Welcome back, Deadline: Legal Newsletter Readers. The first criminal trial of a former American president is nearing its end. Michael Cohen’s testimony dominated a week that also featured Supreme Court news, with Republican-appointed Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito making headlines of their own for very different reasons.
After much anticipation, Trump‘s former fixer took the stand Monday, helping prosecutors further cement their case. Cohen testified that he made a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election, which he said on the stand was repaid based on misleading data. “Everything required Mr. Trump’s signature,” he said in one of the most memorable lines the state could highlight in summary.
Cohen in particular testified to meeting with ex-president and former CFO of the Trump Organization Allen Weisselberg about the refund. That helped link Trump more directly to the alleged cover-up of the election-related conspiracy. The suspect is accused of falsifying company records in connection with the cover-up. He has pleaded not guilty and denied having sex with Daniels.
We were all ready for some tough cross-examination on Tuesday. But it started…weird. Trump attorney Todd Blanche began his questioning by asking Cohen if he had recently used TikTok and calling Blanche a “crying little s—.” Judge Juan Merchan quickly objected and asked Blanche at the hearing why he made this about himself.
Blanche picked up steam on Thursday in what was beginning to look more like the cross-examination we expected. Although it is unclear how much damage he caused the key witness, he did better on the second day and questioned Cohen’s credibility. With no court Friday, the week’s testimony ended with Cohen still on the witness stand and Blanche set to wrap up Monday, followed by any damage limitation by the state upon referral.
The question is once the prosecution rests how much of a case, if any, the defense will bring (the defense has no burden of proof in a criminal case). That includes the question of whether Trump himself will testify, which would be a terrible idea for him. It is unclear what he will do. We could start with closing arguments as early as Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the two Supreme Court judges this week apart. Of all people, Thomas led a bipartisan majority in writing a common-sense ruling upholding funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. However, he and the court deserve only limited credit for this, because it says more about the right-wing 5th Circuit, whose contrary opinion was reversed by the Supreme Court. Yet Justices Neil Gorsuch and Alito disagreed.
That wasn’t Alito’s biggest headline this week. The New York Times reported that in the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection, an upside-down American flag flew outside his home in Virginia. (Some in the “Stop the Steal” movement flew upside-down flags in protest, but it’s unclear how widely it was used.) Alito blamed his wife’s alleged dispute with a neighbor, which, even though true, is not the case. explain whether she (or he) thought that response was appropriate.
Naturally, the story led to phone calls for Alito’s denial in cases related to January 6. Two big ones are pending: Trump’s immunity and charges against rioters. But don’t expect the aggrieved justice to step aside, no matter how much the episode makes the American people doubt his impartiality.
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This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
