There’s a ton of legal analysis coming about today’s opening arguments in Trump hush money trial and I’ll try to recap some of it for you later. But in the meantime I found that I enjoyed Olivia Nuzzi’s colorful twitter observations about the atmosphere in the courtroom and I suspect you will too:
Hello from Manhattan criminal court where Donald Trump’s hush money trial officially starts this morning
It is another freezing day inside this courthouse
Donald Trump just arrived, railed against Letitia James, and then walked into the courtroom. He’s now hunched over in his seat whispering to his attorneys.
Donald Trump is glowering in the direction of Judge Merchan as the trial officially begins.
Trump is tilting his head dramatically and making trout-like movements with his mouth as he listens to judge Merchan. Like a version of this iconic sequence but much more subtle
As Trump sits in the courtroom listening to Judge Merchan explain how his criminal trial is going to work, Truth Social sends out push notifications for the spate of posts sent from his account this morning, including one that refers to him as “Daddy Trump.”
Donald Trump is staring straight ahead with a dull expression as the prosecution begins opening remarks, referring to a “criminal conspiracy,” “a coverup,” and “a scheme to corrupt the 2016 election.”
Donald Trump is shifting uncomfortably in his seat as the prosecution references David Pecker and Michael Cohen.
Trump busies himself by fiddling with papers on the table in front of him while prosecutor Matthew Colangelo talks about his alleged affair with Karen McDougal.
It’s hard to tell what exactly Trump is looking at in the courtroom at any given time. But he is certainly not looking at the prosecutors.
Colangelo is standing to Trump’s right presenting the prosecution’s opening statement. Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, sitting near the aisle to Trump’s right, has angled his body to face Colangelo. Trump, meanwhile, has not looked over at the prosecution once. He is alternately staring down at papers, staring off ahead, or appearing to look at the screen in front of him (the content of the screen is not clear).
Donald Trump raised his eyebrows in a dismissive gesture after the prosecution read his comments from the Access Hollywood tape.
As the prosecution moves onto the subject of Stormy Daniels, Trump scribbles notes to his lawyer and slides the paper over so he can read it.
With every new allegation and detail from prosecutors, Trump inches closer to fully making this expression.
Prosecutors are telling this story about Trump’s 2016 campaign: the operation was in a tailspin after the Access Hollywood tape, scrambling to avoid further disclosures that would hurt the candidate even more with women voters. They argue that the hush money payment was not about communications or “spin” (spin being PR-speak for lying) but about “election fraud.”
Donald Trump’s lawyer begins opening remarks for the defense. Todd Blanche tells the coirt: “President Trump did not commit any crimes.”
Blanche tells the court, as Trump looks on, that he and others will refer to Trump as “President Trump” because “he has earned” the title. “We will call him President Trump out of respect for the office that he held,” Blache says. Adding, “But he is also a man… and a husband.”
Blanche needs to humanize for the jury of Trump’s peers the nonhuman, peerless man. But it also felt, like it always feels, that this was yet another Trump employee performing for an audience of one.
Blanche has an unfortunate habit of backing up away from the microphone while he gesticulates and paces about as he speaks, making it hard to hear him completely
As Trump looks on with an even, satisfied expression, Blanche tells the court: “There’s nothing wrong with trying to influence an election. It’s called democracy.”
Blanche tells the court: “There is nothing illegal about entering into a nondisclosure agreement. Period.”
The defense is now introducing doubt about Michael Cohen’s character, calling him “a convicted felon… a convicted perjurer… a convicted liar.”
Trump’s legal team introduces the Regina George defense. Blanche tells the jury: “You will learn that Michael Cohen was obsessed with President Trump. He’s obsessed with President Trump to this day.”
Blanche encourages the jury to be skeptical of words like “scheme” and “conspiracy.” He rolls his eyes as he refers to the “‘Catch and Kill scheme.’” Blanche says that Trump’s behavior, described by prosecutors, is “not a scheme” and “not against the law.”
David Pecker has taken the stand. Bespectacled, puffy silver hair and a puffy silver mustache, wearing an ill-fitting gray suit and pale tie. Under the bright white courtroom lighting, he looks almost translucent.
Trump busies himself scrawling on paper as Pecker describes his work at AMI. In my experience, Trump has basically zero tolerance for conversation that does not immediately and directly relate to him. He has very little curiosity about others. And he looks pretty bored right now.
Pecker has twice laughed out loud in the few minutes he’s been on the stand — emphasis on the loud. Like Chris Matthews style. It’s a little weird but overall somewhat endearing. (Trump did not seem to react to Pecker’s laughter.)
Pecker’s testimony has concluded for today. Court is ending early due to the holiday. Day two of the trial begins at 9:30 am tomorrow.
It’s very interesting watching Trump process his own boredom. There’s a lot of procedural bullshit the judge and the lawyers have been working out since Pecker’s testimony concluded. Left alone while his lawyers approached the bench, Trump was just sitting there with a blank expression, twirling a pen around in his hand and staring at it.
He left the courtroom and violated the gag order:
Aaaand:
He was angrily posting all morning about how the Columbia protesters are allowed to continue while his followers aren’t. So, yeah, I think she’s right. But the truth is that very few people have shown up to support him.
