Back on the stand, Michael Cohen told jurors in the first five minutes that he discussed hush money reimbursement with Trump in the Oval Office in February 2017.

“He asked me if I was OK, he asked me if I needed money ... He said, um, alright just make sure you deal with Allen” Hoffinger: Did he say anything about what would be forthcoming?

A check for Jan and Feb

Displaying Cohen’s monthly invoices, submitted to Weisselberg and sometimes McConney, Hoffinger asked if any were for genuine services rendered

“No, ma’am. They were for reimbursement”

It feels like just yesterday I chased Michael Cohen down Park Ave after the FBI raids, and he said he wasn’t worried

Within months, he’d plead guilty to silencing Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. A year later, he’d be in prison

Today’s the day he testifies against Trump Cohen cooperated extensively in the probe leading to Trump’s indictment, starting at FCI Otisville and throughout his house arrest at Trump Park Ave. He spent 51 days in solitary confinement and wound up back in prison for refusing not to write about Trump
nydailynews.com/2021/04/12/mic…

This has never been public:

Weisselberg, in 2017, directed his assistant to send checks Trump had to sign to Keith Schiller’s DC home

The dates of some of the checks aligned with those issued to Cohen in 2017, which the defense claims were standard payments for legal services

https://twitter.com/molcranenewman/status/1788611515194409438

Also of note: Manochio testified that Trump didn’t always immediately sign off on checks—that sometimes he had questions—and that expenses could be processed electronically (as opposed to FedEx-ing paperwork to Trump’s personal bodyguard from NYC while he was in the White House)

Hi from another big morning at Manhattan’s storied criminal courthouse, where it feels like Donald Trump’s arraignment all over again. Tensions are high, and there are some very famous faces in the courtroom. Stormy Daniels resumes on cross with Susan Necheles in around an hour. Trump just walked into the courtroom with an especially peeved expression, slowing almost to a stop once he walked through the doors to see who was sitting in the gallery.

THE PEOPLE CALL STORMY DANIELS Daniels just sashayed up to the witness box, swore to tell the truth, and spelled out her stage name. Trump turned his head and looked at her just before she took her seat.

Hi from foggy Manhattan, where NYC journos, over a dozen New Yorkers, and Andrew Giuliani are in court for the 10th day of the hush money trial—expected to kick off with another contempt hearing

Trump is outside the courtroom talking about inflation and “radical left lunatics” Breaking: “Von ShitzInPantz” made it into the record. Todd Blanche just cited Cohen’s post below in arguing that Merchan shouldn’t sanction his client again.

https://x.com/molcranenewman/status/1782755039955612012

Hi from Judge Curtis Farber's courtroom in Manhattan, where Harvey Weinstein is expected to appear any minute. Jessica Mann, one of the six women who testified at his trial and one of two he was found guilty of abusing, just walked in with Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and his team. NEWS:

Prosecutors are asking Farber to remand Weinstein.

"We believe in this case, and we will be retrying this case."

I can’t describe how surreal it is to learn this news while waiting for Donald Trump to walk into the courtroom and sit down in the exact spot Harvey Weinstein was when he was convicted and sentenced to 23 years in prison.

nycourts.gov/ctapps/Decisio… "Fundamental misunderstandings of sexual violence perpetrated by men known to, and with significant power over, the women they victimize are on full display in the majority’s opinion," Judge Madeline Singas wrote.

"Because New York’s women deserve better, I dissent."

Hi from 100 Centre St.

Trump’s contempt hearing is at 9:30. Prosecutors say he’s broken a gag order in jabs at Cohen, Stormy, and jurors. His attys say it’s self-defense. Stay tuned to see if more history will be made with the addition of “Von ShitzInPantz” to the public record.

https://twitter.com/michaelcohen212/status/1782453948999139525

Trump just strolled in, scanning faces on his way to the defense table flanked by Todd Blanche, Susan Necheles, and the Secret Service.

DA Bragg is seated in the front row behind prosecutors.

About six members of the public are here today -- including a 13-year-old and his dad.

Chris Kise just said cross-exam of the state's expert witness may take 3 hours. Michiel McCarty is testifying about the impact of inflated valuations on interest rates, ergo, the tally of Trump's ill-gotten gains. We may not hear from Don Jr. until the end of the day, if at all. His calculations show approx $168M in lost interest in deals from 2014 to 2023 involving Trump's Wall Street skyscraper, Doral resort in Florida, the Old Post Office in DC, and Trump's Chicago hotel.

Kise has objected to his expert testimony as "beyond absurd."

Judge Engoron just asked Trump's lawyers why he shouldn't send him to jail or impose other sanctions in light of an incendiary post he ordered him to delete two weeks ago that remained online last night.
Chris Kise said it was an oversight. Judge will rule later. Story TK. The post about Engoron's law clerk remained on Trump's website; it was deleted from Truth Social. Trump's campaign also emailed it to millions.

Engoron said it included the kind of inflammatory rhetoric that "in some cases already has led to serious physical harm and worse."

Closings are underway at Donald Trump's civil rape trial in Manhattan, where E. Jean Carroll's lawyer Roberta Kaplan told jurors he "didn't even bother to show up."

"He grabbed her—using his words—'by the pussy,'" Kaplan said.

"He thinks stars like him can get away with it." Carroll’s friends provided independent corroboration, while Trump provided no evidence of a conspiracy.

“Trump needs you conclude that not only Carroll, but all three women perjured themselves in this courtroom,” Kaplan said.

“It’s Trump’s word against everyone else’s word.”

Donald Trump has told reporters in Ireland that he’s cutting his golfing trip short to come back to “confront” E. Jean Carroll at his NYC rape trial. Carroll is expected to rest her case today. “I have to leave early. I don’t have to but I choose to.” irishexaminer.com/news/munster/a… Asked if this is happening, Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina said, “No.”

Five years after coming forward, E. Jean Carroll is sitting in the witness box.

“I’m here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didn’t happen. He lied and shattered my reputation, and I’m here to get my life back.”

nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-c… When did Trump assault her?

"Something that I'm constantly trying to pin down," Carroll said.

"Because of the dress I was wearing, I've always pinned it to a short period — the last few months of '94 or '95."

It's always been in the "back of her mind" that it was a Thursday.

New York’s hottest club is the SDNY courthouse cafeteria, where Ed Sheeran, Joe Tacopoina, and Ben Crump are currently dining. To clarify, they are not eating together. Sheeran just told the intrepid @vicbekiempis that he’s eating a meatball sub “and it is good.”

The jury that will determine whether Donald Trump raped E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s and defamed her when she spoke out has been selected.

Opening statements will begin around 2:45 p.m. The ever-efficient Judge Lewis Kaplan says we might hear testimony by end of day. Shawn Crowley tells the jury this all began with her client bumping into Trump walking out of Bergdorf Goodman in 1996.

“They started chatting. Trump asked Ms. Carroll to help him pick out a gift for a woman. She agreed, thinking it would make for a funny story,” Crowley said.

Openings are underway at Ed Sheeran's trial.

"'Let's Get It On' is a song that evokes love and intimacy," @AttorneyCrump says.

"The evidence in this case is going to show ... Sheeran recognized the magic of 'Let's Get It On' and decided to capture a bit of that magic." Sheeran acknowledged the similarities to his hit "Thinking Out Loud" when he performed a medley in 2014.

"The melody never changed, the chord progression never changed, the harmony never changed, and the harmonic compositions never changed," Crump says.

White powder was discovered in the Manhattan DA’s mail room today as tensions build over a possible Trump indictment. Officials are investigating. This follows bomb threats earlier in the week.
nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-c… The white powder was in an envelope marked “Alvin,” according to the NYPD. Someone opened the mail at around 1 p.m. but was not exposed.