Why the Sudden Doubts about the Verdict?

[Fort Fun Indiana]

So when someone like Alan Dershowitz says it's the worst thing he's seen a judge do in 40 years of observing trials...you think that's "baseless"?

Given dershowitz's long-running streak of being wrong and of being a Trump asslicker... yep

 

[AntonToo]

The defense does not have to explain that legal fees to an attorney are legal fees.

YES THEY DO.

If they can't provide alternate explanation then NDA reimbersement is the only reasonable explanation left for jurors.

 

[Man With A Plan]

Given dershowitz's long-running streak of being wrong and of being a Trump asslicker... yep

Dershowitz doesn't even like Trump, you buffoon...he voted for Joe Biden in 2020.

 

[Man With A Plan]

YES THEY DO.

If they can't provide alternate explanation then NDA reimbersement is the only reasonable explanation left for jurors.

So at no previous time was Michael Cohen paid "legal fees" and it was entered that way?

 

[para bellum]

Because if they did it the "legal" way, it would have been listed as a campaign expense, not a legal expense, and those ARE monitored.

That is nonsense. There was no campaign money involved. The DOJ and FEC investigated, and they both declined to pursue any campaign finance violations against Trump.

If you consider the payments by AMI and Cohen as in-kind campaign contributions, then yes- they would exceed the limit. Those violations are against AMI and Cohen, not Trump's campaign or Trump personally.

Even AMI would be debatable- there is a media exemption in FECA, which is probably one reason they were never charged by the DOJ with a campaign finance violation, and just settled for a fine from the FEC.

"Catch and kill" was not a criminal conspiracy. It was just Pecker being on the lookout for women coming out of the woodwork, and notifying Cohen when it happened. Coordination between media and campaigns is not unusual.

The checks from Trump are not "falsified business records". They are just what they appear to be- payments to his lawyer for his services.

 

[AntonToo]

So at no previous time was Michael Cohen paid "legal fees" and it was entered that way?

12 paychecks, $35,000 each. Thats what this case is about.

There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for them - the NDA reimbursement. Multiple people testified to it, no person ever testified otherwise, there is a Trump CFO's breakdown of these payments, there are those exact payments made, signed by Trump Co. officers and Trump himself.

There is no alternate explanation given by defense for these payments. No work done, no service provided. The alternative that Cohen got paid for NOTHING is not belivable.

Given that, no reasonable person will belive these payments are not for NDA and related work.

 

[Seymour Flops]

YES THEY DO.

If they can't provide alternate explanation then NDA reimbersement is the only reasonable explanation left for jurors.

First of all, the defense could have rested right after the prosecutors did, because they have no obligation to prove anything.

Second, if they (the jury) do believe the bizarre tale from the convicted perjurer, or two convicted perjurers, about a 420K reimbursement spread over a year for a one time payment of 130K, that still doesn’t connect the dots on Trump committing a crime.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Dershowitz doesn't even like Trump, you buffoon...he voted for Joe Biden in 2020.

Dershowitz has been polishing Trump's scrotum for a long time.

And he is consistently wrong.

 

[para bellum]

...When the prosecution started going down that path it was the Judge's duty to stop them,

And the judge had no problem at all when it came to interrupting Costello's testimony...

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

And the judge had no problem at all when it came to interrupting Costello's testimony...

And rightfully so. Many of the words out of that asshole"s mouth had to be stricken.

 

[Man With A Plan]

12 paychecks, $35,000 each. Thats what this case is about.

There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for them - the NDA reimbursement. Multiple people testified to it, there is a Trump CFO's breakdown of these payments, there are those exact payments made.

There is no alternate explanation given by defense for these payments. No work done, no service provided.

No reasonable person will belive it's for anything other than NDA and related work.

The NDA was paid in $35,000 installments? Is that what you're claiming, Anton? Was Cohen paid before the NDA? Was it done in paychecks? What were the amounts?

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

The NDA was paid in $35,000 installments? Is that what you're claiming, Anton? Was Cohen paid before the NDA? Was it done in paychecks? What were the amounts?

Don't feed the sealions.

Go read up and stop wasting people's time.

 

[Rawley]

And the judge had no problem at all when it came to interrupting Costello's testimony...

That seemed particularly bizarre when the defense was asking him to complete his answer to a question asked by the prosecution.

 

[Seymour Flops]

There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for them - the NDA reimbursement. Multiple people testified to it, no person ever testified otherwise,

Who, besides Michael Cohen, testified that the 35K payments were for the NDA?

 

[Man With A Plan]

And rightfully so. Many of the words out of that asshole"s mouth had to be stricken.

Normally in a court of law when the prosecution or defense objects to something...then they give an explanation to what that objection is based on...and then the other side rebuts that and then the judge either sustains the objection or overrules it! Merchan didn't DO that! He sustained prosecution objections before they even told him what the objection was based on and didn't give the defense ANY opportunity to rebut! The prosecution objected and Mershan sustained before some of the defenses' questions were even fully asked.

 

[JoeB131]

And the judge had no problem at all when it came to interrupting Costello's testimony...

Because the man wasn't following court decorum.

He's a lawyer, he should know better.

Putting up Costello was a huge mistake. He portrayed himself as Cohen's Lawyer, when in fact, he was doing the bidding of Trump to try to silence him. It's like being on trial for Cannibalism and then snacking on an arm.

That is nonsense. There was no campaign money involved. The DOJ and FEC investigated, and they both declined to pursue any campaign finance violations against Trump.

If you consider the payments by AMI and Cohen as in-kind campaign contributions, then yes- they would exceed the limit. Those violations are against AMI and Cohen, not Trump's campaign or Trump personally.

The DOJ and FEC were stacked with Trump loyalists blocking accountability.

If AMI and Cohen did this with Trump's knowledge, it was a violation on Trump's part. This isn't like Granny Gulch sending an extra check, this is was in full coordination with Trump.

The checks from Trump are not "falsified business records". They are just what they appear to be- payments to his lawyer for his services.

Except no services were provided, it was a payoff.

If it was a legitimate charge, it should have been paid AT THE TIME IN FULL. Not over time to try to hide what it was for.

 

[Man With A Plan]

Dershowitz has been polishing Trump's scrotum for a long time.

And he is consistently wrong.

And yet he voted for Biden?

 

[AntonToo]

That is nonsense. There was no campaign money involved. The DOJ and FEC investigated, and they both declined to pursue any campaign finance violations against Trump.

WRONG.

FEC never investigated anything - 2 Republicans refused to investigate Trump:

Republican Commissioners Sean Cooksey and James “Trey” Trainor effectively killed any further inquiry into Trump’s actions, despite the fact that the agency’s professional staff believed the available evidence was at least sufficient to conduct a formal investigation.

Fact-checking Trump’s deflections about Stormy Daniels case

As Donald Trump looks ahead to possible charges related to hush payments to adult entertainment star Stormy Daniels, the

www.politifact.com

 

[Man With A Plan]

Because the man wasn't following court decorum.

He's a lawyer, he should know better.

Putting up Costello was a huge mistake. He portrayed himself as Cohen's Lawyer, when in fact, he was doing the bidding of Trump to try to silence him. It's like being on trial for Cannibalism and then snacking on an arm.



The DOJ and FEC were stacked with Trump loyalists blocking accountability.

If AMI and Cohen did this with Trump's knowledge, it was a violation on Trump's part. This isn't like Granny Gulch sending an extra check, this is was in full coordination with Trump.


Except no services were provided, it was a payoff.

If it was a legitimate charge, it should have been paid AT THE TIME IN FULL. Not over time to try to hide what it was for.

Did you just claim that the DOJ was stacked with Trump loyalists? LOL Wow! Talk about The Big Lie! Goebbels would be proud of you, Joey!

 

[AntonToo]

Who, besides Michael Cohen, testified that the 35K payments were for the NDA?

Weisselburg wrote out the whole repayment scheme on NDA payment reciept and Trump Co. controller testified to it's filling in the organization:

Former Trump Organization controller Jeff McConney testified that he was told Trump was reimbursing his then-lawyer Michael Cohen $130,000 but that he didn't know what exactly the repayment was for. McConney said neither his immediate supervisor, then-chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, nor Trump told him what the payments were for....Weisselberg, he said, told him the payments should be "grossed up" — essentially doubled — to spare Cohen from losing money come tax time.

Former exec describes his role in hush money payments as Trump's criminal trial begins fourth week

The former president has pleaded not guilty to 34 charges of falsifying business records, a low-level felony that's punishable by up to four years in prison.

www.nbcnews.com

He didn't know what it was for at the time, but he did know it was a $130,000 expense reimbursement.

There were no $130,000 expenses that Cohen ever presented except Stormy's NDA of course.