Drama In The Trump Trial

Drawing an angry judge

Today’s Trump Trial was the last day of Michael Cohen’s testimony. I was on line starting at 5:15. It was a beautiful spring morning.

THere were no Trump supporters at first; this fellow was cycling the park adjacent to our line.

Some members of the press snagged benches, including Andrew Giuliani, on the left in his blue best. I am seeing a lot of the same people each morning, and have made a few friends.

This woman planted herself in the park and spouted Christian propaganda, finally turning to how Trump helped her car gas expenses go down. I was glad it was close to 8:30 because after 20 minutes, her megaphone spewings became invasive.

We heard a scuffle at the front of the line with some members of the public, and I heard a cop say this:

Once we entered the building and I was all cleared by scanners and in the spillover room, I drew more journalists. Not much else to draw, I have already drawn the court policemen in the spillover room (maybe I’ll draw them again tomorrow, they are great).

This row below looked vaguely familiar to me- I think maybe they are all big deal Times guys

I brought binoculars this time, so it was easier to see the smaller faces on the monitor. Sitting directly behind Trump today, I spotted attorney Alan Dershowitz, Eric Trump and his wife Lara. The others— who knows! On the other side of the room, behind the prosecution, I never recognize anyone famous, although I think I saw Rachel Maddow in the way back.

When the judge started things going, the morning was more cross examination of Michael Cohen, Trump’s fixer. Here is Trump and his team at a moment of planning:

The defense continued to try to paint Cohen badly. One of the early exchanges, that rehashed all the negatives we have heard, was about a cash transaction Cohen made when he worked for Trump. The defense got Cohen to admit he stole money from the Trump Organization, but he was very open about it (I think we may already have heard about it from the prosecution, actually).

Another interesting exchange:

Prosecution attorney Hoffinger redirected, hoping to clean up some of what the defense had done to Michael Cohen, and she reminded the jury of the story of the hush money and Trump’s alleged involvement— paying off Stormy Daniels for campaign reasons.

Throughout this trial, the defense had repeatedly focused on one phone call that Cohen said he had with Trump and his bodyguard (Schiller) one night in 2016— where he said he told Trump the hush money payment was made. The defense said he was lying, and could not have had time to discuss that with Trump in a 90 second phone call. A photo screenshot of Trump and Schiller was finally allowed in evidence, after many sidebars and closed negotiations. It was a win for the prosecution and put a small hole in what the defense thought was their big argument.

After this question below, the prosecution rested:

Then something extraordinary happened. The defense called a witness who had been mentioned numerous times previously. It was the lawyer Robert Costello, who came to Cohen seeking to represent him after Cohen’s home and offices were raided by the DOJ. Cohen said he disliked and distrusted Costello and did not retain him. Costello said he did. In any event, Costello, an experienced and well-respected (in some quarters, I guess) lawyer acted so poorly it caused Judge Merchan to scold him.

When Judge Merchan thought Costello was staring him down after the scolding (“If you are trying to stare me down, I will remove you from the stand!”) , he sent everyone out of the room. For a judge who has been so mild mannered and measured, it was astonishing.

I think it hurt the defense case (if they even have one).

When court resumed, things calmed down. But Costello was a testy witness towards Hoffinger, almost dismissive in tone and nit-picking at her questions. It may not sit well with the women on the jury.

It was already almost 4:30pm, and Judge Merchan decided to end the day. He sent the jury home, and then the defense was allowed to make a case to end the trial and not send it to the jury. I learned this is something that always happens, the defense is given this opportunity. Blanche went on for what seemed like a half hour, trying to convince the judge to throw it all out because the defense believes Cohen lied in this trial. Merchan patiently listened, and said this:

Tomorrow, there will be about 90 minutes of more Costello testimony, and then will resume the following Tuesday for closing arguments.

Thanks for being here! More tomorrow, along with my thoughts. But then that’s it from me for this trial.