May21

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Trump Legal News: The Trial (Day 19)

The Trump criminal fraud trial is nearing the end. Here are the big stories from what was likely the second-to-last day of testimony:

• Cohen the Thief: Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen completed his testimony on Monday, ultimately clocking a total of 17 hours on the stand across 3 days. And the defense managed to land one body blow during the hearing yesterday, getting Cohen to admit that he stole money from the Trump Organization, taking $60,000 for work he did not do. This obviously does not help with Cohen's already shaky reputation.
  
  Indeed, let us pause for a moment to reiterate how important Cohen is to the case. For a felony conviction, it is necessary to show that Trump: (1) was trying to keep the Daniels story secret for political reasons, and (2) utilized phony bookkeeping in service of that goal. The first part of the case has been proven very thoroughly, and by witnesses going beyond Cohen (e.g., David Pecker). But there are really only three people who can plausibly speak to the second part—that is to say, Trump's involvement in the phony bookkeeping. The first of those is Michael Cohen, who has obviously testified that Trump knew and was trying to cover things up, but who has credibility issues. The second of those is Allen Weisselberg, who also has credibility issues, and whose testimony might well be hostile to the prosecution. And the third of those is Trump, whom the prosecution cannot call, and who will only be accessible to them if he chooses to take the stand in his own defense.
  
  The point is, the prosecution played their hand as best they could, given the huge risks involved with calling Weisselberg. But that means it all rides on Cohen. If one juror does not believe, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Cohen was being truthful, there could well be a hung jury here.
  
  
• The Prosecution Rests: Clearly, the Cohen bombshell did not hurt him enough in the prosecution's eyes to make it worth the Hail Mary pass of calling Weisselberg, as they rested their case on Monday after Cohen left the stand.
  
  
• One Defense Witness, One Angry Judge: After Cohen was finished, the defense called its first (and possibly only) witness, a lawyer named Robert Costello who has served as an advisor to Cohen. The purpose of Costello's testimony was to further poke holes in Cohen's account of events, specifically Cohen's claims that he felt enormous pressure after the FBI raided his offices in 2018. As a former federal prosecutor, Costello apparently felt entitled to express his opinion on the conduct of the trial, and several times rolled his eyes/sighed/said "geez" when Judge Juan Merchan sustained an objection or made other procedural rulings. Eventually, Merchan had the jury removed from the courtroom and chewed Costello out. Costello responded to that by... rolling his eyes. And so, Merchan had the press removed, and gave another chewing out that included the warning "I'm putting you on notice that your conduct is contemptuous. If you try to stare me down one more time, I will remove you from the stand." Costello basically behaved after that.
  
  
• The Defense Rests?: Costello will be back on the stand when the trial resumes today. And it is entirely possible that he will be the final witness, and that the defense will rest after he is cross-examined by the prosecution.
  
  
• Trump Testimony: Donald Trump continues to claim he really wants to testify. But that really raises two questions: (1) Is he being truthful, or is he just peacocking for the faithful?; and (2) Even if he is being truthful, is he really stupid enough to ignore his attorneys' strong advice not to take the stand? Let's not forget how many times he's claimed he wanted to testify, or even that he would testify, but he didn't—the Mueller investigation, the Trump University case, the case against the 1/6 Committee, the various "election fraud" cases, the various cases involving his accountancy firms, etc. In short, we've seen this song and dance before, and it generally ends with Trump NOT testifying. We assume that general pattern will hold here. Only Trump knows for sure, however, and whatever his plan is, today is probably "put up or shut up" day.

If testimony does indeed conclude today, then it is likely that closing statements will not be given until next Tuesday. The trial is dark on Wednesdays, of course, while the Friday session has been canceled because a juror has to travel, and Monday is a holiday. Merchan doesn't want the jury to hear closing statements on Thursday, and then have to remember them for 4 days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday), hence the (likely) decision to push everything to Tuesday of next week. (Z)