Thread by @AnnaBower

Good morning ☀️ from Manhattan’s hottest club: The Line to get into courtroom 1530, where the jurors who will decide Donald Trump’s fate are set to return at 9:30 am before they resume deliberations.

Will today be the day we get a verdict?

Follow along ⬇️ 👇

The jurors are set to resume their deliberations later today.

But first: They'll return to the jury box this morning to listen to excerpts of testimony they requested yesterday. The jurors also asked to re-hear their jury instructions.

We don't yet know whether the jurors want to re-hear the entirety of the jury instructions or just an excerpt.

When Justice Merchan excused the jurors yesterday, he told them that they could think about it and tell him when they return this morning.

In courtroom 1530, Trump enters down the centre aisle at 9:25 am.

Trump Tie Watch: Cobalt blue today!

He's trailed by Alina Habba, Eric Trump, Boris Epshteyn.

Trump spends a few minutes speaking with Eric Trump before he takes a seat at the defense table.

Meanwhile, the internet service in courtroom 1530 is...very bad.

This tends to happen when Trump is on the move or when he first arrives in court. But it's always at the most inopportune time!

"All rise" and Justice Merchan enters.

The parties introduce themselves.

"Good morning, Mr. Trump," Justice Merchan says.

Yesterday, the parties conferred on which portions of the requested testimony should be read back to the jurors.

Justice Merchan says that he read the disputed portions of testimony and decided it should all come in.

JUSTICE MERCHAN: We received another note. He reads it. The note describes what the jury wants to hear from jury instructions.

Justice Merchan says he interprets the note as the jurors wanting to hear page 7-35 of the jury instructions.

Justice Merchan says the jurors also requested headphones for audio.

(This suggests the jurors want to re-listen to some or all of the audio recordings that were admitted into evidence.)

Justice Merchan also wants to put on the record that, as it turns out, the laptop provided to the jurors (which contains the exhibits admitted into evidence during the trial) does NOT have laptop capabilities.

Regarding the jury instruction re-read: Justice Merchan initially said he would start on page 7. But after some discussion with Trump's attorney, Todd Blanche, the judge says he'll begin on page 6 and end with page 35.

nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/pre…

So, uh, a laptop without laptop capabilities clearly makes no sense.

I mean the laptop does not have WiFi capability.

https://x.com/AnnaBower/status/1796175464538484972

The jurors file back in. Justice Merchan re-reads the notes they provided to him.

On the question of the request for headphones, Justice Merchan tells them that they can have headphones to use with the laptop. But he also says they can have speakers if preferred.

The judge begins by reading the jury instructions, starting with pg. 6.

This section deals with how the jury should consider evidence in the case -- what it means to draw an inference from the evidence, for example.

Justice Merchan moves on to his limiting instructions about the evidence that the jury can consider only for a limited purpose -- i.e., not for the purpose of determining Trump's guilt.

For example: The jurors can only consider AMI's non-prosecution agreement to consider David Pecker's credibility and the surrounding circumstances.

Turning to the burden of proof, Justice Merchan explains that the jurors that the prosecution bears the burden of proof, which requires that the jurors find the defendant guilty "beyond reasonable doubt."

The defendant isn't required to prove anything, Merchan says.

Now we're on the credibility of witnesses -- important instructions considering that the defense has made attacking Michael Cohen's credibility the crux of its strategy.

Justice Merchan explains the concept of "accomplice as a matter of law": Because Cohen is considered an “accomplice” to the crime, the jury cannot convict Trump solely on Cohen’s word alone unless his testimony is corroborated by other evidence.

The jurors hear about accessorial liability again.

It means someone can be held liable for the acts of another if (1) he solicits, requests, commands, importunes, or intentionally aids the other person in such conduct, and (2) he does so with the requisite state of mind.

Justice Merchan moves on to the elements of falsifying business records in the first degree.

He reminds the jurors that they must find that Trump acted with an intent to defraud that included an intent to commit or conceal another crime.

Justice Merchan instructs the jurors on the "object offense" that prosecutors say Trump sought to commit or conceal through the falsification of business records: New York Election Law 17-152, which criminalizes conspiracies to promote or prevent a candidate public office by "unlawful means."

"Although you must conclude unanimously that the defendant conspired to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means, you need not be unanimous as to what those unlawful means were," Justice Merchan says.

Justice Merchan wraps up reading through page 35. Then he hands the floor over to the court staff who are tasked with reading portions of the requested testimony.

We start with Pecker's testimony about the phone call he had with Trump in June of 2016 about the Karen McDougal hush money deal. At the time, McDougal's story was on the market, and Cohen had been in contact with Pecker and Howard about it.

Trump called Pecker in the third week of June, per the testimony being read back. He asked Pecker what he should do about the McDougal story, and Pecker told him he should get it off the market. Trump said " I spoke to Michael [Cohen]. Karen is a nice girl."

Pecker testified that he believed the story was true and it would be embarrassing to Trump and his campaign.

Trump told Pecker he doesn't buy stories because it always gets out. But he said he would speak w/ Michael Cohen and call Pecker back.

Court staff also re-reads the cross examination of Pecker on this subject. In that cross examination, Pecker repeats the circumstances of the call (third week of June, while Pecker was at an investor meeting in New Jersey.) Pecker also repeats the content of the conversation.

Bove asked during that cross examination if Pecker told Trump that McDougal didn't actually want the story published. Yes, I did, Pecker replied.

Now we're on to testimony from Pecker about the decision not to assign McDougal's life rights to Cohen/Trump. They had an agreement in place, but Pecker consulted with AMI's general counsel and changed his mind.

Pecker testified that he called Cohen, told him to rip the agreement up. Cohen said: The Boss is going to be very angry with you.

The agreement was never executed and AMI was ultimately never reimbursed by Cohen/Trump for the McDougal deal.

Pecker testified that he called Cohen, told him to rip the agreement up. Cohen said: The Boss is going to be very angry with you.

The agreement was never executed and AMI was ultimately never reimbursed by Cohen/Trump for the McDougal deal.

Now we're on Pecker's testimony about the 2015 Trump Tower meeting between Trump, Pecker, and Cohen. Prosecutors say that meeting is where the alleged conspiracy to influence the 2016 election was initially formed.

We hear Pecker's testimony about the content of the 2015 Trump Tower meeting. Pecker testified he agreed to publish positive Trump stories, publish negative stories about his opponents, and be his "eyes and ears" if he heard about people selling negative stories.

We also hear Pecker's testimony about who benefited from the arrangement. While Pecker testified that some aspects of the arrangement were "mutually beneficial," he admitted that some aspects of the agreement only benefitted Trump's campaign.

Court staff then reads Bove's cross examination of Pecker on the subject of the Trump Tower meeting.

We start with Bove questioning Pecker about his initial testimony that the Trump Tower meeting occurred in the first week of August 2015, not the middle of August.

During that cross examination, Bove also had Pecker admit that the events of this case happened a long time ago. He asked if Pecker "filled in gaps" with what he assumed happened. Pecker replied that he testified to what he best remembered.

The court reporters next read aloud Bove's questioning re: Pecker's previous statements about Hope Hicks's presence at the 2015 Trump Tower meeting.

Bove tried to get Pecker to concede that he omitted any mention of Hope Hicks’s presence at the August 2015 Trump Tower meeting during a 2018 interview with federal investigators.

But recall: Bove was admonished for improperly refreshing Pecker's recollection on this subject, which Justice Merchan thought might mislead the jurors. When Bove resumed his cross examination, he had to correct the potential misperception.

Lots of objections were sustained during this line of questioning about Hope Hicks' presence during the 2015 meeting, so the re-read from the court reporters is a little disjointed, presumably bc the questions for which objections were sustained have been excluded.

Moving on, we hear Pecker's testimony about whether the term "catch-and-kill" was specifically discussed during the 2015 Trump Tower meeting. Pecker testified that that term was not specifically discussed.

We turn to the jurors' fourth request: Cohen's testimony regarding the 2015 Trump Tower meeting.

On direct examination, Cohen described the 2015 Trump Tower meeting in much the same way that Pecker did: During the meeting, he said Pecker agreed to publish positive Trump stories, publish negative stories about Trump opponents, and to keep an ear out for stories on the market

Court staff concludes reading Cohen's testimony about the meeting, and Justice Merchan instructs the jurors to step out of the jury box.

They file out.

Justice Merchan excuses the parties.

Trump purses his lips as he walks down the centre aisle toward the exit.

And now...the waiting game begins, again.

Begin Again (Trump Trial Reporter's Version)

🎶I've been spendin' the last five weeks
Thinkin' this trial will never end
But on a Thursday, in a courtroom...
I watched deliberations begin again🎶

https://x.com/AnnaBower/status/1796200853600141515

yes, I am losing my mind a little bit, ty for asking

https://x.com/AnnaBower/status/1796201931569811606

4 pm vibe check.

I'm in the *real* "icebox": The holding room where reporters can use their phones—and access faster internet—while we wait for something, anything, from the jury.

While temperatures in the courtroom are toasty by comparison, it's freezing in here.

As the clock ticks toward 4:30 p.m.--the time the jurors are usually excused for the day--I return to courtroom 1530.

Now the prosecution team enters and takes their seats on the right-hand side of the courtroom.

As far as those of us in courtroom 1530 are aware, the jurors did not ring the buzzer (or the bell, depending on who you ask.)

Trump arrives in courtroom 1530, followed by the usual entourage. Court comes to order as Justice Merchan enters.

"At this time I'm going to excuse the jury," Justice Merchan says to the parties.

Justice Merchan says that's the reason he brought the parties back in: simply to let the parties know that he's going to excuse the jurors for the day.

He steps off the bench and disappears for a few minutes.

While we wait for Justice Merchan to reappear, Todd Blanche cups his mouth and leans over toward Trump, whispering in his ear.

Everyone is on edge as we await Justice Merchan's return.

We sit in silence during this moment of high tension. Suddenly, the courtroom door swings open—loudly. Several of us whip our heads around. It's none other than...Andrew Giuliani.

He takes a seat in the gallery.

JUSTICE MERCHAN: We received a note.

WE THE JURY HAVE A VERDICT."

Here's what happened: Justice Merchan planned to excuse the jurors for the day. He disappeared from the bench, and when he returned he announced that he had just received a note from the jurors at 4:20 pm. The note said: "We the jury have a verdict."

https://x.com/ArmandoNDK/status/1796280213682196798