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'Do It PROPERLY': Judge Orders TRUMP Lawyer to Clean Up Your MESS Left By Questioning OR Prosecutors WILL

Court Insider Says Jurors Gave a Clue During Cohen Testimony

MSRAW 17 MAY 2024






Manhattan Criminal Court — The Judge overseeing Donald Trumps' criminal hush money case told the former presidents' lead attorney Thursday that if he could not clean up his own cross-examination mess, the prosecutors will do it for him.



Todd Blanches rocky start in his second day facing off against Michael Cohen, Trumps former fixer and the star witness in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs case, included questions about the unsealing of the indictment on March 30, 2023.

Prosecutors issued a swift objection, spurring Judge Juan Merchan to summon lawyers to the bench. Merchan sustained the objection but raised the issue again less than two hours later while the jury was on a break.

Prosecutors again raised concerns regarding Blanche's questions about Cohen's conversations with Det. Jeremy Rosenberg, an interview with MSNBC host Joy Reid and the Times' report on the unsealed indictment in the hush money case.

"[Blanche] clearly left the impression to the jury that there was something improper," argued prosecutor Josh Steinglass.





Judge Merchan agreed.

"I certainly think the jury should be advised," said Merchan, then addressed Blanche. "The question is how."


Blanche professed himself willing to clarify any misconception, but Merchan seemed unwilling to take Blanche's capacity on trust.


"Why don’t we see if you’re able to address it," Merchan told Blanche. "If you’re unable to do it properly, the prosecution can do it on readdress."
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When prosecutors again raised concerns about the misleading nature of Blanche's questions, Merchan added to Blanche, "Try to clean it up yourself."






Jurors Gave a Clue They Approved of Cohen Testimony







Half the jurors who will hold Donald Trumps fate in their hands once his criminal hush money trial ends were seen at various times agreeing with the prosecution's star witness, Michael Cohen, when he testified on his second day.





Analyst Norm Eisen was in the courtroom during the former fixer turned foe's testimony, and saw some of the jury members agree with him.

"I was watching the jury and at different points in Cohen's testimony, you had the jury [who] doesn't always do this," said Eisen. "I counted six jurors who were nodding or smiling, or agreeing with Cohen at one point in his testimony."

"It's like a presidential debate: both sides want to suppress expectations and the DA did that brilliantly in setting this moment."

The jurors' apparent acquiescence with Cohen's answers, which are the glue to tie Trump, his former boss and presumptive Republican presidential nominee, to the hush money cover-up scheme.

When he was questioned by Manhattan prosecutor Susan Hoffinger, Cohen didn't deny lying to Congress during an investigation into potential ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign.

Cohen pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years prison as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, admitting that he lied as well as committed tax evasion, made false statements to a federally insured bank, and violated campaign finance laws.

Most critically, Cohen also told jurors he was a willing serial liar on behalf of Trump, including after Cohen served as the bagman to deliver porn actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 to buy her silence shortly before Americans were headed to the ballot box to vote in the 2016 election.


Why Did He Do These Things?


Cohen answered: “Out of loyalty and in order to protect him.”

Eisen believes the convicted Cohen seemed to take the grilling in stride after providing pivotal testimony.

He also said the prosecution was wise to air out all of Cohen's shortcomings early on so that there wasn't much ammo the defense team could fire at him during cross-examination.











On The Docket: Prank Calls, Lies and Audio Tape - The Biggest Moments From Thursdays’ Testimony:

The Guardian 17 MAY 2024

Blanche poked holes in Cohens' testimony that he’d talked to Trump on a 24 October 2016 call he placed to Trump bodyguard Keith Schiller. Cohen had testified that he had called Schiller, who was usually at Trump’s side and who put Cohen on the phone with Trump to “discuss the Stormy Daniels matter and the resolution of it”.


“That’s a lie,” Blanche yelled at Cohen, pointing to a text where Cohen sent Schiller the number of a 14-year-old who kept prank-calling him. Cohen admitted that complaining about the prank calls was part of the conversation but insisted he also talked to Trump about Daniels during the 96-second phone call. Whether or not the jury believes him could be a major factor in this case’s result.


Legitimate Legal Expenses?

Blanche tried to undercut the core charge leveled by the prosecution: that Trump falsified business records by mislabeling the money he sent Cohen as legal expenses. Blanche asked Cohen if the contract he got Daniels to sign was “a completely legal binding contract”, which Cohen affirmed. That could convince jurors that Cohen’s repayment was a legitimate legal expense, blowing apart the charges against Trump.


No Gig for Cohen

Blanche sought to paint Cohen as a jilted ex-employee. He asked about Cohen getting another Trump campaign surrogate to advocate for him for a high-up White House job. Cohen insisted he had just wanted to be Trump’s personal attorney, but admitted “it would have been nice to have been invited” to Washington with the Trump crew.


‘Giddy With Joy’

Blanche played multiple clips of Cohen’s podcast where Cohen attacked Trump, including one where he said the idea of Trump going to prison made him “giddy with joy”.


A Lying Liar

Cohen was forced to admit he had lied under oath in previous situations, both in court and to Congress. Cohen admitted he’d falsified the number of times he’d talked to Trump about a real estate deal in Moscow during 2017 testimony to Congress, and Blanche got him to admit that he’d lied to a federal judge about accepting responsibility in a 2018 plea deal in order to keep his wife out of legal jeopardy. “The reason you lied to a federal judge was because stakes affected you personally?” Blanche asked. “Yes,” Cohen responded.
 

What’s Next

Cohen will return to the witness stand on Monday morning. Trumps’ team also said that they may call a campaign finance expert as a witness for the defense.

Assuming Trump decides not to testify – a very, very unlikely situation – the trial could wrap up early next week. Judge Juan Merchan told attorneys to be ready to deliver their closing statements as soon as Tuesday.