017 in the House – you lied?
Cohen: Correct.
Blanche: You lied under oath?
Cohen: Yes
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You lied to the Office of the Special Counsel, and to the FBI agents?
Cohen: I did.
Blanche: Your two guilty pleas were combined before Judge Pauley for sentencing, right?
Cohen: Correct.
Blanche: You pled to other crimes too, right?
Yes
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You knew your business partner Gene Friedman was cooperating?
Cohen: Not then. And he was not my business partner. He just leased my [taxi] medallions.
Blanche: In your guilty plea of August 21, 2018 he is Taxi-Operator 2, right?
Yes
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You say you were forced to plead guilty – but when Judge Pauley asked you, you lied, right?
Cohen: That was not true.
Q: What’s the difference?
Cohen: Different terminology.
Blanche: You met with court staff for the Pre-Sentencing Report?
·
Cohen: Yes.
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: The pre-trial services representative was concerned you were not accepting responsibility, right?
Cohen: Correct
Blanche: You’ve said the prosecution against you was the most corrupt in 100 years?
Prosecutor: Objection
[sidebar]
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: So you’re saying Judge Pauley is or was corrupt?
Cohen: Yes.
Blanche: He’s deceased, right?
Cohen: He is.
Cohen: You’ve called the SDNY prosecutors “f*cking animals,” right.
Cohen: I have.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: Last October 24-25 in 60 Centre Street, you said you lied to Judge Pauley, right?
Cohen: Yes
Blanche: Going back to 2019, you testified to Congress again – you were put under oath?
Yes
Blanche: The cover art of Mea Culpa is your oath?
Yes.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You got acceptance of responsibility credit even though you lied, right?
Cohen: I don’t know how Judge Pauley made his decision. In Otisville I met people with longer tax issues who got a year and day. [He glances over at jury]
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: Does the outcome of this trial effect you personally?
Cohen: Yes.
Blanche: The medallions, in whose name?
Cohen: Some in my wife’s name. Also, 16 corporations. Just FYI, the A-Fs are for individuals.
Blanche: Thanks.
Cohen: You’re welcome
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You said you used the HELOC so your wife couldn’t know, that you were paying Stormy Daniels?
Cohen: Correct.
Blanche: What did you tell you wife about the HELOC?
Prosecutor: Objection! May be approach?
Justice Merchan: Yes.
[Sidebar]
·
[After sidebar]
Justice Merchan: Sustained.
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: Without talking about any communication with your wife, do you know if she found out?
Cohen: No.
Blanche: You said the HELOC was to conceal it from you wife?
Cohen: Correct.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: Two days after Mr. Avenatti’s statement, you deleted all of your text messages?
Cohen: I don’t know that.
Blanche: Did you tell people to delete your communications with them? Who?
Cohen: Like David Pecker.
Blanche: And Darlene Stacks?
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You’ve spoken about seeking a pardon, in a deposition, remember?
Cohen: I don’t.
Blanche: Look at B80. You said you never asked for and would never accept a pardon from President Trump – but you meant you asked your lawyers to ask?
·
Cohen: I wanted the nightmare over. I wanted to find out if they would be doing pre-pardons.
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You had Mr. Costello reach out to Mr. Giuliani to explore it?
Cohen: Mr. Costello was never my lawyer.
Blanche: But you had him reach out for you?
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You said this lie in a written statement?
Cohen: It was confusing.
Justice Merchan: Let’s break
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Thread will continue
·
They’re back.
Prosecutor: We want a curative instruction about when the indictment was unsealed.
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: I can clear it up during cross.
Justice Merchan: Try. If not, a curative instruction. Be aware, the jurors can NOT work next Wednesday.
·
[Jury entering]
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You were meeting with the Office of Special Counsel Mueller, but SDNY prosecutors were there, correct?
Cohen: Correct.
Blanche: Then were you were at Otisville you started meeting with DANY?
Cohen: Yes.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You’ve tried to get your supervised release term reduced, right?
Cohen: Yes. 3 times.
Blanche: 4.
Blanche: Last October you said you had cooperated?
Cohen: I did.
Blanche: You said you refused a 5K?
Cohen: I did.
Blanche: That was false?
·
Cohen: I wouldn’t accept one.
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: In Congress, you were asked about your desire to work in White House, based on your December sentencing submission?
Prosecutor: Objection!
Justice Mechant : Sustained.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You were going to work under Don McGahn?
Cohen: No.
Blanche: Do you know Spencer Zwick?
Cohen: Yes Fundraiser for Romney.
Blanche: He told you, Chief of Staff? And you said, That would be nice.
Cohen: I did.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: Did you tell Kedar Massenburg you wanted a job in the White House.
Cohen: Maybe.
Blanche: Did you Keith Davidson you wanted to be, and might be, Attorney General?
Cohen: Yes.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You told your daughter you wanted to be special counsel to the President, but Mr. Priebus didn’t like the title?
Cohen: Personal Attorney.
Blanche: Was your daughter mad that Gary Cohn got a White House role and you didn’t?
Cohen: She was.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You were friends with Pastor Darrell Scott all the way back to 2011, when there was talk of President Trump running in 2012?
Cohen: I don’t remember.
Blanche: Then on National Prayer Day, did you express frustration at not being invited?
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: Did you most recent application for early termination include fake cases?
Prosecutor: Objection!
Justice Merchan: Overruled.
Cohen: I used Google Bard, AI, and searched for early termination. We had the 8th Circuit, phantom results
·
Cohen: The substance was fine, not the citations.
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You mean, they didn’t exist?
[Inner City Press first reported that @SDNYLIVE: “The Friday legal filing was first reported by Inner City Press’ Matthew Russell Lee”
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: The October 24, 2016 call to Keith Schiller, did he hand his phone to President Trump or did he put you on speaker phone?
Cohen: I don’t remember.
Blanche: You didn’t talk about this call to the grand jury, right?
Cohen: Don’t recall
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: But in March 2023 to DANY you didn’t mention this case.
Cohen: They refreshed my memory.
Prosecutor: May we approach?
[During sidebar, Cohen is handed another cup of liquid, presumably water]
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: Do you remember that you were getting harassing calls in October 2016 and on October 24 at 7 pm they forgot to block their number?
Cohen: No.
Blanche: It ended 0594. Then you texted it, that you’d given the number to the Secret Service.
·
Cohen: I did. I found they were 14.
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: Then at 7:48 pm you texted Keith Schiller about the 14 year old.
Cohen: Yes
[Shown on screen: 10/24/16 voicemail & call 8:01 & 8:02]
Blanche: You claimed this was about Stormy Daniel
Cohen: Yes sir.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: Show this to the jury but not to the courtroom
Justice Merchan: We can do that.
Prosecutor: It has numbers on it.
Blanche: Not to the courtroom… At 8:14 pm you texted Keith Schiller the number that had been harassing you.
Cohen: Yes.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You lied about this. You said you didn’t remember the harassing phone calls – now you claim that in the one minute and 36 seconds call you spoke about the harasser and Stormy Daniels
Cohen: Could have been
Blanche: Not what you said Tuesday
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You are lying.
Cohen: Based on the records I think I spoke about both.
Blanche: We are not asking for your belief. This jury does not want to hear about what you think happened
Prosecutor: Objection!
Justice Merchan: Sustained.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: The people’s chart omitted your texts with Keith Schiller – you claim you were telling the truth on Tuesday?
Cohen: Based on the documents.
Blanche: So you testified off documents the People gave me, and not your own memory?
·
Break is taken.
Stories https://matthewrussellleeicp.substack.com
w/ documents: https://patreon.com/MatthewRussellLee
Cohen book coming
Support if like and can: https://paypal.com/paypalme/matthewleeICP
Venmo: [at] Matthew-Lee-675
Thread will continue 2:15
·
[They’re back]
Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche: We have a draft curative instruction on the timing of the unsealing of the indictment, but it was my intention to rehabilitate the question right out of the box now
Justice Merchan: Let me see it
·
Prosecutor: This is not something that should be cleaned up by Mr. Blanche. The Court should do it
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: The texts made clear that the indictment was leaked, the detective said They told the NYT before they told you
Justice Merchan: I’ll watch it
·
Justice Merchan: I am also informed that one juror says they have an appointment next Thursday at 1:30 – I’d like to take it up with the juror at the break in the robing room, one lawyer from each side. Get the witness.
[Cohen re-takes the stand]
·
[Jury enters]
Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche: Let us be clear, you don’t have any evidence that anyone at DANY leaked the indictment, do you?
Cohen: I don’t.
Blanche: It was unsealed March 30?
Cohen: Yes.
Justice Merchan: Please approach
[sidebar]
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: And when you went on TV, it was public?
Cohen: Yes.
Blanche: Put up the redacted exhibit
[one of which says, “I’M 14”]
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: In 2011, you arranged for an article about how well Mr. Trump was polling – and one about yourself, right?
Cohen: Yes.
Blanche: How do you do this?
Cohen: I know reporters and I pitch them.
Blanche: You had a Rolodex of reporters?
Yes.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You never responded without checking with President Trump?
Cohen: Once I had his answer, I might re-use it.
Blanche: In May 2011, Mr. Trump decided not to run, and later that year you worked with Keith Davidson to get The Dirty taken down
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: Haven’t you told law enforcement that Mr. Trump’s first statement was that his family would not like the Stormy Daniels story on The Dirty very much, right?
Cohen: Yes.
Blanche: You recorded reporters a lot?
Cohen: Forty times.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: When did you stop recording reporters?
Cohen: After the 2016 election.
Blanche: You didn’t record in 2017 and 2018?
Cohen: I’ve have to check.
Blanche: We’ll check together. Did you share a recording with Ms. Haberman of another person?
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: Did you sometimes record people without telling them?
Cohen: It’s not illegal in New York.
Blanche: That’s not what I asked. Look at this list. Who else did you record?
Cohen: Jeff Zucker… Mr. Trump… and other reporters.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You know it’s unethical for a lawyer to record his client, right?
Cohen: There is the crime-fraud exception.
Blanche: To record Mr. Trump for Mr. Pecker to hear?
Cohen: I was just giving an example.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: The doorman’s story, Mr. Trump did not want it getting out even though it was false, right?
Cohen: Yes, sir.
Blanche: You didn’t tell President Trump about the liquidation clause, did you?
Cohen: I did not.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You testified about a June 16, 2016, 6:51 pm call to President Trump through Keith Schiller – but you say you were receiving and making 1000s of calls.
Cohen: These were important. And I have been talking about them for six years.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You have a specific recollection of this special call?
Cohen: Based on the documents I’ve been shown.
Blanche: That day, just before, you called Chris Cuomo. Do you remember that?
Cohen: Yes.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: When you recording President Trump, you say it stopped recording because you got and answered a call?
Cohen: Yes. From Capital One Bank.
Blanche: Do you remember what about?
Cohen: No… I might have been about identify theft, the 2nd time.
·
Justice Merchan: We’ll take our afternoon break.
Stories
Support if like and can: https://matthewrussellleeicp.substack.com
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Venmo: [at] Matthew-Lee-675
Books (Cohen will be next) Stormy:
·
[They’re back]
Justice Merchan: We spoke with the alternate in the robing room. Have you discussed it with your colleagues?
Prosecutor: We should not tell the jurors they’ll stop next Thursday at 1 – if we’ve reached the point where we can release the alternate
·
Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche: This NDA, its a perfectly legal contract, isn’t it?
Cohen: It is.
Blanche: And Donald J. Trump never signed it, nor the side letter?
Cohen: He did not.
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: Who made up David Dennison and Peggy Peterson?
Cohen: Keith Davidson knew someone named Dennison. I don’t know how Peggy was picked.
Blanche: You were a lawyer at the Trump Org-
Prosecutor: May be approach?
[sidebar]
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: You worked for the Apprentice for the Trump Organization?
Cohen: I think it was for Mr. Trump personally.
Blanche: You did legal work for Don Jr too?
Cohen: Yes.
Blanche: And you never had a retainer agreement?
Cohen: I did not
·
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: Put up 202 in evidence.
[Cohen’s FEC statement] You said, “Just because something isn’t true doesn’t mean it can’t cause you harm or damage.” You told reporters this was true?
Cohen: I did.
Blanche: And you recorded yourself?
Cohen: Yes
·
Justice Merchan: Why don’t we stop here.
[Jurors leave]
Trump’s lawyer Emil Bove: Our expert Mr. Smith on campaign contribution – now the arguments are different, with the draft jury instruction in.
Justice Merchan: I have not approved anything
·
Trump’s lawyer Bove: We’d address definitions, the case of Congressman Jim Moran – we don’t want to tread on the Court’s instruction. This testimony could some in Monday.
Prosecutor: 95% of what he’d say runs afoul of your Honor’s rulings.
·
Justice Merchan: I previously ruled Smith may not testify as a lay fact witness, only generally on the FEC. I’ll read both submissions this weekend. Until you hear differently, my ruling has not changed. Very limited, very general.
·
Justice Merchan: Scheduling, I want to avoid big breaks. Maybe we can start early and work late – but no Wednesday. How much more of Mr. Cohen?
Trump’s lawyer Blanche: I’ll be done with cross before the morning break on Monday.
Prosecutor: No more witnesses
·
Trump’s Blanche: We could finish witnesses on Monday – that’s without considering Mr. Trump.
Justice Merchan: Pre-charge conference on Monday, be ready for summations Tuesday. Adjourned.
stories: https://matthewrussellleeicp.substack.com
https://patreon.com/MatthewRussellLee
Cohen book soon
FactReal 