It’s Showtime! Star Witness Michael Cohen To Testify Against Trump

David Kurtz
·5 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.

All Michael Cohen All Day

The lines were long this morning to get into the Manhattan courthouse where longtime Trump fixer Michael Cohen, the star witness in the Trump hush money case, will testify against his old boss.

TPM’s Josh Kovensky made it in despite the limited access and heavy demand for seats. His liveblog is already up and running this morning. I’d put it up against anyone’s live coverage, including the bigs and their teams of reporters. Check it out.

Key Trial Developments Since Last We Checked In

  • The prosecution is speeding along in making its case and could rest as early as this week.

  • Late Friday after trial testimony concluded, the judge considered whether incarcerated former Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg should testify, setting up another potential dramatic moment this week.

  • Josh Kovensky captured an interesting dynamic among the Trump employees testifying, as best exemplified by former executive assistant Madeleine Westerhout.

The OTHER Trial This Week

The second public corruption trial in the last decade of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) gets underway today (the first ended in a hung jury). Politico has a nice little introductory package to the trial:

Steve Bannon May Be Headed To Jail Soon

The former Trump campaign strategist and White House adviser lost his appeal of his contempt of Congress conviction for stiffing the Jan. 6 committee. He was sentenced to four months in prison, but was allowed to remain free while he appealed.

The Trials And Tribulations Of Rudy Giuliani

  • WABC radio on Friday suspended Rudy Giuliani and canceled his radio show because he persisted in making bogus Big Lie claims about the 2020 election.

  • Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss are asking the judge in Giuliani’s bankruptcy case to permanently enjoin him from continuing to defame them. As you’ll no doubt recall, Giuliani was forced into bankruptcy when Freeman and Moss won a $148 million defamation lawsuit against him.

Looking Ahead

Just Security: What Happens After Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Absolute Immunity–Mapping 3 Scenarios

Sorting Through The Rubble Of the MAL Case

Joyce Vance: “There was little doubt before last week that federal Judge Aileen Cannon was determined to delay Trump’s criminal case in front of her—the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case—until after the election. Now, there is none.”

Ya Don’t Say?

ProPublica/NYT: IRS Audit of Trump Could Cost Former President More Than $100 Million

Cry Me A River

The same week that ProPublica won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for its examination of the cozy financial relation between Justice Clarence Thomas and billionaire GOP donor Harlan Crows, Thomas decried “the nastiness and the lies” in an appearance at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit Judicial Conference.

Going Backwards

The school board in Shenandoah County, Virginia, voted to restore the names of three Confederates to schools in the district which had previously been renamed in the wake of the 2020 George Floyd protests.

Manafort Is Out

Within hours of the WaPo reporting on former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort’s business dealings since he was pardoned by Trump, Manafort withdrew from his volunteer role advising the Trump campaign on the 2024 RNC convention.

2024 Ephemera

  • WaPo: GOP escalates fight with Secret Service over convention protesters

  • NYT poll: Democrats Hold Leads in 4 Crucial Races That Could Decide Senate Control

  • The conservative advocacy group One Nation is dropping $70 million on ad buys in five Senate battleground states.

  • Inside the tension between national Democrats’ pegging their 2024 campaigns to abortion rights and abortion rights advocates trying to appeal to non-Democratic voters.

Just Gonna Leave This Here …

Roger Corman, 1926-2024

The great Roger Corman died May 9 in Santa Monica. His influence on film as we know it is almost immeasurable, but the obituary writers took a stab at it here, here, and here.

But I go back to this poignant moment when Jack Nicholson is brought to tears while reflecting on Corman’s contributions to his own career:

An Amazing Light Show

The aurora borealis, kicked up Friday night by the most intense solar storm to hit Earth in 20 years, was visible in once-in-many-lifetimes places like the Gulf Coast and southern California. It created riveting photos of palm trees and Joshua trees framed against the Northern Lights, but I was drawn to the work of the professional and dedicated amateur photographers who seized the opportunity, such as these:

Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know!