Donald Trump has read his tea leaves and believes he will be convicted. Not because he is guilty, of course, but because the judge is corrupt. Outside the courthouse, after the jury began deliberating, he said:

"Mother Teresa could not beat these charges," Trump said, "These charges are rigged. The whole thing is rigged."

I've been waiting for the jury instructions to be released before commenting on the strength of the case. (They are now available here) Although, as it turns out, the jury will not have a copy of the instructions in the deliberation room. That strikes me as very odd in such a complex case. [More...]

When covering a trial, there is nothing better to read for accuracy than the court transcripts. In almost all federal trials, transcripts are guarded like hawks, because that's how court reporters make their money. By the page. In major trials, the major media companies form a consortium and pitch in together to share the cost. But they rarely share, due to the court reporter's right to charge for each copy. The Trump hush-money trial is not in federal court, and some state courts are better attuned to transparency with their citizens.

So let's give thanks to the New York State Court system, which has made the Trump Hush Money trial transcripts available now, for free. And thanks to the New York Times for publishing them all. So you all don't hit another pay wall, since I am a Times subscriber, I have ten free links to share a month. Here is my free and shareable link to the transcripts.

Should the link not work, with a little bit of help from Google, I'm sure you can find the New York State Unified Court System website which should have the link, or another media outlet that's decided to post them.

By reading the transcripts, we all avoid fake news. [More...]

A New York Judge has rejected Donald Trump's request to delay his trial in the "Hush Money" - Stormy Daniels case.

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. He denies the charges.

Prosecutors intend to prove that Trump resorted to business fraud as a means of concealing the true nature of the payments so as not to hurt his chances of winning the presidency in 2016.

What a difference a year makes. When this Indictment was announced, it was a big deal. Now, it seems so hum-hum. Trump indicted? What else is new?

Forget the $5 million the first Jean Carroll jury ordered Donald Trump to pay for defaming her. That's bupkis compared to Friday's verdict by jury # two which decided, after only 3 hours of deliberation, that Trump should pay Carroll a total of $83 million in damages: $18.3 mil in compensatory damages and $68 million in punitive damages.

Now here's the important thing for Trump: He can shed as many tears of a clown as he wants, but if he intends to appeal this verdict (and he appealed the first verdict), I would imagine he's going to put up a much heftier appeal bond in this caase then case #1/

Donald Trump has finished his testimony. Ivanka is next, and last.

I suspect Ivanka either will claim a lack of knowledge or inability to recall to questions as to property values. Shorter version: Ivanka, like Don Jr., will claim "It's not my job". But Ivanka was involved in sales. There's the Ocean Club in Panama City.. There's Trump Soho.

Her own lawyer said, when Trump was first elected:

“She has the conflicts that derive from the ownership of this brand. We’re trying to minimize those to the extent possible."

Donald said Ivanka was going to be his "eyes and ears".

Former Trump legal advisor Jenna Ellis pleaded guilty in Georgia yesterday to a felony count of aiding and abetting false writings or statements. The RICO charge against her will be dismissed. She was sentenced, by agreement, to five years of probation. The Associated Press described Ellis' role in Trump's 2020 election campaign:

Ellis was a leading voice in the Trump campaign’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, appearing frequently on television and conservative media to tell lies about widespread fraud that did not occur and spread misinformation and conspiracy theories.

More about the Georgia plea below. But first, Ellis also holds a Colorado law license. In March, 2023, she was publicly ensured by the Colorado Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel for promoting falsehoods about the validity of the 2020 election results. [More...]

Michael Cohen testified against Donald Trump today in the state AG civil fraud case. The complaint in the case is here.

As expected, Cohen testified Trump purposefully and arbitrarily inflated the worth of his assets. It reminds me of a "paint by numbers" art set, with Trump Org. assets as the painted objects.

“I was tasked by Mr. Trump to increase the total assets based upon a number that he arbitrarily elected,” Mr. Cohen testified, saying that it was his responsibility to “increase those assets in order to achieve the number.”

[More...]

A state appeals court in New York denied a request by the Trumps to continue the civil fraud trial set to begin Monday. The allegations include that Trump and Trump International and at least two of his children fraudulently lied to lenders and insurers by overvaluing their assets by billions of dollars. The original Complaint is here.

Trump has likely lost the case already, given the Court's grant of summary judgment on several counts last week. The judge also imposed monetary sanctions on his lawyers, for repeatedly making arguments it and higher courts had ruled frivolous. [More...]