Yesterday, Costello behaved so atrociously on the witness stand that Juan Merchan cleared the courtroom to admonish him & the defense attorneys. Costello is due back on the stand
#Trump has a huge posse today, including #KashPatel; #GerryKassar, a #conservative party leader in NY; #BernieKerik, fmr NYPD commissioner who was imprisoned for tax fraud & false statements; #AlanDershowitz, lawyer who defended Trump during his first impeachment, & #BorisEpshteyn, legal adviser who was #indicted in AZ for attempts to keep Trump in power after the 2020 election.
#ChuckZito, helped found in the early 1980s the NY Nomads chapter of the #HellsAngels, the infamous club that started in California. The #DOJ described the org as a #criminal enterprise & linked the NY chapter to the #Gambino#crime family. Zito later left the biker group to try become a movie star in Hollywood.
Cross-examination of #MichaelCohen resumes, an opportunity for the defense to poke holes in his testimony & perhaps trip up or provoke the state’s key witness. The questioning of Cohen, #Trump’s fmr fixer, is the beginning of the end of Trump’s #criminal trial, which began April 15 & might conclude before Memorial Day weekend at this pace.
During the #TrumpTrial morning break, POS #MattGaetz posted an obvious reference to #Trump's Sept 2020 command to the #ProudBoys by writing “Standing back & standing by Mr. President.” 🤬
A man w/a sign reading “GTFO of NYC” on one side & “Bootlickers” on the other was removed by police.
Another man approached Rep #LaurenBoebert & handed her a “Beetlejuice” program, & asked for her to sign it — poking fun at when she was kicked out of the musical for outrageous & disruptive behavior — was blocked by security.
Across the street, someone else could clearly be heard yelling “Matt Gaetz is a pedophile.”
The #Republicans that showed up to the #TrumpTrial today in Manhattan were lawmakers who are all about disrupting legislative business & have no issue w/embarrassing their own party on the #House floor. It included many #HouseFreedomCaucus members who have frozen the chamber for days on end, most recently voting down their party’s own rules as an act of protest.
The prosecution asks that the defense be precluded from asking #StormyDaniels whether she was arrested. Justice #Merchan agrees w/the prosecutors, saying that “anybody can be arrested” & that it “doesn’t prove anything.”
The people call Stormy Daniels back to the stand
#Trump atty #Necheles begins questioning by saying that in 2011, Daniels denied having had sex w/Trump.
Conroy insists #StormyDaniels needs & is entitled to protection, that she & other #witnesses should not be exposed to Trump's "barrage of threats." He argues lifting the #GagOrder would be a deterrent to other witnesses.
Conroy says Trump wants to attack Daniels, "Let's not pretend he wants to engage in high-minded discourse.”
#Trump posted an angry message on TruthSocial saying he’d just learned who the next witness was [#StormyDaniels] & that his lawyers had “no time” to prepare.
The post remained up for 30 mins before Trump removed it, probably bc it was another violation of the #GagOrder & #jail is fully on the table.
Reportedly, Trump hates deleting posts — he sees it as a sign of weakness 🙄.
#Trump did not answer reporters’s questions about his morning Truth Social post.
One of Trump's lawyers, Susan #Necheles, appears to be taking her seat to Trump’s right— suggesting she will be the one to cross-examine #StormyDaniels.
Show’s about to start, doubt Trump will be sleeping today.
Prosecutors in Trump’s #criminal trial say he has violated a #GagOrder barring him from attacking #witnesses, #jurors & others close to the case. Testimony is set to resume later Tuesday morning.
Prosecutors asked early last wk for #Trump to be held in #contempt. At that time, Judge #Merchan scheduled the hearing for today.
Merchan has only admonished TFG once so far—for muttering & gesturing in front of a prospective juror about her social media posts & responses during voir dire.
#Conroy is talking about #Trump seeking to use #politics as a defense, saying it "makes no sense," eviscerating the clear language & meaning of the #GagOrder. "There's no indication that his claim that he's responding to attacks is anything more than an after-the-fact justification," Conroy says.
"He knows about the order, he knows what he's not allowed to do, & he does it anyway," Conroy says, adding: "It's #willful."
Lawyers indicated that their opening statements will take a little more than an hour combined. Justice Juan #Merchan also noted that one #juror reached out before court resumed to express nervousness about the media attention surrounding the case, but the judge added that the juror is still here.
BLANCHE: …I would ask that the People provide us w/the names of their first 3 witnesses so that we can prepare...
STEINGLASS: Look, I got to be honest: That's a courtesy that we normally extend. [but] Mr. #Trump has been tweeting about the witnesses. We're not telling who the witnesses are.