Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

This fight is for everything.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

“Alexa, change the president.”

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Petty moves from a petty man.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Let me file that under fuck it.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Trump’s NY Criminal Trial, Day 6

Trump’s NY Criminal Trial, Day 6

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It’s Day 2 of the actual trial!  Day 6, if you include jury selection.

Best sources of live blogging that I have found.

Josh Kovensky at TPM – Live Blogging

*Mark Sumner at Daily Kos – Live Blogging

Tyler McBrien at Lawfare – Live Blogging on Twitter

*Mark Sumner at Daily Kos includes live blogging of the contempt hearing that started at 9 am.

Emotional support pup and kitty for the occasion.

Trump Trial: NY Election Interference Case, Day 1

Reader Interactions

164Comments

  4. 4.

    smith

    @WaterGirl: Blanche said out loud that he thinks Merchan runs a double tier system of justice in his court. Also that all of Donny’s speech and those of his critics is political, so nothing should be disallowed. Merchan was not amused.

    ETA: I’m following Sumner at dkos. Pecker is testifying now, but it’s just establishing his connections so far.

  6. 6.

    Harrison Wesley

    @smith: Sounds like this lawyer has an AI-generated Generic Trump Defense.  Hell, I could come up with some sort of bullshit like that, and I’ve got all the legal acumen of a garden snail.

  8. 8.

    WaterGirl

    I like the sound of this:

    Blanche: “President Trump is being very careful to comply” with the gag order.

    Merchan, sharply: “Mr. Blanche, you are losing all credibility.”

    @lowtechcyclist:  Thanks so much for the link.  Updated up top.

  11. 11.

    different-church-lady

    The lead witness of a sex cover up trial being named Pecker is just so on the nose.

  17. 17.

    TBone

    Hubby is yelling many colorful expletives at Andrea Mitchell.  It is a day ending in Y.

    I kid. Usually we watch other stuff that actually breathes

  18. 18.

    smith

    We’ve been told for years that TFG doesn’t have any actual friends, but his criming seems to have turned up two. How appropriate that their names are Mr. Hanky and Mr. Pecker.

  19. 19.

    TBone

    For all who celebrate:

    Four years ago today the so-called president repeatedly jumped the shark. Inject disinfectant and shine light into the body to fight Covid.

  20. 20.

    Kosh III

    I understand today the judge hears arguments on the gag order.  Any idea when he will rule?

  21. 21.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @Kosh III: He heard arguments prior to the jury coming in (that’s where he noted that defense counsel’s credibility was shaky). He said he was reserving judgment for the time being. (Could be later today, could be after they come back from the Passover break.)

  23. 23.

    Baud

    @TBone:

    https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/1cayf7o/trump_minutes_before_suggesting_injecting/

    “A question that probably some of you are thinking of if you’re totally into that world. So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous — whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light — and I think you said that that hasn’t been checked, but you’re going to test it. And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way, and I think you said you’re going to test that, too. It sounds interesting. And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning. Because you see it gets in the lungs, and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that.”

  25. 25.

    PaulWartenberg

    Twitter is revealing how Pecker had an “agreement” with Cohen and Trump to vilify every opponent trump had, especially during the primaries where the Enquirer would spread rumors (falsehoods) about Cruz, Rubio, and Carson.

    https://twitter.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1782806681040068816

    Another Enquirer headline:

    TED CRUZ SHAMED BY PORN STAR

    Pecker says the Enquirer would send PDFs of the stories before they ran to Cohen, who would give comments on them before publication.

  28. 28.

    TBone

    When the rat fucks you

    Bannon suggested that Pecker then send a National Enquirer reporter to the Hannity Show to “discuss the articles with Hannity.”

  31. 31.

    scav

    @cain: Ah, but his very farts are political speech and thus protected!  Outright and necessarily respected! No gags allowed.

  34. 34.

    TBone

    Making toasted cheese.  Is it a miracle when someone tore the last slice of cheese into the perfect shape of Idaho?

  38. 38.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @smith:

    Blanche said out loud that he thinks Merchan runs a double tier system of justice in his court.

    Merchan’s response: “Upon reflection following Mr. Blance’s statements this morning, I find that I in fact have a double tier system of justice in my court. In the spirit of making amends, I am resolved to treat Mr. Blanche’s client as I would any other defendant. I find your client in contempt of the gag order. Bailiff, please take the defendant into custody and remand to Rikers until court meets again on the is case Thursday morning.”

  45. 45.

    smith

    @Chief Oshkosh: Well, one can dream. I really think that has to happen sooner or later. Why prosecute the guy for felonies if you think it’s not possible to imprison him? And the reasons usually given — he wants to be jailed, it will make him a martyr, the MAGA loons will start blowing things up — are pretty much belied by the fact that there are maybe 3 pro-TFG protesters outside the courtroom right now, and the MAGA response to his call to arms yesterday seems to have been bupkus.

    I also think he would not face imprisonment with the Mandela-like stoicism that he kids himself that he would. He’d dissolve into screams and tears and pleading for mercy an hour after the cell door closes

  47. 47.

    TBone

    @smith: no makeup. no hair. no cell phone. no adoring club cult members. no hamberders.

    He’ll be crying like a little bitch in 5 minutes.

    Lock him up and throw away the jail.

  48. 48.

    WaterGirl

    It appears that Blanche won that argument?  That is my conclusion since they are not asking Pecker about Bannon, and have moved on to emails.

    Surely if Bannon were important, the prosecution would have made that clear before the trial started?

  50. 50.

    WaterGirl

    @TBone: In this case, all the jury heard was the prosecution lawyer asking if Steve Bannon ever pitched a story to Pecker.

    That in itself is neither damning or salacious.

  51. 51.

    WaterGirl

    UPDATE: Tuesday, Apr 23, 2024 · 12:06:32 PM CDT · Mark Sumner

    The prosecution has agreed to drop the line of questioning involving Bannon. But I certainly hope we get to see what that was all about at some point.

  53. 53.

    Trivia Man

    Bam! Shoe finally drops. There was great speculation- what is the underlying felony that elevates paperwork to a felony?  A *STATE* law that forbids unlawful promotion of a specific candidate.

  54. 54.

    Jeffro

    @Baud: his biggest flaw – which is kind of amazing, since there are SO many choices – is how utterly dumb he is.

    Not just dumb, but “I think I’m a super-genius” dumb.

    It’s kind of unreal.

  56. 56.

    Citizen Dave

    • From the 12:54 TPM live trial blog.  Something wonderful about this sentence: “The jury has returned, and Pecker is back on the stand.”
  58. 58.

    WaterGirl

    @TBone: It’s the question of whether Steve Bannon ever pitched a story to Pecker that was objected to. That’s what I am talking about.

    That’s what they objected to, and the jury has no clues to what it’s about.  So whatever link the prosecution wanted to make, didn’t get made.

    So the jury knows that the prosecution wanted to ask about Bannon pitching a story, but without details, that’s not useful at all.

    So your “the jury already heard it” is true of the earlier info about Bannon that was not objected to.

  61. 61.

    Trivia Man

    There was a concern defense had a case to dismiss the felony aspect. Federal crimes can be the underlying felony, but the DOJ and FEC declined to prosecute. That was an ugly complication that was getting hammered by trump world.

  66. 66.

    TBone

    @TBone: 😆

    “One day, Mr. C looked at me dead in the face and said, ‘Dino when you have Trump’s kid, you can do whatever the hell you want to,’” writes Sajudin.

  80. 80.

    Mousebumples

    @TBone: no makeup. no hair. no cell phone. no adoring club cult members. no hamberders.

    No wireless compliment printer to soothe his ego.

  82. 82.

    Anonymous At Work

    This is really really damaging stuff that Pecker is spewing on TFG. [Sorry, intended]

    Changing company policy/breaking company tradition by paying for exclusive rights to a knowingly-untrue story to prevent others from publishing it, until after the campaign is over?  And also paying “top dollar” that is only 23% of what it paid two other people?

    How do you cross-examine the witness?  Even his immunity deal with the federal government goes bad places: “Sure I got immunity for crimes I committed.  I committed them at the defendant’s request.”

  85. 85.

    Miss Bianca

    @Baud:

    OMG

     

    Thanks…?…for the reminder of just how absolutely, mind-bogglingly, buggier-than-batshit insane Trump sounded back then.

     

    And Time has not improved him, if his most recent ravings are any indication.

  86. 86.

    Anonymous At Work

    @WaterGirl: Lack of proper notice that Bannon was part of things and a bad foundation.  If Cohen was ponying up money on TFG’s behalf, he’d want to get repaid and kept records (no, he’s not that good a lawyer), but I betcha Bannon called, no records or fingerprints.  So the prosecution would be limited to calling Bannon as a hostile witness AND having to deal with his lies.

    Just my guess.

  87. 87.

    Quinerly

    @Mousebumples:

    I wish I could remember who here on BJ coined the term “emotional support printer.”

    Will that person please step forward. When I flash on that, I always laugh.

  89. 89.

    Anonymous At Work

    @WaterGirl: You pay someone at the highest rate your company has ever paid for a story, $30000, that you know is a lie.  That’s bad.  You pay two other people over FOUR TIMES that amount, you are admitting that you know the stories are true, are damning, and are provable.

    Oh, and it shows that the intent was to protect the campaign not the person.

  95. 95.

    Anonymous At Work

    @WaterGirl: 25% chance of admitting a no-complication set of answers from a cooperating witness, or questioning Steve Bannon as a hostile witness with possibly no written records to handle perjury?

    But this is speculation from a non-practicing attorney.  My instinct is that the prosecution wants everything from Pecker possible and to keep away from others.  They will ask Pecker everything he ever discussed with everyone else and ask everyone else only to confirm that they did speak with Pecker about the general matter.  Especially Cohen.

  96. 96.

    hueyplong

    @WaterGirl: Best not to dwell too much over individual objections and rulings thereon.  In the grand scheme no line of questioning about Bannon is going to make or break the case.

  97. 97.

    WaterGirl

    UPDATE: Tuesday, Apr 23, 2024 · 1:02:33 PM CDT · Mark Sumner
    Let’s see if Merchan is going to deliver his ruling on the gag order hearing before the lawyers depart.

  98. 98.

    WaterGirl

    @Anonymous At Work: So you’re thinking tried to go there with Bannon, knowing full well that there was a good chance they would get shot down, but it was worth a shot?

    edit: With the bonus that if they did get shot down, that might help on appeal to show that the judge was even-handed.  I suppose.

  99. 99.

    Trivia Man

    @Anonymous At Work: Agree. IANAL but I think  we will hear much more about the underlying felonies going forward. The Bannon thing just happened to be near that conversation but wasn’t related.

    Tip: watch what trump world says that night. Contrary to appearances, he has some very shrewd legal minds behind the scenes running cover. My guess: they keep harping on “DOJ declined to prosecute FEDERAL crimes” in hopes that gets in the public mind.  A NY state law is a game changer.

  100. 100.

    Anonymous At Work

    @WaterGirl: Yeah, bring in an advisor on the formal 2016 campaign pitching things to Pecker strengthens the “Pecker as a campaign asset” piece and adds that inner circle members knew Pecker was helping.

    But, as both Jimmy McNulty AND Stringer Bell told each other at different times, “The word on the street is not worth anything in a court of law.”

    That’d be my guess.

  107. 107.

    JoyceH

    @smith: Hey, does anyone else remember when Mandela was released from prison? We were all familiar with his picture from the posters and tee shirts, in his activist prime, so when the then present-day Mandela appeared, my first thought was, “Well, who’s that old man?”

  110. 110.

    Old School

    @rikyrah:

    Hispanic restaurant owner Richard Gonzmart is a Republican who voted for DeSantis.   Now he’s panicking because DeSantis’ new immigration law forced him to fire 19 members of his staff and pay a $500k fine because they are undocumented.

    …

    It’s worth noting — he says he still supports Ron DeSantis and is “proud of everything he’s done.”— chris evans (@notcapnamerica) April 22, 2024

  114. 114.

    narya

    I keep thinking of Fran Lebowitz’s comment that you do not know anyone as stupid as TIFG.

  117. 117.

    suzanne

    @rikyrah: Mr. Gonzmart seems to be a card-carrying member of the Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party.

    #here’syourface

    FAFO.

  118. 118.

    Another Scott

    C-Span.org has a cloture vote on HR815 – the Supplemental.

    74:17 at the moment. (60 votes needed)

    Looks like it will be a short day/week for them – if I’m reading the score right.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  125. 125.

    Old School

    @JoyceH:

    is that the right number? Where does a restaurant owner come up with half a MILLION to pay a fine?

    Seems like it.  The Miami Herald article the tweet links to is behind a paywall.  The article is from last August, so I’m not sure if everything is still current.

  126. 126.

    oldgold

    Today I heard an interesting discussion about what the Judge might do should Trump continue to violate the gag Order.

    The problem has been that it appeared the Judge had only two punishments choices. One was to fine Trump $1000.00 for each violation. The problem with this punishment is that for Trump this is less than chump change and would serve as no deterrent. The other choice was to place Trump in jail for up to 30 days. The problems with this punishment is it presented a logistical nightmare and had the potential of making him a martyr.

    But, there is a third option that I had previously not heard discussed. It is to clamp an ankle bracelet on Trump and during the time the Court is not in session confine him to his penthouse apartment in Trump Tower for two or three weeks.  This would be a fairly significant punishment, avoid the logistical problems of a jail stay and be less prone to render Trump a martyr.

  129. 129.

    Quinerly

    @Manyakitty:

    Don’t mean to sound dramatic but I wake up sometimes thinking it was a crazy dream.

    How a country could have elected him, how with his diet/etc he still survives, and the path the Repug Party has gone down since he came on the scene. (My dear father born n the deep South in the 1920’s despised the Republican Party from about 1963 on. He called them “Repugs”…..for “Repugnant.” I carry on his tradition.)

  130. 130.

    lowtechcyclist

    @rikyrah:

    Hispanic restaurant owner Richard Gonzmart is a Republican who voted for DeSantis.   Now he’s panicking because DeSantis’ new immigration law forced him to fire 19 members of his staff and pay a $500k fine because they are undocumented.

    He may have thought GOP racism just applied to lesser folks of his ethnic background.  I know at least one Hispanic Republican who I’m sure thinks that.  Good luck with that, my friend.

  131. 131.

    WaterGirl

    @Another Scott: Then why is Schumer speaking saying it’s done?

    edit: Answering my own question. It’s a procedural thing. The final vote might take up to 30 hours, or it could be as soon as tonight.

    I have linked to an article with more details on the next thread about the senate.

  135. 135.

    rikyrah

    Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) posted at 11:17 PM on Mon, Apr 22, 2024:

     “I don’t like guilt by association, but if I was participating in a protest and I was trying to do it peacefully and my ‘ceasefire now’ protests became a ‘bomb Tel Aviv’ protest, maybe I would leave. Or if we were holding up the Palestinian flag and all of a sudden people started screaming pro hamas things, maybe I would leave. But that’s not what happened.” Rep. @JaredEMoskowitz tells me after visiting Columbia U.

    https://t.co/i2rTFXnqf4
    (https://x.com/abbydphillip/status/1782624689224827108?t=ZqEkW_T30keVSBYdpaPBIg&s=03)

  136. 136.

    Another Scott

    @WaterGirl: I think the rest is just a formality, but I dunno.

    Lots of speechifying.

    The Senate can do anything it wants if it gets Unanimous Consent.  Maybe Schumer knows that’s coming, or something.

    [ shrug emoji ]

    I’ll assume it’s really done when it shows up on

    https://nitter.poast.org/senschumer

    ;-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  137. 137.

    Manyakitty

    @Quinerly: seriously. It’s like a mass insanity or something. Or, maybe we shot into an alternate universe when David Bowie died. It almost makes more sense than what passes for our current reality.

  140. 140.

    smith

    @oldgold: One thing I’m puzzled by — Judge Engoron levied fines of $5k and $10k for violating his gag order, but Merchan is limited to $1k per violation. Both are operating under NY law. Are there different limits for civil vs criminal trials?

  143. 143.

    Scout211

    @smith: Is it really a limit?  IANAL, but I thought the $1k per violation was a first step and could be increased for future violations.  I am reading that the $1k per violation was what the prosecution asked for. But I haven’t read anywhere that there is a limit.

    CNN   Prosecutors want Merchan to fine Trump $1,000 per violation and to remind him that “future violations of this Court’s restrictions on his extrajudicial statements can be punished not only with additional fines but also with a term of incarceration of up to thirty days.”

  145. 145.

    Scout211

    @Scout211: @smith: (I can’t read nitter links for some reason)

    I stand corrected.

    Forbes    Under New York law, Trump can be held in contempt if he’s found to have violated the gag order and committed “wilful disobedience to [the court’s] lawful mandate,” which is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 per offense, up to 30 days in prison, or both.

    ETA:  I just tried the nitter link again and it worked this time. It says the same thing I posted up above. ⬆️

  146. 146.

    JoyceH

    @Scout211: should emphasize that term of “up to” thirty days. So many pundits seem to think the only option is thirty days at Rikers. Heck, every courthouse has holding cells. Give Trump an overnight there for the next offense. Give him the same treatment as other prisoners of the state, the same clothes, food, restrictions on visits and communications. Let him know that further violations would result in longer confinements. Heck, I think you’d only need to do it once – I think just an overnight incarceration would send him catatonic.

  147. 147.

    TBone

    @rikyrah: Fux Snewz has been pushing stories about “the unrest” all day long.  With glee.  Not word one about today’s court proceedings.  Pooty must be proud.

  148. 148.

    Jackie

    @JoyceH: Agreed. One night in the courthouse overnight facilities; no phone, no gold toilet, no Diet Coke, KFC or McDs, makeup or hair products would be one hella rude awakening.

  149. 149.

    TBone

    @JoyceH: 👍 make him show up in court the next day in the same clothes. Rumpled, with orange tear stains.  Rumplethinskin.

  150. 150.

    Quinerly

    @Manyakitty:

    Oh….Bowie…..I still grieve.

    For the last few days all these beautiful pics (mostly B&W) keep coming up in my FB feed. His last few years with Iman. Stunning couple.

  151. 151.

    Jacel

    @TBone: Decades ago a David Letterman guest was a boy who tore and nibbled cheese slices into the shapes of states. This led to airing of a calming minute of network television showing two humans wordlessly munching on slices of cheese.

  152. 152.

    pat

    Just imagine if he had accepted his loss. Go back to being just another billionaire…..

    And why did this pecker guy not change his name? I got several chuckles reading these comments.. hehehe

  153. 153.

    Manyakitty

    @Quinerly: and they were for REAL, too.

    Back before Twitter became an utterly toxic hellhole, I followed Duncan (Zowie) Jones. What a sweet and talented guy! He talked about how, the first Christmas after his dad died, he was wrapping presents and he wrote a card to his kid, also named Zowie: “To Zowie, love Dad.” And then he promptly burst into tears.

    Good people.

  158. 158.

    SW

    Sickening listening to “respectable” journalists piling on the National Enquirer for their scheme with the Trump campaign when the mainline outlets like the NYT and Wapo used the crap that the Enquirer was spewing to justify their own coverage on the grounds that this stuff was “out there” and it was therefore their responsibility to amplify and embellish it.

  160. 160.

    WaterGirl

    @SW:

    Sickening listening to “respectable” journalists piling on the National Enquirer for their scheme with the Trump campaign when the mainline outlets like the NYT and Wapo used the crap that the Enquirer was spewing to justify their own coverage on the grounds that this stuff was “out there” and it was therefore their responsibility to amplify and embellish it.

    Exactly!

  161. 161.

    Scout211

    @SW: Well said.

    And just slightly less awful compared to the Enquirer’s “catch and kill” are the “respectable” journalists with their “catch and save for my book.”

  162. 162.

    Melancholy Jaques

    @rikyrah:

    He’s rolling the dice on a hung jury. If it happens, he will claim exoneration. Most of the press will go along with that.

  163. 163.

    WaterGirl

    @Scout211:

    The people who could have done the right thing but instead either hid the Trump awfulness or enabled him, but saved it all for their books are just as sleazy as David Pecker.

    It’s really like the difference between the hookers who work on the corner and the high-end hookers.

    They might hold important jobs and dress differently, but it’s all the same thing.

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