Live Updates: Cohen Says Trump Approved Payments at White House Meeting
Michael D. Cohen, Donald J. Trump’s ex-fixer, described Mr. Trump confirming a plan to reimburse him for buying the silence of a porn star, Stormy Daniels. He also recounted what happened after her account of a sexual encounter got out anyway.
I don't know how true this is, but CNN is reporting that the judge has decided to quietly back off further enforcement of the gag order, even though he denied the motion to quash it.
My guess is that this is his way of not actually having his bluff called the next time Trump crosses the line. It's also another great example of how there's a two-tier system of justice in this country. Good to know that when push comes to shove, the judges will continue to do nothing while wondering why Trump continues to run roughshod all over everything.
I had read Trump posted and deleted a rant on witnesses just yesterday or over the weekend. Maybe that was false or I misread older news.
Edit: looks like I saw an older post. Trump has moved on to having his pawns do the lies for him.
IMHO, this isn’t two tiers of justice. It’s three. Trump is on a whole new tier.
The Shit Tier
The point of the gag order was to stop Trump from intimidating key witnesses (Daniels, Cohen, and Pecker). Whether or not it achieved its goal, it's much harder to justify after the witnesses have already testified.
Not really.
Let's say Trump decided to attack Stormy Daniels now that she's done testifying, and she starts getting inundated with threats (or worse, something happens to her). What is the next witness going to think? Why would the next witness testify if they know they're going to be the subject of one of Trump's dog whistles right after they're done?
The gag order needs to stay in place and in full effect until the end of the trial.
That is correct. Once the witnesses have testified, there’s no reason to enforce it without inferring bias. The gag order is still very much enforceable in protection of jurors and court staff until the trial is complete.
People who think this trial might end in a person sentence are completely delusional.
This has been amazing. Cohen has been calm, cool, and collected, and I'm pretty sure Trump's lawyers are on the verge of tears because of it.
“That sounds like something I’d say,”
