May14

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Trump Legal News: The Trial (Day 16)

This long, strange trip may be nearing its end. Day 16 of the Trump criminal fraud trial is in the books; here are the big storylines:

• Cohen Speaks: As expected, former Donald Trump lawyer/fixer Michael Cohen was the star of the show, and he was a very good witness for the prosecution, according to those far more qualified to judge than we are. For example, Politico described him as "mild-mannered, self-deprecating, just-the-facts-ma'am." The Hill reported that "Cohen appeared careful to not lose his temper, speaking slowly and looking dejected and even anxious on the stand." And CNN's Norm Eisen opines that "I think he exceeded expectations in how he presented to the jury, at least so far."
  
  
• And This Is What He Said: Cohen, of course, testified that he played a key role in executing the payoff to Stormy Daniels. His testimony included 5 hours' worth of details, many of them supported by notes taken contemporaneously by Cohen and then-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, as well as by a recording of Trump and Cohen discussing the arrangement, made surreptitiously but legally by Cohen on Sept. 6, 2016.
  
  Among the things that Cohen testified to, we tend to think that these three claims are the most important: (1) that Trump said that if the Daniels story came out, "This is a disaster. Total disaster. Women are going to hate me. This is really a disaster. Women will hate me. Guys may think it's cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign"; (2) that Trump said that it would be no big deal if Melania Trump left him, since he would easily find a replacement; and (3) that Cohen tried (unsuccessfully) to use the Yom Kippur holiday as an excuse to delay paying Stormy Daniels, with an eye towards pushing the payment date past the election.
  
  That last thing is pretty damning, because it would be an odd detail to invent out of whole cloth, and it makes clear (as Cohen pointed out) that if Trump was able to hold off Daniels, he was planning to stiff her, as her silence had no value to him after the election. This, in turn, would only be true if he cared about his electoral hopes and not about his wife.
  
  
• Emotional Roller Coaster?: Yet again, Trump's eyes were closed for much of the day. Was he sleeping? Or was he having a hard time listening as he was skewered by a former loyal lieutenant? Only Trump knows. However, once the day's testimony was over, the former president blew his top, ripping into Judge Juan Merchan once again.
  
  
• Pilgrimage: The trial has become something of a must for Trump sycophants who want to be seen supporting their Dear Leader. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) was there last week, and Sens. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) were there yesterday, as was Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY). How Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) hasn't made it yet, given her VP aspirations, we don't know. Eric Trump was there for a second time yesterday, but Melania was once again nowhere to be seen (and presumably she won't be attending). The jury is not supposed to infer anything from her absence, but that doesn't mean they WON'T infer anything, given that Trump's defense boils down to how very much he and his wife love each other.

Defense cross-examination begins today. Eisen believes that on Monday, "the prosecution crossed the barrier of proof beyond a reasonable doubt." Todd Blanche, et al., are going to try to poke as many holes in Cohen's story as possible, in hopes of maybe reversing that. (Z)