Hey, the trial resumes today:
Keith Davidson will be the witness; but first, more on Trump's gag order violations:
The hearing is over and we will take a five-minute break before the jurors are brought in. I’ll be very curious to see whether we get a ruling soon. Justice Merchan seemed far more definitive in his thinking today than in the hearing last week.
Overall, I think it’s fair to say that this hearing is going better for Blanche than the last one. THe judge is nodding at some of his arguments about one alleged violation and already said that he was not concerned about another one. Even now, saying “you made your point” to Blanche, the judge softens the statement with a smile.
There is one argument, though, for which Merchan signals he has little sympathy: Trump’s comments about the jury, saying they were mostly Democrats. Hard to see the defendant not being penalized for those comments given Merchan’s tone here now.
Todd Blanche has moved on to Michael Cohen’s attacks on Trump, which have been manifold. Some of Cohen’s tweeted insults to his former boss are shown in the courtroom. This is potentially fertile territory for the defense; Justice Merchan had cautioned that witnesses — seemingly Cohen — should not use the gag order as an excuse to attack the defendant.
Blanche is now talking about Tik-Tok videos that Cohen has done criticizing Trump recently. “This is not a man that needs protection from the gag order,” Blanche says.
This is a serious concern for prosecutors. Their witness, who had said that he would be silent after having attacked Trump, has not fulfilled that pledge. And the judge has already written that he is somewhat sympathetic to the defense’s argument here.
While the defense's arguments about Cohen may be gaining some traction with the judge, it's also worth noting that this is happening while the jury is not in the room.
Justice Merchan extends a minor olive branch to Todd Blanche and says he’s not that concerned with the potential violation where Trump referred to David Pecker as “a nice guy.” He doesn’t fully explain his reasoning but certainly telegraphs that he won’t find this one in violation of his gag order.
An animated Todd Blanche is suggesting that Trump simply has to respond to reporters who ask him about witnesses. Justice Merchan is not buying it. “It was your client who went down to that holding area and stood in front of the press and started to speak. It wasn’t the press that went to him. He went to the press. He didn’t need to go in that direction.” He adds, “Nobody forced your client” to go talk to reporters in the courthouse hallway when he attacked Cohen.
After Justice Merchan points out that no one is forcing Trump to talk to the press, Todd Blanche’s response, “I agree with that,” draws a large laugh in the overflow room.
It’s notable that Merchan continues to express concern, as he did in his first ruling holding Trump in contempt, about Trump’s rights to free speech, particularly as a political candidate. The judge says that a whole press area has been set aside for Trump in the hallway so that “your client, as candidate for the presidency, has the opportunity to speak about absolutely anything he wants.”
Todd Blanche is still speaking quickly and his voice is high-pitched as he jousts with Justice Merchan. It’s a bit unusual to see a lawyer seem this agitated in what is a high-stakes argument, but essentially an academic one. Blanche is under a lot of pressure.
It’s quite something hearing Todd Blanche complain about media coverage, when Trump personally loves how much attention he gets from the trial.
Justice Merchan says he doesn’t understand Blanche’s argument comparing Trump’s inability to speak out freely with journalists' ability to report freely on him everyday. “They’re not defendants in this case," Justice Merchan says forcefully. "They’re not subject to the gag order.”
Todd Blanche is speaking quickly as he defends Trump’s comments about David Pecker, whom Trump said had been “very nice.” Blanche says that Trump sidestepped the reporter's question about him and gave a “factual and neutral answer.” He says there was no willful violation of the order. “It’s not just about Mr. Pecker,” the judge responds, saying Trump's comments affect other witnesses as well.
Blanche really has very little to work with during this hearing. It’s very hard to argue Trump hasn’t violated the gag order, especially after Tuesday’s ruling that he did previously.
It’s fascinating to hear Todd Blanche return to arguments that, for the most part, did not work for him last week. He now mentions a comment from President Biden at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in which the president made an oblique reference to Stormy Daniels, saying that Trump had been experiencing “stormy weather.” But the judge asks, isn’t it possible to respond to Biden without actually mentioning Daniels, a potential witness?
Trump appeared to get frustrated during this exchange and motioned with his hands.
Todd Blanche starts off by saying that the purpose of the gag order is to “protect the integrity of these proceedings.” After a rough performance at the last hearing regarding the gag order, Blanche is reading much of his argument, which appears to be written in front of him, rather than speaking extemporaneously. He argues that none of the four statements at issue were disruptive to the trial, and continues to paint his client’s statements as responses to political attacks.
So much of Blanche’s argument hinges on the notion that Trump — the former president, a wealthy man and a person who voluntarily entered the political realm — is being treated unfairly when he is criticized.
The prosecutors say “we are not yet seeking jail,” and Christopher Conroy sits down. Next up, Todd Blanche, Trump's lawyer.
Trump shook his head at the mention of “jail” during the hearing.
Emil Bove, another lawyer for Trump, smiled slightly when prosecutors said they were not yet seeking jail, saying they wanted to minimize disruptions to the trial.
Trump is notably not watching his lead counsel deliver these arguments. He is instead facing ahead and sitting motionless.
Christopher Conroy, the prosecutor, now takes up the most difficult subject, an attack on Michael D. Cohen, Trump’s former fixer. The judge, in ruling against Trump after the first hearing, warned that witnesses could not use the gag order as a “sword,” attacking Trump while knowing that the former president would be fined for attacking them back. Conroy here acknowledges that, saying: “We understand the court's concern about Michael Cohen.” But he insists on this fourth and final violation being recognized, as he says Trump is trying to “disrupt” the process and that his statements are “corrosive to this proceeding.”
The prosecutor, Christopher Conroy, is going over the four instances of Trump allegedly violating the gag order. He lingers on one instance, in which Trump answered a question from a reporter during a campaign stop last week, after ignoring other questions. The question was about testimony from a key witness, David Pecker. “He selectively responded to this question and not others,” Conroy says, noting that Trump said Pecker had been “nice” so far. The message to other witnesses, Conroy says, is “be nice,” or face attacks.
“The defendant thinks the rules should be different for him,” Conroy adds.
The line from Conroy about the “rules” being different for Trump, in Trump’s mind, is an echo of an argument that Roberta Kaplan, the lead lawyer for E. Jean Carroll, made in Trump's federal defamation trial in January.
We begin with prosecutors reviewing the four alleged gag order violations. The prosecutor handling this hearing, Christopher Conroy, is the same one who succeeded at the last one, after which Trump was found to have violated the gag order nine of 10 times. The alleged violations today include attacks on Michael D. Cohen, Trump’s former fixer and, interestingly, a compliment made about another witness, David Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer. Any speech directed toward witnesses, prosecutors say, even complimentary speech, is a violation.
Moments into the prosecutors' argument, Trump slapped the arm of his lead lawyer, Todd Blanche, and gestured with his hands. They spoke briefly and then Trump sat back and immediately shut his eyes.
The judge has taken the bench and we are set to begin.
Trump and his lawyer Todd Blanche are whispering to each other. Despite Trump’s oft-mentioned germophobia, he and Blanche sit incredibly close to each other at times, and Blanche whispers very close to Trump’s face.
Trump has walked into court, with adviser Boris Epshteyn in tow. No one from his family is with him today. He has shed the red and blue ties and is wearing a yellow one today.
Our colleague Michael Gold, who is following Trump on the campaign trail, reports that the candidate attacked Justice Merchan at a rally in Wisconsin last night and said that the jury in this trial was drawn from a county — Manhattan — which is “a 95% or so Democrat area.” Trump added: “Other than that, things are wonderful.”
Trump continued the same line of attack in the courthouse hallway. According to a pool report, he referred to Justice Merchan as conflicted and bragged about yesterday's rallies.
Good morning from the courtroom where we expect to begin shortly with another hearing about Trump's gag order. Prosecutors will accuse Trump of repeatedly violating the order, which bars him from attacking witnesses and jurors, among others. He was fined $9,000 on Tuesday for earlier violations. The second crop of them — four in all — could raise the fine to $13,000.
Trump has also been warned that he could be sent to jail if he continues to violate the order. But because that warning came after prosecutors had already alerted the judge to the four new potential violations, it seems unlikely that the judge would make that move today.
There was little evidence of Trump supporters in front of the courthouse earlier this morning. On Tuesday, a crowd of a few dozen had assembled, waving giant Trump 2024 banners and wearing MAGA hats. Today, we saw just one supporter draped in a Trump flag.
Good morning. It's very animated today in line outside the courthouse, between the general public and the reporters. Michael Wolff, the magazine writer, showed up with a man filming him in tow.