Donald Trump: Classic or Dud?

"I paid a lawyer and was marking it down as a legal expense ..."

I'm not a legal person but I'm guessing that the defendant outright confessing to his role in a major campaign finance violation, tax fraud etc in front of all the US media outside the courtroom is not a good move for his defense team.

Yeah, it's apparently admissible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtBHDjztb2g

he might be onto something with this diaper thing

well now we know the Trump team's strategy. wonder if he'll be held in contempt for stuff like this. one thing I learned from the trial I was on is that judges are very protective of the jurors and won't stand for this kind of thing. especially given how hard it is to find people to even serve on this thing.

After Jesse Watters ran this segment and Trump posted it, this juror asked to be excused because she was concerned about her identity becoming public. Fox & Trump are coordinating to intimidate jurors. pic.twitter.com/Fz8JC4A0n8

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) April 18, 2024

It's absolutely bonkers not just that a former president is on trial at all, but that jurors are dropping out because they fear for their safety *from followers of as well as the same former president.*

Apparently Trump was caught using his phone in court, too.

god that dude has such a punchable face

there's a hearing set for Tuesday on the request to hold Trump in contempt

is that the same one or did they move it up? I read some places that they might try to move it up.

the NYT reported "later this month."

The 23rd is the specific date given.

Asked about how Trump looked in the courtroom, Kat said, "He looked less orange" than she was expecting.

She added, “He doesn’t look angry or — I think he looks bored, like he wants this to finish.”

lol

Heh

He is probably used to seeing that look himself.

A beheading meme and 'Mark Ruffalo, naked' — how 'anti-Trump' posts got 5 New Yorkers booted from the hush-money trial

extra! extra!

Kara McGee, a juror dismissed from the hush money criminal trial, told CNN ... that it was a fascinating experience because on the one hand, she was aware that "this is history in the making and whatever the outcome of this is, everything going forward will be affected by it" and at the same time she walked into the courtroom and saw Trump sitting there and realized, "Oh it's just a guy ... he's just a dude."

Wonder what happened here:

The precise reason for the dismissal of one juror was not immediately clear, but prosecutors had raised concerns about the credibility of answers he gave to questions about himself. Asked outside the courthouse whether he believed he should have been dismissed, the man, who declined to give his name, replied: “Nope.”

Earlier today, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said he notified the court that in the prosecution’s research, they found information about this juror that called into question the veracity of the answers he gave during voir dire.

Prosecutors said they found records of a person with the same name who was arrested in the 1990s for tearing down political advertisements.

i posted kara mcgee's interview up above somewhere with that quote. its good. she's the kind of smart person you want on a jury!

Voir Dire sounds like a 80's french metal band

xxp yeah the guy had answered that he'd never been arrested but they found that he had.

I think he looks bored, like he wants this to finish

To Trump, the trial and the verdict are only temporary stops on the road to a flurry of motions to dismiss and appeals to higher courts. The shorter the trial, the sooner he gets out of sitting in the courtroom. And he's not wrong insofar as that goes. To his thinking there's nothing irreversible about a series of guilty verdicts on all 30 or so felony counts he's charged with. Having a billion dollars (give or take) does weird stuff to your head. Combine that with having served as POTUS for 4 years, with literally millions of workers serving your whims and no wonder he's just bored instead of solemnly contemplating the precarious position he's in.

Per NYT:

Trump is walking out. Passing the reporters in the final row, he asks us, “Cold enough? Is it cold enough?” (It is.)

(This was for lunch break though I would be amused if he just got up and left while saying that and nobody else knew what to think.)

I was reading too fast and thought that said “Trump is passing out.”

he won't return from lunch, will get in a car chase in a Weinermobile

"We're all looking for the guy" etc.

did trump's people really ask rfk jr to be VP? that might be the rapture right there...

I believe RFK's affirmation more than the Trump denial

And when he said no of course they denigrated him on social media which sounds very much like team trump tactics

I think Trump dangles the VP spot out to lots of people just to see what he can extract from them

RFK did the same lol

don't wanna hear about RFK's dangle

a dangle in the grassy dingle

Well anecdotally a lot of support for RFK is coming from people who would other vote for Trump so co-opting him wouldn’t be the dumbest thing by the Trump campaign

If Trump was really going that direction, it makes it more likely he'll pick someone like Tulsi.

Trump panders to his base PERFECTLY. The critical component is how many self-described conservatives who see Trump as a truly horrible person will vote for him anyway, because he is the Republican nominee and therefore automatically the correct 'conservative choice' on the ballot.

Well that's essentially what Bill Barr said yesterday.

Sad to say, that reflexive voting pattern will no doubt deliver millions of votes for Trump, often in swing states. None of this is much of a secret to either party or anyone here. At thje national level we're mostly spectators. At the local level there's much more opportunity to make a difference.

Anyway, twelve jurors plus one alternate now selected; sounds like Merchan is aiming to have the rest of the alternates (six total) seated by tomorrow at least.

When it's going great, per NYT:

Todd Blanche, a defense lawyer, asked for the names of the first three witnesses before proceedings ended for the day. But a prosecutor, Joshua Steinglass, refused to provide them, saying it’s a courtesy they normally extend, but "Mr. Trump has been tweeting about the witnesses.” The judge responded: “I can’t fault them for that.” Blanche asks what would happen if he could guarantee that his client wouldn’t do so. “I dont think you can make that representation,” Justice Merchan says, sharply.

Mitchell Epner, whose judgment I trust, calls that a 'pretty significant sanction,' adding that while he has no idea how Merchan will rule on contempt next week, Merchan still 'just made it clear he believes that FPOTUS has acted in violation of the pre-trial order.' Again, what actually happens, who knows, but while Blanche has to be somewhat aware there's a 'give them enough rope' play happening, I doubt Trump does.

Fascinating scene. As Necheles queries their personal opinions, Trump is forced to sit down & hear several say they don't like his character.

Slumped back in his chair, arms folded, big frown, furrowed brow. Angry as people trash him.

He's longer surrounded by sycophants.

— Jose Pagliery (@Jose_Pagliery) April 18, 2024

he has months to come of average americans - prospective jurors - telling the court that they don't like him

My former student Jose Pagliery.

I can't help fear that one of his foot soldiers will slip through the voir dire and hang the jury.

[And yes, "hang the jury, hang the jury, hang the jury ..."]