Lisa Rubin Profile picture
Apr 4 8 tweets 2 min read Read on X
Today, I learned that the court filing reflecting Trump’s bond in the civil fraud case was “returned for correction” and specifically, for the inclusion of a current financial statement and power of attorney. But all is not what it seems. 1/
The financial statement that is missing does not seem to be Trump’s. Rather, the court appears to be demanding these documents from Knight Specialty Insurance Co. to ensure that company is sufficiently capitalized and authorized to post the bond. 2/
As of tonight, those documents do not appear on the docket. 3/
Meanwhile, we still don’t know what fee Trump paid for the bond or exactly what collateral he pledged, especially as Don Hanley gave slightly different accounts to various media outlets. 4/
But you know who likely DOES have all of those details? Retired federal judge Barbara Jones, the court-appointed monitor in the case. Under a 3/21/24 order, the Trump Org must give her advanced notice of their efforts to secure surety bonds. 5/ Image
The information she is entitled to includes “any financial disclosures requested or required, any information provided in response to such requests, any representations made by the Trump Org. in connection with acquiring such bonds…” 6/
“…any personal guarantees made by any of the defendants, & any obligations of the Trump Organization required by the surety.” 7/
And I can think of a courtroom full of journalists, as well as a bunch of lawyers in the New York Attorney General’s office, who would love to know what Barbara Jones presumably knows right now. FIN

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More from @lawofruby

May 8
I’ve heard a number of people refer to the Stormy Daniels testimony as “graphic,” and as a person who embarrasses easily, that’s not how I experienced it. 1/
Yes, there was a stray detail that I expect prosecutors and the defense alike wish she hadn’t said. But her description of the sexual encounter itself was brief and largely devoid of details. 2/
But even if it was not graphic, her testimony was vivid. The black and white tile on the floor of the foyer of Trump’s penthouse suite. Her hands shaking as she put her strappy gold heels back on. The Pert Plus, Old Spice, and gold tweezers she saw when snooping around the bathroom. 3/
Read 4 tweets
May 7
NEW: The ongoing Trump criminal trial is the fourth Trump trial in the last 12 months—and it’s my fourth too. And after watching dozens of witnesses, I’m afraid the more they change, the more things stay the same. 1/
I’ve watched a nearly 80-year-old E. Jean Carroll, who successfully accused Trump of sexual assault and defamation, fend off the implication that she was lying because she never called the police and didn’t tell her story for two decades plus. 2/
And now I’ve seen an adult film star more comfortable with her stage name than her given one similarly attacked for not calling the police or telling those closest to her after she was threatened in a parking lot 7 years before she went public with her whole story. 3/
Read 7 tweets
May 7
NEW: How do you prove a defendant caused others to make false business records where those with direct knowledge of his intent and involvement are limited to the defendant, a man now in jail for perjury, and Michael Cohen? 1/
You surround Michael Cohen’s expected testimony with a mountain of circumstantial evidence, an already substantial pile to which prosecutors just added excerpts from Trump’s books How to Get Rich and Think Like a Billionaire. 2/
Those excerpts reveal Trump as a micromanager who advised never taking one’s eyes off his checkbook, advertised he negotiated the price of everything “down to the paper clips,” trusted Weisselberg wholly, and boasted that he even loved signing checks. 3/
Read 4 tweets
May 7
NEW: If Stormy Daniels is indeed today’s first witness, it’s worthwhile to ask why — in a falsification of business records case — the jury needs to hear from her. Here’s one take: 1/
The prosecution has offered significant (& often direct) evidence of the conspiracy to bury Stormy and Karen McDougal’s stories. But now they have to convince jurors why Trump himself cared enough both to conceal their stories and cover up the Stormy settlement. 2/
That’s especially true given that both a blog and a magazine had published details about the alleged Stormy affair years before the 2016 election. 3/
Read 5 tweets
May 6
NEW: Former Trump Org. comptroller Jeff McConney is now off the stand, but the centerpiece of his direct examination wasn't even something he said. It was handwriting he recognized, specifically that of Allen Weisselberg, on this doc: Image
It's Weisselberg's handwriting on the left, McConney testified, in which Weisselberg sketched out the plan to repay Cohen = $180k for the Stormy payment and another, unrelated $50k, doubled to "gross up" Cohen for tax purposes, and with another $60k on the top for a "bonus."
And of course, it's not written on any old piece of paper, but instead, is scrawled on a First Republic Bank statement for Essential Consultants, LLC, the shell company Cohen set up to pay Stormy.
Read 4 tweets
May 6
Happy Monday, friends, from Courtroom 1530 (aka the Trump criminal trial). Today, we'll not only leave Hope's tears, but more broadly, I expect we'll also move on from the alleged underlying conspiracy to the alleged falsification of business records. 1/
While trial participants have been tight-lipped about who and what might come next, I am anticipating testimony that shows how the repayment scheme was developed, agreed to, & most importantly, papered, from the White House to the Trump Org. over Trump's first year in office. 2/
And of course, the evidence that will matter most is that -- whether testimonial or documentary -- showing Trump knew about and intended to conceal the true manner of the payment to Daniels. 3/
Read 8 tweets

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