Gods, I hope this is the correct inference.
i do as well. they are at page 30. next up will be the testimony.
per cnn:
Trump’s chin is resting on his chest as Judge Juan Merchan goes through requirement to find the defendant guilty of falsifying business records in the first degree.
For a guy who makes such a big deal out of displays of power and vitality, he sure has slept through a lot of this trial.
If I were a juror I’d feel extremely disrespected by his attitude in court, especially since he always perked up and paid attention during the parts that made him look good.
per cnn:
After re-reading through parts of the jury instructions, Judge Juan Merchan asks the jurors, “Was that responsive to you?”
The jury foreperson answers, “yes.”
the jury is now hearing the testimony readback.
When Merchan finished reading, Trump wrote a note and passed it to his attorney Todd Blanche.
per msnbc: 2 court employees are acting out the read back. one has a very new york accent.
This has got to be the worst week of his life, ever. Forced to just sit there, and watch as 12 people he’d never even give the time of day slowly chip away at his life of privilege, and he’s not allowed to even try to use his Bullshit Powers on them. He can’t even leave the building because they may call him back at any moment, and he’s required by law to obey that.
When was the last time he’s ever had such a complete lack of control over his life?
Probably not since he was a child.
per msnbc: one of the court employees is in the witness box.
rc: interesting, i thought one clerk would just read it out. i didn’t think they would do a “dramatic” reading.
While we’re waiting, I can’t help but think that the country would have been better off if this had happened to Nixon and we’d hashed most of this out and set precedents fifty years ago.
Of course, feel free to tell me I’m wrong especially if you lived through Watergate.
i was thinking military boarding school, but then i thought he would just bully his way around things he didn’t like.
you are not wrong. it would have been better to have done this with nixon.
most of the country would have the same sources of information.
per cnn:
One court reporter is reading the questions while the court reporter sitting in the witness seat reads the answers to the questions.
The two court reporters, both women, are reading as the lawyer and witness, both speaking with classic New York accents.
Most of the jurors are watching the court reporters reading. Some are taking notes.
The first one is David Pecker’s testimony about the call with Trump.
I have to say if nothing else I have learnt some things the court process esp. in NY during this case. Thanks Obama!
At least they get some light entertainment while they wait. Though I don’t think Trump wants to watch a stage version of his own trial.
I hope she’s an aspiring actor, and puts “I played Pecker in the court’s rendition of “Trump’s Going to Jail!”, now in its 6 straight month of sold-out Broadway shows!” in her resume.
per cnn:
The first exchange reporters are re-reading in court is from David Pecker’s testimony about a phone call directly with Trump.
The portion of the transcript read back to the jury includes questions about whether Pecker remembered the call, and whether the former National Enquirer publisher believed Trump was aware of former Playboy model Karen McDougal’s description of an affair between the two.
In that testimony, Pecker recalls that Trump told him, “I spoke to Michael” regarding the situation, and that Trump had said over the phone that McDougal was a “nice girl.”
The court reporters are telling the jurors who is speaking at the start of each passage they read. They note that the third passage was cross-examination by Trump lawyer Emil Bove before reading back the testimony.
As the reporters finish reading the first exchange, Trump is leaning over to speak to Bove.
The court reporters are reading the transcript word-for-word, but leaving out the objections. If an objection was sustained, they are skipping over the exchange.
The court reporters have started reading a transcript of David Pecker’s direct examination by prosecutor Joshua Steinglass regarding the decision not to be repaid by Trump for Karen McDougal’s life rights.
Agreed. I mentioned either in this thread or the documents one, that one nice perk about the way these cases have played out is that they gave us A LOT of insight into how the sausage is made. Both because Trump tried so many different things, we got to see how each one of them worked and the delays (moreso in the Cannon case) meant we had a lot of time to discuss them. This case is more rapid fire, but I think Merchan is doing a really good job explaining everything, each step of the way.
One day, perhaps decades from now, perhaps the courts will modernize and utilize this fantastic invention called “video playback” that can magically reproduce sights and sounds from the past.
Word in the MAGAsphere is that Merchan instructed the jury to find Trump guilty. I kind of view that as one of the typical rituatls MAGAts go through to prepare themselves for a big loss. They complain about how unfair everything is and that psychologically prepares them for a loss. It’s not that Trump is guilty it’s that the system is rigged against him.
I would love to be in the jury room. All of this waiting is brutal. And I’m not even really affected by it. I wonder if Trump is worried, or whether his ego simply will not allow for the possibility that he could be found guilty?
I still really think they could be close. I would not be stunned by a verdict after lunch.