After brashly declaring he wanted to #testify in his #criminal trial, it appears increasingly unlikely that #Trump will do so, as the #jury seems poised to hear #ClosingArguments next week.
Defendants rarely testify, because their #lawyers advise them that the risks of doing so, particularly when it comes to being questioned by prosecutors #UnderOath, are simply too great.
In Trump’s case, the judge’s discussions w/ #lawyers in recent days indicate that even if the defense calls a small number of witnesses, they do not expect #Trump to be one….
4 people close to Trump said next wk’s plan does not include him testifying, & they expect the #jury to start deliberating later in the wk. Trump is famously mercurial & could always demand to testify….
“It sounds like we might possibly be done w/ the presentation of evidence on Monday,” NY Supreme Court Justice Juan #Merchan said Thurs.
Blanche quickly added, “I was not speaking about President Trump, obviously. … That’s another decision that we need to think through.”
★ If #Trump were to take the stand, such testimony could take many days, which would significantly extend the trial.
One of the less thrilling things I worked on today was trying to improve our Word template+styles for #legal briefs, pleadings & other formal docs. (Why do we use this again? Oh, yeah, bc everyone else in #law does. Ugh.)
It's both tedious to get Word styles to conform to the max number of various courts' rules and aggravating to know that as soon as it's in the wild, it'll degrade immediately under the pressure of attorneys actually using it. (Why can't I lock styles down?!)
#Illinois School Districts Sent Kids to a For-Profit Out-of-State Facility That Isn’t Vetted or Monitored
A state #law was meant to help #families by allowing the use of public money to fund students’ tuition at special education boarding #schools around the country.
But in solving one problem, lawmakers created another.
The #Republican-led UnitedStates House of
Representatives passed a bill on Thurs that would force President Joe #Biden to send weapons to Israel, seeking to rebuke the Democrat for delaying bomb shipments as he urges Israel to do more to protect #civilians during its war w/ #Hamas.
#Albuquerque Is Throwing Out the Belongings of #Homeless People, Violating City Policy
The city has violated a court order and its own policies by discarding the personal property of thousands of homeless people, who have lost medications, birth certificates, IDs, treasured family photos and the ashes of loved ones.
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.
Can anyone recommend a good tax lawyer or accountant who can assist an individual with an 83(b) election where the person seeking the election is a U.S. resident but will be working for a Canadian startup?
Feel free to DM recommendations. Thanks in advance!
#Trump has his posse again. Today it’s more #Republican elected officials. Today, Trump will be joined by the #House speaker, #MikeJohnson, as well as #NorthDakota’s governor, #DougBurgum, a contender to be Trump's running mate. Also present will be Representatives #ByronDonalds & #CoryMills of Florida, & #VivekRamaswamy, who was one of Trump's primary rivals this year. Both Donalds & Ramaswamy are longshot hopefuls to be Trump's running mate.
#Trump May Owe $100 Million From #DoubleDip Tax Breaks, Audit Shows
A previously unknown focus of an #IRS audit is a dubious accounting maneuver that effectively meant taking the same write-offs twice on his #Chicago skyscraper.
NEW: IRS Audit of #Trump Could Cost Former President More Than $100 Million
The #tax agency concluded in its long-running investigation that Trump effectively claimed the same massive write-off twice on his failed #Chicago tower.
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.