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Donald Trump is in Florida today for the high school graduation of his teenage son Barron Trump before later jetting out for a Republican fundraising dinner in St Paul, Minnesota.
The GOP presidential candidate’s hush money trial wrapped up for the week on Thursday after a day of heated cross-examination in which key witness Michael Cohen was grilled by defense attorney Todd Blanche.
The former “fixer” for the defendant spent the entire day on the stand in Judge Juan Merchan’s Manhattan courtroom, with much of the questioning revolving around previous occasions in which he had lied under oath.
Mr Blanche zeroed in on whether Cohen, who received tens of thousands of phone calls per year, could specifically remember what was discussed in a 90-second call in 2016.
The witness remained calm and steadfast during his testimony, walking the jury through the strategy allegedly employed by Mr Trump’s inner circle to delay making the $130,000 payment to p*rn star Stormy Daniels in October 2016 to buy her silence about the sexual encounter she claims he had with the politician in July 2006.
Judge Merchan has now asked both sides to prepare for closing arguments on Tuesday.
Alex Woodward is covering the trial from Manhattan Criminal Court.
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- ‘That’s a lie’: Trump attorney screams at Michael Cohen over critical phone call on Stormy Daniels payment
- Biden and Trump are ready to rumble at June debate. But it’s hardly a risk-free endeavor for either man
- ‘I hope he rots’: Trial hears audio of Michael Cohen celebrating Trump’s indictment
- Kamala Harris agrees to VP debate with Trump’s running mate - a day after frontrunners agree to square off
New York hush money trial: Professional ‘line sitters’ charging hundreds for access to Trump’s proceedings
Some New Yorkers are making hundreds of dollars a day by holding spaces in the queue for Trump’s hush money trial.
“The press has been hiring us for this court case. That’s $50 per hour,” says Robert Samuel, owner of Same Ole Line Dudes.
For members of the public, his team of more than 25 “line sitters” charge $25 per hour.
“We have sleeping bags and tents and tarps,” Samuel explained on a wet and rainy morning in Lower Manhattan yesterday.
You can watch our interview with him below.
Professional ‘line sitters’ charge hundreds for access to Trump trial
Professional ‘line sitters’ are making hundreds of dollars from holding spaces in the queue for Donald Trump’s hush money trial.” The press has been hiring us for this court case. That’s $50 per hour” Owner of Same Ole Line Dudes, Robert Samuel, told The Independent. For members of the public his team of more than 25 line sitters charge $25 per hour.”We have sleeping bags and tents and tarps” Mr Samuel said on a wet and rainy morning in Lower Manhattan.
Joe Sommerlad18 May 2024 04:00
New York hush money trial: The best sketches from Trump’s five weeks in court
With no cameras permitted inside Manhattan Criminal Court, it has been left up to the courtroom sketch artists to give life to the proceedings, with the drawings of professionals Jane Rosenberg, Elizabeth Williams and Christine Cornell capturing the key moments and helping to illustrate the many twists and turns.
Here’s a look at some of their best work.
The best courtroom sketches from Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial
With no cameras permitted inside Judge Merchan’s courtroom, professional artists have played a starring role in bringing a drawn-out process to life
Joe Sommerlad18 May 2024 03:00
Trump’s dinner with oil executives sparks inquiry by House Democrats
House Democrats are investigating Trump’s alleged promise that he will undo certain all-important climate policies to please the fossil fuel sector if its denizens agree to bankroll his return to the White House.
Here’s Stuti Mishra’s report.
Donald Trump’s dinner with oil executives sparks inquiry by Democrats in Congress
Committee probes whether Trump promised to scrap climate policies if Big Oil executives fund his return to power
Joe Sommerlad18 May 2024 02:00
Tim Scott enlists Kellyanne Conway to boost chances of becoming Trump’s veep
Former 2024 Republican candidate and South Carolina senator Tim Scott is lobbying hard among Trump’s inner circle in the hope of becoming his pick for vice president.
Scott is leaning on Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s 2016 campaign manager, as he pushes himself as the top choice, The Daily Beast reported on Thursday.
His private lobbying effort is coupled with a very public one – Scott has hit cable news and declared in recent days that he would do “whatever it takes” for the man who worked to overturn the 2020 election and is facing 88 felony counts.
John Bowden has more.
Tim Scott turns to Kellyanne Conway to back his push to be Trump’s VP pick
Ex-president’s 2016 campaign manager remains trusted advisor as Trump seeks loyalist running mate
Joe Sommerlad18 May 2024 01:00
Kamala Harris agrees to debate with Trump’s running mate
The US vice president has agreed to take part in a veep debate with Trump’s so-far-unnamed running mate just a day after the Republican candidate and President Joe Biden agreed to two showdowns.
The Biden-Harris campaign said on Thursday that it had accepted an invitation from CBS News to take part in a VP debate either on 23 July or 13 August.
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
Kamala Harris agrees to VP debate with Trump’s running mate
Biden-Harris campaign accepts invite from CBS News to take part in VP debate either on 23 July or 13 August
Joe Sommerlad18 May 2024 00:00
‘Stand back and stand by’: Matt Gaetz invokes Trump’s infamous call to Proud Boys at trial
MAGA Republican Matt Gaetz invoked Trump’s notorious – and widely condemned – call to the far-right group the Proud Boys as he showed up in court in Manhattan to support the former president at his hush money trial.
“Standing back and standing by, Mr President,” Gaetz wrote on X, along with an image of himself at the courthouse.
The phrase echoed Trump’s infamous comments on stage at one of the 2020 presidential debates against now-president Joe Biden.
Other fringe GOP goons present at court yesterday including representatives Lauren Boebert (who was booed and heckled with cries of “Beetlejuice!”), Andy Biggs, Anna Paulina Luna, Mike Waltz and Eli Crane.
Gustaf Kilander reports.
Matt Gaetz invokes Trump’s infamous call to Proud Boys at trial
During a 2020 debate, Mr Trump was asked to denounce white supremacy. He responded: ‘Proud Boys, stand back and stand by’
Joe Sommerlad17 May 2024 23:00
New York hush money trial: Key takeaways from Day 18
Here’s Alex Woodward and Ariana Baio with yesterday’s wrap.
Key takeways from day 18 of Trump’s hush money trial
Trump’s lawyer sought to discredit Cohen as a revenge-seeking liar during cross-examination on Thursday
Joe Sommerlad17 May 2024 22:00
New York hush money trial: Jury hears audio of Cohen celebrating Trump’s indictment
Scathing audio played to the jury yesterday revealed Cohen celebrating his former boss’s indictment on criminal charges, saying “I hope he rots” in jail “for what he did to me”.
During a tense morning of cross-examination on Thursday, Todd Blanche worked hard to undermine the witness’s credibility, painting the former lawyer as a revenge-seeking liar.
The defence played audio from an October 2023 episode of Cohen’s podcast Mea Culpa, in which he excitedly says he “truly f***ing hopes” that Trump “ends up in prison”.
“Revenge is a dish best served cold,” he is heard to say in the clip.
Here’s Alex Woodward’s report from the courthouse.
‘I hope he rots’: Trial hears audio of Michael Cohen celebrating Trump’s indictment
Cross-examination of Cohen continued on Thursday morning with jurors hearing audio of the former fixer saying: ‘Revenge is a dish best served cold’
Joe Sommerlad17 May 2024 21:00
New York hush money trial: Trump attorney screams at Cohen over critical phone call
Let’s have a quick recap of yesterday’s events in Judge Merchan’s courtroom.
Trump’s defence attorney unleashed a furious line of questions to accuse star witness Michael Cohen of lying about his testimony that he spoke to Trump after finalising a deal to pay Stormy Daniels hush money in 2016.
Todd Blanche, after spending several hours painting the former “fixer” as a serial liar, raised his voice and screamed from inside the courtroom after grilling him about a pivotal phone call that connected the former president to a conspiracy at the centre of the case.
“That’s a lie!” he fumed.
Alex Woodward watched proceedings on Thursday.
Trump attorney screams at Michael Cohen over critical phone call on Stormy Daniels
Todd Blanche repeatedly painted the former ‘fixer’ as a serial liar in dramatic courtroom testimony
Joe Sommerlad17 May 2024 20:00
New York hush money trial: The increasingly vulgar court record in Trump’s historic criminal case
When Justice Juan Merchan, the judge presiding over Trump’s historic hush money trial in New York, found him in contempt of court for a tenth violation of the gag order, he warned the former president that he could face jail time if he continues to offend.
The judge acknowledged the momentousness of jailing a presidential candidate in an election year but told Mr Trump: “At the end of the day I have a job to do, and part of that job is to protect the dignity of the justice system.”
Unfortunately for Judge Merchan, “dignity” has been a commodity in short supply so far.
During four weeks of testimony at Manhattan Criminal Court about a conspiracy to buy the silence of an adult film star to cover up an alleged affair, jurors have heard from a cast of decidedly colourful characters and the courtroom has been rife with speculation about flatulence and snoring erupting from the defence bench.
In addition to unexpected references to celebrities – Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tiger Woods, Hulk Hogan and Serena Williams – the trial has served up a wave of astonishingly filfthy phrases.
The terms that follow have now been entered into the court records, where they will live on forever as part of the historic first-ever criminal trial of an American president.
The vulgar court record in Trump’s historic criminal trial
Jaw-dropping phrases from ‘human toilet’ to ‘Donald Von S***zInPantz’ will live on forever after being recorded in the official transcripts of proceedings coming out of Judge Merchan’s Manhattan courtroom
Joe Sommerlad17 May 2024 19:30
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