Below is my column in the New York Post on the meltdown of Michael Cohen on the stand in the Manhattan trial of former President Donald Trump. In a trial careening out of control, Judge Juan Merchan seemed to be furiously working to just get the matter to the jury as fast as possible. Judge Merchan seems in open denial of the legal farce playing out in his courtroom. He is only the latest person pulled into the vortex of the swirling corruption around Michael Cohen.
Here is the column:
The completion of the testimony of Michael Cohen left the prosecution of Donald Trump, like its star witness, in tatters.
In the final day of cross-examination, Cohen admitted to committing larceny in stealing tens of thousands of dollars from his client.
Even more notably, he admitted to the larceny on the stand — after the statute of limitations had passed. There will be no dead felony zapped back into life against Cohen, as it was for Trump.
Cohen clearly has found a home for his unique skill as a convicted, disbarred serial perjurer.
It was not the first time that prosecutors looked the other way as Cohen admitted to major criminal conduct: In a prior hearing, Cohen admitted under oath that he lied in a previous case where he pleaded guilty to lying.
If that is a bit confusing, it was just another day in the life of Michael Cohen, who appears only willing to tell the truth if he has no other alternative.
The result is truly otherworldly. You have a disbarred lawyer not only casually discussing lies and uncharged crimes, but prosecutors who proceeded to get him to remind the jury that he is not facing any further criminal charges.
If any one of those jurors had stolen tens of thousands of dollars, they would be given a fast trip to the hoosegow.
Yet Cohen then matter-of-factly said he plans to run for Congress due to his “name recognition” — the ultimate proof that it does not matter whether you are famous or infamous, so long as they spell your name right.
As a legislator, Cohen would have the unique ability to say he will not be corrupted by Congress — because he came to Congress corrupted.
While most members wait to take office to commit felonies, Rep. Cohen would show up with a self-affirming criminal record.
He could then take one of the few oaths that he has not previously violated as the Honorable Rep. Michael Cohen.
At the end of the day, Cohen is the ultimate shining object for prosecutors to use as a distraction from the glaring omissions in their case.
Prior witnesses testified that Trump’s payments to Cohen were designated as “legal expenses” not by Trump but by his accounting staff.
Moreover, Cohen admitted that he worked for Trump for years in his murky capacity as a fixer. References to payments as a retainer were approved by Allen Weisselberg, a retired executive with the Trump Organization.
The “legal expense” label was a natural characterization for a lawyer who was paid monthly and was on-call as Trump’s personal counsel.
In any other district, this case would never have been allowed in trial. It certainly now should be facing a directed verdict by the court.
Indeed, with any other defendant, a New York jury would be giving a Bronx cheer in derision.
Even CNN hosts and experts have admitted that this case would never have been brought against another defendant or in another district.
That is what Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is counting on.
The biggest problem facing the defense is not the evidence, but the judge: Judge Juan Merchan seems to be channeling George Patton’s warning, “May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won’t.”
Merchan has not given any indication that he is seriously considering a directed verdict, which he should clearly grant before this goes to the jury.
Merchan’s rulings have largely favored the prosecution, including some rulings that left some of us mystified.
Judge Merchan continues to allow the jury to hear references to campaign-finance violations that do not exist.
After gutting any use of a legal expert to testify on the absence of any such violations, the judge allowed the jury to hear Michael Cohen state that the payments to Stormy Daniels were clearly campaign violations.
All that Merchan would offer is a weak instruction telling jurors not to take such statements as proof of a violation.
The alleged campaign-finance violations allowed Cohen to try to implicate Trump. However, it is doubtful that Trump could have been convicted on such a charge in any other venue.
It is precisely what the Justice Department tried and failed to do with John Edwards, a Democratic candidate.
After that unmitigated failure, the Justice Department dropped this theory of hush money as a campaign contribution.
Indeed, after reviewing the Trump payments, not only did the Justice Department decline any charges but the Federal Election Commission did not even seek a civil fine.
On Monday, Judge Merchan’s orders became even more inexplicable when Cohen’s former attorney Robert Costello took the stand.
Merchan immediately started to sustain a flurry of prosecutors’ objections as Costello basically accused Cohen of multiple acts of perjury.
At one point, Costello — one of the most experienced lawyers in New York and a former prosecutor — exclaimed that one of the judge’s rulings was “ridiculous.”
The judge chastised Costello and even challenged him: “Are you staring me down?”
In fact, it was hard not to stare. What is happening in the courtroom of Judge Juan Merchan is anything but ordinary.
Jonathan Turley is an attorney and professor at George Washington University Law School.
Ah yes, as the infamous “Trump Curse” claim’s another self inflicted victim! Once you’ve gone TDS, seems there’s no returning to sanity!
Who knew that Merchan’s favorite nightstand book was “How to Emulate the Third Reich’s Volksgerichtshof and Get Away With It”?
Is there a Hall of Infamy for judges? Now is the time to open one. Headquarters should be in Manhattan.
Edward Mahl said: “Is there a Hall of Infamy for judges? Now is the time to open one.”
Could it have actual embalmed judges as exhibits? I’d pay admittance.
Levanworth?
Costell back on the stand and he’s still being contemptuous towards the judge. That’s not a good look in front of the jury. He’s providing a stark contrast with Cohen’s testimony and clearly not in a good way. Costello is not doing Trump any good just putting on a show of force against the judge.
This judge deserves to be shown nothing BUT contempt.
@anonynous,
Why? Because he’s in full control of his courtroom? He’s doing his job. Trump is having his day in court and his due process rights are being protected. That he’s not presenting a good defense is not the judge’s fault. It’s his lawyers. Prosecutors had 20 witnesses tons of documentation. Trump had two witnesses, one which clashed with the judge and very likely gave the jury a really bad impression. Can’t blame the judge for that. It’s all on Trump’s defense team and so far it seems they have not been able to sow doubt with the jury, not with Costello’s horrible performance as a witness.
“As President Trump sits in his sham trial overseen by the communist Judge Juan Merchan in NYC for the 5th week, a plane is flying this banner over the court house and Manhattan:
It says “USA & THESE 5 BOROUGHS R MAGA & RUDY”. ”
Start spreading the news: New York is waking up!
The point of the trial is conviction. Jail will not work, but Trump wearing an ankle bracelet and being confined to Manhattan until November 6th will do just fine.
The rest is immaterial. We already know what the sentence will be.
Are you that afraid that his message is seriously resonating with the voters?
I know this is not an original thought but I have to write it again; “This trial is straight out of the former Soviet Union or East Germany”. Perhaps to make it more up to date it is right out of South Africa or Zimbabwe. Bragg would fit in very well as a corrupt prosecutor in one of those countries.
Michael Cohen breaking attorney-client privilege. 🚩
Alvin Bragg’s political prosecution fulfilling a campaign promise. 🚩
Judge Merchan’s Dem operative daughter standing to financially benefit from a Trump guilty verdict. 🚩
The stuff of banana republics 🍌
Next up: Give Merchan the Hairy Eyeball and make him lose his shlt again.
JT is so concerned that Cohen committed purjery. No mention that the accused has been found liable for sexual abuse, That the accused has had his business found to have committed fraud. No mention that the accused has been accused of lying 30,000 times while president of the United States over a 4 year period. The accused does not need to take the stand. But just think, if he does, how many lies could he weave in 30 minutes of questioning?
JT, No mention that the defence argument that trump was no where near his body guard Schiller when Cohen phoned him turns out to be not true. Why? Cohen says he called Schiller and Schiller gave the phone to trump. trumps lawyers says they were not together, expcept there is video evidence they were together 5 minutes prior to the call Cohen describes. Who is the lier here?
Cohen was found guilty for committing crimes while working for trump. Do you honestly believe trump did not instruct Cohen to commit those crimes? trump is turning out to be a much better mob boss than all the Mafia king pins that have face trials.
JT, your obfuscation of facts is most certainly raising your ranks among trumps short list for AG. Except trump will be a complete failure in his election like so many other things he has done in his life. Did you know trump never got a majority of the popular vote in an election? Failure. Oh yea he one once when he got a majority of electoral votes. Then the next time he tried to stay in power after losing the popular and electoral vote. I am pretty sure that is an insurrection when you try to stay in power after losing an election. trump is a loser.
You hide behind your handle and spout biden campaign talking points.
You sicken us all.
Focus now, what was said in the post that was Biden talking points?
Please specifically point out what is factually incorrect.
If a law enforcement official witnessed a crime and ignored it they’d be charged with malfeasance. It’s safe to say this judge and prosecutors will not be held accountable for failing to protect the rights of the defendant and that should concern everyone. What chance will you have in a court run by this judge and prosecutor?
Right but let’s talk about the big elephant in the room which is, what happens when the jury of 12 flawed human beings convicts Trump anyway?
Because that’s clearly where this is headed. The appeals court has upheld Merchan at every turn, so I think it’s fair to assume they will uphold whatever bogus ruling/ sentence Merchan decides to inflict.
Professor Turley is clearly hoping against hope that Merchan will find some vestiges of professional ethics somewhere deep in his soul, but that’s not going to happen.
So then what? Donald Trump goes to jail for a non crime?
Not that Americans really care what the rest of the world thinks of them, but jailing your political opponent, who is winning in the polls, for an illusory crime that even CNN can’t convict him of, is going to complete Biden’s task of making us a laughingstock on the world stage, and definitively destroy any illusion anybody might have had of the US holding any kind of moral highground.
Post on X by Brad Smith, the FEC expert Merchan would not allow:
“@CommishSmith
Judge Merchan has so restricted my testimony that defense has decided not to call me. Now, it’s elementary that the judge instructs the jury on the law, so I understand his reluctance.
But the Federal Election Campaign Act is very complex. Even Antonin Scalia—a pretty smart guy, even you hate him—once said “this [campaign finance] law is so intricate that I can’t figure it out.
Picture a jury in a product liability case trying to figure out if a complex machine was negligently designed, based only on a boilerplate recitation of the general definition of “negligence.” They’d be lost without knowing technology & industry norms.
Someone has to bring that knowledge to the jury. That—not the law—was my intended testimony. For example, part of the state’s case is that they wrongly reported what they knew to be a campaign expenditure in order to hide the payment until after the election.
Cohen even testified they just wanted to get past the election.
So, we were going to go over the reporting schedules, showing that even if they thought it was a campaign expenditure to be reported, an expenditure made on October 27 (when $$ sent to Daniels atty) would not, under law, be reported until Dec. 8, a full 30 days after election.
but While judge wouldn’t let me testify on meaning of law, he allowed Michael Cohen to go on at length about whether and how his activity violated FECA. So effectively, the jury got its instructions on FECA from Michael Cohen!
judge Merchan has asked the sides to submit further proposed instructions on FECA, and then I assume they’ll argue it out. I’m not optimistic.
So you’ve got a judge who contributed to Trump’s opponent presiding over a trial by a prosecutor who was elected on a vow to get Trump, for something DOJ and FEC chose not to prosecute, on a far-fetched legal theory I which the prosecution has been allowed …
… To repeatedly misstate the law or elicit incorrect statements of law from witnesses (and unlike Cohen’s, my testimony would not have gone to the ultimate legal issue). The judge’s bias is very evident.
Why do pluralities of Americans see Biden as a greater threat to democracy than Trump? It’s in part because of farces like this trial.”
Betcha the Judge instructs the jury that they don’t have to find the business entries were falsified to conceal an actual crime. He’ll instruct them that they only have to find the docs were falsified with the INTENT to conceal a crime, whether or not they actually did so. This judge wants a guilty verdict so bad he can taste it. Whether it’s reversable on appeal is immaterial to him. That’ll be after the election.
The checks Trump signed had no writing indicating what they were for, so cannot be false.
There is uncontradicted testimony that the “legal expenses” label in the general ledger was chosen by a bookkeeper from a drop down menu of options. There is no evidence that Trump even knew about this let alone intended it as a fraud and to cover up another crime.
The only evidence that Trump knew that Cohen obtained an NDA and paid Stormy Daniels comes from Cohen’s testimony, which has been discredited. There is no evidence that obtaining the NDA and making the payments amounted to a crime, let alone that Trump knew it was unlawful. Brad Smith’s testimony is expected to say these were not “campaign expenditures” under Federal law.
The only evidence for how the invoices were drafted comes from Cohen’s testimony. He said it was decided at a meeting in January 2017 with Weisselberg at which Trump was somehow present. Bragg did not immunise Weisselberg and call him to testify, so there is no corroboration for this. Cohen has been utterly discredited. Moreover, Cohen was in fact engaged throughout 2017 and into 2018 as Trump’s personal lawyer and held himself out as such. Paying him a “retainer” in this context is not outlandish. In any event it is not clear how much Trump was actually involved in or aware of the details of this. Finally, the invoices were prepared and submitted by Cohen not by Trump.
There is no way all the elements of the crimes alleged here have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
There is So much reasonable doubt that we’re gonna need a bigger boat.
Just sticking to the testimony from Prosecution witnesses, minus Cohen, DJT never knew Cohen was seeking an NDA. Hard to claim intent, when the action taken, was not taken by DJT, the Accused.
This is exactly why this trial should have been televised. Only the people in the courtroom got to directly witness the interaction between the judge and Mr Costello. If the judge was in the wrong and on TV this would have blown up in his face.
This trial is just a travesty of a mockery of a sham on so many levels. Q — expecting the worst w Merchan’s greasy thumb on the scale, what if any expedited appeal options does Trump have here ?? Thx,
The Judge seems to only care about testimony when it was a Trump witness.
I saw a movie once about like this abomination in New York . It was called “Escape from New York”. Kurt Russel was the star. That movie seemed almost more reality based than this current event. Where is Snake Plissken when you need him to clean up the mess.
I know secession is not legal in the US, I mean considering the Civil War and all. But is there some hidden amendment somewhere in the Constitution where it says that the Government of the People, For the People and By the People, can kick out a city or state that has so strayed from the meaning of our country that we should no longer associate with it.
I guess we good use the Declaration of Independence and list all the offenses of NY City and then have the rest of the country declare ourselves independent of the CITY. Of course that brings us right back to Escape From New York. There is a sort of logic there that even Judge Merchan could understand it.
GEB said: “Where is Snake Plissken when you need him to clean up the mess.”
Possibly with a little assistance from the Boondock Saints…
Maybe if we helped Global Warming along, the Atlantic Ocean would solve our NYC problem.
If the illegal aliens of Oklahoma can be very open and brazen about violating immigration law, proudly advertising their unlawful presence, then maybe US citizens can be vey open and brazen about shooting them.