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This week, the prosecutors, a former Biden Department of Justice 7th floor suit, who came to attempt to true-up DA Alvin Bragg's campaign threat to Get Trump, announced that the NEW lynchpin of the case isaha!not only the federal election law but a state election law as amorphous as your brother's promise to be a good boy on prom night.

This newly invoked state law alleging Trump conspired to "promote or prevent the election of a person to a public office" will supposedly bridge the local law and federal law to magic up a felony to hit Trump with before the election.

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Nice turn of phrase. LOL.

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Testimony from the prosecution's first witness this week was former publisher of the National Enquirer David Pecker. Pecker, notwithstanding that awkward name, had a less titillating story to tell about the famous man in the crucible than one might be expected to learn in a trialin which the entire premise was that Trump paid to kill stories that hurt his reputation so he could steal the 2016 election. You might be thinking at this point, didn't Hillary Clinton win New York in the 2016 election?

Correctamundo, mon cherie.

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So was there really a crime committed within NY state?

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Why would Pecker have any idea that doing what he'd been doing on behalf of Donald Trump, former Obama apparatchik Rahm Emanuel, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mark Wahlberg, and other stars for decades all of a sudden would break federal elections law? Because Matthew Colangelo and Alvin Bragg wanted him to repeat that incantation to a gullible jury to magic up a federal felony. This case was so egregious that specialists in federal election crimes said there was no case.

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We understand, however, that the DA and Matthew Colangelo are claiming a conspiracy happened. But using rhetorical zip-ties to allege a conspiracy doesn't mean a conspiracy actually happened. This is especially true since Pecker changed his story only after the full weight of three levels of the judiciary pressed him.

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This case is a legal game of Jenga. The Biden-connected prosecutors are desperately hoping that defense attorneys don't pull out one of those blocks lest the entire foundation of this case collapse, which it should.

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LINK

WELL WELL WELL I am pretty sure we never heard this part of the "classified documents/box" story!

More from unredacted motions in FLA--this is from an unsealed transcript of witness interview.

FBI agent says GSA was holding large quantity of Trump's boxes in VA and then ordered… pic.twitter.com/0i4tGdWZ9A

— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) April 27, 2024

So, in other words, the federal government potentially shipped boxes of classified information from government storage to Trump at Mar-a-Lago, then charged him for possessing it, then rescinded his clearance after charging him? 🤣

— 🇺🇸 (@FreeStateWill) April 27, 2024

I wouldn't be surprised if the wonderful FBI inserted M61 nuclear bomb schematics into the boxes, at this point.

Revolver story about how Stormy actually did get an agreement in 2011 to publish this fraud in an initial attempt to profit from the rumor mill machine off Trump's fame.

Apt analogy!

Bragg's case against Trump is making Rube Goldberg’s 13 step self-operating napkin look like a model of efficiency and clarity. It is so convoluted and illogical it is mesmerizing. https://t.co/f66a6gMjK5

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) April 29, 2024

wrong thread. NM

In reply to notex Good find. Thanks for posting.

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This under-explored aspect of the Stormy saga raises a game-changing question: If Stormy's tale had already hit the newsstands back in 2011 and splashed across Life & Style Magazine, both in print and online, how on earth could she have been "muzzled" later by supposed campaign finance and shady election meddling conspiracies being peddled by Alvin Bragg? The story was out there for all to see, right? So, clearly, something just doesn't quite add up. What this boils down to is a thirteen-year-old slip in Stormy Daniels' alleged extortion plot, likely driven by unchecked greed and really bad timing. Now, assuming it's real, the 2011 Life & Style article would stand as a glaring gap in the prosecution's case, essentially torpedoing it, if we were living in a serious country where justice actually mattered.

Another puzzling aspect of this case is whether or not Team Trump is even aware of the Life & Style story. In their defense, actually locating the story is no small task; our search on Google turned up nothing. It's also absent from the archived articles on Life & Style's website. Draw your own conclusions, but by all accounts, it seems the Life & Style article has mysteriously disappeared, making this obscure part of the "hush money" saga feel like one of the best-kept non-secret secrets in the world.

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Add that to Pecker's testimony that an aging porn star would not sell papers and that negative stories about Trump also would not sell papers either and that's why they passed on the deal.

The Access Hollywood tape and the Karen McDougal case are irrelevant to the charges here and should have been excluded as propensity evidence under the recently handed down Weinstein decision. Mayb a brief mention of the McDougal contract but not three to four days of testimony from Pecker.

Mornin', all.

CNN live blog feed is HERE

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Donald Trump's motorcade has arrived at the Manhattan courthouse where the former president is expected to attend witness testimony from a third witness, Gary Farro.
Farro is a former banker who arranged Michael Cohen's home equity line of credit that would eventually be used to pay Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush money.
Court is expected to begin at 9:30 a.m. ET and wrap sometime around 4:30 p.m. ET (or later).

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Judge Juan Merchan is back on the bench and the court is in session.
Prosecutors are presenting trial evidence through witness testimony and exhibits. Michael Cohen's former banker Gary Farro is the prosecution's third witness.
Defense attorneys can cross examine the prosecution's witnesses and typically aim to discredit their testimony. Witnesses' responses are considered evidence, but not the questions posed by an attorney.

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Judge Juan Merchan said he'll allow Trump to attend his son Barron's graduation on May 17.

"I don't think the May 17 date is a problem," Merchan said, noting that a jury was picked quickly and things have been moving.

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Judge Juan Merchan has found Trump in contempt for violating his gag order. He is handing down his written decision to the parties.

Merchan has fined Trump $1,000 for each violation.

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Judge Juan Merchan has fined Trump for violating the gag order nine times.
Trump must remove the seven "offending posts" from Truth Social and the two "offending posts" from his campaign website by 2:15 p.m. today.

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Prosecutor Rebecca Mangold has resumed questioning Michael Cohen's former banker Gary Farro.

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Prosecutor Rebecca Mangold is showing emails from First Republic Bank about the opening of the Essential Consultants bank account for Michael Cohen.

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Trump is notorious for never using email so he is not on any email chain. So how relevant as these?

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Prosecutor Rebecca Mangold just showed emails regarding a Michael Cohen's bank account.
The "type of business" listed on the account document was "consulting." Gary Farro, Cohen's former banker, says that is consistent with what Cohen told him about the purpose of the business was in a phone call.
The jury is seeing Cohen's signature on the account documents.

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I don't understand how the banker helps the prosecutor. Either Cohen was truthful about the purpose of the loan which makes it look like you are an idiot giving the loan or he lied.

If I was Trump's defense, I would making it clear that this was a shake down by Cohen. He went around paying all these people knowing that he could mark it all up, add legal fees, and force Trump to pay him.

In reply to aggiehawg

aggiehawg said:

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Judge Juan Merchan has found Trump in contempt for violating his gag order. He is handing down his written decision to the parties.

Merchan has fined Trump $1,000 for each violation.

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Pay it in pennies

In reply to aggiehawg

aggiehawg said:

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Prosecutor Rebecca Mangold is showing emails from First Republic Bank about the opening of the Essential Consultants bank account for Michael Cohen.

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Trump is notorious for never using email so he is not on any email chain. So how relevant as these?

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Just more fluff with no substance from the prosecution.

Merchan laments that he can't issue larger fines for wealthier violators of the contempt law. So jail "may be a necessary punishment." https://t.co/K1KHksEmTv pic.twitter.com/ypH6aKqNmv

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) April 30, 2024

He's signaling he may want to jail Trump

Jailing Trump will raise his poll numbers. Do it.

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Banker Gary Farro says there was no indication given that the bank account Michael Cohen set up would be related to a political candidate.

"There would be additional scrutiny," if the bank had known that, Farro says.

It "quite possibly" would've delayed the opening of an account for Essential Consultants had Cohen flagged it'd be used to pay expenses for a political candidate, Farro says.

"We would certainly ask additional questions," Farro says, adding that it's possible the account would not have been opened.

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Gary Farro also testified that the banking paperwork did not indicate the account would be used to pay someone in the adult film industry.
If it had, he testified, it would require additional scrutiny and might not be opened at all.
"It is an industry that we do not work with," Farro said.

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LOL. Shades of Boogie Nights.

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Prosecutor Rebecca Mangold is now showing emails to and from Michael Cohen confirming a bank transfer of $131,000 from his home equity line of credit into a checking account.
Within 23 minutes of opening the account, Cohen made the transfer.
The money was transferred to the newly opened Essential Consultants LLC.
"It was a second mortgage in this scenario," Farro explains about Cohen's home equity line of credit.
"Confirmed," Cohen wrote one minute after First Republic sent the details about the wire transfer.
Remember: Farro is testifying to the paper trail that underlies the payment to Stormy Daniels at issue in this trial. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges connected to this bank activity.

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Judge Juan Merchan issued a ruling Tuesday finding Donald Trump in contempt of court for "for willfully disobeying a lawful mandate" nine times this month, saying he violated a gag order and criticized expected trial witnesses.
"This Court rejects Defendant's arguments and finds that the People have established the elements of criminal contempt beyond a reasonable doubt as to Exhibits 2-10," the ruling states.
"Defendant violated the Order by making social media posts about known witnesses pertaining to their participation in this criminal proceeding and by making public statements about jurors in this criminal proceeding."
The nine incidents represent seven posts and reposts on Truth Social and two posts on Trump's campaign website. He was fined $1,000 for each violation, must pay the fine by the close of business Friday and must remove the posts by 2:15 p.m. today.
Merchan also threatened incarceration if Trump willfully violates the gag order again.
"THEREFORE, Defendant is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment," he wrote.
The gag order restricts prosecutors and the defense from commenting on court figures outside of the courtroom.
Prosecutors have subsequently flagged an additional four comments that Trump has made since last week's hearing, including about Michael Cohen and former AMI chief David Pecker. Merchan has scheduled another hearing on Thursday to address those comments.

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In reply to aggiehawg

aggiehawg said:

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Judge Juan Merchan has found Trump in contempt for violating his gag order. He is handing down his written decision to the parties.

Merchan has fined Trump $1,000 for each violation.

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Everyone is SOOOOOO surprised.

In reply to aggiehawg

aggiehawg said:

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Judge Juan Merchan has fined Trump for violating the gag order nine times.
Trump must remove the seven "offending posts" from Truth Social and the two "offending posts" from his campaign website by 2:15 p.m. today.

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Prosecutor Rebecca Mangold has resumed questioning Michael Cohen's former banker Gary Farro.

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Wait...that sounds like "campaign interference"...

In reply to DenverAg91

DenverAg91 said:

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Merchan laments that he can't issue larger fines for wealthier violators of the contempt law. So jail "may be a necessary punishment." https://t.co/K1KHksEmTv pic.twitter.com/ypH6aKqNmv

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) April 30, 2024

He's signaling he may want to jail Trump

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How's he going to justify putting his SS detail in jail?

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Judge Juan Merchan ruled Tuesday that nine of Trump's posts breached his gag order.
In the ruling, the judge said the gag order imposed by the court was "lawful and unambiguous" and said that Trump violated it "by making social media posts about known witnesses pertaining to their participation in this criminal proceeding and by making public statements about jurors in this criminal proceeding."
Here's what those posts were:
[ol]

A Truth Social post on April 10 at 10:48 a.m.

Truth Social post, April 13, 12:56 p.m.

Truth Social post, April 15, 9:12 a.m.

Truth Social post, April 15, 10:26 a.m.

Campaign website post, April 15

Truth Social post, April 16, 1:50 p.m.

Campaign website post, April 16

Truth Social post, April 16, 7:09 p.m.

Truth Social post, April 17, 5:46 p.m.

[/ol]

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Prosecutor Becky Mangold is now showing the wire transfer authorization form that Michael Cohen filled out the following morning on October 27.
The wire transfer was for $130,000, from Essential Consultants to Keith Davidson's trust account. Davidson's client was Stormy Daniels.
The wire transfer form says the beneficiary is Keith M Davidson Associates PLC Attorney Trust Account.
"It's an account that's held by attorneys on behalf of one of their clients," Witness Gary Farro explains.
Farro testifies that Cohen listed the purpose of the wire as a "retainer."

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Explaining why an attorney would pay a retainer to another attorney in a real estate transaction, Gary Farro says, "There could be a number of things."

Remember: At the time, Farro's understanding was that the new Essential Consultants account was a real estate endeavor.

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Defense attorney Todd Blanche has started his cross-examination of Michael Cohen's former banker, Gary Farro.

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Banker Gary Farro says he met with the Manhattan district attorney's team twice in the last two months ahead of the trial.

Farro says he also met with prosecutors twice in Washington, DC, in 2018 or 2019 about the same bank activity.

Farro confirms that the banks he's worked for are paying for his attorneys.

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Trump attorney Todd Blanche is asking witness Gary Farro about his initial meeting with Michael Cohen at Trump Tower when he took him on as a client and how he spoke to Cohen a few times a year.

"90% of the time it was an urgent matter," Farro said of dealing with Cohen.

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Banker Gary Farro says he was assigned Michael Cohen because he is firm with clients.
Defense attorney Todd Blanche is asking: "Cohen, you believe he's an aggressive guy, fast speaker. Not easy if you're not firm."
Farro says he agrees.

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Gary Farro says that when the information about Michael Cohen's transaction to Stormy Daniels became public, he was taken off of Cohen's account at the bank.

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"Donald Trump didn't bank with First Republic, as far as you know?" Trump attorney Todd Blanche asks.

Farro says he doesn't know, but confirms Trump did not do business with him.

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Trump attorney Todd Blanche asked Michael Cohen's former banker Gary Farro, "If he had said this is a deal I was doing with my employer, you may have asked questions?"

"I would have asked questions," Farro said.

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While Judge Juan Merchan held Donald Trump in contempt for violating his gag order, there is a narrow scope where the former president could still post about witnesses to defend himself if provoked, CNN legal analyst Karen Friedman Agnifilo said.
Agnifilo noted that the judge talks about witnesses Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels and "he does acknowledge that Trump can respond if required. So he's almost sending a message in here as well saying,'Look if it turns out that other people are using this gag order as a way to attack you, you can attack back.'"
She added, that Merchan is essentially saying that the gag order will not apply to witnesses who clearly are not afraid to provoke Trump. So Merchan really drilled down on what is allowed and what is not allowed, Agnifilo said.

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Trump attorney Todd Blanche is confirming that Michael Cohen indicated on the paperwork for Essential Consultants LLC that he was not "acting as an agent" of anyone when he opened the account.
"We would have to know who he was acting as an agent for,"banker Gary Farro said explaining that they'd need proof beyond a verbal assurance. "We would have to ensure that he was not working with a person of interest."

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Gary Farro is testifying that had he known Essential Consultants was a shell company and not an operating business, he would not have opened the account for Michael Cohen.

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"If client told me it was a shell corporation, it would not have been opened. It would give me pause very frankly," Farro says.

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The only type of shell corporation he would open would be for a mortgage to remain anonymous, he explains.
Farro confirms that Cohen never told him the account was being opened for political activity.
Farro adds that if any account was associated with an entity flagged on a Office of Foreign Assets Control list, the bank would automatically deny the request.

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Gary Farro testifies he learned Michael Cohen left the Trump Organization in March 2017 when he received a bounce-back to an email.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche reminded Farro that Cohen opened a new bank account for his new law firm around that same time.
Farro said there were no concerns about the opening of that account.

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When asked by attorney Todd Blanche, Gary Farro says he wouldn't consider Michael Cohen a politically exposed person when he was Trump's personal attorney.

Banks keep a closer eye on account activity for clients they designate as politically exposed persons, Farro says.

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Does he mean working for a politician in an official capacity?

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Defense lawyer Todd Blanche is asking Gary Farro: "You never had any communications with him about Donald Trump himself did you?"
"I did not," Farro says.
"You never have spoken with Donald Trump yourself?" Blanche asks.
"I have not," Farro testifies.

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The cross-examination of Michael Cohen's former banker Gary Farro is done, and prosecutor Rebecca Mangold is back up for the redirect.

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If Michael Cohen were on trial here, Farro's testimony would be on point. But Farro cannot tie anything Cohen did with his bank to Trump.

I go back to my earlier post.

Cohen hid all this from the bank. If Trump was in on this, why didn't you invoice him, have him pay you, and then pay Stormy.

Cohen did all this crap. Then he shook down Trump with profit and legal fees.

If Trump paying Cohen for the shake down is a crime, he should have been charged with those details not this crap.

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The jury has left, and prosecutor Josh Steinglass is bringing up redactions with Trump's team and where they are not in agreement.

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Can't introduce new exhibits on redirect so I assume this argument is about exhibits related to the next witness to be called?