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Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial will resume at Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday for further testimony from the defendant’s estranged former “fixer” Michael Cohen after the pair came face to face in Judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom on Monday.
Cohen is the attorney who made the $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels at the heart of the case in the hope of buying her silence about a sexual encounter she claims she had with Mr Trump in a Lake Tahoe hotel room in July 2006.
Cohen testified yesterday that, when the story emerged shortly before the 2016 election, Mr Trump cared more about the impact on his presidential campaign than his marriage to Melania Trump.
The former president denies the affair and the 34 felony counts brought against him by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, who accuses him of falsifying business records to hide the payout.
Ms Daniels herself took to the witness stand last week to deliver some highly explicit and embarrassing evidence against Mr Trump and more than held her own in response to hostile cross-examination from the defence, which worked hard to discredit her.
Alex Woodward and Kelly Rissman are covering the trial for The Independent from Manhattan Criminal Court.
Loyalist. Bully. Liar: The many faces of Michael Cohen
Kelly Rissman and Alex Woodward offer this look at Cohen, who has played many roles for Donald Trump and now takes on a new one: compliant witness.
Joe Sommerlad14 May 2024 12:00
New York hush money trial: Court turns into audition stage for Trump’s VP wannabes
All the world’s a stage and this week the spotlight is on Manhattan Criminal Court as major Republican players flocked to audition for the role of Trump’s 2024 running mate on Monday.
Senators JD Vance and Tommy Tuberville joined the former president in a show of support at his hush money trial yesterday echoing his rhetoric when speaking to reporters outside court in slamming the case against him.
Here’s more from Katie Hawkinson.
Joe Sommerlad14 May 2024 11:30
New York hush money trial: Trump storms off when asked about campaigning
This was Trump raging about the judge after yesterday’s session in court.
Interestingly, he walked off sharply when a reporter asked him when he would next be hitting the campaign trail rather than “mingling with wealthy donors”.
Incidentally, I feel this tweet covers a lot of useful territory regarding Trump’s appeal to his base in such moments.
Joe Sommerlad14 May 2024 11:00
New York hush money trial: Key takeaways from day one of Cohen’s testimony
Here’s Alex Woodward and Kelly Rissman with a comprehensive round-up of another busy day at Manhattan Criminal Court.
Joe Sommerlad14 May 2024 10:30
New York hush money trial: Trump prioritised campaign over his wife, says Cohen
The former president expressed greater concern about the impact the Stormy Daniels affair story would have on his 2016 presidential campaign than how it would affect his wife, Michael Cohen said yesterday.
On the first day of his highly-anticipated testimony, Cohen recounted how Trump reacted when hearing the adult film star was preparing to come forward with allegations of an extramarital affair.
“He wasn’t thinking about Melania, this was all about the campaign,” Cohen told the jury.
Ariana Baio has more.
Joe Sommerlad14 May 2024 10:00
New York hush money trial: ‘Women will hate me,’ Trump told Cohen over Stormy Daniels claim
Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial will resume at Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday after the defendant came face to face with his estranged former “fixer” Michael Cohen in Judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom on Monday.
Cohen testified yesterday, slowly and calmly without making eye-contact with the defendant, that Trump feared “disaster” for his 2016 presidential campaign when his then-attorney first told him that Stormy Daniels was preparing to share her story about having sex with him in 2006.
“I thought you had this under control. I thought you took care of this,” Cohen said from the witness stand, recalling Trump’s enraged reaction to the news that the adult film star’s allegations had resurfaced.
“Just take care of it. ‘There’s a lot going on at the campaign at the time.’ Just take care of it,” the candidate said, according to Cohen.
“This is a disaster. This is a total disaster. Women are going to hate me. This really is a disaster. Women are going to hate me. Guys will think it’s cool, but this is a disaster for the campaign.”
Here’s more from Alex Woodward and Kelly Rissman in court.
Joe Sommerlad14 May 2024 09:30
Truth Social: Has Trump learned his lesson?
At the risk of sounding like Susan Collins here, Trump’s social output his been (for the most part) more straight-laced than usual of late, suggesting he might at last be taking Judge Merchan’s jail threat seriously.
No attacks on Stormy Daniels or Michael Cohen, just clips from his New Jersey rally and favourable polling about how he is “crushing” Joe Biden in swing states, almost like a relatively normal politician.
That said, he is not entirely refraining from commenting on the case.
He is doing so indirectly, by quoting Fox News talking heads like Jonathan Turley, Tim Scott, Andrew McCarthy, Matt Whitaker, Marc Thiessen and Mark Levin.
Turley, incidentally, like some others on the same network, appears to be struggling for self-awareness.
Here’s Eric Garcia’s report on the positive polling Trump is citing.
Joe Sommerlad14 May 2024 09:00
Even after failed ouster, Marjorie Taylor Greene won’t give up war with Mike Johnson
On Wednesday, Greene brought her long-awaited motion to vacate to the floor in an effort to remove Johnson from the speaker’s chair. It failed spectacularly, with 196 Republicans and 163 Democrats voting to kill her resolution.
But she appeared unable to move on during an interview with Fox News on Sunday where she accused Mr Johnson “of being owned by the Democrats” after the rival party voted to protect him.
John Bowden reports from Washington, DC:
Oliver O'Connell14 May 2024 08:30
Trump praises fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter during rally speech
Donald Trump praised fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter during his rally speech in New Jersey on Saturday (11 May). The former US president called the character, played by Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs, a “wonderful man”, while simultaneously condemning “people who are being released into our country that we don’t want”. Trump delivered his address to an estimated crowd of about 80,000 supporters under the shadow of the Great White roller coaster. The Republican candidate also called rival Democrat and current US President Joe Biden a “total moron”.
Oliver O'Connell14 May 2024 06:30
‘A madman in a circular room screaming’
Guess who former defense secretary Jim Mattis is talking about...
Oliver O'Connell14 May 2024 04:30