I started this post a couple hours ago and returned to find it was already out of date.
N.E. Brigand wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 5:50 pmLisa Rubin
reports on how Donald Trump's legal strategy today is apparently to slow down the trial. Prosecutors have video evidence of Trump speaking that they wish to introduce into evidence. Some of the videos publicly aired on C-SPAN. Others were recorded during his deposition in the E. Jean Carroll lawsuits. In both cases, Trump apparently refused to stipulate that the videos are legitimate, so prosecutors have had to call technicians from C-SPAN and from the deposition transcription company that recorded the video as witnesses. (And pay to fly them to New York.) Normally evidence from reputable sources like this isn't subject to such scrutiny. What's more, despite requiring the state to bring in these witnesses, the defense has no questions for them. (The C-SPAN videos they provided demonstrated that Trump publicly denied multiple accusations of sexual assault that were made in October 2016, that he said those claims could hurt his chances of winning the election, that he promised to sue those accusers after the election, and also that he praised Michael Cohen. The videos from the deposition merely show Donald Trump saying what Truth Social is, confirming his handle there, confirming that he married Melania in 2005 and is still married to her, and confirming that it really is his voice on the
Access Hollywood tape.)
Earlier today, it looked like the C-SPAN technician was coming back! As V noted before (citing Roger Parloff), much was made in the media last week about whether the defense had undermined Michael Cohen's testimony through the revelation that, although Cohen had testified that on one occasion, he spoke to Donald Trump by calling up Trump's bodyguard, Keith Schiller, who handed Trump his phone, Cohen actually had another reason to call Schiller at that time. (He was receiving harassing phone calls from someone who turned out to be a 14-year-old kid and wanted Schiller's guidance as a security profesional on how to respond.) When Trump's attorney presented Cohen with texts showing this to be the case -- implying that Cohen had spoken only to Schiller about the kid and not to Trump about Stormy Daniels -- Cohen responded that during that call he talked both about the second item with Schiller and about the first item with Trump using Schiller's phone.
And today, prosecutors introduced an image, taken from C-SPAN, showing that Trump and Schiller were together at the approximate time of that call. Or they tried to introduce that image. But Trump's team cried foul, saying that prosecutors had failed to properly admit that photograph and prove that it really came from C-SPAN. Judge Merchan seemed inclined to support the prosecution, but said that they could close the deal by bringing back the technician. Could they do that? Sure, prosecutors said, we can fly him back to New York and should have him here by tomorrow morning.
But after all that, the defense finally agreed to stipulate that the image is what it appears to be. So the prosecution rested. And the defense called their first witness.
And as V noted, that witness, Robert Costello, apparently behaved like a fool.