Stormy Weather: TFG Convicted on 34 Counts of Election Fraud

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Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports
·
9h
DA Bragg reenters the courtroom from the side entrance, a route that has him pass a row of Trump family members as he returns to his seat.

Justice Merchan advises the parties that the jury agreed to work late.

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Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports
·
9h
Blanche resumes his summation by turning to Daniels' statements denying an alleged affair with Trump.

"The government wants you to believe that those statements were coerced, that Ms. Daniels was forced to sign them" or didn't have a say about signing them.

Blanche:

"The evidence makes clear that Ms. Daniels lied to you about it."

Howard didn't testify, and so his text message couldn't meet the evidentiary standards to come in as evidence.

So far as the jury knows, it doesn't — and cannot — exist for their consideration.

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Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports
·
9h

Blanche on the release of the Access Hollywood tape:

"Nobody — and I'm just going to state the obvious — nobody wants their family to be subjected to that sort of thing."

Blanche:

"The Access Hollywood tape is being set up in this trial to be something that it is not." [...]

"It was not a Doomsday event. President Trump, as you saw, addressed it in a video [...] He addressed it in a debate."

Blanche on Stormy Daniels:

"Why did they call her as a witness at this trial? There was no dispute that there was an NDA signed."

"I'll tell you why. They did it to try to inflame your emotions. They did it to try to embarrass President Trump."

Prosecutors object. Overruled.

Blanche plays a tape of Cohen telling Davidson in October 2017: "I wasn't gonna play, penny wise pound foolish."

This, he says, is evidence Cohen paid the $130,000 without Trump's knowledge to profit later during his presidency.

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Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports
·
9h
Blanche says Cohen "lied" about Robert Costello:

"You know that there was an attorney-client relationship between Bob Costello and Michael Cohen."

Blanche:

There's "no dispute" that Trump "never signed the agreement" with Stormy Daniels.

"If that's the case, how could it ever be enforced?"

(Cohen testified he initialed it on Trump's behalf via his shell company Essential Consultants.)

Blanche:

"So what did they do? The government knows that. The government knows who they're calling."

To "prop up" Cohen's testimony, prosecutors showed Cohen's call records.

"We all know how that ended," Blanche says, apparently pivoting to the 14-year-old prankster issue.

Blanche points to the witness stand as he recounts Cohen's testimony about Trump's bodyguard Keith Schiler:

"That was his sworn testimony," Blanche says, gesturing to the witness says before raising his voice and making a chopping motion for the next words.

"IT WAS A LIE."

Blanche scoffs at the prosecutors pointing out the "unremarkable fact" that Trump's bodyguard was next to him at the time.

"No kidding. Thanks."

Pointing out that Cohen swore to tell the truth, Blanche says: "The oath matters, to most. He lied."

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Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports
·
8h
After Blanche said that prosecutors called Cohen to lie to the jury, prosecutors objected. That one was sustained.

Another objection later drew a sidebar.



Blanche:

"In fact, he's also a thief." [...]

"He admitted to committing a felony on the stand. Never prosecuted."

(Note: Trump's defense also claims the falsely claimed reimbursement behind this theft was also Cohen's legitimate salary.)

Blanche plays Cohen's "Mea Culpa" podcast episode gloating about Trump's indictment and says later:

"Mr. Cohen, by the way, is making millions of dollars off his hatred of Donald Trump."

Blanche says the invoices were "accurate" and there's no evidence of any intent to defraud.

That Trump "sometimes" looked at the records doesn't amount to proof beyond a reasonable doubt, Blanche says.

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Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports
·
8h
Blanche says there was no illegal agreement to influence the 2016 election, taking on prosecution theories of the case.

For the first two, FECA, the federal election law, requires a "willful" violation, and Cohen said he didn't understand the "grossing up," Blanche says.

Blanche:

"Another reason there's reasonable doubt. AMI would have run Mr. Sajudin's story no matter what. That's not catch-and-kill."

He says the same is true with McDougal, and as for Daniels, "the story was already public."

Blanche says the "ninth" reason for reasonable doubt is "Manipulation of Evidence."

Per the defense:

One is the lack of a response call from Melania Trump's text.

There are the "omitted" texts with Schiller, and defense floats a theory based on a custodial witness.

[ti-amie]

Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports
·
8h
Last slide: "#10: Cohen Is The Embodiment of Reasonable Doubt."

"He is the human embodiment of reasonable doubt," Blanche says. "Literally."

Playing off the slang GOAT, Blanche says: “Michael Cohen is the GLOAT.”

“He literally is the Greatest Liar of All Time.”

Blanche's last line:

"This is a very quick and easy not-guilty verdict. Thank you."

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Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports
Lunch recess.

After the jury leaves, Assistant DA Joshua Steinglass requests a curative instruction for Todd Blanche saying that prosecutors want to put Trump in prison.

"There's no requirement of prison," Steinglass notes, calling it a "blatant" attempt to draw sympathy for their client.

Jurors are not supposed to consider potential punishment in deciding innocence or guilt.

Justice Merchan calls Blanche's prison comment "outrageous," saying he can't imagine him saying that accidentally.

"You know that making a comment like that is highly inappropriate. It's simply not allowed."

He grants the curative instruction.

The judge will deliver the instruction after the lunch recess.

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[ti-amie]

Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports
Good afternoon from New York.

Before lunch, Justice Merchan dressed down Trump's lawyer for his "outrageous" comment about prosecutors trying to put his client in prison.

He'll instruct the jury that potential punishment should factor into decision.

Separate thread.



Blanche has no objection to the curative instruction that prosecutors drafted.

The judge gives the curative instruction, informing jurors that they cannot consider possible punishment and prison isn't required for the crimes charged.

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Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports
·
7h
Assistant DA Joshua Steinglass begins his summations by reminding jurors that his colleague said the case was about a "conspiracy" and a "cover-up."

"We asked you in the openings to focus on the facts and the logical inferences that flowed from those facts."

Steinglass:

"We asked you to tune out the noise and avoid the sideshows."

Steinglass:

"The defense seems to be questioning our integrity in this case," suggesting that the call logs were trimmed down to serve their purpose.

"There's nothing sinister here, no manipulation."

The prosecutor calls that an "interesting accusation from the defense" given the Cohen-Costello call logs "double-counted half the calls."

The defense's first witness confirmed the calls were significantly double-counted.

Steinglass says that while phone logs show a call happened, the inverse isn't true:

"The absence of a phone record doesn't prove that a particular call did not happen."

The prosecutor takes on the defense claim that Daniels tried to "extort" Trump.

Steinglass notes the Keith Davidson recording about "leverage" didn't refer to Daniels, but rather the boyfriend of Gina Rodriguez.

Steinglass says of the "extortion" defense, and jurors' potential distaste in hush-money deals

"Maybe you think it's a sordid practice."

"In the end, it doesn't really matter because you don't get to commit election fraud [...] because you believe that you've been victimized."

Steinglass:

"Keep in mind that Mr. Pecker has no reason to lie here."

Pecker still considers Trump a friend and a mentor, and many of the most devastating witnesses also sympathized with Trump, including Hope Hicks, Madeleine Westerhout and others, the prosecutor notes.

Steinglass:

"They demonized her as someone who makes a living off the defendant."

"To be sure, there were parts of her testimony that were cringeworthy," he says, rattling off the details about the hotel suite, the tryst, and the bathroom.

But those corroborate her story, he says.

Steinglass asks that if Daniels' testimony was so irrelevant, as Blanche claimed, why did the defense work so hard to try to discredit her.

"Stormy Daniels is the motive."

Steinglass concedes the defense's point that Cohen has an interest in Trump's case:

"Guess what? We agree with that. Cohen is an interested witness."

The defense objects after Steinglass says that Cohen committed crimes at Trump's "direction" and for his "benefit."

Judge: Overruled.

After that, Trump "dropped" Cohen "like a hot potato, and tweeted out to the world that Mr. Cohen was a scumbag."

Steinglass:

"Anyone in Mr. Cohen's shoes would want the defendant to be held accountable."

Steinglass takes on the defense noting that Cohen stole from the Trump Org. Cohen falsely claimed reimbursement for RedFinch to rig online polls for Trump.

"That's stealing," Steinglass notes, adding it's "wrong" and "we agree."

The prosecutor notes that Cohen volunteered that in

Steinglass notes, with a laugh, the irony of Blanche saying during his summations Cohen stole $60,000 from the Trump Org, which accepts that the grossing up theory.

"That means the defense is trying to have it both ways."

They want the payment to be innocent and a theft.

Steinglass:

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad for Michael Cohen. He made his bed."

But one can hardly blame Cohen for making living off his knowledge of the inner workings of the Trump phenomenon, he adds.

Steinglass performs a mocking "A-ha!" of Blanche's cross of Cohen about his call with Keith Schiller, deflating the defense contention that was Cohen's "Big Lie."

Trump and Schiller were together at the exact date at time of the call, the prosecutor notes.

Steinglass ad-libs a 49-second mock conversation of Cohen apprising Trump about the Stormy Daniels payoff to show that a lot of info can be conveyed in a short period of time.

Steinglass notes that the Cohen-Trump tape on the McDougal payoff was also short, and that the call with Schiller wasn't the critical one.

"This was not the final go-ahead. That would happen on Oct. 26."

That was the date Cohen's shell LLC opened the account to pay Daniels.

Steinglass says the defense is trying to have it "both ways" with another aspect of Cohen's testimony.

They're saying Cohen would say anything to convict Trump, and also that his testimony wasn't enough.

For example, Cohen stopped short of saying Trump admitted to sleeping with McDougal.

"He could have said, 'It was the greatest night of his life,' or whatever," Steinglass notes.

Cohen also could have said Trump said: "Let's cook the books," but Cohen didn't.

Steinglass trots out a classic prosecutor's line.

The prosecution didn't pick Cohen as a witness: Trump did, as his fixer.

Steinglass:

"It's difficult to conceive of a case with more corroboration than this one."

Steinglass:

"The question is not whether you like Cohen. Or whether you want to go into business with Mr. Cohen."

It's whether he has useful information.

"He was in the best position to know because he was the defendant's right hand."

Steinglass:

"The defense wants to make this case about Michael Cohen. It isn't. That's a deflection."

Steinglass:

"Michael Cohen's significance in this case is that he provides context and color to the evidence. [...]

He's like a tour guide."

Steinglass:

"You don't need Michael Cohen to connect these dots."

The prosecutor flashes the DA's timeline of the case onto the screen. The jurors review it.

Steinglass:

AMI went beyond accentuating the positive for the Trump campaign to actively "colluding," far beyond the usual and legitimate press function.

Steinglass notes the Enquirer timed coverage with Trump campaign goals:

"That is also not a normal and legitimate press function."

The effect, he says, went beyond the 350,000 circulation to supermarket checkout lines across the country.

Steinglass:

"Remember when Mr. Pecker said the only thing that really matters is the cover."

Steinglass notes that Pecker testified that he vowed to look for "women selling stories" at the Trump Tower meeting on August 2015.

Steinglass takes on Blanche's line that trying to influence an election is "democracy."

"In reality, this agreement at Trump Tower was the opposite. It was the subversion of democracy."

AMI did that when Pecker committed his company to becoming a "covert arm" of the Trump campaign, Steinglass thunders.

Taking on the defense refrain that non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) aren't illegal, Steinglass quips that contracts generally aren't illegal either.

"A contract to kill your wife? That is illegal."

Steinglass confronts the apathy issue.

"You may say, 'Who cares? Who cares whether or not President Trump slept with a porn star 10 years ago.'"

But he says it matters whether a few people in a room decide what info voters have access to because of the "corrupt bargain" at Trump Tower.

Steinglass:

The Trump Tower agreement "could very well be" what got Trump elected.

Steinglass: Pecker told you that if the story were true, it would have been the biggest story since the death of Elvis, there would have been no way to justify killing a story like that.

But still, Pecker testified he would have "published it after the election."

Steinglass takes on the defense that Enquirer's ex-editor in chief Dylan Howard was supposedly anti-Trump.

That may be, but Howard had a boss, who instructed him to kill stories for Trump, the prosecutor says.

Steinglass:

"That is catch and kill."

Pecker testified that he purchased the story, even though he thought it was false, was to serve the Trump campaign, not AMI's investors, the prosecutor notes.

Steinglass pans the "ridiculous" liquidated damages clause hanging $1 million penalty over Sajudin's head to put the "fear of God" into him not to shop the story elsewhere.

Steinglass:

"This was overt election fraud."

[ti-amie]

Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports
·
6h
Steinglass turns to Karen McDougal's story, showcasing Howard's reply to Keith Davidson about his willingness to buy the story.

Howard wrote that he could get "more than ANYONE for it" — and Davidson knows why.

Steinglass leads jurors through a long chain of text messages and call logs attesting to McDougal catch-and-kill scheme.

"There's not a lot of room for debate here." [...]

"Howard is acting in cahoots with the candidate to kill the story."

Steinglass:

It's true that Karen McDougal preferred the AMI deal because it would restart her career and wouldn't require her to become the next Monica Lewinsky.



Steinglass quips about Pecker's testimony that Trump told him he was reluctant to engage in a payoff because "it always gets out":

"I guess the defendant was right about that."

He says it's powerful corroborating evidence apart from Cohen.

Steinglass mocks the defense argument that AMI reached the non-prosecution agreement to facilitate the sale of the company.

"Because they're trying to reach some kind of deal they're going to admit to federal campaign violations? Come on!"

Blanche objected before this. Overruled.

Steinglass ridicules the defense suggestion that Cohen manipulated his devices, as if he beamed "the radio waves of the conversation" to "plant" his tape with Trump.

"Here's a news flash: People use their phones!"

Steinglass notes that the metadata shows the recording wasn't tampered with:

"Don't accept this invitation to muddy the waters."

[ti-amie]

Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports







Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports
·
5h
Steinglass says prosecutors don't need to show "whether or not that conspiracy actually succeeded in tipping the scale."

Second afternoon recess.

[ti-amie]

Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports
·
5h

As it became clear Trump was winning on election night, Davidson texted Howard: "What have we done?"

Howard responded: "Oh my god," without disputing the premise.

Trump denied knowing anything about the McDougal story to the press.

"It was a lie," Steinglass says, noting that Trump was on tape talking about it with Cohen earlier.

"Why? Why would Mr. Trump lie about that?"

The slideshow illustrates the enormous amount of activity with Hicks, Schiller, Cohen, Pecker, Howard, Davidson and others in the fallout over the WSJ story about McDougal.

Hope you're getting all this, Steinglass jokes, amid the dizzying barrage of info.

A juror smiles.

Steinglass leads jurors through another flurry of phone calls, emails and other messages inside Trumpworld on Nov. 4, 2016, in response to the WSJ inquiry about McDougal.

Steinglass says that there's a reason that the sex happened in 2006, and the payoff happened in the October 2016.

That's because the concern was the election, not Trump's family.

Steinglass takes on the defense's point that Trump didn't sign the NDA himself.

That's "kind of the whole point," the prosecutor notes.

[ti-amie]

Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports
·
5h
No word from the prosecution responding to the missing-witness defense regarding Weisselberg, yet.



Steinglass notes that McConney testified that he wasn't aware of any other Trump Org payment that was grossed up for taxes.

Steinglass

Here's a question for you: Is there anything that you've learned about Donald Trump during this trial that would make you think he would pay twice what he owed?

A couple of jurors appear to smile at that line.

The prosecutor says that Trump was willing to do so in this case because of the need to cover up the payments.



Steinglass calls Cohen's email from Feb. 14, 2017 one of his "favorites" in the whole case:

"Please remind me of the monthly amount?"

That's because it wasn't a retainer or payments for services rendered, the prosecutor said.

Steinglass:

"We've already seen those smoking gun documents. I'm not going to pull them back up."

The prosecutor never hesitates to remind jurors of the significance of those handwritten notes from Weisselberg and McConney.

Steinglass notes that Cohen wasn't "paid a dime" in 2018, when he did the same amount of legal work for Trump.

That's because the reimbursements were fully paid in 2017, he says.

Steinglass with a zinger:

"Cohen spent more time being cross examined in this trial than he did doing legal work for Donald Trump in 2017."

Steinglass says Cohen made more money from consulting work while he was Trump's personal attorney than he would from any government job.

"And don't I know that!" Steinglass quips, to laughter in the courtroom.

Big smile from one of the jurors on that line.

Steinglass:

The defendant himself has repeatedly admitted that the payments to Cohen were reimbursements, including in legal filings.

He reviews Daniels' testimony about Trump doing so in a settlement with her.

Trump also acknowledged that the payments were reimbursements in an Office of Gov't Ethics form, which Blanche cited as evidence that everything was above board.

Steinglass: "He's completely missing the point about the significance of this document."



Steinglass on why records were false:

"The defendant didn't actually pay a lawyer. He paid a porn star, through a lawyer."