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Nonilex

@Nonilex@masto.ai

… paring down time on social media … ?? Fully migrated to mastodon now that the bird self destructed. Though if you want to view my old posts, same username.

#BabySquirrel

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Nonilex , to Random stuff
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A helicopter carrying President of & his foreign minister crashed on Sunday in the country’s mountainous northwest, acc/to state media, deepening the turmoil that has gripped the nation on both the international & domestic fronts in recent months.

, 63, was traveling from Iran’s border w/ Azerbaijan to inaugurate a joint dam project.


https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/19/world/middleeast/iran-president-helicopter-crash.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb

Nonilex , to Lawyers
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After brashly declaring he wanted to in his trial, it appears increasingly unlikely that will do so, as the seems poised to hear next week.
Defendants rarely testify, because their advise them that the risks of doing so, particularly when it comes to being questioned by prosecutors , are simply too great.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/18/trump-trial-testifying/

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

In Trump’s case, the judge’s discussions w/ in recent days indicate that even if the defense calls a small number of witnesses, they do not expect to be one….
4 people close to Trump said next wk’s plan does not include him testifying, & they expect the to start deliberating later in the wk. Trump is famously mercurial & could always demand to testify….

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

The defense may still call other witnesses, however. said in court on Thurs that the defense would like to call , an expert on , even though the judge has put strict limits on what he can testify about in this case because the jury’s job is to make findings of , not .

Blanche said he was also weighing whether to call a small number of defense witnesses, tho he expected they would not take much time.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

“It sounds like we might possibly be done w/ the presentation of evidence on Monday,” NY Supreme Court Justice Juan said Thurs.
Blanche quickly added, “I was not speaking about President Trump, obviously. … That’s another decision that we need to think through.”
★ If were to take the stand, such testimony could take many days, which would significantly extend the trial.

★

Nonilex , to Law
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

votes to force shipments to , rebuking

The -led UnitedStates House of
Representatives passed a bill on Thurs that would force President Joe to send weapons to Israel, seeking to rebuke the Democrat for delaying bomb shipments as he urges Israel to do more to protect during its war w/ .


https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-votes-force-weapons-shipments-israel-rebuking-biden-2024-05-16/

Nonilex , to Law
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

🧵 Thursday 16 May 2024

Cross-examination of 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, ’s fmr fixer, is the beginning of the end of Trump’s trial, which began April 15 & might conclude before Memorial Day weekend at this pace.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

Justice announces court will not be in session as usual next Wed, bc jurors won’t be free.

, asks to clarify that he has met w/several sets of prosecutors & testimony about their conversations can be confusing. “Help the jury understand that,” he says. “There’s 2 separate prosecutors?”

Cohen confirms that he met w/both the ’s office in DC, during the investigation, & Manhattan federal prosecutors, where Blanche used to work.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

adds a third set of prosecutors met: the Manhattan DA’s office (the prosecutors at this trial) the NY state prosecutors.
(Not sure the point—that Cohen cooperates w/the ?)

Next Blanche questions Cohen about his efforts to have his sentence reduced based on his cooperation w/prosecutors working for the# Russia investigation special counsel, .

What person in jail wouldn’t ask this? what matters is he didn’t get it & cooperated anyway.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

is receiving nothing in return for his testimony, other than personal satisfaction if is .

Defense lawyers often attack cooperators by highlighting the benefits they are receiving from cooperating, suggesting that they are acting in their own self-interest & their testimony is tainted. But Cohen hasn't gotten anything.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

tried another line of questioning that didn’t land, having to do w/whether sought a letter in 2018 requesting leniency from federal prosecutors. Cohen says he told his lawyer that he “wasn’t interested” in such a letter, so “let’s not even talk about it.” It didn’t seem as if Blanche got the answer he expected during that exchange.

Nonilex OP ,
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It seems to be an attempt to show that didn’t have a cooperation agreement w/SDNY prosecutors when he pleaded guilty in 2018, because he was unwilling to disclose everything he knew about any possible wrongdoing. He would have had to do so in order to get the letter. may have wanted to point out that Cohen wanted to keep some things hidden even as he pleaded guilty.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

asks if he wanted a job in the WhiteHouse. Cohen testified to the House in 2019 that he didn’t want one. But other witnesses, like , 's fmr lawyer, testified that Cohen was interested & sad he was being left behind.

Blanche: “You really wanted to work in the White House, correct?”

Cohen:“No sir.”

Blanche says that Cohen specifically wanted to be WH chief of staff, & Cohen again denies it.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

None of the texts were definitive, but there were a lot of them, & they clearly show that was at least interested in the idea. When was finally named chief of staff, Cohen told his daughter he was disappointed, Blanche shows. Cohen admits here that he was disappointed.

Defense is showing Cohen was again rejected, this time for a job, & is seeking payback. It also shows he lied under oath.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

responds: “I wanted a hybrid position, one where I would have the access to President Trump but not be a White House employee.” It’s a helpful answer for prosecutors, underscoring, as they have said, that Cohen was bent on being close to Trump.

, who has had his eyes closed through much of this so far, is now glaring at Cohen.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

seems to have gained some traction here, & notes that had said he wanted to be chief of staff. “That was for my ego, yes,” Cohen admitted. But now Cohen is reiterating that he wanted to be Trump's personal attorney.

Cohen, is 5 hours into his cross-examination, & is remaining calm, even as Blanche implies there was a series of slights & humiliations that Cohen suffered after ’s election in 2016.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

shows that was less than candid when he said he didn’t want a job, as he goes thru all the people Cohen complained to about being left behind. But it also shows that went out of his way to abuse him.

Blanche asks about an embarrassing episode when Cohen used an AI program to generate legal citations for his previous lawyer. The cases listed by the software weren’t real.

It’s totally irrelevant & seems like it’s brought up just to humiliate him.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

easily & calmly explains what happened. Vohen expected the lawyer to fact-check & edit before submitting the doc to court & the errors were quickly corrected. It was not intentional nor malicious.

moves on & brings up a phone call that Cohen talked about during direct, when he spoke to over Trump’s bodyguard's cellphone. Cohen said that during the conversation, he told Trump that the payment to had been made.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

is trying to cast doubt on ’s account, saying it was the first time he had mentioned the call.

Prosecutor objects again, & asks to approach.

After the sidebar conversation w/the judge, Emil , one of Trump's lawyers, returns to the defense table, sits down & whispers something to who shakes his head & scowls.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

starts a long series of questions about whether received harassing phone calls from a 14-yr-old prankster in Oct 2016. [WTF?] He seems to be suggesting an alt reason for Cohen's call to , ’s bodyguard.

Cohen had testified he made that call to inform Trump of the payment to . Blanche is suggesting to jurors that Cohen lied about the call's purpose.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

Defense: You asked Schiller who to speak to on harassing texts & he says call me, then you call him back at 8:02 for a minute thirty... then you text him the number of the 14-yr-old... You said the Oct 24th call was not w/ …. “That was a lie."

Blanche suggests that Cohen was not reporting the payment to but reporting that he was being pranked by a teenager. (Seriously?)

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

, emphasizing his point, raises his finger & his voice gets higher. He is suggesting it is ridiculous that might have simultaneously reported a prankster to & told that a payment had been made.
(This whole thing is ridiculous)

Blanche is trying to get Cohen to crack, but he’s holding firm. “You can admit,” Blanche says, that you lied. “No sir, I can’t,” Cohen responds, sticking to his story.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

scolds : “You did not talk to President on that night. You talked to about what we just went through.”

Cohen, calmly: "I'm not certain that is accurate." Adding, "I believe I spoke to Mr. Trump about the matter."

Blanche shot back: "We are not asking for your belief. This jury does not want to hear what you think happened."

Justice recesses the court for lunch until 2:15 PM US ET.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

Meanwhile …

Chaos ensued when elected who beckoned to NY for his trial.

Demonstrators — both pro- & anti-Trump — crowded in w/reporters inside the protest area designated by the NYPD as several of Trump’s allies in Congress made statements.

One man shouted throughout, deriding their support for Trump & calling them out by name.
Another group shouted in support of the members.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

A man w/a sign reading “GTFO of NYC” on one side & “Bootlickers” on the other was removed by police.

Another man approached Rep & 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.”

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

Almost a dozen showed up at the courthouse on Thurs, including trolls Reps & of ; of ; & Rep of . They said they were there to speak on behalf of because a has barred him from speaking for himself.

“We are here of our own volition [ok], because there are things we can say that President Trump is unjustly not allowed to say,” said outside the courthouse.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

control the by such a slim margin, 217-213, that just 2 defections can sink even when all members are present — just a few absences can erase their majority altogether. The show of support for from such a large group meant that for much of Thurs, the GOP handed the majority to .

had a vote scheduled for Thurs to rebuke President for pausing an arms shipment to & compel his admin to deliver weapons.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

The bill was designed to divide & embarrass , & had no chance of passing the or becoming . But w/so many off campus demonstrating their fealty to , they left open the possibility that the party’s own messaging bill gets defeated. Democratic leaders in the had advised their members to vote “no,” calling the measure “another partisan stunt by Extreme Republicans who are determined to hurt President Biden politically.”

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

The that showed up to the today in Manhattan were lawmakers who are all about disrupting legislative business & have no issue w/embarrassing their own party on the floor. It included many members who have frozen the chamber for days on end, most recently voting down their party’s own rules as an act of protest.

Idiots.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

resumes

, defense lawyer, picks up w/ trying to clean up the indictment unsealing timing w/ as directed by Merchan earlier. The prosecution objects to a follow-up, & the judge tells the lawyers to approach.

So Blanche isn’t quite getting it right.

Blanche tries again to remove the implication that the DA gave Cohen advanced info ahead of the NYT story.

The DA sought to have the original line of questioning stricken.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

admitted into evidence ’s texts w/ a 14-yr-old harasser, which occurred on 24 Oct, 2016 until roughly 7:24PM, when Cohen wrote: “Please have your parent or guardian contact me before secret service reaches out them.”

Blanche is now driving home that Cohen threatened to turn the Secret Service on a prank caller who said they were 14 yrs old.

Totally irrelevant.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

is now speaking directly to the about his longstanding relationship w/ .

is going back in time, asking Cohen about positive stories he had planted, not just about but also about himself.

He says that reporters would often call him or the asking for comment. He said he would immediately go to Trump’s office & they would come up w/a crafted response that he would take back to the reporter.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

adds that it was his routine to advise about these matters, because if the resulting story was not to his liking, “it would cause him to blow up at me” & “it would probably be the end of my job.”

is trying to get Cohen to say that while working for Trump, he gave statements to reporters w/o checking in w/his boss. Cohen is refusing to concede this, & says that he would always talk to Trump about every story.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

is trying to establish the idea for the jury that was a rogue agent who did things w/o consulting w/ -- which defense says is what happened w/the payment.

Blanche notes that Cohen often frustrated campaign ofcls w/statements he made to the press during the 2016 campaign. Cohen parries that by saying Trump had told them that Cohen reported to him.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

Per Rebecca Shabad:

Earlier, prosecutor Susan raised an issue w/ Judge saying that on Tues, some of ’s guests filed into the courtroom in the middle of direct examination w/their security detail in tow.

"And I noticed that some of his guests are already here today w/their security detail," Hoffinger said, acc/to the released transcript. "But we would just ask that they not be allowed to file in, in the middle of Mr. Blanche’s cross-examination."

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

said, "I would advise that that not happen."

lawyer said, "Your Honor, I have less than zero control over what is happening on anything or anyone that’s behind me when I am crossing a witness."

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

continues questioning about his relationships w/ reporters over the years naming Maggie Haberman of The NYT & Katy Tur of MSNBC.

Cohen confirmed that he communicated w/ reporters over the phone & via text, & he would occasionally record phone calls w/ members of the press w/o their knowledge, including former CNN chief Jeff Zucker.
(reminder NY is a one party consent state)

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

also gets Cohen to say that he sent a recording of somebody else to Haberman when she was reporting on a story.

said he sometimes gave scoops to Haberman, who has covered extensively for years & wrote a biography of him.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

Meanwhile …

🤬 Sen. says case 'doesn't make sense'

, supposedly a Democrat from West Virginia, told reporters today that 's trial "doesn't make sense."

When asked whether he believes Trump should be convicted in any case, Manchin responded that "there are 2 really solid cases: January 6 & Georgia."
"Everything else doesn't really make sense," he added as a reporter directly asked about the case in NY.

JFC! Manchin, get out of the way!

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

asks having specific memories of calls from 8 yrs ago. Cohen responds that the reason he remembers them is because he’s been talking about the conversations for 6 yrs.

Blanche digs in, asking if Cohen has been talking about the specific phone calls he has been testifying about for 6 yrs. Blanche is performing for & the jury laying his mock disbelief on thick, his tone is derisive & he’s acting as if Cohen's testimony is ridiculous.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

’s eyes are glued to & they’re open for once.

is trying to damage prosecution’s argument that Trump’s team orchestrated the payments to the 2016 election. Blanche has already gotten Cohen to confirm under oath that Trump was worried about the story IN PART because of his wife & children.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

Importantly the falsified documents at issue in the weren’t to hide Trump’s affair , but the .

Blanche asks about the story about McDougal: “President Trump at least initially, did not think it would hurt him, correct?”

: “Initially, yes.”

Though, Cohen concedes that ONE of the things Trump was worried about w/that story was his wife & children — that was a nearly year long affair while Melania was preggers so yeah.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

previously testified that in June 2016, he was negotiating w/ The & over her story about having had an affair w/ . On the stand now, as digs in about whether he can remember a specific call from that year, Cohen says that seeing prosecutors’ other evidence has jogged his memory about calls he had back then. (That’s memory for ya)

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

asks about what it meant for to pay in "cash," noting that it did not necessarily refer to green paper money, but to a payment that was made directly & not through financing. Blanche is referencing the recording heard earlier in the trial in which Trump directs him to “pay in cash.”

Blanche asks Cohen if Trump often made deals to pay cash for buildings or properties.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

may be suggesting that when referred to "cash" in that recording, he could have been referencing any number of payments.

(But the recording specifically
said “our friend David” meaning )

Trump aides & smile at this line of questioning w/ (maybe it was their idea)

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

notes that while has talked a lot about using Signal, an encrypted app that makes use of disappearing messages, many of the sensitive conversations that we’ve seen & heard about in this trial just took place over text.
(Probably because having not disappeared, they could be admitted into evidence. Duh.)

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

questions again on his interactions w/ reporters when he worked for .

Blanche asks about negotiations he had w/ ABC News reporter John Santucci regarding the story.

Blanche is restating his opening argument point that NDAs were typical among the wealthy & famous & that they were not illegal. (No one has said otherwise)

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

shows the contract that struck w/ . He gets Cohen to agree it’s a “perfectly legal contract.” He’s raises his voice for emphasis — trying to make the feel like this arrangement was business as usual.

It may be usual to have NDAs, but this was unusual for other reasons.

Nonilex OP ,
@Nonilex@masto.ai avatar

tries to undermine the relationship said he had w/ . He asks whether Cohen did work not only for Trump, but also for his family & the . Then Blanche notes that Cohen did not have a legal retainer to do the work. (He was employed but the TrumpOrg. A retainer would be redundant)

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