Trump on trial: New York vs. Donald Trump Day 5 Highlights
Summary
TLDRThe transcript details the opening statements in the criminal trial of former President Donald Trump, highlighting the tense atmosphere in the courtroom, the demeanor of the judge, and the strategies employed by both the prosecution and defense. The prosecution focuses on alleged illegal payments made to silence individuals during Trump's presidential campaign, arguing that these constituted a criminal conspiracy to influence the election. The defense, led by Todd Blanche, attempts to sow doubt about the nature of the payments and the character of witnesses like Stormy Daniels. Notably, Blanche faces multiple objections from the prosecution, which are sustained by the judge, potentially impacting the narrative presented to the jury. The summary also touches on the judge's gag order, which prohibits Trump from making public statements about the case's witnesses and jurors, and the upcoming hearing regarding alleged violations of this order.
Takeaways
- 🏛️ The trial is taking place in Manhattan, with the courtroom described as tense and not smelling pleasant, indicating the high-stress environment.
- 👮♂️ Police officers in the courtroom are noted to be working hard and appearing stressed, reflecting the seriousness of the proceedings.
- 🗣️ Judge Moore is characterized as soft-spoken with a pleasant voice, which may suggest an impartial and composed demeanor.
- 📣 The prosecutor, Matthew Colangelo, is compared to Seth Meyers in his speaking style, which could imply a clear and potentially engaging manner of presentation.
- 📱 Witness David Packer inadvertently revealed his full phone number in court, highlighting a moment of human error amidst the formalities of the trial.
- 👴 Former President Donald Trump is observed to look older and seemingly miserable, which may be interpreted as the emotional toll of the trial on the defendant.
- 📋 The prosecution presented detailed evidence of financial transactions, suggesting a well-prepared case against the Trump Organization's alleged illegal activities.
- 💸 It is revealed that Trump did not negotiate down the price of the reimbursement to Michael Cohen, which the prosecution argues indicates the importance of hiding the true nature of the payment.
- 🔍 The defense attempts to argue that the transactions were not related to the election and that Trump was merely paying for legal services, despite the prosecution's contrary evidence.
- 🚫 The gag order in place for Trump is a significant aspect of the case, with the prosecution alleging violations that could lead to contempt of court charges.
- ⏰ The trial's proceedings are closely watched, with interruptions and objections highlighting the contentious nature of the arguments between the prosecution and defense.
Q & A
What was the general atmosphere in the courtroom during the opening statements of the trial?
-The atmosphere in the courtroom was described as tense, with a smell of old suits and stale breath. The police officers appeared to be working hard and seemed stressed.
How would you describe Judge Moore's demeanor during the trial?
-Judge Moore was characterized as soft-spoken with a voice that was considered universally pleasant.
What unexpected event occurred during the testimony of the first witness, David Packer?
-David Packer accidentally gave out his entire phone number in court while trying to remember the last four digits when asked by the prosecutor.
How did the reporter describe the appearance and demeanor of former President Donald Trump during the trial?
-The reporter noted that Donald Trump looked a lot older than he used to and seemed miserable to be there, which the reporter considered a reasonable reaction given the circumstances.
What was the significance of the handwritten notes by Allen Weisselberg in the context of the trial?
-Allen Weisselberg's handwritten notes were significant because they detailed the steps taken to disguise the repayment of the Stormy Daniels hush money as income, rather than a reimbursement, which is a key part of the prosecution's case.
What was the role of the National Enquirer in the alleged criminal conspiracy?
-The National Enquirer, under the direction of its CEO David Pecker, was allegedly involved in a criminal conspiracy to publish positive stories about Trump, suppress negative stories about him, and pay individuals to keep quiet about their stories, all to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.
Why was the defense's mention of Michael Cohen's payment to Stormy Daniels met with an objection from the prosecution?
-The prosecution objected because the defense was attempting to argue that the payment was not illegal, which is a legal conclusion and not a fact. The judge sustained the objection as it was not relevant to the charges at hand.
What was the purpose of the gag order imposed on Donald Trump in this criminal case?
-The gag order was imposed to prevent Donald Trump from making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in the criminal proceeding.
What could be the potential consequences if Donald Trump is found to be in violation of the gag order?
-If found in violation of the gag order, Donald Trump could be fined up to a thousand dollars for each violation, and potentially face up to thirty days in jail.
How did the defense attorney, Todd Blanche, approach the opening statements despite the interruptions and objections?
-Todd Blanche, despite the interruptions, used the objections as a tactic to plant seeds of doubt in the jurors' minds about the case, knowing that once information is presented, it cannot be unheard by the jury.
What was the significance of the National Enquirer's cover stories during the 2016 election in relation to the alleged criminal conspiracy?
-The National Enquirer's cover stories, which were heavily pro-Trump and negative towards his rivals, were part of the alleged criminal scheme to influence the election. The covers were seen by potentially millions of Americans, making them a significant factor in the alleged conspiracy.
Outlines
🏛️ Courtroom Atmosphere and Donald Trump's Appearance
The first paragraph describes the author's experience in the Manhattan courthouse, noting the tense atmosphere and the hardworking, stressed police officers. It highlights Judge Moore's pleasant voice and the prosecutor's speaking style. An amusing incident is mentioned where a witness accidentally reveals his phone number in court. The author comments on former President Donald Trump's aged appearance and his seeming discomfort as a defendant charged with felonies. The description of the courtroom setting is used to convey the gravity of the situation and the unenviable position of all involved, except for the journalists covering the historic trial.
💸 Financial Scheme Involving Michael Cohen and Allen Weisselberg
This paragraph delves into the financial aspect of the case, detailing how Michael Cohen was to be reimbursed for the payment to Stormy Daniels. The plan was to disguise the payment as income rather than a reimbursement, which involved cooking the books. The total repayment amount was $420,000, which included a bonus and an amount to cover taxes. The prosecution claims to have notes detailing this arrangement, which were taken by Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's chief financial officer. The paragraph emphasizes the complexity of the financial scheme and the evidence that the prosecution has to support their case.
🤝 Trump's Approval of Repayment and Defense Strategy
The third paragraph discusses the prosecution's claim that Trump approved the repayment amount to Cohen, which was inflated to disguise the nature of the payment to Stormy Daniels. The paragraph contrasts Trump's usual frugality in business with his willingness to pay a large sum to Cohen, suggesting the importance of hiding the true nature of the payment. The defense, however, argues that the payment was for legal services and not related to the alleged conspiracy. The paragraph also includes commentary from legal experts discussing the significance of the written notes and the potential impact on the case.
🚫 Non-Disclosure Agreements and Election Influence
The fourth paragraph focuses on the prosecution's argument that the non-disclosure agreements were part of a criminal scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election. It discusses how certain individuals were paid to remain silent about their stories until after the election. The paragraph outlines the defense's counterargument that the payments were not related to the election and were made for legal services. The crux of the argument is whether the release of individuals from their agreements after the election indicates a mission to influence the election rather than to protect Trump's brand or family.
🗣️ David Pecker's Testimony on Tabloid Journalism and Payments
In this paragraph, David Pecker, the former CEO of American Media Inc., testifies about his role and the practices of his company, which published the National Enquirer. Pecker speaks to his editorial control over the publication, particularly when it comes to stories involving famous individuals. The prosecution highlights unusual payments made by Pecker's company to individuals with stories about Trump, suggesting that these payments were part of a coordinated effort to protect Trump's image during the election. The paragraph emphasizes the disparity between typical payments for stories and those made in this case, indicating a potential conspiracy.
📰 Influence of the National Enquirer and Trump's Legal Defense
The final paragraph discusses the potential influence of the National Enquirer during the 2016 election, despite its declining circulation numbers. It highlights the magazine's cover stories, which were heavily in favor of Trump and potentially reached millions of Americans. The paragraph also covers the defense's argument that entering into nondisclosure agreements is legal and that Trump was a victim of extortion attempts. The defense team's strategy and the interruptions during their opening statement are analyzed, with suggestions that the objections made by the prosecution may have planted seeds of doubt in the jury's mind.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Courtroom
💡Prosecutor
💡Donald Trump
💡Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
💡Allen Weisselberg
💡Stormy Daniels
💡Criminal Conspiracy
💡Gag Order
💡Contempt of Court
💡Election Influence
💡Tabloid Journalism
Highlights
The courtroom for the criminal trial of former President Donald Trump is described as tense, with a smell of old suits and stale breath.
Police officers securing the courtroom are reported to be working hard and appear very stressed.
Judge Moore is characterized as soft-spoken with a pleasant voice.
Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo's speaking style is compared to that of Seth Meyers.
Witness David Packer accidentally recited his entire phone number in court while trying to recall the last four digits.
Former President Trump appeared older and seemingly miserable during the trial.
The courtroom is described as bare bones, elegant, and with unflattering lighting.
Journalists are noted as being the only ones who would want to be present at the historic trial.
Michael Cohen's reimbursement for the Stormy Daniels payoff was disguised as income payments to avoid implicating Trump.
Allen Weisselberg, Trump Organization's CFO, took notes detailing the financial arrangement to disguise the payoff.
Trump's approval of the repayment amount for the Stormy Daniels payment is a key point in the trial.
The defense argues that Trump's frugality indicates the payment was for a different reason, not the one alleged by the prosecution.
The prosecution claims the Trump Organization paid to silence individuals to influence the 2016 election.
David Pecker, former CEO of American Media Inc, had the final say on publishing decisions, including which stories ran.
The National Enquirer's covers during the 2016 election were highly favorable to Trump, which could have influenced public opinion.
Trump's defense attorney, Todd Blanche, faced multiple objections and interruptions during his opening statements.
The judge may find Trump in contempt of court for violating a gag order by attacking potential witnesses and jurors.
Transcripts
i was at the courthouse today in manhattan i was in
the courtroom for opening statements for this first
criminal trial of former president i can report first
hand that the court room smells like old suit and stale breath
haha i can report that the police officers who police the
courtroom are working very hard and they appear to be very
stressed
i can report that judge moore shot is soft-spoken and has
what i think would be universally considered to be a
pleasant voice i can report that prosecutor matthew
colangelo speaks exactly like seth meyers speaks when seth
meyers is not telling jokes i can tell you that the first
witness david packer accidentally gave out his whole
phone number today when the prosecutor just asked him to
confirm the last four digits he was trying to remember the
last four digits and in order to get there in his head
he said the whole number out loud and loops didn't mean to
do that i can report that former president donald trump
looks a lot older than he used to
and that it seems to me and my subjective take that he knew
he seemed miserable to be but you know
i look a lot older than that used and i think anybody's got
a right to look miserable when they're sitting in a courtroom
charged with dozens of felonies at it as a criminal defendant
the courtroom is bare bones it is not large it is an
elegant it has an flattering lighting like i said it does
not smell good and everybody is very tense
what i mean to present to you with all of this information
is that given the choice nobody would want to be there
except of course journalists and reporters covering the most
historic trial in american political history
to that end
i'd also like to say that i'm sorry to the journalists who
are sitting immediately next to me
because i unintentionally snorted out loud and went to
when this happens today at the trial and when i read this
part of the transcript to you well know why i said
prosecutor matthew cole angela
in january twenty seventeen before the defendant move down
to washington to begin his presidency michael cohen met
with allen weisselberg the trump organization to talk
about how cohen was going to get reimbursed for the payoff
to stormy daniels weisselberg you'll remember was the trump
organization chief financial officer and he was one of the
defendants longest-serving and most trusted employees neither
trump nor the trump organization can just write a
check to michael cohen for a hundred and thirty thousand
dollars with a memo line that said reimbursement for porn
star pay off
they had to disguise the nature of the repayment so they agreed
to cook the books and make it look like the repayment was
actually income
payments for services rendered instead of a reimbursement
allen weisselberg ask mister cohen to bring a copy of a bank
statement showing the hundred and thirty thousand dollars
payment that cohen had made to keep stormy daniels quiet
before the election weisselberg and cohen agreed to
a total repayment amount of four hundred twenty thousand
dollars
here is how they got to that number
this is good
they started with a hundred and thirty thousand dollars that
trump owed cohen for the stormy daniels payoff then they added
fifty thousand dollars for a separate reimbursement cohen
was claiming which had to do with tax services he paid for
during the campaign that adds up to a hundred and eighty
then they agreed to double that amount to three hundred
sixty thousand dollars to account for taxes
now of course if trump was just reimbursing cohen there
was no need to grow set up for taxes they double that because
their plan was to call it income instead of a
reimbursement if cohen was getting money they were
calling income he would have to pay taxes on it cohen was
close to a fifty percent tax bracket so to make him whole
on the hundred and eight hundred and eighty thousand
dollars that the defendant owed him they had to double the
amount to three hundred sixty then he added another sixty
thousand dollars as a year-end bonus and all of that comes
out to a total of four hundred twenty thousand dollars
and allen weisselberg wrote all of that down
for a fine i annoyed the people sitting near me because
i snorted outloud said
he wrote it all down
if you're a fan of the wire this is the scene where
stringer bell turns to the young man and says are you
taking notes on a criminal conspiracy using a lot of swear
words
yes yes he was taking notes on a criminal conspiracy
prosecutor mike off that's your call angela allen
weisselberg wrote all of that down
the the hurricane you begin to believe this is real the bank
statement that i told you about that he asked cohen to bring
to their meeting the bank statement from the essential
consultants account which show the hundred and thirty thousand
dollar wire that cohen had made to keith davidson to keep
stormy daniels quiet you will see in this trial allen
weisselberg's handwriting down the side of that bank statement
laying out every one of the steps that i just described
showing how they converted the hundred and thirty thousand
dollars payoff them out to the four hundred twenty graham
cohen was going to get paid back as they grow step way to
disguise it not as reimbursement but as income
and they took notes about it every step of the way and the
prosecution has the notes
and then here's the kicker
magical angela prosecutor quote colin weisselberg been
met with trump who approved the repayment amount of four
hundred twenty grand on the hundred and thirty thousand
dollars stormy daniels payment and a few other expenses
now you will see evidence at trial that trump was a very
frugal businessman
he believed in pinching pennies he believed in
watching every dollar he believed in negotiating every
bill it's all over all of the books he's written here on the
trump organization with total control you will hear
testimony about his relentless focus on the bottom line
but when it came time to pay michael cohen back for the
catch and kill deal you will see that he didn't negotiate
the price down he doubled it and he doubled it so they could
disguise it as income and you will hear evidence that the
trump organization was not in the practice of paying people
twice what they owed for anything this might be the
only time that ever happens and trump's willingness to do
so here shows just how important it was to him to hide
the true nature of cohen's illegal payment to miss daniels
and the overall election conspiracy that they had
launched in august twenty fifteen
prosecutors saying trump is paying a lot for this and he
never pays for anything that's how important and
sensitive this was
interestingly
moments later the defense used this same set of facts to make
the opposite point to the jury saying yeah trump really is
so cheap and so unwilling to pay for anything so
this must have been some other thing he was paying for
not the thing they have handwritten notes from his cfo
about
joining us now is former fbi general counsel andrew
weissmann also with us former assistant district attorney in
the manhattan district attorney's office katherine
christian author andrew thank you both for being here
andrew let me ask you first was stringer bell right to ask
allen west where are you taking notes on a criminal
conspiracy is this document potentially important east
so you might have seen by now it's because that is
started that was the page i had the same reaction
so one of things that you listen for when you listen to
openings on both sides is you know that they're witnesses are
going to testify do you think about how they're going to jay
whether they have memory issues whether they have
credibility issues but then you look for what is the
prosecution going to say with the spectrum with so-called
hard evidence and they're the things that stood out to me was
you had a reference to the tape recording that we've heard
about that's where donald trump is overheard saying
hey let's just pay the hundred thirty thousand in cash
that's that's a terrible tape for donald trump seconds
there was references to telephone records at a critical
time that the payments were first made by michael kahn
ju stormy daniels were there to cause that the prosecutor
referenced between michael cohen and donald trump and
then the third was this which is definitely a fall off your
chair moment where they have it in writing and what's so
interesting is that the defense said the repayment was not
repeat it was not reimbursement for the payments
to stormy daniels i do not know how they're going to deal
with that when you have these notes and remember when you
make a promise when you say something and openings as
catherine as kate in years that comes back to haunt you
if you have over promised if you've made a misstatement that
both sides are listening for that because they're going to
bring it up again in closing catherine is it is important
here that we don't expect allen weisselberg himself to be a
witness to potentially you know walked the jury through
what his notes matt and and explain this document that is
otherwise it's sort of a fall off your chair moment like
andrew said well it's a good thing since he's serving time
for perjury
so neither side wants him as a witness so it's it's very
good for the prosecution because they can just have the
notes and obviously donald trump doesn't want a perjurer
testify on his behalf so that's a good thing but i
agree with with andrew this is tucker operation when you talk
about michael cohen in his baggage this is where you have
cropper shun of his statement so there's no way the manhattan
da's office would have just relied on michael cohen's
testimony if they did not have corroborating documents
corroborating witnesses
now as lawrence o'donnell just mention today was the
first time that we've heard from the defense be heard from
the prosecution in effect with the indictment with the
announcement of charges that led to today's proceedings
but this is the first time we got to see the defense go
through their paces for the defense counsel for former
president trump we did get a sense and they're opening
statements today about how it looks like they're going to try
to defend their client if today's opening statements are
any guide they're going to stress that mister trump is a
former presidents and they're going to always call him
president trump they're going to stress beyond that that he
right now is the presumptive republican nominee for
president again or as his defense counsel called him
today the republican nominee not even presumptive they're
going to claim that every aspect of this was an innocent
act by trump that there wasn't an underlying sexual encounter
to cover up even though that would seem to be immaterial to
the charges they will seem to be claiming again of today's
opening statements are any guide that michael cohen
trump's lawyer paid a porn star on his own accord and for his
own reasons that trump only paid michael cohen for legal
services just like he always had he just changed to a weird
new way of paying him after the porn star thing because
well they'll think of something
but if you are in this defense team if you are in charge of
coming up with the defense for mister trump
here's the part of the prosecution's case that would
seem to be the most difficult thing to explain logically
if you're really going to try to mount a defense that trump
did nothing at all wrong that there was no conspiracy to
corrupt the election as the prosecution put it at the top
of their opening statements today well this would seem to
be
the toughest thing logically that you're up against here it
is this is from the opening statement from prosecutor
matthew collection clanzel quote
now at this sorry this is not going to forgive me this is
the introduction at this point colangelo has explained to the
jury that there was what he called a criminal conspiracy
between trump and am i american media to publish positive
stories about trump to publish negative stories about trump's
rivals to find negative stories about trump that hadn't been
published yet and then too hey the sources of the stories
to make them shut up and not tell anybody about the stories
before the election so the prosecution has explained to
the jury at this point that my american media national
enquirer they first found a doorman door man named dean
dinos to judon who said that trump had fathered a secret
child with a housekeeper so june was the first one that
am i paid to keep quiet about his story and was the second
one woman and karen mcdougal who said she had an affair with
trump they paid her to not tell anybody about that story
as well that there was the third one stormy daniels
and although this point the enquirer was still willing to
make arrangements for her to be paid to be quiet about that
story by that point they were not ready to put up additional
money and so michael cohen put up the money for that so the
prosecutors explained all this to the jury and then he says
this prosecutor matthew clanzel
cohen made that pay minute donald trump's direction and
for his benefit and he did it with a specific goal of
influencing the outcome of the election now look no
politician wants bad press but the evidence at trial will show
that this was not spend our communications strategy
this was a planned coordinated long-running conspiracy to
influence the twenty sixteen election to help donald trump
get elected through illegal expenditures to silence people
who had something bad to say about his behavior using
doctored corporate records and bank forms to conceal those
payments along the way it was election fraud pure and
simple we will never know and it doesn't matter if this
conspiracy was the difference maker in a close election
but you will see evidence in the defendant's own words from
his social media posts from the speeches at campaign rallies
and other events you will see in his own words making crystal
clear that he was certainly concerned about how all of this
could hurt his standing with voters and with female voters
in particular you will also see evidence that on election
night
as news outlets got closer to calling the election for donald
trump the lawyer for both stormy daniels and karen
mcdougal tech student dylan howard editor at the national
fire and he said quote
what have we done
about a month after the election david packard
the ceo of american media then authorize am i to release both
dinos issued and the doorman and karen mcdougal from their
non-disclosure agreements
say that again about a month after the election packer
authorize am i to release the first two recipients of catch
and kill money
release them from their non-disclosure agreements
once the election is over colangelo quote so having paid
for the stories in order to keep them from the public
before election day packer in a i then told both that google
and student a month after the election that they were no
longer bound by the nondisclosure agreements
just think about what that means this claim right from
the from the defense is that none of these payments game
said anything to do with the election to knows what michael
cohen was doing paying that porn star donald trump was
just paying for legal fees right that the defense is
saying said nothing to do with the election the prosecution
says they will present evidence that trump american media paid
for all of these people to be silent until the election was
over
and then once the election was over they then released all
these people from these agreements to be silent because
once the election happened they didn't care anymore
because at that point mission accomplished because the
mission was to influence the election
and so once the election was done there's no more need for
these agreements
the mission was the election the mission was not to protect
his brand
the mission wasn't to save his family embarrassment it was to
keep these people silent to pay them to be silent specifically
and only
in order to win the election full stop
prosecution calls this a criminal scheme to corrupt the
twenty sixteen presidential election one that was covered
up by lying in this business records
logically that hole releasing people from the agreements once
the election was over logically that would seem to
be
the crux of this case if the prosecution can prove it
legally though will safe lots
so rachel it here we arrive at the different burdens
of prosecution and defense the prosecution is going for
logic and you are following their logic and their lodger
takes you over to the national enquirer and it takes you over
to this guy who said told require that you know trump
fathered a child that that turns out not to be true ever
in the courtroom agrees but that wasn't true and then
it takes you over to karen mcdougal and those are the two
who are released from their confidentiality agreement after
the election and what the defense is going to say in
final argument is
that has nothing to do with this case absolutely nothing
because remember what the defense needs in final argument
is not logic they're not trying to take you through a
flawlessly logical story they're just trying to target
any little do they can find any where and they will lane in
final argument on that agreement in that courtroom
that that guy who said that holding choir that donald
trump diligently for father child was not telling the
truth wasn't telling the truth just like stormy daniels
wasn't telling the truth about donald trump and donald trump
gets hustle by these people all the time and we have to deal
with them in different ways donald trump has said publicly
this happens to
every man every man
clued you chris a sitting at this table every man whose
public every man who is in the public eye is constantly paying
off tens of thousands hundreds of thousands of these deals all
the time that stall trump's claim right and he's going to
say you know this is happening to me all the time
and and and all of that macdougal stuff
everything involving packer everything involvement choir is
going to be thrown out the door in the final argument of donald
trump's defense lawyers because none of that is a charged
crime not a single thing in any of that it's these
business records and the other piece of the defense that we
heard today about the business records is
this is the name of the woman who made up you know the
checks this is the name of the book keeper centered on the
record who filled out the forms this is the name of the
person who told her to say legal services and donald trump
never told any of them to say legal services
that's the defense donald trump didn't tell them to keep
the books this way and the money oh by the way was not
for having anything to do with stormy daniels says the entire
defense there's no other piece of that fence and it has
nothing to do with other people's home nondisclosure
agreements and all that stuff and and of course all that
stuff makes perfect sense when the prosecution is building you
this flawless table that has logical for logical legs to it
and defense is going to come along and say no it has no
legs the table has no life
you know we released all these people from these
agreements after the election because we love late november
release of their merry christmas is a time that
they're going to feel no need to offense will feel no need to
explain why those nondisclosure agreements are no longer in
four small they will have any need to wear in their final
argument don't throw something out there in the course of the
trial but that they won't feel compelled to explore what
you're talking about about that the claim of from dino
the dorm and being a false claim
what am i nevertheless agreed to pay for it and what
michael cohen was paid and how they arrived at that out
was the star your coffee out your nose in the courtroom
moment today we're going to talk about that including with
andrew weissmann and catherine christians were here you are
good at keeping us keeping us on the on the legal straight
narrow as we as we proceed with our primetime recap
today's criminal proceedings against former president donald
trump
okay questions from the prosecutor
so a ceo and president and chairman did you have the
final say over publishing decisions including which
stories would get published and which stories would not get
published answer from david packer former ceo of american
media yes i have the final say
on the celebrity side of the magazine industry at least on
the tabloid side we used checkbook journalism and we pay
for stories so i gave a number to the editors that they could
not spend more than ten thousand dollars to investigate
or produce are published a story so anything over ten
thousand dollars that they would spend on a story that
would have to be vetted and brought up to me if they were
going to spend more for approval question prosecutor in
addition to having to approve expenditures did you also have
final kind of editorial say in other words the ability to
determine that a particular story was not going to be run
or a particular story was going to be run answer david packer
being in the publishing industry for forty years
i realized early in my career that the only thing that was
important is the cover of a magazine so when the editors
produce a story are prepared to cover would have a meeting and
they were presented with the story would be with the concept
was what the cost is going to be question prosecutor and if
the story involves a guess for lack of a better way to say it
a big story or famous person did you have the final say on
whether or not to publish that story answer david pecker's
yes i did
the first witness in the criminal trial of former
president donald trump today was david packer the former
ceo of american media inc am i which is the company that
used to on the national enquirer now two salient
point here about that testimony from david packer is only on
the stand for like half an hour today but we get all of this
very salient stuff for the prosecution's case
first of all there's there's what he said about what counts
as a normal amount of money for the kind of checkbook
journalism that he says his company dots anything over ten
thousand dollars
that would be unusual that would be sort of out of bounds
that would have to get personal approval from him as the
chairman president and ceo of not just one of these
publications but the entire company with dozens of
publications ten grand was the ceiling beyond that it had to
go personally through him
but in this case prosecutors say they will present evidence
that am i was doing something and a whole other league when
it came to what they were doing for trump for example before
even investigating a trump property door man's claim about
trump supposedly fathering a secret child with a
housekeeper they paid that man thirty thousand dollars
they paid the man making the claim thirty thousand dollars
to make him be quiet about it before they even investigated
whether it might be true
triple what is their normal limit for having to go to the
ceo
also the claim about the affair with trump from former playboy
playmate karen mcdougal they paid her a hundred and
fifty thousand dollars which was fifteen times their limit
for going to the ceo and appears to have been way beyond
what they were paying anybody else for anything
prosecutor matthew clincial close after consulting with
cohen parker directed his editor in chief at the national
enquirer to negotiate an agreement to pay thirty
thousand dollars to the doorman to buy exclusive rights to that
story the evidence will show that packer was not acting as a
publisher he was acting as a co-conspirator
the evidence will show that this was a highly unusual deal
even for tabloid journalism it was a lot more money than
they would usually paid to a source
they bought the doorman story without even fully
investigating it was the first time david packer had never
paid anyone for information about donald trump
packard directed that the deal take place because of the
agreement he had reached a because he had promised trump
at the trump tower meeting in august twenty fifteen that he
would use his media empire to help the defendants campaigns
and they knew that public disclosure of the door man's
information would hurt that campaign
what prosecutors laid out today and what the witness help them
prove today is that the practices described here in
this alleged criminal conspiracy we're not at all
normal not even for tabloid check but journalism that pays
for stories and even for american media specifically and
the national enquirer specifically this is not their
back this is not part of what they do as a magazine
this is part of what they do as an alleged criminal conspiracy
with donald trump to illegally influence the election
so that's one
the second and final part about this david packer testimony
that is perhaps alien to the overall case here is the part
where he says that the quote only thing that's important is
the cover it's a magazine
stepping back from just the legal fight here
if this was a criminal conspiracy to influence the
election
how much influence we talking about here
in terms of how much influence this alleged criminal
conspiracy could have had on the election
how influential is the national enquirer all right i mean
the national enquirer only reportedly has about a hundred
and fifty thousand two hundred thousand copies sold nationwide
in a week these days
but the covers covers of the only thing that matters
they have their covers in the face of everyone who shops in
the mainstream grocery store anywhere in america in all
fifty states the cover of the national enquirer per david
packer the only thing that matters that covers of time
magazine from the time of this alleged criminal conspiracy
with trump
covers that were in your face in every supermarket in the
country week after week and for months on end looked like this
trump why i am the only choice for president
the donald trump nobody knows the babes and bucks the real
reason he hates obama and the clintons this one has a
special place in my heart
putin picks trump for president
this one how trump will win
or following how trump will win the debate also hillary's
nephew was in the klan
trump takes charge also bill clinton his diet
and hillary is dying haha areas
corrupt that was not clear enough just as corrupt as one
big word also hillary will never be president and this was
their election eve bombshell edition
just make sure you had all the bases here hillary corrupt
faces criminal
before twenty sixteen the national enquirer never-before
endorsed a presidential candidate
all right this is what they did in twenty sixteen when they
did those covers they were doing something very different
with donald trump the man ever done with any politician before
something that was in the face of every person who ever walked
up to the little conveyor belt thing at a supermarket checkout
line anywhere in america any time during the duration of
the alleged conspiracy which was the duration of the twenty
sixteen campaign whether or not you ever picked up that
magazine let alone opened it past the cover this
propaganda which was the product of this allegedly
illegal campaign scheme was in the face of
likely if not tens of millions of americans perhaps
more than a hundred million americans how many of us go to
a grocery store
this was strictly a strange out of character first time ever
arrangement they made but this one candidate with trump that
prosecutors today in their opening statement said was a
criminal scheme to corrupt the twenty sixteen presidential
election criminal scheme that was hatched in a trump tower
meeting just a few weeks after he announced his candidacy for
president
a criminal scheme which ultimately landed him in
criminal court today as the first-ever us president to be a
defendant in a criminal trial when you cover up of that
alleged criminal conspiracy which charged as a string of
thirty four felonies and new york state
trump's lawyer defense council dot todd blanche was in the
middle of his opening statements today when something
unusual happened todd blanche trump defense council quote
michael cohen paying stormy daniels or stephanie clifford
a hundred and thirty thousand dollars in exchange for her
green to not publicly spread false false claims about
president trump it is not illegal i'm going to say that
again entering into a nondisclosure agreement
prosecutor objection judge sustained
mister blanche entering into a nondisclosure agreement is
perfectly legal prosecution objection the judge overruled
mister thompson continues on for a moment then it happens
again pretty much right away todd blanche when miss daniels
threatened to go public with her false claim of a sexual
encounter with president trump back in two thousand eight
that it was as the people just said very close to the
election and it was almost an attempt by ms clifford ms
daniels to extort president trump prosecutor objection
judge sustains
lance then tries to keep going but then a moment later
mister blanche again entering into an agreement with another
individual you'll hear this agreement was negotiated by
lawyers prosecutor objection
now at this point judge for sean does not even rule on the
objection doesn't say sustain doesn't say overruled instead
calls lawyers from both sides up to the bench please
approach
lawyers and the judge then confer and then the judge
rules judge the objection is the state
still mister blanched trump's lawyer moves on to another
topic
but it makes it just three further pages into the
transcript and the whole thing starts all over again this time
it's over a mention of michael cohen todd blanche trump's
defense council quote separately from his obsession
with president trump has obsession get president trump
on multiple occasions michael cohen has testified under oath
and lied prosecutor objection the judge sustained
blanche he walked his he's walked into a courtroom very
near here raised his right hand and swore to tell the
truth and now he will tell you i expect that he was
lying prosecutor objection judge sustained
and for a second time the judge calls up the lawyers for
both sides to the bench to the best counsel please approach
and a second time he upholds the objection
the judge was shot the objection is the state
i was in the court when the string of objections happened
in the middle of trump's teams opening statements both sides
getting repeatedly hauled up before the judge that report
or excuse me the lawyer having to restart what he was saying
try to find his momentum again pick back up
to me as a lay person it seemed dramatic and strange
but i want to ask our lawyers here how rare is it for
objections to be made during opening statements how rare is
it for the judge to interrupt opening statements with
multiple directions to the lawyers including the one
making the opening statement they got to come up with a
mention doctor the judge
why are these objections made what does this tell us about
the trial and about the defense that trump's lawyer is trying
to make luckily joining us now is lisa rubin who was at
the courthouse today in the overflow room lisa i
understand that part of your sacrifice today was allowing me
to be in the courtroom in a seat that you might otherwise
have had your butt in so as not to attack a fight i'm very
grateful and i here by the creek back to yeah
you actually in some ways in the office of overflow or might
have a slightly better view of this than i did sitting at the
back of the courtroom watching it started down the aisle
what was happening there at how weird was it
so it was weird not just because there was one
objection but because of how many there were relative to the
brevity of todd lunches opening statement let's start
with the fact that tub lynch was an experienced prosecutor
and the southern district of new york but what he's not is
an experienced defense lawyer we learned today from new york
magazine something that confirms something that i
suspected which is that tomblin just right exactly one
trial as defense counsel and the last decade and on a fairly
narrow issue and if you were just in that courtroom he
probably would have expected as much because he's flow was
interrupted so many times by these frequent objections and
the side bars now that having been said rachel i think a
number of the things that he did today where perfectly
intentional because while they were objected to in the
objections were sustained he still planted the seeds of
doubt in the jurors minds and in particular for example
when he said that stormy daniels made donald trump a
victim of extortion that was immediately objected to in
sustained because that among other things is a legal
conclusion there was no prosecution for example
a stormy daniels for extorting
donald trump he would have known in advance the judge was
not going to allow them to get away with saying i think that's
probably right but there are other objections where he
definitely knew and i think the place where he definitely
knew was when he talked about what i'll call the diet advice
of counsel defense where he essentially said trump believed
that these nondisclosure agreements were totally kosher
because he had attorneys negotiating them for him
that's an issue that's already been litigated as part of the
party's motions in limon which are the advanced arguments
about what evidence can and can't come in todd blanche
near when he walked in the courtroom this morning that
that was not going to be an argument allowed because he was
trying to use the attorney client privilege as a sword and
a shield essentially saying my client relied on lawyers
advice but we're not going to tell you what that advice was
and just like judge kaplan did in the sam bankman-fried case
in fact just richaun cited that ruling in making his own
i'm not going to let your client do that there is no
advice of counsel light and yet that's where plants stolen
i'm going to give an instruction now that nobody
knows is coming and i know it's going make everybody move
around i'd like to talk to katherine christian effect
she's on the side of the room and lots of cameras after move
directly to make this possible hi catherine thank you
you have experience in the new york new york district
attorney's office the the what what what lisa's describing
hear about about mister bush's relative inexperience doing
this kind of lawyering and this kind of a case is one piece of
perspective here another piece of perspective here is what's
normal and new york the criminal proceeding like this
when these interruptions these objections happened during the
opening statements here from the defense how did that
strike you
it's not unusual andrew and i will probably have a
different experience new york state court is not his day t as
federal court so it's not shocking end defense attorney
some of them pride themselves on stepping on the line
so you know i have jack when i was a prosecutor because they
stepped on the line and as lisa said
hoops see the jury heard what he said so it's in their
head so this i can't say it happens all the time but it's
not shocking i rarely objective as a prosecutor
because i didn't want the jury to think that i was trying to
hide something from the marks of freight here i would have
objected because he was clearly saying things he shouldn't even
the judge already ruled against but it's not shocking
at least not in the world of a hundred center street in new
york
county and copper let me ask about something k frank
said earlier where she said that you know in the minds of
the jury mister branch might have not done himself a verse
with all of those the statements being objected to
today all those interruptions because the jury might have
thought even if the seeds were planted in their minds by
things he wasn't supposed to say that he nevertheless of
them here they at least would think that he was doing
something wrong by being essentially surf many
sanctioned by the judge in that way and and interrupted in a
slow
now in the judge instructed the jury about objections and
not to take them against the the the defense attorney
the prosecutor i have heard acquitting juries talk about
how they liked how that defense attorney really fought for
their client so i don't think you could read into is sustain
the jury is going to think very bad i think as lisa just said
there was a tactic
he knew that these for objection things he was saying
and they were objected to but it already you can ring the
bell is what usually say it came out to the jury and
prosecutors cannot appeal an acquittal
so under an order imposed by the court in this criminal
case donald trump is not allowed to make or direct
others to make public statements about known or
reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their
potential participation in the investigation or in this
criminal proceeding is not allowed to do that the
prosecution is now arguing that trump has done that a lot
it will be a hearing tomorrow morning at nine thirty
eastern before the jurors come into the courtroom prosecutors
are going to ask the judge to find that former president
trump willfully violated the gag order by attacking
well-known potential witnesses including stormy daniels and
michael cohen attacking the credibility on up to ten
separate occasions if the judge finds trump in criminal
contempt of court on these matters
trump could be fined up to a thousand dollars each for each
violation that's what prosecutors are asking for
he could possibly be sentenced to a maximum of thirty days in
jail of the prosecutors are certainly not asking for that
yet
i mean tonight trump sent around fundraising email called
my farewell message making it sound like he's definitely
going to jail
i already met to ask our legal experts about it but we just
cued up some new sound from donald trump today this is
from an interview on a conservative network called
real america's voice here it is donald trump talking about
the jury in his trial
that jury was picked so fast ninety-five percent
democrats the areas all mostly all democrat you think
of it as a just a purely democrat area it's a very
unfair situation that i can tell you
that jury ninety-five percent democrats again
the last item in the gag order forbids trump from making or
directing others to makes public statements about any
prospective juror are any juror in this criminal proceeding
andrew weissmann still with us here tonight the gag order has
been the discussion but i feel like we've had around the edges
of this case a lot because it's the way that trump has tried to
kind of shape the environment around this case it's going to
be in the courtroom front and center tomorrow morning at nine
thirty what do you expect judge were shot is going to do
what are you going to be watching for
so you have donald trump clearly coating the judge
he the fact that he's doing something that appears by all
accounts to be in direct violation the order has the
latest tonight and advance of a nine thirty hearing on
violations with respect to witnesses and a violation of
inspection jurors by the sun which are things that a judge
is going to care tremendously about you know i think the
you know i see is going hear from the defense and you
know the betting is that he's going to certainly say that
there was a violation and he can impose the fine that is
obviously negligible any can savor at all about what's next
this is one where what i would say hi or like if you are
seeing right here i would say leave aside pope politics
leave aside what he's going somebody to do
what would you do for any other defendant it we have seen
their legal system bend over shouldn't shofar to accommodate
donald trump he is he is not being treated worse he's being
treated show show much better weather turning back dear j
whether you're talking about all of the criminal cases and
this is one where he wouldn't have to impose thirty days in
jail but he can really j like a child give them a timeout
he can be step back and be kept in the pens in the courthouse
but i think this is so clearly like a child testing what will
happen and that's at the very outset of the case there isn't
a firm hand right now and the real allies imposed it really
is a terrible message in terms of how the trials going to go
forward because he's going to continue doing this at their
jersey doesn't like he can attack them if he's going to
try and seek mistrial pie by his antics that something could
try said the court which is extremely experienced i think
is going to have to be really careful about what exact as the
sanction has been imposed
how will the judge decide or how of the hearing on this go
again that's going to be the way that court starts tomorrow
is he going to ask defense is going to rule or is he going to
ask defense council and the prosecutors to make arguments
in front of him is he going to you know have a witness
talk
so he could asked both sides to state their position
he could see if there is a dispute the facts you could
actually have a hearing on this but there may not be
it's just get a facts and the facts seem so clear unless tom
trump's going to say somebody else took over my account
you know roger stone tried that one he was in violation
he actually took the witness stand and said i didn't see
that many later sort of a canton said okay i did do it
and yeah that was when he posted the judges picture with
cross hairs next her head and so there can be a hearing
but it may not be necessary just given the volume of
allegations here there's now i think up to eleven allegations
that are going to be before the judge but ultimately it would
be the state's burden to come forward
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)
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