Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

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

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Not all heroes wear capes.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

We still have time to mess this up!

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

We won’t go back.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

You are here: Home / Politics / Trump Indictments / Trump’s NY Criminal Trial / Trump’s NY Criminal Trial, Day 20

Trump’s NY Criminal Trial, Day 20

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This post is in: , , ,

It’s Day 20 of the trial.

Hoping for more bad behavior from the defense today.  Is that wrong?

Best sources of live blogging that I have found.

Josh Kovensky (TPM)   live blogging

Mark Sumner (Daily Kos)  live blogging

Tyler McBrien (Lawfare) on twitter

Anna Bower (Lawfare) on twitter

Adam Klasfeld on twitter

Lisa Rubin on twitter

not up yet

AP Live blogging

Still loving this awesome guy who carries this sign.

Trump’s NY Criminal Trial

Open thread.

Update:  Court will be back in session at 2:15 Eastern to sort out jury instructions.  There will be live blogging for that, too, so stay tuned.  Or maybe I’ll put up a new post for that.

Reader Interactions

197Comments

  1. 1.

    TBone

    I’m expecting that guy from Texas who was just pardoned for murdering a protester to show up in a red tie today.

    Also expecting Costello to be hurried off the stand if he makes it to the stand at all.

  2. 2.

    WaterGirl

    As I was finding the twitter links, I couldn’t help but notice that we were all framing the beginnings of our posts like the old Batman show.

    Will Batman be able to defeat the Penguin?

    Will Robin escape the clutches of the Joker?

    Will Costello attempt to “stare down” Justice Juan Merchan?

    And will the defense rest its case?

    Will Bob Costello avoid that fate now?

    So I had to change the framing of my question, lest it look like I was copying everyone else.  Mine was written before seeing their framing, I swear!

  5. 5.

    TBone

    TPM tidbit:

    And, remember: Giuliani right now owes Costello a lot of money.

    😆😆😆

  6. 6.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    I think Costello finds a way to escalate the misbehavior somehow.

    I don’t know who this Costello guy is, but before the weekend a lot of legal commentators were saying he was a possible witness for the defense, followed by “there’s no way they put that loose cannon on the stand, he would be terrible for the defense.” But TFG is controlling the legal strategy, so we got Costello.

    Along those lines, since every legal observer also agrees that the defense team would never, ever in a million years let The Former Guy testify to anything anywhere under oath, I am strongly leaning toward the belief that he’s going to testify.

    He probably has pages full of random crayon scribbles that he imagines is a long impassioned speech that’s going to fill the jurors’ and judge’s eyes with tears, get him exonerated for these and all other crimes past and future, and have him declared God Emperor For Life by the court.

  8. 8.

    TBone

    Joe fucking PISCOPO in attendance on behalf of the criminal defendant.  I have no words…yet.

  10. 10.

    Anonymous At Work

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: I got the sense that TFG told his lawyers that it was either TFG or Costello going on the stand “to show them how it’s done.”

    And yup, after Costello, that might end it.

  12. 12.

    Leto

    @TBone: @debit:

    I’m going to blame the potential steroids that he took to bulk up to Hulk size. 1982 called: they want their mediocre SNL star back.

  14. 14.

    TS

    When congress members travel to NY to pay homage to TIFG, are the costs picked up by their expenses or do they have to pay their own travel costs?

  17. 17.

    TBone

    Thanks for the Pisscopo comments, everyone!  I am smiling.

    Also:  Way to go out with a whimper, you ball-gargling thunder twat!

  18. 18.

    jonas

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Along those lines, since every legal observer also agrees that the defense team would never, ever in a million years let The Former Guy testify to anything anywhere under oath, I am strongly leaning toward the belief that he’s going to testify.

    Given that his cranky depositions in his civil trials so far have gone less than swimmingly, I’m gonna say that he won’t testify. His lawyers are probably working overtime, though, to come up with ways of assuaging his ego while convincing him he shouldn’t take the stand.

    ETA: apparently the defense has rested, so the jury has thus been spared several days of being bathed in orange squidclouds of butthurt.

  20. 20.

    TBone

    @jonas:

    orange squidclouds of butthurt

    They will spurt in the hallway and out on the steps of the court house. Take cover!

    😂😆🤣

  21. 21.

    Miss Bianca

    Who is this Costello person, anyway? Haven’t been following the trial all that closely, so don’t know many of the players (besides Cohen and Stormy Daniels, that is).

  22. 22.

    oldgold

    Testimony ends mid-morning on Tuesday and the jury is expected to get the case on Wednesday or Thursday of the following week! Lots of time for jury mischief and worse.

    I know I have complained about the scheduling ad nauseum, but this has been a disjointed mess that I fear has unnecessarily made this combination bank shot in the side pocket of a case more difficult to prove.

  23. 23.

    TBone

    @oldgold: I don’t think scheduling brings anything to bear against documentary evidence backed up by voluminous witness testimony.  Don’t forget ALL the non-famous witnesses who testified, please.

  24. 24.

    Captain C

    @jonas:

    His lawyers are probably working overtime, though, to come up with ways of assuaging his ego while convincing him he shouldn’t take the stand.

    “You know them (((crafty))) lawyers gonna find a way to twist your words, your perfect words, sir.  You gotta out-(((crafty))) them by not testifying.  That’ll really show them who the smart one is.”

  26. 26.

    jonas

    @Miss Bianca: He was a skeezy Trumpworld lawyer and campaign consultant (IIRC) who more recently was representing Rudy Giuliani in his many legal adventures until Rudy ran out of money and stopped paying him, at which point he withdrew representation and his firm sued Giuliani for a bunch of unpaid bills. Of course, he’ll never see a goddamned dime, so Ha!

  27. 27.

    cmorenc

    @Miss Bianca: I think Costello was originally Cohen’s Trump-aligned lawyer whose mission back in 2018 was to try to keep Cohen from flipping on Trump.  Recall that initially, the Trump organization was self-interestedly “helpful” in paying for lawyers to advise people who would likely get caught up as witnesses in investigations of Trump.

  28. 28.

    RaflW

    Open Thread: My phone just chirped with a message from “Gemini”, g**gle’s new “AI” service that can assist me in composing messages.

    Thankfully the dumb-asses at teh Goog made it possible for me to Block & Report for Spam. Highly recommend others do this if you get the Gemini offer.

    I am not into this brave new world. Spell & grammar check already trashes my texts. I do not need more intrusion and surveilance.

  29. 29.

    topclimber

    @oldgold: Could be. But also could be that most of a week away from the courthouse means the jury returns fresh for deliberations.

  30. 30.

    narya

    Honestly, I ended up being more impressed with this case than I was when charges were first filed. If I were a juror, the things that would stand out to me would be (1) Pecker’s testimony that HIS lawyers said it was a campaign finance issue; (2) the Weisselberg notes on Cohen’s bank statement; (3) Hicks’ and others’ testimony that they were freaked out after the Access Hollywood tape; and (4) TIFG’s saying that if they waited til after the election maybe they could avoid paying at all. It’s nice to have Cohen backing up the documents, but, really, Cohen was icing on a pretty well-baked cake

    ETA: Despite the disruption, I think it’s a good idea to do the end parts all at once–summations, jury instructions, etc.

  31. 31.

    TBone

    @RaflW: I’m with you, buddy!  I reported two Microsoft emails soliciting AI “help” in my gmail as spam today. Scarlett Johansen is a shero and she stands with us also.

  32. 32.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @TBone:

    Or Kelsey Grammer or Tim Allen or James Wood or Tom Selleck or Chuck Norris or Janine Turner or Angie Harmon, etc., etc.

  36. 36.

    RaflW

    Seems like the NY prosecutors got some juicy emails. Robert Costello, the attorney ostensibly representing Cohen back in the payoff days (but linked as a backchannel to Trump, because of course anything in Trumpworld has tentacles and backstabbing) got cross examined this morning.

    Costello worked both as a “backchannel” to Trump and also as an enforcer. As one Costello email reads, the point was to “get Cohen on the right page without giving him the appearance that we are following instructions from Giuliani or the president.”

    Dunno about y’all but if there were any doubts about the command & control from Donnie Dazzlehands, there it is.

  37. 37.

    Soprano2

    @oldgold: What I don’t understand is why they don’t do closing arguments Thursday so the jury gets it on Friday. Why wait until next Tuesday? I agree, that makes no sense to me. I know the Memorial Day holiday complicates things some, but still that’s a long time.

  38. 38.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @TBone:

    Heh heh, I’d posit that most people under the age of 45 would ask “Who the fuck is Joe Fucking Piscopo?”

  43. 43.

    oldgold

    I wonder if calling Costello and his beyond the pale antics on the stand were to distract from Trump not taking the stand?  If so, at least with the media, it seems to have worked.

  48. 48.

    rikyrah

    Methuselah Honeysuckle (@dhoodson) posted at 2:23 PM on Mon, May 20, 2024:
    But folks wanna play games & “hurt Biden.”

    You’re not hurting Biden you fuckin idiots.

    Dr. Virgo (@DrVirgo1981) posted at 7:48 AM on Tue, May 21, 2024:
    Let’s speak truth. Hurting Biden or voting 3rd party is just a camouflage for them. Truthfully, they benefit from the policies of the white supremacists and this is the way that they can have plausible deniability for helping republicans win. We know it and they know it.
    (https://x.com/DrVirgo1981/status/1792900347352039658?t=jpDdrhep4wm01xY-AJWTrw&s=03)

  52. 52.

    rebelsdad (aka texasboyshaun)

    @RandomMonster: wtf? The prosecution took like two weeks to present its case, and the defense rests after just two witlesses? (typo but I’m keeping it)

    Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, and it’s not their cheese!

  53. 53.

    TBone

    @rebelsdad (aka texasboyshaun): there really is no formal defense that has been presented.  They nibbled around the edges of certain witnesses, to not much avail.  Then, their big tuff defense witness SHAT THE BED.

    😆

    They should hire Dennis Miller to give the closing argument for the defense.

  55. 55.

    Martin

    During Covid one of the things I pushed university leadership to do, starting in February 2020 was to visualize making the decision to close the university – how they would make the announcement, what blowback they would expect from lawmakers, students, faculty, staff, industry, the media, etc., how they would handle that, and so on. And to do this every day because they needed to shift from this being an unthinkable/overwhelming idea to one that one day they would wake up and have to make that decision – and we didn’t know when that day would happen.

    I think Trump made a mistake pushing the judge to the point that he was considering jailing Trump over the gag order. Entering this trial, the judge was probably in the camp of jailing a former president was unthinkable but he was forced by Trump to get to the point where it he’d already visualized doing it. And I think that may come back to bite him.

  58. 58.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Martin: Entering this trial, the judge was probably in the camp of jailing a former president was unthinkable

    What evidence do you have for this?

  59. 59.

    FastEdD

    I am relieved the case has gone to the jury. The daily Suck Up Festival may be over for a while. Just protect the jurors and hope they take their roles seriously. My expectations for a verdict next week include multiple recitations of the word “guilty” followed by at least a year of appeals and arguments that guilty doesn’t mean guilty and no jail time imposed because *insert rationalization here.* I would at least like to run against a candidate with the word felon attached to him.

  60. 60.

    TBone

    @West of the Rockies: You and the last (Black) lady that called me doing a telephone poll.  She was DEAD laughing!  It was skewed rethuglican (of course) and she thanked me profusely for the comedic intermission

  61. 61.

    Baud

    Via Reddit, Biden is trying to increase the price of chicken again.

    The Department of Labor is seeking a court order to stop the company from selling and shipping “poultry tainted by oppressive child labor” from the company’s plant in Alabama, according to court filings

  63. 63.

    Jackie

    @rikyrah: Adam Kissinger’s PISSED!

    Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) reacts to Donald Trump referring to a ‘unified Reich‘ in a social media post last night:

    Please pardon my language, but there is no other thing to say than ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?

    This man is a stain, a Nazi, a pure a simple garbage of a human being. And ANYONE who supports him now will be ASHAMED to ever admit they did someday.

  64. 64.

    cain

    @WaterGirl:

    Speaking of Batman, some months back I watched the Flash movie that had the Michael Keaton playing his old role as Batman. I remember at the time that Adam West complained that they didn’t approach him for the role. I think at the time the dude was like over 50. I remember at the time back then even I thought he was too old to play Batman. (it was the 80s, I was 20) and people who were 50 back then looked like people who are 70 today.

    Fast forward today, and Keaton is playing that role at an age where he was probably older than Adam West but I didn’t think he was too old to play him and he looked great!

  67. 67.

    Jim Appleton

    @rikyrah: Good lord.

    My understanding is there’s no direct translation of “reich”, but “empire” Is close.

    The chilling thing is the Nazis meant “reich” as domestic and foreign, but iDJT (pronounced “idjit) means it just as domestic.

  68. 68.

    jonas

    @Martin:  And I think that may come back to bite him.

    I think Trump thinks his childish behavior in the courtroom makes him look “tough” or “defiant” or whatever. Actually, it makes him look like an even more unsympathetic WATB asshole to jurors. If you’re constantly watching a judge have to tell the defendant and his lawyers and witnesses to sit the fuck down and behave themselves, that’s generally not a good look.

  74. 74.

    rebelsdad (aka texasboyshaun)

    @Jackie: Completely agree except for the last line- they’ll never be ashamed of their support because they aren’t capable of shame. We’re talking about people who have murdered their consciences early in the game.

  77. 77.

    smith

    @Baud: That tells you Crockett’s comments really stung. Bet you won’t see Crockett putting up defensive posts about her eyelashes.

  78. 78.

    geg6

    @Soprano2:

    From what I read last week, a juror has a personal issue that has to be dealt with that day.  So he is accommodating a juror.

  79. 79.

    Barbara

    @Soprano2: The judge is determined to have the closing arguments go back to back so that they are not separated by a long weekend.  Meanwhile, I think jurors are looking at starting a long weekend and the judge won’t rush the closing arguments.  They never meet on Fridays, and Monday is a holiday.  It is what it is.

  81. 81.

    Ken

    @RaflW: As one Costello email reads, the point was to “get Cohen on the right page without giving him the appearance that we are following instructions from Giuliani or the president.”

    Am I understanding correctly, that came out during the cross-examination of Costello? And perhaps the prosecution would not have been able to introduce that, had the defense not had Costello testify?

    EDIT: A quick scan of legal twitter suggests so, judging from the number of Stringer Bell “is you taking notes on a f*cking criminal conspiracy” gifs.

  89. 89.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @TBone: I was going to say TFG thought Piscopo  was going to have a Perry Mason moment like the movie he was in but u realized I was confusing Joe Pesci with Piscopo. I believe Pesci is also a Trumper.

  90. 90.

    TBone

    @West of the Rockies: it’d be much funnier if it weren’t Pooty’s balls he gargles.

    A neighbor forced me to come out with that one day.  Rude mfer with gall would not STFU, so I said “How ’bout I just cut your balls off right here, and then you’ll be a BGTT.” He went right on home and I haven’t heard anything more out of him.

  92. 92.

    Barbara

    @Ken: Yes, it seems that way.  I don’t exactly know what the point of having Costello testify was.  From what I can read, the defense’s gambit was to try to ask him open-ended questions so that he could provide an alternative narrative. When he was cross-examined he kept offering to provide context and explain certain emails, which the DOJ did not take up.  He apparently came across as a thin-skinned asshole to the government’s female attorney, not to mention trying to go toe to toe with the judge.  It makes me wonder how much time he actually spent in court as a lawyer.  Pissing off the judge is rarely a good strategic move, but maybe it’s in service to making the client happy.

  95. 95.

    Ken

    @Harrison Wesley: “Contains less than 15% of children’s bitter tears of despair.”

    (What year was it that the chicken packagers got the go-ahead to use “flavoring solution”, which quickly became the most profitable salt water on the market?)

  97. 97.

    Jackie

    @TBone: I’m PT Zone, so very often I skip the very early post – as I’d likely never get caught up to real blog time, and, as I’ve learned, end up talking to myself, since everyone’s moved on🤷🏼‍♀️

  98. 98.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @Ken: And by staggeringly unlikely coincidence, this happened in a case that was about a criminal f$@#ing conspiracy in the most literal sense of the term.

  99. 99.

    TBone

    @Jackie: It should be shouted from the rooftops and I’m glad to see  repeated blowback!  I’m also glad BJ is nationwide (oops, worldwide).

    Normalizing natzis is unacceptable. Dangerous game, and we need to stop them everywhere.

  102. 102.

    Jackie

    @geg6: Yes. Plus the court is closed Fri for Memorial Day wknd. Friday’s planned closure isn’t Merchan’s decision.

    I did hear that Merchan gave the jurors a heads up that they will be deliberating next Wed, so no Wed off.

  103. 103.

    brantl

    @Miss Bianca: He’s the guy in the witness chair shows that he should trademark the phrase: “Dumbest guy with a law degree EVER!!”, while the proof is so raw, in front of the judge.

  105. 105.

    LAO

    @Ken: A totally self inflicted injury. And perhaps why the defense team didn’t want to call Costello. The defendant was, apparently, quite impressed with Costello’s recent testimony before Congress. Of course one should never confuse a GOP house hearing with an actual criminal trial.

  109. 109.

    rikyrah

    Jennifer Truth Over Phony Balance Rubin 🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@JRubinBlogger) posted at 10:20 AM on Tue, May 21, 2024:
    Abortion bans are the manifestation of the underlying problem: a reckless Supreme Court accountable to no one. The rogue right-wing court that took away millions of women’s reproductive rights is the same court that is in dire need of ethical reform and, most Americans believe, term limits.
    (https://x.com/JRubinBlogger/status/1792938594903916651?t=W3KaIYh6X-P2g-YFY68WEw&s=03)

  111. 111.

    WaterGirl

    @RaflW:

    the point was to “get Cohen on the right page without giving him the appearance that we are following instructions from Giuliani or the president.”

    Wowser.  Doesn’t get more black-and-white than that!

  114. 114.

    LAO

    @oldgold:

     

    I wonder if calling Costello and his beyond the pale antics on the stand were to distract from Trump not taking the stand?

    I don’t think so. Costello was a Trump special, a way of presenting his point of view without him actually testifying. But the defendant clearly did not understand the risks (those pesky emails) and his lawyers were unable to present those risks to him in a meaningful way.

  116. 116.

    trollhattan

    @Jackie: Lemme guess, he’s being dismissed as a “RINO snowflake.”

    Donny’s reich is exceeding his grasp. Anybody surprised?

  117. 117.

    WaterGirl

    @Soprano2: in my experience on juries, they get antsy as the day gets later, get really antsy on Fridays because they want to go home, and I imagine they would be super antsy deliberating around a holiday, or missing their holiday stuff with their families.

    Also, jury anonymity.  “Where’s Julia, she always hosts the memorial day bash?”

  118. 118.

    rikyrah

    Jennifer Truth Over Phony Balance Rubin 🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@JRubinBlogger) posted at 10:20 AM on Tue, May 21, 2024:
    Abortion bans are the manifestation of the underlying problem: a reckless Supreme Court accountable to no one. The rogue right-wing court that took away millions of women’s reproductive rights is the same court that is in dire need of ethical reform and, most Americans believe, term limits.
    (https://x.com/JRubinBlogger/status/1792938594903916651?t=VKDlzZzVbnhcEAUrW2D5fA&s=03)

  119. 119.

    rikyrah

    Andrew Weissmann (weissmann11 on Threads) (@AWeissmann_) posted at 10:16 AM on Tue, May 21, 2024:
    Trump choosing not testify today:
    – CANNOT be used in court in any way as a defendant has a right not to testifying and it cannot be used against him.
    — CAN be used in court of public opinion as to why he won’t answer questions about his deal with Pecker, his statements to…
    (https://x.com/AWeissmann_/status/1792937394389295212?t=zpdsbLvh6xP_33PtvoeCbg&s=03)

  120. 120.

    rikyrah

    Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline) posted at 9:57 PM on Mon, May 20, 2024:
    I don’t think I’m alone on this…

    I was absolutely disgusted and freaked out by the media (televised and print) coverage I saw leading up to the Morehouse graduation with President Biden delivering the commencement address. It was plainly obvious the media was looking for and expecting an incident.

    Black men graduating from a college with the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

    Black men with a heightened awareness of two things: the power of peaceful protest and the potential brutality they could face as Black men being brutalized by police on that day along with how it would reflect on their college in the spotlight.

    Thank god the president of Morehouse, David A. Thomas, was also aware and prepared to take appropriate steps that did not come to pass. Morehouse is a shining example to other colleges and students.

    Media, do better! Universities, do better!
    https://t.co/3uxsb33pvX
    (https://x.com/cwebbonline/status/1792751483005575669?t=Il_f7XbQUng4K2M19jHBLw&s=03)

  121. 121.

    trollhattan

    @rikyrah: Oh this is rich. The old “the cat brought it in from outside” defense.

    “This was not a campaign video, it was created by a random account online and reposted by a staffer who clearly did not see the word, while the President was in court,” Karoline Leavitt, the campaign press secretary, said in a statement.

  123. 123.

    jonas

    @rebelsdad (aka texasboyshaun): I don’t think that’s unusual when the defense strategy is not to refute the state’s evidence point by point with their own witnesses, but just sow enough doubt about it with the jury to flip one or two of them. I’m hoping that a Manhattan jury will be a little savvier than that, but we’ll see.

  125. 125.

    jonas

    @rikyrah: NPR of course did yeoman’s work interviewing a couple of Morehouse grads leading up to the commencement, one of whom said he was mostly apolitical and didn’t give a shit about the president or whatever, one of whom was upset at Biden’s stance on Israel (which he seriously mischaracterized), and third who said they thought it should be more about the families and their accomplishments than the speakers. The takeaway? Biden’s old and has clearly lost touch with Black students.

    Okee-dokee, then.

  127. 127.

    LAO

    @rebelsdad (aka texasboyshaun):

     

    Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, and it’s not their cheese!

    Super glad you’ve never been in one of my juries. It’s super rare for defendant’s to put on a defense case. For obvious reasons, exemplified by the Costello backfire.
    As already mentioned by others, a defendant has no burden to prove anything at trial.

  128. 128.

    Jackie

    @rikyrah: And this! 👍🏻

    The abortion rights position has won on the ballot in seven out of seven states since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in mid-2022 — even in red-leaning ones such as Kansas, Kentucky, Montana and Ohio,” the Washington Post reports.

    “And new polling suggests that in 2024, abortion rights measures could do even better than they did in those first seven states, as voters in states with severe GOP led-abortion bans weigh in.”

    “The polling, from CBS News and YouGov, shows striking margins in Arizona and Florida for enshrining abortion rights into those states’ constitutions. That position leads 65 percent to 21 percent in Arizona and 60 percent to 20 percent in Florida.”

    ETA gift WaPo link: https://wapo.st/3yuXyvp

  129. 129.

    jonas

    @LAO: But the defendant clearly did not understand the risks…and his lawyers were unable to present those risks to him in a meaningful way.

    Pretty much sums up his presidency, too.

  130. 130.

    hueyplong

    @trollhattan: They’re really not putting in the effort today.  The story should have been that the unfortunate material was reposted by the lowly staffer’s wife.

  131. 131.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: I snorted when I read that!

    Has Marge never learned the concept of “quit digging”?

    The Streisand Effect?

    That she is even in the House is an embarrassment.

  133. 133.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @trollhattan:

    Oh please, that’s a weak deflection even for them. This is the same guy who over the weekend called all of his political opponents “communists” and that America isn’t for us but only his cult. Sounds pretty fashy to me

  136. 136.

    Martin

    @Omnes Omnibus: None. Just that so far every aspect of the legal system has treated him as exceptional in some way. Why would sentencing be any different?

  137. 137.

    K-Mo

    @Baud:

    @smith:

    I spent some time trying to figure out what “bad-built” means and concluded that it means the proportions are off.  Top-heavy, bottom-heavy, or unusual torso-leg ratio would do it.

    I’m not going to look up MTG’s video but I’m confident she isn’t refuting this characterization, nor the bleach factor.  I’ll leave the “butch-body” comment alone.

    Perhaps the most apt response is just, “U mad?”

  139. 139.

    jonas

    @Jackie: I’m always happy to see polling like this, but I really wish voters in states that have banned abortion would actually punish the politicians who created this problem in the first place by voting them out of office. That would put an end to this shit right fast, but it doesn’t seem to be happening.

  140. 140.

    catclub

    @cain: Fast forward today, and Keaton is playing that role at an age where he was probably older than Adam West but I didn’t think he was too old to play him and he looked great!

     

    Ummm, I will note that when you were 20,  a 50 y.o looked old, but  now you are much more than 20 and a 60 y.o looks good.

  145. 145.

    LAO

    @Martin: TBH, I don’t think the defendant is facing jail time. He’s charged with 34 E felonies, the lowest level felony charge in NY State. Most people, and I mean overwhelmingly, convicted of E felonies are not sentenced to prison in NY.

    Don’t shoot the messenger!

  147. 147.

    Steeplejack

    @Jim Appleton:

    A Trump apologist on Twitter said it just means “realm”—“another nothingburger.” 🙄

    One response: “Lebensraum is just ‘living room’ in German, what’s the big deal”?

  148. 148.

    WaterGirl

    @LAO:

    I don’t think so. Costello was a Trump special, a way of presenting his point of view without him actually testifying.

    Yes!

    The Trump mini-me idiots show up at court so they can go out in the hallway and say all the things Trump can’t say because of the gag order.

    And I’d bet my house that Trump insisted on this guy, so he could say and do the things that Trump would want to do, but  would hang him if Trump got on the stand.

  152. 152.

    Barbara

    @WaterGirl: Huh, I am so used to Fridays being motions day that I almost assume courts don’t meet on Fridays.

    Regarding the Costello testimony, I agree with the sentiment that Trump thought Costello would be a suitable proxy for what he would say if he were to testify.  It was probably a condition of him not testifying.

    Anyone who thinks that testimony elicited by the disciplined attorneys of the DOJ — who can probably recite the material email exchanges by memory — is going to go down like testimony during a congressional hearing is an idiot.

  153. 153.

    Anonymous At Work

    @jonas: One vote for the office, not a cafeteria line to create a candidate.  People tend to prefer “THEIR” legislators but disapprove of the Legislature as a whole.  At both state and federal level.

  154. 154.

    Barbara

    @jonas: Florida and Ohio, to name two of these states, are really, really gerrymandered, a corrupt process that has managed to stay in place even after voters passed referenda that tried to undo the process that makes gerrymandering possible.  It’s a complete fuck you to voters and a good thing that they have a referendum process in place to counteract some of the most egregious excesses.

    My state of Virginia was also seriously gerrymandered but we do not have a referendum process in place.  All referenda have to be approved for the ballot by the legislature, and might be limited to amending the state constitution.  We did approve an amendment that created a “neutral” redistricting process, except that by “neutral” you should read “complete stalemate.”  I knew the amendment would end up with a stalemate because of the way it was structured, but we are less gerrymandered than we were, which is a good thing.  Eventually, a court ruled that the Republican appointment process for their representatives was not being conducted in good faith and ended up appointing a more neutral panel.

  155. 155.

    Anonymous At Work

    @Barbara: Also, I’d imagine final jury instruction wrangling and some light BDSMotion play by the defense between now and closing arguments.

  156. 156.

    jonas

    @LAO: I think this is right. E-class felonies are felonies, but he has no priors so I wouldn’t think he’d be looking at any serious jail time. Probably fines, probation, etc. But who knows? Merchan was pretty pissed a number of times and Trump was *this close* to getting sent to Rikers for contempt earlier, so maybe they’ll throw the book at him. We can hope.

    That’s the problem with prosecuting a lot of white collar crimes, though, especially if they don’t involve RICO or securities fraud or are on the scale of the Madow scam or something. Getting a conviction is tough enough because of all the establishing intention and state-of-mind and then, after all that work, the penalties are ones rich and powerful people can generally just shrug off.

  157. 157.

    Barbara

    @Anonymous At Work: Assume defense will move for directed verdict, which will be denied.  No doubt other motions to limit admission of certain evidence — no idea what that would be.  Yeah, the usual. Plus, you don’t really want to have two days of closing argument and then give the jury four days off.

  158. 158.

    LAO

    @jonas: I agree with you generally in terms of white collar crime. However, specific to this case, if the jury doesn’t connect the false business records to election fraud violations, then the 34 charges are misdemeanors. Trump is charged with very minor offenses in the scheme of the NY State penal code.

  160. 160.

    Captain C

    @trollhattan: The proper response:  “So Trump and his campaign are not dilligent enough to keep Nazis out?  Good to know, fuckhead.”

  162. 162.

    Anonymous At Work

    @Barbara: BDSMotion play gets nothing from another lawyer?  I won’t claim it as an original but a convergently-discovered phrase.

  164. 164.

    JoyceH

    Does anyone know who decides sentence in this case? Some cases have jury sentence and some have judge doing the sentence and I don’t know how this one does. I rather hope it’s the jury because I suspect Trump’s antics pissed them off, with his muttering and disrespect and posse of thugs.

  166. 166.

    Betty

    @Barbara: He apparently was in charge of the US Attorney’s office for SDNY at one time. That must have been when he and Rudy got together. How far they have fallen.

  167. 167.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @rikyrah: Yes, it would be GREAT if Emory University took a lesson from their crosstown neighbors at Morehouse College.

  168. 168.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @rikyrah: For those who didn’t click through:

    Leavitt is attempting to blame the carelessness of an unnamed staffer. Team Trump believes that narrative is better than someone high up in the campaign posting this Nazi-esque video.

    However, there’s a problem with blaming a random staffer. As it turns out, Leavitt’s statement conflicts with Trump own words at Mar-a-Lago during his event for Truth Social investors and influencers.

    At that event Trump said only he and Dan Scavino have access to his Truth Social account.

    Trump’s campaign was just caught posting some awful stuff and their excuse isn’t adding up.

  169. 169.

    Soprano2

    @LAO: I imagine it’s not fun to have a moron for a client if you’re a good defense lawyer, even if they pay you well. I hope this guy got his money upfront.

  170. 170.

    geg6

    @LAO: ​
     
    I think the last time he violated the gag order, nothing happened even though he was told it would. Could that mean that Merchan might be open to a little light incarceration if they find him guilty of these 34 charges?

  172. 172.

    oldgold

    I thought the cross of Costello was excellent.  The questions were short, most contained one fact, called for a yes or no answer, went to the heart of the matter and the entire time taken for the  cross was brief – text book.

  173. 173.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @jonas:

    Getting a conviction is tough enough because of all the establishing intention and state-of-mind and then, after all that work, the penalties are ones rich and powerful people can generally just shrug off.

    Of course, all the more reason to give them actual jail time. Otherwise, they’ll never learn; amirite?

  174. 174.

    Steeplejack

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    JoePiscopo’s finest hour was his (excellent) Frank Sinatra doing a medley of “young type modern music” on SNL. “But there’s only one way to do it—my way!” Hilariously funny, with authentic arrangements from the SNL band. “Cold as Ice” and “Born to Run” as you’ve never heard them before. “Under My Thumb” at 2:30 is my favorite.

  175. 175.

    Soprano2

    @jonas: It won’t happen in MO, either. The abortion amendment will probably pass since GOP infighting killed the initiative they wanted to put on the ballot in August to make it take 55% of the vote in 5 of 8 congressional districts for the people to pass an amendment. They wouldn’t strip the “ballot candy” out of it, which is what Dems wanted, so the Dems did a 50 hour filibuster and kept it off the ballot. It was estimated that if this passed as few as 25% of Missourians could have defeated a voter initiative. Of course, they would leave it so that a legislative-proposed initiative still passed the old way, with 50%+1 of the whole state. The voters will still probably vote in a supermajority of Republicans who wanted to keep them from passing it, though.

  177. 177.

    LAO

    @geg6: I really don’t know. And anyone who suggests otherwise is just making it up. I’d love to be wrong but i think it’s unlikely Merchan will include jail time if the defendant is convicted.
    On a related note, if Trump receives a short sentence, the Appellate Division First Department (hereinafter the First Dept) would most likely stay execution of that sentence pending appeal.

  180. 180.

    cmorenc

    @LAO :

     Trump is charged with very minor offenses in the scheme of the NY State penal code.

    Think how vastly different the landscape of public perception and penal consequences would likely have been for Trump about now, had the classified docs case been assigned to just about any other federal judge in the Florida district than Aileen Cannon.  Because a substantial portion of the felonies likely to result in serious jail time involved the wilful retention post-presidency of classified docs after the feds / National Archives demanded them back, hence there would be no potential presidential immunity issue for SCOTUS to intervene to slow down the procedings.  However, they might have seized on the issue of Trump’s right to publicly confront the evidence against him, vs the grave national seurit-risk secretive nature of the documents in question

  182. 182.

    lowtechcyclist

    @LAO:

    in my experience, 75% of criminal defendants are, by definition, morons.

    I was on a grand jury one summer many years ago, and that was my main takeaway from it: most crooks are dumb as dirt.  If anything, I’d guess that your 75% estimate is lowballing it.

  185. 185.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @geg6: Trump has not violated the gag order since he was threatened  with jail time. The second hearing was for acts of contempt that wear prior to the first hearing.  IOW the jail threat worked.

  188. 188.

    smith

    @Omnes Omnibus: He did make a public statement about Costello yesterday, which at least technically violates the order against making statements about witnesses. I’m guessing it’s not a hill either Merchan or the prosecution would choose to die on, though. I’m just amazed he kept his mouth shut after Cohen’s testimony.

  189. 189.

    JaySinWA

    @scav:

    Well, the non-morons of the breed do tend not to appear in front of grand juries.  Bit of a filter that, being caught.

    Are you impugning the intelligence of our police force?

  191. 191.

    Soprano2

    @LAO: Guess I should have said “morons who think they know better than their attorney what should happen in court”.

  193. 193.

    LAO

    @Soprano2: I get that. Hands down the hardest defendants to represent are those that know, deep in the marrow of their bones, that they are the smartest guys in the room.

  194. 194.

    scav

    @JaySinWA: Need I bother?

    Even most elite runners get beat in races.  And it’s the boys in blue lowering standards to attract recruits and eliminating consequences for poor performance.

  196. 196.

    Anonymous At Work

    @JaySinWA: Nah, intelligence leads to money, money leads to power, power leads to women laws that make it harder to prove you broke the law to get the money.

    Also, money buys you lawyers to slow things down.

  197. 197.

    JaySinWA

    @Anonymous At Work: So our police are really smart? High pay, lots of authority, legal immunity? /s

    OTOH correlation is not causation. There are a lot of wealthy powerful people who are unintelligent.

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