Posted on 05/13/2024 9:09:13 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
On Monday, conservative attorney, legal scholar, and commentator Jonathan Turley weighed in on the day's testimony by Michael Cohen in the ongoing New York trial of former President Donald Trump. Mr. Turley's comments about Cohen were, to say the least, sharply pointed.
Michael Cohen apparently wants a reality show but, if his testimony Monday is any indication, reality is about to sink in for not just Cohen but the prosecutors and the court.
In stoking interest in his own appearance, the former Trump counsel promised the public that they should be “prepared to be surprised.”
Thus far, however, Cohen has offered nothing new and, more importantly, nothing to make the case for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Just before he took the stand, the New York Post revealed that Cohen has been peddling a reality show called “The Fixer,” including working with Colin Whelan, who helped create “Joe Exotic: Tigers, Lies and Cover-Up.” Whelan appears interested to stay within that genre.
The Cohen pitch came with a cheesy promo video where he promised viewers, “I am your fixer.”
Mr. Fix-It, as Jonathan Turley maintains, hasn't done anything to fix Alvin Bragg's case against the former President.
With the prosecution’s case almost over, Bragg needed Cohen to clearly state that Trump intentionally committed fraud to conceal some still poorly defined crime.
The problem is that Cohen only confirmed that Trump knew he was going to pay for the nondisclosure agreement and that it would be buried before the election. None of that is unlawful.
Nondisclosure agreements are certainly legal; in my previous career as a corporate consultant, having worked with a lot of startups, I've probably signed hundreds of them. Whether there really was an assignation between the former president and the former porn star is irrelevant; if the Trump organization was willing to shell out some money and have an NDA to make the problem go away, there's nothing unlawful about that.
Previously on RedState: Judge Merchan Tells Michael Cohen to Zip It—Stop Yapping About the Trump Trial
Also, while Alvin Bragg is spending time and taxpayers' dollars on this farce, crime is spiking in the Big Apple, pro-Hamas activists are taking over trains, and the city's prosecutors aren't willing to do anything about it.
You would think that Alvin Bragg would have more important things to worry about than political prosecutions.
Mr. Turley concludes:
Absent a sudden epiphany in his final testimony on Tuesday, Merchan should rule in favor of a directed verdict — that is, throwing the case out before it goes to a jury. If he instead sends this farcical case to the jury, it is Merchan, not Cohen, who may have a better claim to a reality show as the ultimate “Fix It Man.”
That's the interesting bit. I'm not an attorney, nor do I play one on television, but it sure seems like Merchan's behavior in all things Trump up to this point makes the odds of a directed verdict slim or none. But farce this case is and farce it will remain, regardless of Merchan's actions, and the voters are watching.
It’s all about airing out as much dirty laundry as possible on Trump.
For the jurors, Trump will have to prove he’s innocent. The prosecution doesn’t have to prove he’s guilty. He’s already guilty in their minds.
Banana republic show trial.
I think he has that option.
It’s like a game show. Every day people tune in to see if they will reveal the Secret Crime that Trump supposedly concealed with a bookkeeping entry.
Just like with Mueller, they just wanted Trump to answer questions and get the interview (interrogation). Then every non-truth is a Felony charge. They ruled it was okay for Biden to lie because they are on his team.
They want Trump to take the stand. Get him mad and he hears the news report of how weak the case is, and he overconfidently takes the stand.
That’s the goal.
The Judge let Jurors on that said they hated Trump, so they were always going to convict him. However, the case was put on in this matter to bait him to take the Stand. Stormy Porno said as much the day after she was dismissed.
She mocked Trump - and said real men take the stand after hours at a NY Bar.
Like Mueller they wanted to trap Trump with lying. He didn’t . With this judge they want him behind bars forever on contempt of the gag order.
Correct me if I’m wrong but
SCOTUS Case on presidential immunity. Trump 1 Biden DOJ 0
Fulton County Fraud Case Trump 1 Biden DOJ 0
Florida Documents Trump 1 Biden DOJ 0
Stormy Daniels Fiasco Trump 1 DOJ 0
Defamation E. J. Carroll Trump 0 Biden DOJ 1
This trial isn’t about finding Trump guilty of anything, it’s just intended to help prevent him from winning the Presidency.
I can’t believe that this case hasn’t been summarily dismissed due to Bragg not specifying the underlying ‘felony’ that was being covered up by the false bookkeeping, thereby extending the statute of limitations on the false bookkeeping charge.
No underlying felony, the statute of limitations sinks Bragg’s case.
RE: I can’t believe that this case hasn’t been summarily dismissed due to Bragg not specifying the underlying ‘felony’
It’s simple — Just look at who the judge is. He isn’t really a judge but a political hack INTENT on seeing to it that Trump is declared guilty to to prevent him from winning the Presidency.
When I found out that the venue will be in Manhattan, I already knew that this judge will be no different from the other judge who fined Trump nearly half a billion dollars in that other victimless “crime” case ( i.e. the so-called real estate value inflation case ). That judge ( Engoron ) decided to ascibe to himself that ability to determine the value of Trump’s property superceding the valuations of the banks who did their own valuation and gave Trump the load ( which he paid on time with interest ).
It’s the same Kangaroo court whose result is already pre-determined. The entire trial is just kabuki theater.
Thats exactly what that EVIL JUDGE ENGORON did!
A show-man at a show trial. Something tells me, they’ve thrown Trump into the briar patch. He can out show them.
Who can believe this lying scumbag anyway. He was convicted of lying in court ,under oath before. What a joke this is, Bragg should be disbarred ,for being a moron.
Is the prosecution still presenting their case? When does the defense start presenting its case? I would assume that after the prosecution finishes, there will be a motion to dismiss as there still isn’t any evidence that Trump did anything wrong.
A fly on the jury room wall would hear everything. How many books are they going to publish? Bragg doesn’t have any good witnesses or evidence, but are the jurors smart and/or honest enough to see that?
The media would make money if that happened. Wonder what the betting odds are.
Not the gag order.
Putting him on the stand and laying Perjury Traps.
Prosecutors can’t compel Trump to take the stand
Sadly, Trump cannot take the stand: it would be a perjury trap.
The process is the punishment, a conviction would be just a bonus.
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