Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of Donald Trump continues in Juan Merchan’s Manhattan courtroom. Today’s testimony was devoted mostly to the “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Trump made an obscene reference to the liberties that celebrities are allowed to take. What that has to do with the “crime” with which he is charged, God only knows. The gist of the prosecution’s case is that Trump tried to prevent bad stories about him, like the one about Stormy Daniels, from coming to light. Like every other politician, apparently. The whole thing is a disgrace.
Hope Hicks, Trump’s former campaign spokeswoman, testified today. Her testimony related to the Access Hollywood tape and to a Wall Street Journal story about Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal:
Donald Trump was “concerned” about how a Wall Street Journal story about Playboy model Karen McDougal and porn star Stormy Daniels would be perceived by his wife, Melania, Hope Hicks testified Friday — adding that Trump wanted to “make sure” that the newspapers weren’t delivered to his home the morning the story was published.
The relevance to the Trump organization’s corporate filings is…obvious.
Hicks doesn’t think much of Michael Cohen:
Hope Hicks testified that Michael Cohen’s reputation as a “fixer” is because he’s usually cleaning up his own mess.
“He liked to call himself a fixer, or Mr. Fix It,” Hicks said. “It’s only because he first broke it so he could fix it.”
Her response, under cross-examination by Donald Trump’s attorneys, drew a few chuckles inside the courtroom.
Hicks broke down crying at the beginning of her examination by Trump’s lawyer. From press accounts, it sounds as though her testimony was helpful to Trump, to the extent it had any relevance at all.
Trump tweeted about the case over the lunch hour. What he said is true:
THIS ISN’T A TRIAL, IT’S A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN, A WITCH HUNT, JUST LIKE THE HIGHLY CONFLICTED AND BIASED JUDGE, JUAN MERCHAN, WANTED IT TO BE. I’M SURE HIS POLITICAL FRIENDS AND ALLIES, AND CROOKED JOE BIDEN, IN PARTICULAR, WILL BE THRILLED THAT THEY ARE GETTING AWAY WITH THIS…
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) May 3, 2024
He talked to reporters at the end of the trial day:
Leaving court just now, Trump railed against Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and the Department of Justice:
“They’ve been after us for years — Democrats, the radical left — they’ve destroyed people’s lives.
That’s true.
“It’s a shame what they’ve done to this country. … These are vicious, vicious radical left lunatics. … In the meantime the country’s going to hell.”
He cited the border crisis, inflation, Afghanistan, and Russia’s war in Ukraine, saying it “never would have happened,” seemingly meaning if he was in office.
That’s true, too.
Trump is right to denounce Bragg, Merchan and the whole farcical prosecution. The Democrats are trying, once again, to steal a presidential election, and we shouldn’t let them get away with it.
