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The last reason for #ReasonableDoubt on Blanche’s list is simply: #MichaelCohen.

#Blanche calls Cohen: “The human embodiment of reasonable doubt, literally.” (Umm, no not literally)

Blanche introduces the acronym G.O.A.T., commonly used to stand for “greatest of all time.” He then applies the acronym to Michael Cohen. “Michael Cohen is the G.L.O.A.T.,” Blanche says. The “greatest liar of all time.”

#Trump wrote this right?
(Idiot)

#Blanche reminds the #jury that deliberations should not involve their views of #Trump, & this is not a referendum on the ballot box.

Trump & his campaign have argued for the last several years that the trial is a politically motivated sham that is about the ballot box

Blanche concludes, thanking the jurors. He tells them if they pay close attention to the #evidence, “this is a very quick & easy not guilty verdict.”

Before he concluded, #Blanche asked that #jurors not send his client to #prison. Now, w/the jury excused, Joshua #Steinglass, who will give prosecution’s closing argument, stands up & objects.

“That was a blatant & wholly inappropriate effort to call sympathy for their client,” Steinglass says, asking for a curative instruction.

Justice #Merchan is excoriating Blanche for making an “outrageous” statement.

Justice #Merchan, furious, reminds #Blanche, & not for the first time, that he was a prosecutor long enough to know it was out of bounds for him to basically beg jurors not to send #Trump to #prison.

Merchan told the court that he plans to give jurors a curative instruction — in other words, general direction that is aimed at clearing up an erroneous statement.

Back from lunch, #Trump has returned w/ Don Jr. & Eric& Lara, & Tiffany.

When we left, #Blanche was admonished by Justice #Merchan for imploring #jurors not to send Trump “to prison” on #MichaelCohen’s words.

The issue is that Blanche told jurors Trump could face prison due to their decision.

Jurors are ONLY responsible for deciding whether he is guilty or not guilty of the charges, sentencing is not in their purview.

Prosecutor Susan #Hoffinger reminds the judge that before the trial began, he himself precluded the jury from hearing anything about potential punishments for #Trump. “Mr. Blanche was certainly on notice that this was an improper argument,” Hoffinger says.

Hoffinger also argues that the defense misstated the #law when it came to how #legal retainer agreements work in NY. #Blanche argues that he is willing to litigate the issue further this evening.

Justice #Merchan calls in the #jury & instructs them that #Blanche’s comment about sending #Trump “to prison” was “improper” & that they must disregard it. He reminds them that a #prison sentence is NOT required in the event of a #guilty #verdict.

Joshua #Steinglass opens prosecution’s #ClosingArgument by reminding the #jury that during opening statements, his colleague said that the case, at its core, is about “a conspiracy & a coverup.”

He then delineates 3 elements that the prosecution must prove: That there were false business records, that they were used as part of the conspiracy & that #Trump himself was involved.

#Steinglass says that the defense seemed to question the prosecution’s integrity when referring to certain documentary #evidence.

“There’s nothing sinister here, no manipulation,” Steinglass says, explaining that all relevant calls are in evidence. Then he argues that in a defense exhibit showing calls between #MichaelCohen & another lawyer, #RobertCostello, the defense “double counted half the calls.” (prosecution got the witness to admit it on the stand)

↑This goes directly at 1 of the 10 reasons for reasonable doubt that #Blanche kinda listed at the end of his closing. Blanche questioned whether the #evidence was handled properly.

Next, #Steinglass says that one of the defense’s narratives is “this notion that #StormyDaniels is trying to extort the defendant … threatened to go public unless she was paid off. But that's just not reality.”

#Steinglass quickly disposes w/some of #Blanche’s arguments, including the idea that there was an alternative #conspiracy involving #StormyDaniels, her manager & a #NationalEnquirer editor. He says that the defense is trying to distract from a key issue in the case, adding, “In the end, all of this doesn’t really matter.”

[thank you! This is about falsifying business records]
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics

#Steinglass list the many witnesses who testified who are still loyal to #Trump: #HopeHicks, #MadeleineWesterhout, #JeffreyMcConney, #RhonaGraff & David #Pecker. Steinglass says that Pecker has “absolutely no reason to lie here,” & adds, “and yet, his testimony is utterly devastating.”

#Steinglass addresses #StormyDaniels’s testimony, saying that while she does not like Trump — & wants to see him convicted — her testimony about her sexual encounter w/him was credible, w/details that had the ring of truth.

He says, the encounter itself was important, because if the jury finds Daniels's testimony credible, it explains why #Trump would have sought to buy her silence.

“If her testimony was so irrelevant, why did they work so hard to try to discredit her?” #Steinglass asks, adding, “#StormyDaniels is the motive.”

Steinglass reminds the jury of the many ways defense worked to discredit Daniels.

Steinglass moves on to #MichaelCohen. He agrees that Cohen wants #Trump convicted, but says that Cohen is “understandably angry that to date, he’s the only one who’s paid the price for his role in this #conspiracy.”

#Steinglass tells jurors #Trump would not have paid a lot of money to #StormyDaniels just because someone had a photo of them on a golf course.

Steinglass says anyone in #MichaelCohen’s shoes would want the defendant to be held accountable”

“Mr. Trump decided, like he often does, 'I’m not going to pay this bill,'” Steinglass said, of the payment to the tech firm for which Cohen was eventually overpaid when he was reimbursed in 2017.

#Steinglass notes that the defense accused #MichaelCohen of stealing for overstating the amount he was owed for paying the technology firm. Steinglass acknowledges that Cohen was wrong to steal. But, he says, “it’s not a defense to a false business records charge that one of the conspirators is also guilty for stealing from another.”

#Steinglass addresses another problem w/ #Blanche's argument — that he is trying to both say this wasn’t a reimbursement & it was also a legitimate legal expense.

“Their arguments are not necessarily consistent, but they’re passionate,” Steinglass says, about the defense's contradictory arguments at one point they argued #Trump didn’t know about the reimbursement & at another point that he did.

#Steinglass says #MichaelCohen sells #Trump merch & will continue to, regardless of the outcome of the #TrumpTrial.
He says you can “hardly blame him for making money from the one thing that he has left, which is his knowledge of the inner workings of the Trump phenomenon.”

Steinglass describes Cohen lying to Congress about his dealings w/a Trump project in #Russia. Steinglass says Trump has “chutzpah”—Cohen lied to help Trump, & now Trump is using those lies to undermine Cohen.

#Steinglass telling the jurors something #MichaelCohen has long said about #Trump:
“These guys know each other well. They speak in coded language, & they speak fast.”

Steinglass counters defense's argument that Cohen called Trump's bodyguard, #KeithSchiller, not Trump himself, on the evening of Oct 24. Defense argued that the call was about a teenage prank caller, not about arranging the #HushMoney payment, as prosecutors had said.

#Steinglass starts a timer & pretends to have the exact same conversation, he adds a bunch of asides & silences. He plays the role of Cohen, talking first to #KeithSchiller & then to #Trump.

The call feels loooong. When Steinglass stops the timer, it’s only been ~49 secs, about as long as the call in question.

The point:
#MichaelCohen could have easily talked to both men, as he testified.

#Steinglass points out #MichaelCohen could have told whoppers about #Trump or attributed far more damaging comments to him. Steinglass says that Cohen didn’t do any of that “because he’s limited by what actually happened.”

#Steinglass reframes Cohen for the #jury. “Michael Cohen was really more of the defendant's #fixer than his #lawyer,” he says, calling Cohen “the guy w/the boots on the ground that could #bully people & #threaten them w/lawsuits.”

#Steinglass asks #jurors to remember that “we didn’t choose #MichaelCohen to be our witness. We didn’t pick him up at the witness store.” Then he raises his voice & says that #Trump chose Cohen “for the same qualities that his attorneys now urge you to reject his testimony because of.”

Steinglass adds that Trump chose Cohen “because he was willing to lie & cheat on Mr. Trump’s behalf.”

#Steinglass is making the significant points that this case is not about #MichaelCohen, & that Cohen was exactly what #Trump wanted in a lawyer.

This is always the issue w/cooperating witnesses. As Jonah Bromwich put it, “if you want to know what happens in the gutter, you have to talk to the rats.”

Steinglass reminds jurors that Michael Cohen testified he went to his family who questioned his “blind loyalty” to Trump.

#Steinglass notes that #MichaelCohen has been consistently describing the events that took place in this case for 6 yrs.

Steinglass moves on from Cohen & turns to the documents prosecutors say were falsified. He displays a chart on the screens in front of jurors but says they don’t have to understand it just yet.

#Steinglass outlines their theory of the Aug 2015 meeting between #Trump, #MichaelCohen, & David #Pecker, of #NationalEnquirer, in which they agreed to a plot to suppress negative stories about Trump & promote negative stories about his opponents.

Steinglass punctures one of #Blanche’s go-to arguments —that The Enquirer is like all publications & Pecker's arrangement w/Trump wasn’t unusual. There is nothing normal or standard about what the tabloid was doing w/Trump.

#Steinglass addresses #Blanche’s interest in the term #CatchAndKill, drawing a distinction between the phrase & the practice.

Steinglass says while the phrase may not have been used much during the trial, the practice was exactly what had been agreed to, & argues that suppressing those stories amounted to committing a #fraud on American voters, pulling the wool over their eyes “in a coordinated fashion.”

He calls The #NationalEnquirer “a covert arm” of #Trump's campaign.

#Steinglass notes that while NDAs are not inherently #criminal, but they are “indeed illegal when they serve an unlawful purpose.”

#Trump atty #Blanche barely stitched together a story, but tried to distance Trump from the documents & ended by attacking #MichaelCohen.

Steinglass tells a sweeping narrative about a #fraud on the American people, & argues that Americans had the right to determine if they cared that Trump slept w/a porn star while his wife was home w/their new baby.

“This scheme, cooked up by these men, at this time, could very well be what got President Trump elected,” #Steinglass says, concluding the portion of his closing that refers specifically to the #Trump Tower meeting. He moves on to the first of the #HushMoney deals, which involved the #TrumpOrganization doorman who was hawking a story about Trump fathering a child out of wedlock.

#Steinglass goes back over The #NationalEnquirer’s Pecker’s testimony.

#Pecker came off as a genteel & soft-spoken person who still loves #Trump. And he offered some of the most damaging testimony of the trial.

FYI: criminalizing what Pecker & parent co AMI were doing is not part of the charges.

Steinglass shows how their actions & practices went far beyond what reporters actually do. The details of Pecker’s testimony demonstrate that the aim was to help Trump’s candidacy.

#Steinglass uses the case of the #TrumpOrganization doorman to illustrate a point about looking at testimony in its full context.

#Blanche had noted that #Pecker said he would have printed the doorman's story, about #Trump fathering a child out of wedlock, regardless of whether it was true. But Steinglass shows the jurors that Pecker added that he would have waited until after the election to do so. “Because that was what they agreed to do.”

#Steinglass now talks# about the 2nd of 3 hush-money deals, which involved #KarenMcDougal & was arranged by The #NationalEnquirer. He says that #Pecker & #DylanHoward of The Enquirer & #KeithDavidson, McDougal's lawyer, spoke in code. But you don’t have to be a codebreaker, he says, to understand what they were talking about

Steinglass also notes that the trio was communicating w/ #MichaelCohen, who testified that he had been charged w/keeping #Trump apprised of their progress

Steinglass is highlighting David Pecker’s testimony that he discussed Karen McDougal with Trump. Steinglass says it offered “powerful evidence” of Trump’s involvement in her hush-money deal, and showed he knew about the payment and was actively involved in arranging it.

Steinglass also notes that the testimony does not rely on Michael Cohen in any way.

#Steinglass notes that after closing the #HushMoney deal w/ #KarenMcDougal, the editor of The #NationalEnquirer did not immediately call his boss. Instead he placed a call to #Trump atty #MichaelCohen, underscoring, again, that The Enquirer was working on Trump's behalf.

We’re over hour 2, & Steinglass has a way to go, this won’t be done today.

#Steinglass tells the jury that #Pecker was willing to sacrifice his bottom line in service of #Trump’s campaign, & adds that this deal was “the very antithesis of a normal legitimate press function.”

Steinglass shows through call records the degree to which Trump would have had knowledge of the discussions around acquiring #KarenMcDougal’s life rights. Cutting against Blanche’s portrayal of Trump as a dupe who people took advantage of.

#Steinglass plays the recording of the conversation between #MichaelCohen & #Trump discussing the #KarenMcDougal deal in Sept 2016.

Steinglass argues that the conversation shows Trump’s “cavalier willingness” to hide this payoff & “unequivocally shows a presidential candidate actively engaging in a scheme to influence the election.”

#Steinglass resumes after the break w/the release of the #AccessHollywood tape in Oct 2016, & describes #Trump’s comments in that tape as having discussed “grabbing women by the genitals.”

He reminds the jurors that #HopeHicks testified that the news eclipsed that of a Category 4 hurricane on the East Coast.

Steinglass reminds jurors that the “Access Hollywood” tape was “vulgar to say the least” & said that #Trump sought to spin it as “locker-room talk.”

Steinglass describes the #Trump campaign’s reaction to the #AccessHollywood tape, & notes that the Trump campaign responded publicly that his words on the tape were “locker-room talk,” while they were quietly scrubbing the internet for anything that might be damaging to him. He shows that #HopeHicks relied on #MichaelCohen to use his media contacts to fight back against the negative press.

#Steinglass shows the jurors video clips of #Trump himself acknowledging that the “#AccessHollywood” tape & its aftermath could swing a very tight election. “If 5% of the people think it’s true, & maybe 10%,” Trump says in one clip, “we don’t win.”

Steinglass takes jurors through testimony from #HopeHicks describing what a disaster Trump understood the “Access Hollywood” tape to be, because she was “in the room where it happened.”

Now, having painted a picture of just how desperate the #Trump campaign was as it spun the #AccessHollywood tape, #Steinglass reintroduces the jurors to #StormyDaniels (well done Josh).

“During the exact same month that the defendant was desperately trying to sell the distinction between words & actions, he was negotiating to muzzle a porn star who was preparing to go public,” Steinglass says.

“#StormyDaniels was a walking, talking reminder that Trump was not just words" at a time when Trump was trying to distinguish between his words & both Clintons’ actions, #Steinglass said.

Steinglass notes that Trump had not shown much interest Daniels' story until after the #AccessHollywood tape came out.
He shows phone records w/a huge increase in communications between #KeithDavidson, #DylanHoward, #MichaelCohen & #Trump.

To believe defense, you’d have to take #Blanche’s word #MichaelCohen went rogue & #Trump was clueless about the #StormyDaniels deal.

Steinglass details calls between #Pecker & #MichaelCohen, w/ #HopeHicks occasionally in the mix, reminding jurors how enmeshed Cohen was & how much he talked to the campaign.

As he takes jurors through the mountain of documentary evidence, he sympathizes, “We don’t need to show all these calls & emails… they’re in evidence if you want to see them.”

#Steinglass needs to show the jurors that the *alleged* #Trump Tower conspiracy between David #Pecker, #MichaelCohen & #Trump involved using “unlawful means” to aid Trump’s election.

Steinglass displays one of the unlawful means, a document called a business information overview that Cohen created as he sought to obtain the cash to pay #StormyDaniels.

#Steinglass is talking about & showing evidence from 23-25 Oct 2016, a few days from when #MichaelCohen actually sent a #HushMoney payment of $130k to a lawyer for #StormyDaniels.

“There’s this crazy flurry of phone activity among the co-conspirators here,” Steinglass points out, & then rattles off the proper names — Michael Cohen to David Pecker, Pecker to Cohen, Cohen to Keith Davidson — to illustrate just how much phone activity there was over just 30 mins.

On 26 Oct, ONE DAY BEFORE making the #HushMoney payment to #StormyDaniels's lawyer, #MichaelCohen talks to #Trump on the phone twice.

“This is damning, right?” #Steinglass says, using conversational language as he highlights the records.

He argues that Cohen was getting the final sign-off from Trump before he initiated the sequence of financial transactions that would conclude w/him wiring $130k.

“As part of this process, yet another false business record is created,” #Steinglass says, leaving a trail of potential #UnlawfulMeans that jurors could draw on during deliberations as they seek to determine whether #Trump unlawfully influenced his election victory.

On 27 Oct 2016, the money was sent, & on 28 Oct, just 11 days before the #election, #StormyDaniels signed the NDA.

#Steinglass lands his argument by saying that while the sex between #StormyDaniels & #Trump took place in 2006, the payoff wasn’t until 2016 because his concern was NOT his family, as his lawyers have suggested, but the #election.

Though many of Trump’s family members have been staring at their phones throughout this summation, all of them looked up when Steinglass said that.

#Steinglass now goes into 4 Nov 2016, four days before the election, the day that The WSJ broke a story about The #NationalEnquirer’s deal w/ #KarenMcDougal on #Trump’s behalf.

Steinglass reminds jurors that #HopeHicks sent over a statement for the story on behalf of Trump, & that Trump lied in the statement, saying he didn’t know anything about the Karen McDougal deal. Steinglass says Trump did know about it because he was on tape 2 months earlier talking about it.

#Steinglass:
“And then, on Nov 8, the defendant was elected president.”

He notes that some of the conspiracy’s characters were aware of their roles in #Trump's election. “What have we done?” #StormyDaniels’s atty texted the #NationalEnquirer editor.

Steinglass: “we’ll never know if this effort to hoodwink the American voter” made the difference in 2016. But prosecutors don’t have to prove that it did — they just have to show that Trump was a part of a #conspiracy to aid his victory.

Justice #Merchan thanks the #jurors for their patience & flexibility as he dismisses them for a 20-min break. Then, after they leave the room, he tells the lawyers, “they look pretty alert to me” & says that he will seek to finish closing arguments today — likely sometime in the evening, people are saying 7PM-ish. (My fingers are not thrilled)

In the break #Trump posted “BORING!” & “FILIBUSTER” (separately. Also no such thing as filibuster in a court of #law).

#Steinglass says that after the #conspiracy to #influence the election & getting elected, #Trump still had to ensure no one found out “but here’s the problem, #MichaelCohen was out $130k.”

Steinglass says Trump couldn’t just write Cohen a check, & jurors should make no mistake: While Cohen wanted a head pat from his boss, “he also wanted his money back.”

#Steinglass discusses Jan 2017, the month #Trump was inaugurated. He describes a meeting between #MichaelCohen & #AllenWeisselberg who Cohen testified had made the arrangements to reimburse Cohen for the #HushMoney. “Right on the bank statement, Weisselberg & Cohen calculated all the money that was owed to Cohen,” Steinglass says.

[this IS literal. The notes are written by hand on the wire transfer statement, #exhibit35]
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference

#Steinglass highlights #MichaelCohen’s testimony implicating #Trump in the charged #crimes. He shows jurors, using highlighted transcript pages, Cohen’s testimony that Trump not only approved the arrangement but was aware that the reimbursements would be classified as payments for #legal services.

Steinglass reminds jurors of the key role #AllenWeisselberg played for Trump. Weisselberg worked for Trump's father, #FredTrump, at the original #TrumpOrganization.

#Steinglass refers to exhibits that #JeffreyMcConney, a longtime loyal #Trump employee, testified about: #AllenWeisselberg’s notes setting up the repayments.

Steinglass refers to these exhibits as “the smoking guns” of the prosecution’s argument, saying they “completely blow out of the water the claim the money paid to Cohen” was for legal services.

(see above exhibit 35)
link:
https://ww2.nycourts.gov/press/index.shtml
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference

#Steinglass is now focused on the“gross-up” of the amount that #MichaelCohen was paid for tax purposes. Legitimate legal fees are not “grossed up.”

Steinglass reminds the jury that #JeffreyMcConney, the fmr controller of the #TrumpOrganization, testified that in 50 yrs he was never aware of a payment being doubled for taxes. He then argues that this gross-up was made because the reimbursement was disguised as income.

#Steinglass acknowledges that nearly every relevant piece of evidence in the trial suggests that #Trump would be reluctant to overpay for anything. But, Steinglass says, “it was worth it” to the newly elected president. “It was worth it to hide the truth about what this money was really for.”

Also you gotta think the #MichaelCohen extra costs were factored into the agreed upon figure to #StormyDaniels.

#Steinglass puts his own spin on one of the defense’s #ClosingArguments, that the existence at the #TrumpOrganization of financial documents related to the charged #crimes shows that they were not crimes.

“You almost have to laugh at the way Mr. #Blanche explained it to you,” he says. “They would have destroyed evidence — committed another crime — to hide this crime, but because they didn’t do that, & these documents exist” that’s evidence that there was no crime.

If that logic held, no charge of falsifying business records would ever be successful because “The existence of the false business record in the first place would prove there was no intent to defraud.” Then, #Steinglass asks, concluding his point, “doesn’t that seem a little bit circular to you?”

#Blanche tried to make the fact that #MichaelCohen didn’t remember how much he was owed each month for the reimbursements into a suspicious thing. But #Steinglass says it demonstrates that there was no retainer agreement, & that the knowledge & the math was then in the hands of #Trump’s employees.

#Steinglass addresses Blanche’s earlier point that #MichaelCohen did other #legal work for #Trump in 2017. He argues that Cohen did <10 hrs of legal work that year & says Cohen spent more time being cross-examined during this trial than he spent doing legal work in 2017.

Steinglass argues that, if the defense's arguments that Cohen was being paid for legal services held up, Trump would have ended up paying Cohen at a rate that would have added up to >$100M annually.

#Steinglass notes that #Trump himself has, several times in several places, “admitted” that the payments to #MichaelCohen were reimbursements, not payments for #legal services. This might not be a devastating argument for the defense if they’d proposed an alternative theory of the case. But instead they argued the $420k sent to Cohen was in fact a payment for legal services, so these admissions from Trump himself are not good for him.

@AnOldGuy @Nonilex
Blanche may be hoping he did. I'm not.