Law, Power, and Justice

THURSDAY 16 MAY 2024

AFTERNOON NEWS NOTES: TRUMP ELECTION INTERFERENCE TRIAL

10:10 AM

·       Trump’s
little Congressional cheerleading group is there in court this morning, including
Matt Gatz and that Bobert woman.  What a
pair, whoops (Note: What a pair.)

·       Blanche
is having Cohen watch his own podcast where he says: “Picturing Donald Trump
being led through the booking process…fills me with delight and sadness at the
same time.”  (Note: And, the point of
that particular tidbit is what?  That
Cohen is human?)

·       Reporter
from the Courtroom note that Cohen’s voice is considerably different on the podcast.  (Note: I tried to listen to cohen’s podcast
and couldn’t stand the fact that he screamed during the first 10-15 minutes.)

·       Blanche
is playing Cohen, talking fast, saying f…ing hope Trump ends up in prison.  I want this man to “rot inside for what he
did to my family.”

·       (Note:
The are going to use that horrible lawyer as a witness.  Robert somebody.  He was before Congress yesterday.)

·       (Note:
Cohen’s soft point is his family. 
Blanche has to figure out how to bring his family into this.)

·       (Note:
Members of Congress’s travel is not being funded by Trump.)

·       (Note:
Regarding the “he lied before so why would you trust anything he says” issue:
Somebody needs to talk to a sociologist about the effects of culture.  Cohen grew up in and lived in a criminal
subculture, TRUMP’S SUBCULTURE.  Doing
the kinds of things that Cohen did for Trump was just a normal part of that
subculture – lying, manipulating, bullying, fast talking, loyalty to the gang
and boss.  The prosecution should ask Cohen
how long he lived in that subculture. 
Then, they should ask why he came to see that it was a subculture, one
that was working badly for him (family). 
Then, the prosecutors should ask if this transition happened all in one
day?  “Did it take you time to find your
way operating in this new subculture in which you weren’t trying to scam, lie,
manipulate, cheat, fool, bully everybody? Was this transition an overnight
thing?  When you decided to leave that
subculture did it suddenly make it hard for you to make a living?  (Disbarred, etc).  So you had to learn how to make a living
without a law license, without all the contact you had built up over the years,
and Trump and his minions actively working against you?  This humanizes Cohen and helps explain what
the Defense is trying to make a problem, i.e., that Cohen didn’t just have a
miraculous visit from God and afterward become a saint who never lied or scratched
to get a job.

·       (Note:
That was the way I was used to operating, the way I had operated for
years.  It was hard for me not to fall
back on that, or to maintain some of the secrets just by instinct.

·       Honig
has a book (of course)

·       We are
beginning the long walk through all Michael Cohen’s lies over the years. 

·       (Note:
Also overcomes the argument that Cohen sometimes lied for himself not just
for  Trump)

·       Ron
Kuby, Defense Attorney, makes the point that juries regularly accept
corroborated testimony from the worst people against other bad people.  White collar cases, criminal mob cases.