Former President Donald Trump‘s first criminal trial is scheduled to begin on Monday, March 25 in New York City and is expected to last up to six weeks.
[A grand jury voted to indict Trump last year, charging him with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records allegedly related to so-called “hush money” — a $130,000 payment reportedly made to adult film star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 presidential election. Daniels says she had sexual relations with Trump. Trump denies it and has pleaded not guilty on all counts.]
Yesterday, Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche asked the court to block Daniels and Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen (who is said to have paid Daniels the $130k) from testifying at the trial. (The Trump Organization reportedly recorded the $130,000 as legal expenses.)
F-U Todd Blanche…#Trump seeks to block @StormyDaniels, @MichaelCohen212 from testifying at NY hush money trial. The only proven liar, according to Judge Engoron, is your client Von ShitzInPantz! https://t.co/Wnt5omoRqr
— Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) February 27, 2024
Blanche argued that Cohen has a history of lying and that he would lie again at the trial, and claimed Daniels would use the trial to promote and monetize her story “with salacious details of events she claimed occurred nearly 20 years ago.”
When Cohen read of Blanche’s allegations and the attempt to block him from testifying in court against Trump, Cohen wrote on X: “F-U Todd Blanche,” and added: “the only proven liar, according to Judge Engoron, is your client [expletive]!”
[Cohen namechecks the judge in Trump’s New York business fraud trial who assessed Cohen’s testimony as “credible.” Cohen, who in 2018 pleaded guilty to eight counts including tax evasion and campaign finance violations, also pleaded guilty to lying to Congress that same year about work he had done for Trump on a Russia-based project.]
Regarding Daniels: the adult film star has already vowed to testify against “Tiny” (her nickname for Trump) and is already monetizing her story.
Daniels is currently promoting the documentary about her life, STORMY, which is premiering at the SXSW film festival (March 8-16) and will be available on Peacock beginning March 18. Official trailer above.