The Conversation -- May 15, 2024

Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily revived a congressional map in Louisiana that includes a second majority-Black district, halting a lower court decision to pause the map over concerns that it was racially gerrymandered. The move could increase Democrats' likelihood of taking control of a second congressional seat in Louisiana. The newly drawn map had been approved in January by Louisiana's Republican-controlled legislature after it had been directed to redraw it. The decision, which was unsigned, said that it would remain in effect pending an appeal or a decision by the Supreme Court. The court's three liberal justices wrote that they would not have lifted the block on the proposed map, with Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan noting they would have denied the stay application."

Marie: Way back Wednesday morning Judd Legum was reminding us that Justice Juan "Merchan's order prohibits Trump from "directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses." (Okay, I never forgot.) As Legum noted, "Many of Trump's surrogates appear to be speaking from a common script," so it was pretty obvious that somebody was coordinating and directing the Trumpiclones' remarks. Besides, does anybody think that Senator Potato Head could be counted on to say the right thing under his own volition? Of course not. In fact, when asked by a Newsmax host if he was speaking "to go against the gag order and intimidate witnesses because Trump can't," Tuberville answered, "Yes, sir." ~~~

     ~~~ So Now. Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "New York Magazine contributing editor Andrew Rice claimed on Tuesday that he spotted ... Donald Trump 'editing' and 'making notations' to the speeches his allies then made outside of the courtroom during his hush money trial in New York.... 'Before or after?' asked MSNBC host Chris Hayes, to which Rice replied, '... While Michael Cohen was testifying against him, he was actually ... going through and annotating and editing the quotes that these people were going to say.'" On MSNBC Wednesday afternoon, Andrew Weissmann said Justice Merchan was unlikely to raise the issue on his own, so it would be up to the prosecutors if they wanted to call to the judge's attention the apparent violation of the gag order. ~~~

     ~~~ AND the headline of this firewalled Rolling Stone story is "Trump's GOP 'Surrogates' Take Turns Bashing Judge's Daughter." Maybe that will get Justice Merchan's attention.

MEANWHILE, Down the Street. Aaron Katersky of the AP: "Sen. Robert Menendez 'put his power up for sale' and 'betrayed the people he was supposed to serve,' a prosecutor claimed Wednesday at the start of the New Jersey Democrat's federal bribery trial in New York.... 'He was powerful. He was also corrupt,' prosecutor Lara Pomerantz said of the senator during her opening statement.... His price, Pomerantz told the jury, was gold bars, envelopes stuffed with cash, checks to his wife for a no-show job and a Mercedes-Benz convertible.... The defense meanwhile introduced Menendez 'not as an agent of the Egyptian government' but as 'an American patriot' who 'took no bribes.' Menendez has pleaded not guilty to 16 federal charges including bribery, fraud, acting as a foreign agent and obstruction."

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Presidential Race. Jonathan Swan & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Biden is willing to debate ... Donald J. Trump at least twice before the election, and as early as June -- but his campaign is rejecting the nonpartisan organization that has managed presidential debates since 1988, according to a letter obtained by The New York Times. The letter by the Biden campaign lays out for the first time the president's terms for giving Mr. Trump what he has openly clamored for: a televised confrontation with a successor Mr. Trump has portrayed, and hopes to reveal, as too feeble to hold the job. Mr. Biden and his top aides want the debates to start much sooner than the dates proposed by the Commission on Presidential Debates, so voters can see the two candidates side by side well before early voting begins in September. They want the debate to occur inside a TV studio, with microphones that automatically cut off when a speaker's time limit elapses. And they want it to be just the two candidates and the moderator -- without the raucous in-person audiences that Mr. Trump feeds on and without the participation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or other independent or third-party candidates." ~~~

     ~~~ Josh Boak, et al., of the AP: "Trump responded to the letter in an interview with Fox News digital, calling the proposed dates 'fully acceptable to me.'... Biden, in a post on X..., sought to needle his rival, saying, 'Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020, since then, he hasn't shown up for a debate. Now he's acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal.'... [Biden] suggested that the two candidates could pick some dates, taking a dig at Trump's ongoing New York hush money trial by noting that the Republican is 'free on Wednesdays,' the usual day off in the trial." ~~~

     ~~~ ** UPDATE. Betsy Klein, et al., of CNN: “President Joe Biden and ... Donald Trump have both accepted an invitation from CNN to debate on June 27, a historically early showdown that will set the tone for the final months of the 2024 campaign. 'I've received and accepted an invitation from @CNN for a debate on June 27th. Over to you, Donald. As you said: anywhere, any time, any place,' Biden said in a post on X. A Trump campaign official later told CNN that Trump had accepted the offer."

Trump Mob Trial

Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: Michael Cohen's "testimony [yesterday] marked a pivotal moment for prosecutors [of the criminal trial of Donald Trump]. They charged Mr. Trump with falsifying the checks and other records, and Mr. Cohen's recounting drove those accusations home. It offered the jury its first and only personal account tying the former president to the documents at the crux of his case. Mr. Trump has denied the allegations and the sex, and his legal team soon sought to sweep Mr. Cohen's revelations aside in cross-examination. The lead defense lawyer, Todd Blanche, attacked Mr. Cohen's credibility, portraying him as out of control and bent on exacting revenge on Mr. Trump after his patron abandoned him. Mr. Blanche also emphasized Mr. Cohen's voluminous television appearances and insult-slinging on social media -- all of which Mr. Cohen did in defiance of the prosecution's wishes and at Mr. Trump's expense, Mr. Blanche suggested. And he noted that Mr. Cohen maintains a financial interest in attacking Mr. Trump, arguing that he cashed in on their feud with a podcast and a pair of books." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Times reporters in yesterday's liveblog (linked below) and in the article here have emphasized that Cohen's oral testimony is the only proof the prosecution has offered to tie Trump to the crime. But that isn't accurate, IMO. First, there's Exhibit 35, the account statement from the phony LLC Cohen established to pay off Stormy Daniels. Trump's former controller Jeff McConney authenticated Allen Weisselberg's handwritten note on the statement which show that the Trump Org would "gross up" the $130,000 payment Cohen made from his own funds to $420,000 to cover related expenses, including Cohen's anticipated tax liability. In addition, prosecutors put into evidence 12 checks, written in 2017, each in the amount of $35,000, to be paid for "legal services" rendered by Michael Cohen in a year in which Cohen provided no legal services to Trump or the Trump Org. Trump signed 10 of those checks.

Several of Trump's still-loyal former employees testified that Donald Trump (a) paid close attention to detail of moneys paid out; and (b) was so cheap (cruel & dishonest, IMO) that he ordered staff to negotiate down legitimate payments due. It should be obvious to every juror that even a more careless person would notice that he was paying more than double the $130K -- and for services never performed. Conspiracies are seldom written down, but here there is both documentation and oral testimony from multiple defendant-friendly sources proving up Trump's knowledge of the scheme. Also, Blanche's argument, emphasized in the Times story, that Cohen hates Trump, falls flat. In conspiracy cases, the evidence usually comes, at least in part, from parties who have had fallings-out with the defendant and have "flipped" in their own self-interest. Co-conspirators in illegal enterprises are not upstanding folks with pure motives. They're criminals like Michael Cohen.

Here are takeaways by CNN reporters on Todd Blanche's cross-examination of Michael Cohen and other stuff. Though the CNN reporters discuss Blanche's opening shots, oddly enough, they don't mention Justice Merchan's response. According to Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "Soon afterward, there was a sidebar, out of earshot of jurors. At that sidebar, according to a transcript..., Justice Merchan asked Blanche: 'Why are you making this about yourself?'... Blanche protested, but the judge stood firm. 'Just don't make it about yourself,' he said to conclude the conference." ~~~

     ~~~ Stephen Collinson of CNN did catch Merchan's scolding of Todd Blanche: "... Blanche mostly concentrated on his effort to tarnish Cohen's character, motives and credibility rather than the core question of the case -- whether Trump falsified the business records as part of a cover up expressly designed to mislead voters in 2016 in an early instance of election interference.... But jurors don't have to like Cohen. They just have to believe him.... As always, when a Trump subordinate performs in front of the boss, there was a sense Blanche's histrionics were as much for the benefit of his client as the case. And in a curious debut of the cross-examination, Blanche earned an admonition from Judge Juan Merchan for making it all about him, when he noted Cohen had called him a 'crying little sh*t' on TikTok."

Hannah Knowles & Marianne LeVine of the Washington Post: "Sen. J.D. Vance, who once recoiled from Donald Trump's lewd comments about women, was at Trump's side in court this week as prosecutors rehashed the infamous 'Access Hollywood' tape that upended his 2016 campaign. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), an amiable advocate of conservative Christian morals, came to the courthouse the next day to call Trump's trial a 'shame,' a 'travesty' and a 'partisan witch hunt.'... An hour later, one of Trump's former presidential rivals [-- Vivek Ramaswamy --] stood in a nearby park attacking the witnesses the former president is legally barred from disparaging himself.... The pilgrimages demonstrate the imperative in today's GOP to show loyalty to Trump and his fervent base in the midst of a case that has become a showcase of salacious scandal. Notably absent from court: Trump's wife...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The past couples of days' shows of force (see photo of yesterday's courthouse entourage accompanying WashPo article) have reminded me less of obsequious toadies -- which of course they are -- than of the made men who sit shoulder-to-shoulder at the back of courtrooms during mob criminal trials, primarily for the purpose of intimidating witnesses, which is what Trump's toadies also are doing. There's this observation from the Times' liveblog yesterday, by Jonah Bromwich:

Michael Cohen was in the midst of testimony about weighing whether to retain loyalty to Trump, painting it as a very difficult decision, as he considered whether he would be loyal to his family, his country or Trump. As he was speaking, Vivek Ramaswamy and a number of the other politicians here supporting Trump today walked back in the room. It was a remarkable moment, but Cohen seemed mostly unfazed. He kept testifying. ~~~

~~~ Another Ignominious Moment in American History. Meg Kinnard of the AP: "U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson assailed the hush money case against Donald Trump Tuesday as an illegitimate 'sham,' becoming the highest-ranking Republican to show up at court, embrace the former president's claims of political persecution and attack the U.S. system of justice. It was a remarkable moment in modern American politics: The House speaker amplifying Trump's defense and turning the Republican Party against the federal and state legal systems that are foundational to the U.S. government and a cornerstone of democracy.... Johnson was a chief architect of Trump's efforts to challenge the 2020 presidential results ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, mob assault on the U.S. Capitol.... Unlike other Republicans showing up to show their support, Johnson did not enter the courtroom where Trump is on trial, but dashed back to Washington to open the House chamber for the day."

Yesterday was another Trump day in a downtown Manhattan courtroom, and New York Times reporters were there to keep us up to speed. See details in yesterday's Conversation.

STFU, Donald. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "A New York State appeals court on Tuesday upheld a gag order imposed on ... Donald J. Trump in his criminal trial in Manhattan, rejecting arguments that the measure had violated Mr. Trump's First Amendment rights.... In its decision Tuesday, a five-judge panel of the appeals court wrote that Justice [Juan] Merchan had 'properly determined' that Mr. Trump's 'public statements posed a significant threat to the integrity of the testimony of witnesses and potential witnesses in this case.' The decision also found that Justice Merchan had properly weighed Mr. Trump's free speech rights against the court's 'commitment to ensuring the fair administration of justice in criminal cases' and the rights of people connected to the case 'from being free from threats, intimidation, harassment and harm.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As we've seen, Trump has sidestepped the gag order by getting his henchmen to stand on the courthouse steps and make the same attacks he is prevented by court order from delivering. The judge has no control over these remarks by others, particular when the others are elected officials. ~~~

     ~~~ digby: "Trump has brought his surrogates to the trial to violate his gag order for him." Includes a number of examples. ~~~

     ~~~ BUT. Judd Legum of Popular Information: Justice Juan "Merchan's order prohibits Trump from 'directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses.' The order also prohibits Trump from directing others to attack the jury, the court staff, or family members. Asked on Tuesday if he directed the Republicans to speak about the trial on his behalf, Trump described them as his '"surrogates' and praised them for 'speaking very beautifully.' Trump has also entered the courthouse flanked by his surrogates, effectively giving them his imprimatur. Many of Trump's surrogates appear to be speaking from a common script.... If Trump directed his surrogates to speak, their comments could constitute criminal contempt of the gag order by Trump.... Attorney Jeff Jacobovitz, in an appearance on MSNBC..., noted that 'if Trump is feeding information' to his allies, it would violate the gag order."

How Trump Normalizes Violence. Peter Eisler, et al., of Reuters: "When Donald Trump attacks the integrity of judges hearing cases against him, his followers often respond with posts urging that the jurists be beaten, tortured and killed.... Trump has baselessly cast the judges and prosecutors in his trials as corrupt puppets of the Biden administration.... [For instance, on April 23, ] Trump declared on Truth Social, [that Justice Juan Merchan] is a 'highly conflicted' overseer of a 'kangaroo court.' Trump supporters swiftly replied to his post with a blitz of attacks on Merchan.... Some called for Merchan and other judges hearing cases against Trump to be killed.... In a review of commenters' posts on three pro-Trump websites..., Reuters documented more than 150 posts since March 1 that called for physical violence against the judges handling three of his highest-profile cases.... Those posts were part of a larger pool of hundreds identified by Reuters that used hostile, menacing and, in some cases, racist or sexualized language to attack the judges.... Experts on extremism say the constant repetition of threatening or menacing language can normalize the idea of violence -- and increase the risk of someone carrying it out." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump's lackeys of course are doing the same: encouraging violence by playing down actual acts of violence like the January 6 attack on the U.S. capitol and by falsely claiming that law enforcement agencies and President Biden are persecuting poor old Trump and taking away winger "freedoms."

Primary Elections

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Hundreds of thousands of voters in Maryland, West Virginia and Nebraska went to the polls on Tuesday, weighing in on primaries whose results pointed to a desire for moderation, achievement and diversity, and a rejection of the political power of money....

Maryland. "Representative David Trone, a co-owner of the giant alcohol retailer Total Wine and More, gave up his safe House seat, spent more than $60 million of his fortune and lost the Senate Democratic primary to Angela Alsobrooks, who hopes to become only the third Black woman to be elected to Congress's upper chamber.... Maryland would ordinarily have been a safe bet for Democrats hoping to hold the seat of Senator Ben Cardin upon his retirement, but the entry of Larry Hogan, a popular former governor and Republican moderate [who won the primary by a landslide], into the race has scrambled the equation.... [Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn] was beaten by a soft-spoken workhorse, State Senator Sarah Elfreth, in a Democratic primary almost certain to determine who will represent Maryland's Third House District....

Nebraska. "In Nebraskas swing district around Omaha, Representative Don Bacon, who has a reputation as an independent voice, faced off against Dan Frei, a conservative challenger backed by the state's Republican Party, a pro-Trump bastion.... On Tuesday, Mr. Bacon trounced Mr. Frei, setting up a much tougher race for the Democratic nominee, State Senator Tony Vargas....

West Virginia. "Derrick Evans, an unrepentant rioter arrested after participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, challenged Representative Carol Miller in a safe Republican seat. Ms. Miller is no moderate, but she isn't a rioter. The incumbent whipped the insurgent." ~~~

Also from the Times story: In the Maryland Democratic presidential primary, about 10 percent voted for uncommitted & another 3.3 percent chose Marianne Williamson or Dean Phillips. Phillips got 8 percent of the vote in Nebraska. In West Virginia some 20% of Democratic voters chose candidates named Jason Palmer and Stephen Lyons. On the Republican side, zombie candidate Nikki Haley got about 20 percent in both Maryland and Nebraska and about 10 percent in West Virginia.

West Virginia Senate Race. Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) is projected to win the Republican primary for Senate in the state, according to the Associated Press. Justice defeated a crowded field of contenders to clinch the GOP nomination and is also heavily favored to win the general election in the deep-red state."

Benjamin Mullin of the New York Times: "The Department of Justice said on Tuesday that Boeing was in violation of a 2021 settlement related to problems with the company's 737 Max model that led to two deadly plane crashes in 2018 and 2019. In a letter to a federal judge, the department said that Boeing had failed to 'design, implement and enforce' an ethics program to prevent and detect violations of U.S. fraud laws in the company's operations.... The determination by the Justice Department opens the door to a potential prosecution of a 2021 criminal charge accusing Boeing of conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration, though Boeing can contest Tuesday's decision. In a statement, Boeing said that the company believed that it had honored the terms of the settlement, adding that it was looking forward to the opportunity to respond." The CBS News report is here.

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Israel/Palestine, et al.

Louisa Loveluck of the Washington Post: "Israeli tanks moved deeper into Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, pushing closer to the dense urban centers President Biden has warned Israel against invading, and prompting one of the larges civilian exoduses of the seven-month war." (Also linked yesterday.)

Robert Jimison of the New York Times: "The Biden administration has told Congress that it intends to move forward with a plan for the United States to sell more than $1 billion in new weapons to Israel, according to three congressional aides familiar with the deal. The notification of the sale, which would include new tactical vehicles and ammunition, comes as President Biden has withheld a shipment of bombs to Israel, hoping to prevent U.S.-made weapons from being used in a potential invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Last week, Mr. Biden said he would block the delivery of weapons such as bombs and missiles that could be fired into the densely populated area where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering. The potential arms transfer illustrated the narrow path the Biden administration is walking with Israel, trying to prevent an assault on Rafah and limit civilian casualties in Gaza but continuing to supply a longtime ally that the president has said has a right to defend itself. One congressional aide said Congress had been aware of the arms deal for months...." A CBS News report is here.

Ukraine, et al.

Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "Before [Antony] Blinken became the top American diplomat, he was a serious rock guitarist -- and along with a Ukrainian band, he played 'Rockin' in the Free World,' a 1989 song by [Neil Young], the Canadian American musician, for a packed basement music club [in Kiev, Ukraine].... 'The United States is with you. So much of the world is with you. And they're fighting, not just for a free Ukraine, but for the free world. And the free world is with you too,' Blinken said before launching into the song with 19.99, a Kyiv punk band." ~~~

Anatoly Kurmanaev of the New York Times: "Russian security agents detained a senior general early Tuesday, widening a purge of the country's sprawling Defense Ministry amid President Vladimir V. Putin's broader shake-up of his government. Lt. Gen. Yuri Kuznetsov, who oversaw the ministry's personnel department, was detained on an accusation of 'large-scale' bribery, Russia's Investigative Committee, a federal law enforcement agency, said in a statement on Tuesday." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Conversation -- May 14, 2024

A few late links today, including one by Michelle Goldberg of the NYT & a couple about the luxury resort adventures of Judge Aileen Cannon.

Louisa Loveluck of the Washington Post: "Israeli tanks moved deeper into Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, pushing closer to the dense urban centers President Biden has warned Israel against invading, and prompting one of the largest civilian exoduses of the seven-month war."

Anatoly Kurmanaev of the New York Times: "Russian security agents detained a senior general early Tuesday, widening a purge of the country's sprawling Defense Ministry amid President Vladimir V. Putin's broader shake-up of his government. Lt. Gen. Yuri Kuznetsov, who oversaw the ministry's personnel department, was detained on an accusation of 'large-scale' bribery, Russia's Investigative Committee, a federal law enforcement agency, said in a statement on Tuesday."

It's another Trump day in a downtown Manhattan courtroom, and New York Times reporters are there to keep us up to speed. Since Trump can't get regular people to come support him, he has been showing up lately with his own Toady Parade. Maggie Haberman tells us that today's special show horses are to include House speaker Mike Johnson, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Reps. Byron Donalds & Cory Mills of Florida, & Vivek Ramaswamy, some of whom are veepstakes contenders. Also Eric & Lara Trump, and two advisers, Boris Epshteyn and Alina Habba. Neil Vigdor reports that Liz Cheney wrote on X, "Have to admit I'm surprised that @SpeakerJohnson wants to be in the 'I cheated on my wife with a porn star' club. I guess he's not that concerned with teaching morality to our young people after all." But Haberman writes that Mikey hasn't showed up yet.

Jonathan Swan: "Trump's allies have taken to publishing on social media their own pro-Trump accounts of the courtroom proceedings. [Vivek] Ramaswamy has already posted on X that he will be sharing live updates from the courtroom." ~~~

~~~ Maggie Haberman: "... lawyers with the defense are allowed to have phones, but members of the general public are not. The Trump team has been pressing the rules on this for weeks now, and a political ally live-tweeting from the courtroom is a whole new thing."

Haberman: "Susan Hoffinger, one of the prosecutors, has returned to questioning Michael Cohen, asking him about meeting with Trump in January 2017 and discussing getting reimbursed for his payment to Stormy Daniels. Cohen is being shown an email sent a month later by Jeffrey McConney, the Trump organization's controller, about the 'invoices.'"

Jonah Bromwich: "Michael Cohen is now describing meeting with Trump in the Oval Office in February 2017.... He ... said Trump asked him to 'deal with Allen,' meaning Weisselberg, who had arranged the repayment plan for the hush money. Trump also said, Cohen testified, that he'd receive a check for both January and February.... At the meeting, Trump showed direct knowledge of the repayment plan, per Cohen's testimony just now.... That was a really key piece of testimony -- ... in prosecutors' own statement of facts, this is the only time that Trump is actually said to have confirmed the repayment plan, which prosecutors say involved the payments being illegally disguised."

Haberman: "[Cohen] is going over the monthly invoices he created, which described him as having been paid for 'services rendered,' and testifying that they were false records. He stresses they weren't valid legal fees, but 'reimbursements.'... Michael Cohen is going through check stubs for the first two checks and saying the descriptions of them were 'false.' Cohen says both Eric Trump, who is sitting in the courthouse, and Allen Weisselberg signed the first two, from the former president's revocable trust account. At some point, it switched to Trump's personal account."

Susanne Craig: "Cohen is being asked about the invoices one by one. 'Is that a false record,' he is asked over and over. 'Yes ma'am,' he typically responds."

Haberman: "There's mountains of documentary evidence that Cohen was paid for legal services he didn't actually provide, and that these were reimbursements. The question of what Trump knew relies mostly on Cohen's testimony."

Bromwich: "Michael Cohen is being asked about some additional work he did for the Trump Organization, some of it legal work, including for the Trump Organization's general counsel, Alan Garten. Cohen is saying he didn't expect to be paid for that work and did not send invoices for it. Trump's lawyers have indicated that they may argue that Cohen was doing real legal work, and was being paid for that. So this may be an example of the prosecution seeking to air an argument before the defense can."

Haberman: "Susan Hoffinger is now walking Michael Cohen again through his testimony from yesterday about 'monetizing' his role as Trump's personal lawyer by using it to attract other clients. Cohen confirms he did. Much of this feels like inoculation against what Cohen is going to face during cross-examination.... Michael Cohen is now being asked about his House testimony in connection with the Russia investigation.... Cohen notes that the Trump Organization was paying for his lawyer, and that he was part of a joint defense agreement. Cohen testifies he felt he 'needed' the protection of the sitting president at the time."

Kate Christobek: "Trump looks directly at Cohen on the witness stand as he says that he lied for Trump 'out of loyalty and in order to protect him.'"

Bromwich: "Michael Cohen has reached the part of his story where news of his payment to Stormy Daniels has broken into the public sphere. This was the beginning of the end for Trump and Cohen.... Michael Cohen, in text messages he is reading aloud in court, instructed Keith Davidson, who was the lawyer for Stormy Daniels, to 'write a strong denial' from Daniels, saying that she had not had an affair with Trump.... Susan Hoffinger, the prosecutor, brought up the joint defense agreement that Michael Cohen was part of, which meant the lawyer defending him was aligned with Trump's lawyers. She makes sure Cohen tells the jurors it was an advantage for Trump, as well as for Cohen. Cohen is now testifying about the statement by Stormy Daniels in which she denied having had a 'sexual and/or romantic affair' with Trump. Her lawyer at the time, Keith Davidson, testified that this statement was technically true, because they didn't have a full affair. Prosecutors have apparently decided not to take that line: They just call Daniels's statement false."

Haberman: "Cohen is now being asked about the complaint letter he received from the Federal Election Commission about his payment to Stormy Daniels, which was filed by a good-government group after The Wall Street Journal published an article revealing the payment. He says his response to the commission was not false, but it was misleading."

Bromwich: "As Michael Cohen continued his denial tour in regard to the hush money, we are seeing he was texted by Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for Trump. The text says 'Client says thanks for what you do.' Cohen leaves no doubt in his testimony that 'client' in the text refers to Trump, thanking Cohen for the denials."

Haberman: "Michael Cohen says he told David Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer, that [Trump] told [him] that the federal investigation Cohen faced would be 'taken care of' by Jeff Sessions, then the attorney general."

Bromwich: "Michael Cohen is now testifying that he continued to deal with Stormy Daniels in early 2018 with Trump's backing and blessing. He says that the president asked him to get a temporary restraining order against Daniels. And he says that Keith Davidson, who had been Daniels's lawyer up until that point, told him that he was no longer representing her. Her new lawyer was Michael Avenatti.... Michael Cohen is now describing the F.B.I.'s raid on his Park Avenue hotel room in April 2018. He says federal agents took his cell phones -- including the one with the recording on it that jurors already heard -- and many of his documents. He says he was frightened, despondent and angry.... Cohen testifies that Trump [phoned him right after the raid and] said: 'Don't worry. I'm the president of the United States. There's nothing here. Everything's going to be OK. Stay tough. You're going to be OK.' He says it was the last time they spoke....

"Michael Cohen is now reading tweets from April 2018 in which Trump defended him and attacked reporters, including Maggie Haberman. Trump says in the tweets that he doesn't see Cohen lying or making up stories, 'despite the horrible Witch Hunt and the dishonest media!'"

Christobek: "Michael Cohen ended the first portion of the morning session by saying that it was his understanding that Trump wanted him to refrain from cooperating with the government and 'certainly not to provide information or flip.'"

Bromwich: "Michael Cohen is testifying again after the courtroom took a short break. 'Distraught, nervous, concerned' are the emotions he describes having felt as he met at the Loews Regency on Park Avenue with a new lawyer, Robert Costello, a criminal defense lawyer who Cohen had been told was very close with Rudy Giuliani. This was immediately after the F.B.I. raided his hotel room there, and so Cohen's emotions were in tumult.... Cohen testifies that Costello told him not to reach out to Trump directly. So while Costello and Giuliani formed a link between Trump and Cohen, they also acted as a buffer.... We are seeing an email from Costello to Cohen from April 2018, in which Costello informs Cohen that Giuliani has just joined the Trump legal team."

Haberman: "Cohen says he was told Costello had worked for Giuliani at the Southern District of New York. By this time, Giuliani was about to become a lawyer for Trump on the Mueller investigation. Cohen testifies that Costello told him this would be a way to have a 'backchannel' to Trump."

Bromwich: "Michael Cohen is testifying, with emails on the screen, that Robert Costello, his new lawyer, was continuing a fierce pressure campaign to keep Cohen loyal to Trump. Cohen says he understood Costello to be telling him not to cooperate with law enforcement in the wake of the F.B.I. raid.... Michael Cohen was in the midst of testimony about weighing whether to retain loyalty to Trump, painting it as a very difficult decision, as he considered whether he would be loyal to his family, his country or Trump. As he was speaking, Vivek Ramaswamy and a number of the other politicians here supporting Trump today walked back in the room. It was a remarkable moment, but Cohen seemed mostly unfazed. He kept testifying."

Haberman: "Michael Cohen is now reading aloud the tweets Trump put out when Cohen pleaded guilty, saying that he felt 'very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family' and praising Manafort for refusing to 'break.' 'Such respect for a brave man.' It is absolutely remarkable that the sitting president was tweeting these things."

Bromwich: "We also see Trump's tweets attacking Cohen. He says that if anyone is looking for a good lawyer, he doesn't recommend Cohen. He contrasts Cohen with Manafort, a loyal ally, and criticizes Cohen again for 'breaking.'... As Susan Hoffinger, the prosecutor, asked Michael Cohen about committing federal crimes, she also emphasized the key themes of the prosecution's case, asking him to testify that he committed them on Trump's behalf."

Haberman: "Michael Cohen is now talking about his 2019 testimony before the House of Representatives, one hearing of which was televised.... During that hearing, he sealed his split with Trump, calling him a racist and a con man who was unfit for office.... Michael Cohen is now discussing his meetings with Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia. There is a divide between how Mueller's office viewed Cohen and how the federal prosecutors at the Southern District of New York, who charged him initially, did. Mueller's office declared him helpful. The S.D.N.Y. team, not so much.... Michael Cohen is being asked, over an objection by the defense, about how he was sent home on furlough from federal prison in 2020, during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. He was ultimately returned to prison because he was planning to publish a book later that year and refused to sign a letter saying he would decline to publish anything. A judge later called the move 'retaliatory' by the federal government, and he was freed."

Bromwich: "Michael Cohen is now testifying about having met with various law enforcement agencies, including the Manhattan district attorney's office. His story is coming full circle and becoming a bit meta, as he talks about cooperating with these prosecutors."

Haberman: "Hoffinger ... asks if Michael Cohen has sought a reduction for his sentence, and if he asked the district attorney's office for help. The answer to both questions is yes. Hoffinger makes clear that the Manhattan district attorney's office was willing to provide a letter to help him, but the Southern District's prosecutors -- who deeply dislike Cohen -- wouldn't accept it.... Hoffinger makes clear that Cohen continued to testify and help the case despite not getting what he wanted."

Bromwich: "In 2023, during Michael Cohen's testimony at Trump's civil fraud trial, the defense was able to trip him up while asking him about one of his federal guilty pleas. There, he seemed to suggest that he wasn't actually guilty of one of the crimes he had pleaded guilty to. Ever since, Trump's lawyers have accused him of perjury. Susan Hoffinger is now seeking to air that out, by asking Cohen about it here today. He says now he did not dispute the underlying facts of the case, but believed -- and still does -- that he should not have been criminally prosecuted for that specific offense."

Haberman: "Susan Hoffinger is going through a lengthy list of all that Michael Cohen has lost financially. This is similar to something Stormy Daniels said, when pushed on cross-examination about whether she had money to gain by coming forward. She said that she had also lost a lot.... Hoffinger ... is now detailing a lawsuit that Trump filed against Michael Cohen in Florida, well after the presidency. Ultimately Trump decided not to be deposed and the case was dismissed. But that suit was widely seen as an attempt at intimidation."

Bromwich: "In a sidebar this morning, according to a transcript of the morning session that we've just seen, prosecutors told the judge ... Michael Cohen will be their final witness...."

Haberman: "[Todd] Blanche indicated during the sidebar that the defense's only witness, if they were to call one, would be an expert, and that they would not be able to call that person until Monday. Recall that one of Blanche's goal is to stretch out the trial. Blanche also said that no decision had been made about whether Trump will take the stand for the defense."

Bromwich: "Todd Blanche ... will cross-examine Michael Cohen. He begins by asking Cohen whether or not they have spoken before.... Blanche starts by saying Cohen went on TikTok and called him a 'crying little shit.'"

Haberman: "Cohen says that it sounds like something he would say, but the prosecutors object and the judge sustains it.... Todd Blanche now asks Michael Cohen if he has been following what's been happening in this trial. Cohen says yes, to some extent, and Blanche asks if he knows details about the jury selection process. Another objection from the prosecution, and it's sustained."

Bromwich: "Michael Cohen is asked about another damning quote, in which he said Trump belonged in a cage, 'like an animal,' using an expletive that makes the sentiment even more forceful. 'I recall saying that,' Cohen says."

Haberman: "Michael Cohen is asked if the prosecutors have repeatedly asked him to stop talking about the case. 'Yes,' he says.... Todd Blanche is now arriving at his point: that Michael Cohen says he doesn't 'recall' having had multiple conversations with the district attorney's office about not going on television, but he can recall with pristine detail conversations he said he had with Trump in 2016."

Bromwich: "Todd Blanche asks Michael Cohen if he has gone on television several dozen times. 'I have gone on television,' Cohen says. Blanche asks him if it's more than 20 times. 'It could be,' Cohen concedes. Blanche asks him if he has any doubt that he has gone on television more than 20 times, and Cohen allows, that no, he has no doubt he has gone on television more than 20 times.... And after talking about these appearances and his podcast, Blanche asks Cohen if it's fair to say he talks about Trump in every single appearance and episode. Cohen says yes.... 'Do you want President Trump to get convicted in this case?' Todd Blanche asks. 'Sure,' Michael Cohen responds."

Craig: "As Michael Cohen testifies, Trump has dropped his head repeatedly and appears to be struggling to stay awake."

Haberman: "Todd is now seeking to portray Michael Cohen as, essentially, Trump's stalker. One thing that was clear to people around the Trump Organization for years was how badly Cohen wanted head-pats from Trump, and how Trump went out of his way to humiliate Cohen.... Cohen tries to parry Blanche's questions about his past praise of Trump. 'At that time, I was knee-deep into the cult of Donald Trump, yes.'... [Blanche is asking Cohen about a number of topics: the Steele Dossier, Trump Tower Moscow, his cooperation, with Mueller, etc.] This is incredibly hard to follow and Todd Blanche is all over the place."

Bromwich: "Blanche is now asking Cohen about his curiosity about an investigation into Trump. He is suggesting, essentially, that Cohen's cooperation with prosecutors was driven by self-interest, and that it was tainted.... Todd Blanche is jumping around as he describes different investigations into Trump involving Michael Cohen."

Haberman: "The testimony, which is now focused on Cohen’s initial supervised release from prison, has slowed to a crawl. And it's not entirely clear where Blanche is going with his questions."

Bromwich: "Michael Cohen just testified that he has never met the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg. This is genuinely surprising: Cohen is the star witness in the biggest case of Bragg's career and all signs indicate that Bragg has supervised this investigation closely.... As Todd Blanche, Trump's lawyer, began his cross-examination of Michael Cohen earlier today, he asked whether Cohen had called him a nasty name on TikTok. Soon afterward, there was a sidebar, out of earshot of jurors. At that sidebar, according to a transcript we just received, Justice Merchan asked Blanche: 'Why are you making this about yourself?'"

~~~~~~~~~~

It's primary election day today in Maryland, West Virginia and Nebraska.

Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "Narrating the prosecution's case in tell-all detail, [Michael] Cohen testified that Trump in 2016 had personally directed him to pay off a porn star and had approved a dubious reimbursement plan.... Over nearly five hours of testimony, Mr. Cohen painted a damning portrait of his relationship with Mr. Trump, decoded their shady vernacular and spotlighted the conduct at the center of the first criminal trial of an American president: the silencing of women who had stories of sex with Mr. Trump to tell and to sell.... [Cohen] brought the case's architecture into focus, offering firsthand corroboration of what jurors have heard from other witnesses. He also wove a sprawling cast of characters into a single narrative, saying that Mr. Trump, bent on winning the presidency, had orchestrated the coverup of scandalous stories." The AP's report is here.

Perry Stein & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "Here are key takeaways from Cohen's Monday testimony."

The Smoking Gun: ~~~

     ~~~ Earlier in the trial, Trump Org. comptroller Jeff McConney identified Weisselberg's handwriting on the document and said he recognized it because "I've been looking at his handwriting for 35 years." According to Maddow, the prosecutor asked Michael Cohen how he could identify Weisselberg's handwriting on the document, and Cohen said, "Because I saw him write it."

New York Times reporters liveblogged Monday's testimony in the Manhattan criminal trial of Donald Trump. See yesterday's Conversation for details. Links to transcripts of the trials, up to last Friday's proceedings are here. Links to exhibits begin here.

MEANWHILE, the decent President is doing his job:

Jonathan Yerushalmy of the Guardian: "Joe Biden has signed into law a bipartisan bill that bans the import of enriched uranium from Russia, in the latest effort by Washington to apply further pressure on Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine. The ban on imports of the fuel for nuclear power plants begins in about 90 days, although it allows the Department of Energy (DOE) to issue waivers in case of supply concerns, up until 2028. Russia is the world's top supplier of enriched uranium and about 24% of the enriched uranium used by US nuclear power plants come from the country."

Michael Forsythe & Gabriel Dance of the New York Times: "President Biden on Monday ordered a company with Chinese origins to shut down and sell the Wyoming cryptocurrency mine it built a mile from an Air Force base that controls nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles. The cryptomining facility, which operates high-powered computers in a data center near the F.E. Warren base in Cheyenne, 'presents a national security risk to the United States,' the president said in an executive order, because its equipment could be used for surveillance and espionage. The New York Times reported last October that Microsoft, which operates a nearby data center supporting the Pentagon, had flagged the Chinese-connected cryptocurrency mine to the federal Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, warning that it could enable the Chinese to 'pursue full-spectrum intelligence collection operations.' An investigation by the committee identified risks to national security, according to the president's order." CNBC's story is here.

Kayla Tausche of CNN: "President Joe Biden is increasing tariffs on $18 billion in Chinese imports across a handful of sectors deemed strategic to national security -- an attempt to cripple Beijing's development of critical technologies and instead prioritize US production. The increases will apply to imported steel and aluminum, legacy semiconductors, electric vehicles, battery components, critical minerals, solar cells, cranes and medical products. The new tariff rates -- which range from 100% on electric vehicles, to 50% for solar components, to 25% for all other sectors -- will take place over the next two years." The New York Times story is here.

Brad Plumer of the New York Times: "Federal regulators on Monday approved sweeping changes to how America's electric grids are planned and funded, in a move that supporters hope could spur thousands of miles of new high-voltage power lines and make it easier to add more wind and solar energy. The new rule by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees interstate electricity transmission, is the most significant attempt in years to upgrade and expand the country's creaking electricity network. Experts have warned that there aren't nearly enough high-voltage power lines being built today, putting the country at greater risk of blackouts from extreme weather while making it harder to shift to renewable sources of energy and cope with rising electricity demand. A big reason for the slow pace of grid expansion is that operators rarely plan for the long term, the commission said."

Caitlin Yilek of CBS News: "Jury selection began Monday in the corruption trial of New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez [D], who is accused of trading his political influence for cash, gold bars and a new Mercedes-Benz convertible. No jurors had been selected when court adjourned in the early evening."

Tom Dreisbach & Carrie Johnson of NPR (May 1): "Dozens of federal judges failed to fully disclose free luxury travel to judicial conferences around the world, as required by internal judiciary rules and federal ethics law, an NPR investigation has found.... Federal judges -- occasionally with family members or even their dog in tow -- traveled to luxury resorts in locations as far-flung as London; Palm Beach, Fla.; Bar Harbor, Maine; and the outskirts of Yellowstone National Park for weeklong seminars. The judges received free rooms, free meals and free money toward travel expenses.... First, within 30 days of an event, judges are required to file a form that details the host of the event and the entities that provided funding, as well as the speakers and topics of discussion.... Second, federal law requires that judges report the reimbursements they received for the events on an annual financial disclosure report." ~~~

     ~~~ Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan (May 7): Federal Judge Aileen "Cannon traveled twice recently to a luxury resort in Pray, Montana, to attend a conservative legal conference, but failed to disclose the trips, which some estimate cost in the tens of thousands of dollars apiece. Federal guidelines do not prohibit a sitting federal judge from taking luxury vacation, even paid for by another person or group, so long as they are disclosed and documented. Since NPR first reported the story, Cannon has amended a required filing, documenting the trip, but who paid for the travel remains unclear. The conferences, which she attended at Sage Lodge, were sponsored by the George Mason School of Law, a conservative leaning law school with deep ties to Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society." ~~~

~~~ See Akhilleus' commentary at the top of today's thread. He cites an article by Lucian Truscott of Salon.

** Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times explains Gov. Kristi Noem's (R-S.D.) pet-killing boasts in the context of the right-wing's cult of violence. "The story's inclusion makes more sense when you think about the kind of humans she's trying to impress. The ex-president and the people who surround him often seem drawn to violence and lurid displays of dominance.... [But Noem's effort failed because] successful vice signaling should have a certain intentionality. The conservative Washington Examiner, in an article about [the protagonist in 'American Psycho']'s appeal to young right-wing men, said, 'He wields control over himself and his surroundings, something many young men, especially conservatives, feel is unattainable to them.'"

Anupreeta Das & Santul Nerkar of the New York Times: "Melinda French Gates is leaving the behemoth foundation she and her former husband, Bill Gates, founded nearly a quarter-century ago to devote herself fully to her work on behalf of women and girls, which has been the focus of much of her recent philanthropy. Her move, announced on Monday, marks the end of an era for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation -- henceforth known as the Gates Foundation -- which she and her former husband founded in 2000 and transformed into a juggernaut that shook up the world of philanthropy and reshaped the fields of global public health and development."

~~~~~~~~~~

Arizona. Taylor Romine of CNN: "The Arizona Supreme Court delayed enforcement of the state's recently revived 1864 abortion ban, according to an order filed Monday. The order allows for a 90-day stay requested by the state's attorney general. Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a repeal of the 1864 abortion ban on May 2, but the repeal will not be in effect until 90 days after the legislative session ends, CNN previously reported. The state's legislature is currently in session, meaning the Civil War-era abortion ban could come into effect for a brief period. The stay will be in effect through August 12 so Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes could consider a petition for certiorari to the US Supreme Court, the order said. Another stay could be filed again, according to the order.... On Monday, the court also denied a motion from Planned Parenthood Arizona asking the court to stay the 1864 abortion ban until the repeal of that law takes effect."

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine, et al. CNN's live updates of developments Tuesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "The US has assessed that Israel has massed enough troops on the edge of Rafah to launch a full-scale incursion in the coming days, two senior administration officials told CNN. The White House believes an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah would be a mistake and is 'urgently' working toward a ceasefire. The US has urged Israel to connect its military operations to a 'clear' end game for its war against Hamas. About 450,000 have fled Rafah over the past week, the UN estimated. People are streaming out of the city following Israeli evacuation calls ahead of their ground offensive. In central Gaza, an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in the Nuseirat refugee camp has killed at least 13 displaced Palestinians and left families buried in the rubble, a hospital spokesperson told CNN." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Tuesday are here.

Ukraine, et al.

Isabelle Khurshudyan & Serheii Korolchuk of the Washington Post: "Russian glide bombs weighing half a ton each have been dropped repeatedly from aircraft on Vovchansk and neighboring border towns [in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine] for days. The sound of artillery shelling has been constant. Self-destructing drones can be heard buzzing overhead before crashing into vehicles.... The purpose of the Russian offensive was not immediately clear, but Ukrainian and Western officials say Moscow could be trying to expand a buffer zone to roughly six miles deep into Ukraine to limit Kyiv's ability to shell Russian villages across the border."

Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday in Ukraine's capital, part of a mission to display Washington's continued support for the country's faltering war effort after months of congressional inaction choked off military assistance. The delay in aid weakened Ukraine's ability to repel renewed Russian attacks. Blinken's two-day trip is the first high-level visit by a Biden administration official since Congress last month approved a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine after seven months of obstruction by Republicans."

News Lede

New York Times: "Alice Munro, the revered Canadian author who started writing short stories because she did not think she had the time or the talent to master novels, then stubbornly dedicated her long career to churning out psychologically dense stories that dazzled the literary world and earned her the Nobel Prize in Literature, died on Monday night in Port Hope, Ontario, east of Toronto. She was 92."

The Conversation -- May 13, 2024

New York Times reporters are liveblogging the Manhattan criminal trial of Donald Trump: ~~~

Maggie Haberman: "Trump has entered the room, wearing a blue-and-white striped tie, and Senator J.D. Vance and Eric Trump trailing him, among others."

Jonah Bromwich: "Also with him are Boris Ephsteyn, his legal adviser; Alina Habba, one of the lawyers from his civil fraud trial; Representative Nicole Malliotakis; Senator Tommy Tuberville; and the Iowa and Alabama attorneys general. This is the biggest entourage we've seen him with so far.... Susan Hoffinger, the head of investigations at the Manhattan district attorney's office, will handle the questioning [of Michael Cohen] for the prosecution and has been preparing for months.... Hoffinger starts by asking Cohen about his background, and he mentions he's a descendant of Holocaust survivors. He says he 'really didn't want to be a lawyer,' but that his family is filled with them.... Cohen says that he came into Trump's circle by purchasing Trump properties. Then, he says, Trump himself offered him an opportunity to work at the Trump Organization 'as his special counsel.'"

Haberman: "Susan Hoffinger, the prosecutor, asks Cohen if Trump paid him for early legal work he did at a Trump building, Trump World Tower. 'No, ma'am,' he replies.... Michael Cohen is now testifying that he went to meet with Trump on a bill about another matter.... Trump asked if Cohen was happy at his 'sleepy old firm,' and Cohen ultimately went to work for Trump. The bill was never paid. Trump told Cohen that he would only report to him."

Bromwich: "Michael Cohen begins to describe the projects he began to undertake for Trump, saying that they were 'exciting' to him."

Jesse McKinley: "It was whatever he wanted,' Michael Cohen says when asked to describe his duties at the Trump Organization. Cohen leans into the word 'he.'"

Haberman: "Susan Hoffinger, the prosecutor, is eliciting testimony from Cohen that he didn't work in the general counsel's office at the Trump Organization -- he worked directly with Trump.... Michael Cohen is now describing talking to Trump every single day, multiple times a day, before the 2016 election. It was either in person or by cell phone, Cohen testifies.... Michael Cohen is now testifying that he 're-negotiated' certain bills Trump felt were too high. This testimony is significant to the case: it shows Cohen directly interacting with Trump on money, and Trump focused on what he paid and received.... Michael Cohen is now testifying about threatening lawsuits against people while he worked for Trump. One was a Miss USA contestant. In other cases, Cohen said, he would be antagonistic to reporters, warning them that Trump would sue them over specific stories."

Bromwich: "Susan Hoffinger ... asks if Michael Cohen interacted frequently with the press. Prosecutors are seeking to emphasize how much Trump cared about what was written about him, even before he ran for president. Hoffinger asks if Cohen worked to 'minimize negative stories' and enhance positive ones about Trump. That's the crux of the conspiracy that prosecutors say Cohen, Trump, and The National Enquirer entered into during the election: suppressing negative stories about Trump to aid his chances as a candidate."

Haberman: "Susan Hoffinger ... has Cohen recount conversations with Trump in which he explained why he didn't use email. 'He would comment that emails are like written papers. He knows too many people who have gone down as a direct result of having emails that prosecutors can use in a case,' he recalled."

Jonathan Swan: "Hoffinger used Cohen to testify how Trump didn't like leaving a written record of what he was doing, because, in Cohen's telling, he didn't want his words to get him into legal trouble. This helps prepare the jury for a gap in the prosecution's case: that they need to rely on Cohen's word -- and not a written record, like an email -- to prove that Trump himself was involved in the falsification of business records."

Haberman: "Michael Cohen says he lied to people on Trump's behalf. Susan Hoffinger, the prosecutor, asks him about being called Trump's 'fixer.' 'It's fair,' Cohen replies."

McKinley: "Cohen is describing a remarkably servile attitude towards Trump. 'The only thing that was on my mind was to accomplish the task, to make him happy,' he says.... Cohen says he had more than 30,000 contacts in his phone."

Haberman: "Cohen explains that part of the reason there were so many contacts is because Trump agreed to have his own contacts synced onto Cohen's phone for ease."

Bromwich: "Michael Cohen is now describing his relationship with David Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer, who was the first witness at this trial. Pecker testified that he, Cohen and Trump entered into a secret plan to suppress negative stories about Trump in 2015. Cohen will likely echo that testimony. Already, he has corroborated some of what Pecker said about when he first met Cohen. Cohen says he sometimes contacted Pecker using the encrypted application Signal -- one of the small pieces of corroboration."

Haberman: "Michael Cohen is now describing how Trump would try to get a 'good story,' a phrase Trump himself often uses about coverage, including by making a charitable donation and having articles written about it.... Michael Cohen is now explaining that he wasn't going to be a part of the 2016 presidential campaign -- he was 'just going to be a surrogate,' he says. This is the first in what is likely to be a series of humiliations by Trump that Cohen is expected to testify to.... Cohen says he still did some activities on behalf of the campaign, like putting together a so-called 'diversity' coalition, which he's describing here. He was also given a campaign email address, he says.... Susan Hoffinger, the prosecutor, asks Michael Cohen if he ever talked to Trump about whether he was concerned that negative personal stories would come forward. Cohen describes a conversation before the presidential campaign kickoff, quoting Trump saying, 'You know that when this comes out, meaning the announcement, just be prepared, there's going to be a lot of women coming forward.'" [Emphasis added.]

Bromwich: "Michael Cohen has now testified that he, Trump and David Pecker..., entered into a plot to suppress negative stories about Trump. He says Pecker 'would be able to help us to know in advance what was coming out' and try to stop it from doing so. This is the conspiracy that prosecutors allege Trump participated in -- one of the potential crimes that transforms the charges Trump is facing into felonies."

Haberman: "The Enquirer also helped promote negative stories about Trump's G.O.P. primary rivals. Cohen is now describing them. Some of the smears were directed at Marco Rubio, the Florida senator who is currently a top contender to be Trump's running mate."

Bromwich: "Cohen says that he 'immediately showed' such material to Trump, who would greet it with praise like 'fantastic, unbelievable.'"

Haberman: "Michael Cohen is now laying out the first catch-and-kill story that he worked on with The National Enquirer. We heard about this in previous testimony. It was about an allegation by a doorman at a Trump building that Trump had fathered a child out of wedlock. Cohen is describing telling Trump about it.... Michael Cohen is now describing seeking 'credit' with Trump for 'accomplishing the task' of making sure the doorman's story stayed dead. Seeking the head-pat from Trump was a big part of Cohen's daily existence."

Bromwich: "I didn't expect this aspect of Cohen's testimony -- his motivation to keep Trump involved at all times. By painting it as a matter of self-interest, the prosecution makes Cohen more believable. He's not just pointing the finger at Trump. He's explaining why he himself would have wanted to keep Trump in the loop.... Michael Cohen has now moved on to the second catch-and-kill deal, which involved Karen McDougal, who said she had an affair with Trump. Cohen says he mentioned McDougal to Trump, and his response was: 'She's really beautiful.' Cohen says he warned Trump that McDougal was shopping her story, and Trump told him to 'make sure it doesn't get released.'... Michael Cohen is asked how he monitored the progress of the deal with Karen McDougal, and says he did so by text, phone and the app Signal. The prosecutor doesn't dwell on it, but that short list of three is essentially code to these jurors, who have heard from other witnesses, especially David Pecker, just how much of a pest Cohen made himself during that period in 2016." [Emphasis added.]

Haberman: "... Cohen is being walked through his text messages with Dylan Howard, the editor of The National Enquirer, about Karen McDougal."

Bromwich: "'I've got this locked down for you,' Howard tells Cohen of the McDougal story. 'I won't let it out of my grasp.'.. Cohen just said that Pecker had told him the agreement with McDougal was 'bulletproof.' That is exactly the same word that Pecker told the jury that he had used with Cohen. And how did Trump greet the news that the agreement had been made? 'Fantastic,' Cohen says."

Haberman: "Cohen is now recalling David Pecker applying pressure to get reimbursed for paying off Karen McDougal. 'It was too much money for him to hide from the C.E.O. of the parent company,' he says. He adds that he had several conversations with Trump about that fact."

Bromwich: "Pecker 'insisted' on being paid back, Cohen says. The publisher even met with Cohen at his favorite Italian restaurant to press the point. 'He expressed his anger that I need to get this money back,' Cohen says. Trump, Cohen says, kept insisting he would 'take care of it.' But he didn't.... Michael Cohen is saying that David Pecker intimated that he had known Trump for years and had essentially compiled a dossier on him, which he would use if need be. Cohen says he was worried that if Pecker were to remain angry at Trump, he might let some potentially damaging stories out of the bag as he was competing for a new position....

"Michael Cohen has now begun speaking about having recorded Trump directing him to pay David Pecker back in cash. As a reminder, the jury has heard this recording. It fits in nicely with Cohen's narrative that he was often updating Trump on the progress of the Karen McDougal hush-money deal -- on the recording, Cohen only has to mention Pecker's name and it seems as if Trump knows that he's referring to that deal. Cohen claims that this was the only conversation with Trump that he ever taped, and that he did it so that Pecker could hear that Trump planned to pay him back, thus retaining Pecker's loyalty.... We again hear Trump ask about financing and then advising Cohen to 'pay in cash.'...

"Michael Cohen has almost finished describing the recording, beat by beat. He says that when he insisted that David Pecker be paid, he made reference to Pecker's dossier on Trump."

Bromwich: [After a break,] "Michael Cohen says that the recording he made of himself talking to Trump cuts off because a bank employee called him and he 'must have believed' the call was important. But Cohen says he continued to speak to Trump about the hush-money deal with Karen McDougal after the recording ended. This is another piece of evidence that Trump's lawyers have sought to delve into, questioning why the call ended abruptly and seeming to suggest that Cohen may have manipulated evidence....

"Jurors are hearing Michael Cohen testify that he -- and everybody -- at the Trump Organization spoke to Allen Weisselberg, then the company's chief financial officer, about financial transactions. Weisselberg, currently in jail, was involved in coordinating the repayments to Cohen after Cohen paid hush money to Stormy Daniels. We may not hear from him at this trial. Prosecutors have tried to submit evidence showing he is still loyal to Trump, to suggest a reason to the jury why he isn't testifying. But this morning, as we reported, the judge rejected that evidence....

"[Cohen] says Weisselberg told him not to go through the Trump Organization [to pay Stormy Daniels] -- linking the payment to Trump's company would defeat the purpose -- but to come up with other more creative ways to pay.... We are now delving into the details of the complex set of financial transactions that Michael Cohen originally planned to use to reimburse David Pecker for the payment to Karen McDougal. But he would never pay Pecker, as the jury has been reminded, and instead these steps eventually led to Cohen's payment to Stormy Daniels."

"Michael Cohen is now explaining that after all that, David Pecker called him and told him that Trump would not have to pay him.... Pecker's explanation for his change of heart was that the McDougal deal had ended up being good for his company after all, Cohen says. But the jury has heard what they may find to be a more convincing alternative explanation from Pecker himself: During his own testimony, Pecker said that he had spoken to his general counsel and decided that he did not want to be repaid -- the implication being he was worried about committing a crime."

Haberman: "Michael Cohen is now talking about being in London when the 'Access Hollywood' tape came out shortly before the election. He says he got an email from Steve Bannon, who was the C.E.O. of the Trump campaign at the time. Cohen is looking at an email exchange about the tape that was forwarded to him by Bannon. Top campaign officials including the press secretary Hope Hicks, the campaign manager Kellyanne Conway and the deputy campaign manager David Bossie were also on it.... Part of the purpose here is making clear that Cohen is who the campaign staff members went to when they needed to address an issue related to a woman alleging misconduct by Trump.... Michael Cohen says Trump described the language heard on the 'Access Hollywood' tape as 'locker room talk,' and that Trump suggested that descriptor came from his wife, Melania."

Bromwich: "Trump, Cohen says, directed him to reach out to his contacts in the news media. And immediately, we see evidence of Cohen texting Chris Cuomo, then a CNN anchor."

Swan: "The final text we see in this series is Cuomo telling Cohen that it will be 'too late' if he waits until Tuesday to defend Trump on TV. Cohen was in London. Cuomo says of Trump: 'He is dying right now.'"

Bromwich: "Stormy Daniels's name comes up for the first time, as Michael Cohen is questioned about the 'Access Hollywood' tape.... Michael Cohen says he spoke directly to Trump about Stormy Daniels early on, after learning she was shopping her story.... Cohen says Trump told him not only that he knew her, but that he had met her at a golf tournament. Trump, Cohen says, told him that Daniels liked him and that women preferred him even over football stars, like those who were at the tournament."

Swan: "The language seen in these Cohen conversations [in texts with Keith Davidson -- Karen McDougal & Stormy Daniels' attorney -- and Dylan Howard, then the editor of The National Enquirer,] is very opaque and very mob-like. The hush money is described a 'business opportunity.'... Michael Cohen says that Trump explicitly told him they needed to do whatever they could to suppress Stormy Daniels's story until at least after the election, because it wouldn't matter at that point."

Bromwich: "Michael Cohen says that Trump, upon learning that Stormy Daniels was shopping her story, was very angry with Cohen, calling it a 'total disaster' and saying 'women are going to hate me.' Cohen says he responded that he had no control over Daniels's story. 'Just take care of it,' he says Trump told him."

Swan: "Michael Cohen says that Trump explicitly told him they needed to do whatever they could to suppress Stormy Daniels's story until at least after the election, because it wouldn't matter at that point."

Haberman: "Cohen also recalls asking Trump how Melania Trump might take everything that was happening. He describes Trump's reply as follows: 'He goes, "How long do you think I'll be on the market for? Not long."' He wasn't thinking about Melania. This was all about the campaign.'"

McKinley: "Cohen says Trump also said of Daniels's allegation: 'Guys may think its cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign.'"

Alan Feuer: "Michael Cohen's description of Trump expressing fear that the Stormy Daniels story could poison him with female voters is a potentially important, but uncorroborated, piece of testimony. It's the first time during the trial that a witness has attributed concerns about the scandal upending to the election directly to Trump." [Lunch break.]

Bromwich: "Susan Hoffinger, the prosecutor..., shows [Michael Cohen] a series of emails with Keith Davidson, who was Daniels's lawyer in 2016. Davidson ... says in the email ... that he just wanted to be paid. Cohen responded that it was the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur.... Cohen ... says that the correspondence represented that 'we were losing control over the settlement of this agreement in order to prevent' Daniels's story from coming out. He says that loss of control was a 'direct result of my failure to wire funds.'... Michael Cohen says that he believed that at this point in the narrative, just weeks before the 2016 election, he could no longer delay making the payment to Stormy Daniels."

Haberman: "Michael Cohen is now describing Trump telling him that his friends had advised him to just pay Stormy Daniels the hush money, and reminded him that he was a billionaire. 'Just do it,' Cohen recounts Trump saying."

Bromwich: "Cohen is directly tying Trump to the hush-money payment right now, corroborating the testimony of others, including Keith Davidson and Hope Hicks, who both suggested that Cohen would never had made the payment without Trump's authorization. Cohen is now talking about Weisselberg helping him to think through how to make the payment."

Christobek: "Prosecutors are showing Cohen the same emails and bank paperwork they showed to [banker Gary] Farro on the witness stand. Farro previously testified about Cohen's urgency to open up an account for Essential Consultants L.L.C., which was ultimately used to pay the hush money to Stormy Daniels."

Swan: "Trump, who had been sleeping, wakes up, leans over, taps his lawyer Todd Blanche and whispers something in his ear."

Bromwich: "Michael Cohen says he then decided that he would pay the money, and that Allen Weisselberg said, 'I'll make sure you get paid back.' Cohen says he alerted Trump to that decision and that Trump was appreciative, saying 'good, good.' And he says that Trump, too, told him he'd be repaid.... 'I was doing everything that I could and more in order to protect my boss, which was something I had done for a long time,' Cohen says. But he adds that he would not, of his own volition, lay out $130,000 for a hush-money payment on someone else's behalf, indicating, again, that he was expecting to be repaid. The charges against Trump concern the repayment to Cohen.... After Michael Cohen decided to pay Stormy Daniels himself, we are seeing, he launched into a blitz of phone calls with both Keith Davidson and David Pecker.... This documentary evidence ... suggests, with incredible vividness given that it is simply metadata, the frenzy that Cohen was experiencing as he sought to suppress the Daniels story and pay her the hush money." Emphasis added.]

Susanne Craig: "This is moving quickly. Most of the questions from Susan Hoffinger, the prosecutor, are intended to elicit 'yes' or 'no' responses, and she is largely limiting Michael Cohen's testimony to corroborating that of others and establishing his direct conversations with Trump."

Christobek: "Cohen says that he laid out the Daniels deal for Trump because 'everything required Mr. Trump's sign-off.'"

Bromwich: "We are now seeing that Michael Cohen had a five-minute call with Trump on Oct. 28, 2016. Cohen says that on that call, having signed the non-disclosure agreement, he told Trump that the Stormy Daniels 'matter is completely under control and locked down.' Even testifying at this trial, Cohen still speaks cryptically when recounting his conversations with Trump. He didn't say Daniels, just called it the matter.... We are now seeing voluminous records of phone calls between Michael Cohen and Hope Hicks after the article about Karen McDougal came out. If anything, these records make Hicks look as if she underplayed the amount that she was speaking to Cohen and his involvement in the campaign....

"We are now seeing one of Michael Cohen's telephonic rampages in documentary evidence that shows he spoke to Keith Davidson, who was the lawyer for Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, after the story about McDougal being paid off was published. Cohen says that he suspected Davidson or people in his camp of leaking and that he was very angry. He also says that Trump himself was angry. The defense objected to the question that prompted that testimony as leading, but too slowly, and the jury heard what Cohen had to say about Trump before the judge sustained the objection."

Haberman: "We've moved on in testimony to Trump winning the presidential election. SUsan Hoffinger, the prosecutor, asks Michael Cohen if he still had a role at the Trump Organization after Trump won. Cohen says no, 'because my service was no longer necessary.' He says he turned down the role of 'assistant general counsel' in the White House. Hoffinger asks Cohen if he was disappointed that the job of chief of staff wasn't offered to him. Cohen says he didn't want it, but wanted his name to have been included in the conversation. This is meant to inoculate him on cross-examination, when Trump's lawyer inevitably says that Cohen was simply disgruntled about not getting a job."

Bromwich: "After Michael Cohen describes having wanted a position as a personal lawyer to the new president, which he didn't get, he begins to describe not having received a significant bonus. What prosecutors are leading into, in short, is that Cohen was very angry and disgruntled in late 2016.... Cohen, describing his anger at seeing his bonus cut by two-thirds, almost sounds angry all over again. 'I didn't expect more,' he says of his bonus that year, 2016. 'But I certainly didn't expect less.'... Cohen says he took his fury out on Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, and that Weisselberg told him that he'd be taken care of after the holidays."

Haberman: "Michael Cohen is now ... describing his notes with Allen Weisselberg..., working out what he was being paid for another matter, and how he would be reimbursed for it."

Swan: "Michael Cohen is explaining why he was owed $180,000, instead of simply $130,000 for the hush money. He says that he was owed $50,000 -- an amount he admits was exaggerated -- to pay a firm called Red Finch for 'tech services.'"

Bromwich: "Allen Weisselberg then doubled the $180,000 to $360,000. Weisselberg, Cohen says, expected that he would lose half of that money because it would be taxed as income, and was making him whole, even after taxes."

Haberman: "Michael Cohen testifies that Trump, as president-elect, was busy with meetings around time. Yet he and Allen Weisselberg went into Trump's 26th floor office to discuss the reimbursement plan, he says." [Testimony ends for the day.]

Marie's Favorite Sentence of the Day (maybe of the Week, but it's only Monday!): I'm sure Medieval Sam will be able to find a 'precedent' for upholding white supremacy in some Pictish runes carved in a rock by Eldritch priests, found in the basement of the British Museum. -- Akhilleus, in today's Comments

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Two trials being held a block away from each other: ~~~

~~~ Witness for the Prosecution. Stephen Collinson of CNN: This week, Michael Cohen "will be the star witness for prosecutors trying to prove Trump illegally falsified business records after paying off adult film actress Stormy Daniels as part of an alleged election interference scheme in 2016.... His appearance [in court] will mark the zenith of a bitter personal feud between two brash New Yorkers obsessed with betrayal and revenge." ~~~

~~~ Tracey Tully & Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: Sen. Robert "Menendez, a Democrat, is to go on trial in Federal District Court in Manhattan [on Monday], charged with taking part in an elaborate, yearslong bribery scheme. It will be his second corruption trial in seven years, but unlike the first, which ended in a hung jury, there is a volatile and surprising new element: charges against Mr. Menendez's wife.... The U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York has depicted Mr. Menendez and his wife as collaborators who took bribes in exchange for the senator's willingness to steer weapons and government aid to Egypt, prop up a friend's halal meat monopoly and meddle in criminal investigations involving allies.... The senator's lawyers appear to be preparing a defense that pins much of the blame on his wife." ~~~

     ~~~ Here's an updated story by the same writers, same subject, different URL. And here's a CNN story on Bribable Bob.

Léonie Chao-Fong of the Guardian: "Katie Britt, the Republican US senator from Alabama best known for delivering a widely ridiculed State of the Union [rebuttal] speech in March, marked the run-up to Mother's Day on Sunday by introducing a bill to create a federal database to collect data on pregnant people.... Although Britt's communications director said the site would not collect data on pregnant people..., the bill states that users can take an assessment through the website and provide consent to use the user's contact information' which government officials may use 'to conduct outreach via phone or email to follow up with users on additional resources that would be helpful for the users to review'.... The ... act proposes to establish an online government database ... listing resources related to pregnancy..., except for those that provide abortion-related services." Thanks to Jj for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race

Nate Cohn of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump leads President Biden in five crucial battleground states, a new set of polls shows, as a yearning for change and discontent over the economy and the war in Gaza among young, Black and Hispanic voters threaten to unravel the president's Democratic coalition. The surveys by The New York Times, Siena College and The Philadelphia Inquirer found that Mr. Trump was ahead among registered voters in a head-to-head matchup against Mr. Biden in five of six key states: Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Mr. Biden led among registered voters in only one battleground state, Wisconsin."

I'm guessing the Times got plenty of criticism for its plain-vanilla coverage of Trump's speech at his New Jersey rally. After linking Michael Gold's initial NYT report yesterday, in which Gold described Trump's remarks as "largely repeating" his standard criticisms of President Biden, I read Marianne Levine's Washington Post report, where she led with the personal attacks, coarse language and vulgar expressions used by Trump and his supporters. So I linked that, too. The difference was not lost on monoloco, who commented on it in yesterday's thread. So now we get this:

Michael Gold of the New York Times: "In an extended riff at his rally on Saturday in New Jersey..., Donald J. Trump returned to a reference that has become a staple of his stump speech, comparing migrants to Hannibal Lecter, the fictional serial killer and cannibal from 'The Silence of the Lambs.'..." After describing the fictional Hannibal as a "wonderful man" and "the late, great Hannibal Lecter," Trump segued into a riff on "unvetted immigrants" who "are destroying our country" and will doom it unless Trump is elected president*.

Meet Trump's Personnel Manager. What would a second Trump administration look like? Well, Trump is planning to hire his former body man John McEntee to implement his 2025 personnel policies: i.e., firing "deep-state" bureaucrats & hiring Trump toadies. McEntee was goose-stepped out of the White House in 2018 when his security clearance was denied, reportedly because he was under investigation for financial crimes. Immediately after his ousting, the Trump campaign hired him, and Trump brought him back to the White House in early 2020 as head of personnel. His job then was to ID & remove officials insufficiently loyal to Trump. Now, he's an advisor on the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, the detailed plan to turn the federal government into an operation that serves only the president*. He also runs a dating service for wingers. On a video for the dating service, he boated that he carries a wad of movie-prop $5 bills to give to panhandlers in the hopes that's they'll be arrested later when they try to pass the counterfeit cash. What a fun guy! Thanks to RAS for the lead.

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Kristi, the Movie:

     ~~~ The original film, "We Bought a Zoo," sounds a bit more upbeat, in a heartrending, tearjerker kind of way.

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Israel/Palestine, et al.

CNN's live updates of developments Monday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "At least 360,000 people have fled Rafah ahead of Israel's planned invasion of the city, the UN says. Top US officials have repeated stark warnings against a Rafah invasion, predicting that a major ground offensive would lead to widespread civilian casualties. More than 35,000 people have already been killed in Gaza during the war, according to the Health Ministry. In northern Gaza, people are trying to flee intense shelling and gunfire that have targeted the Jabalya refugee camp, where Israel is trying to stop Hamas from regrouping in an area that Israel previously said it controlled. Almost half of the agricultural land in Gaza has been destroyed, and recovery could take years, an expert studying satellite images told CNN."

Josh Boak of the AP: "Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday delivered some of the Biden administration's strongest public criticism yet of Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza, saying Israeli tactics have meant 'a horrible loss of life of innocent civilians' but failed to neutralize Hamas leaders and fighters and could drive a lasting insurgency. In a pair of TV interviews, Blinken underscored that the United States believes Israeli forces should 'get out of Gaza,' but also is waiting to see credible plans from Israel for security and governance in the territory after the war."

Your child is having a temper tantrum. You (a) take remedial action; or (b) wait to see if he comes up with a plan to behave better. Marie: Maybe this isn't a valid analogy, but I'm having trouble seeing Blinken's logic -- although I sort of get it. There does need to be a post-war plan, and Israel's back-of-the-napkin plan isn't a sustainable one.

Russia. Anna Chernova, et al., of CNN: "Russian President Vladimir Putin has replaced his defense minister and a long-time close ally Sergei Shoigu with an economist, a major reshuffle of military leadership.... Andrey Belousov, a civilian who served as former first deputy prime minister and specializes in economics, was appointed to the top defense post, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday. Peskov tried to downplay the move, but the reshuffle comes amid speculation about infighting at the highest echelons of power. Just last month, one of Shoigu's long-time protégés at the defense ministry was arrested and charged with corruption. Shoigu was 'relieved' of his position by presidential decree, Peskov said, but he will remain an influential part of Putin's administration as secretary of Russia's Security Council, replacing Nikolai Patrushev, a former head of the Federal Security Service (FSB), who would 'transfer to another job.'"

News Lede

CNN: "Thousands across Canada have been urged to evacuate as the smoke from blazing wildfires endangers air quality and visibility and begins to waft into the US. Some 3,200 residents in northeastern British Columbia were under an evacuation order Saturday afternoon as the Parker Lake fire raged on in the area, spanning more than 4,000 acres. Meanwhile, evacuation alerts are in place for parts of Alberta as the MWF-017 wildfire burns out of control near Fort McMurray in the northeastern area of the province, officials said. The fire had burned about 16,000 acres as of Sunday morning. Smoke from the infernos has caused Environment Canada to issue a special air quality statement that extends from British Columbia to Ontario.... Smoke from Canada has also begun to blow into the US, prompting an alert across Minnesota due to unhealthy air quality. The smoke is impacting cities including the Twin Cities and St. Cloud, as well as several tribal areas, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said."