In the face of former President Trump’s rising popularity with black voters, Joe Biden is seeking to strengthen his connection with the key Democrat demographic with a series of engagements ahead of his commencement speech at the historically black Morehouse College this Sunday. The agenda includes meeting Georgia citizens and engaging with small-business owners in Detroit. The President will also give a speech at the NAACP event on the same night.
“This campaign will not take a single voter for granted,” wrote senior campaign advisor Trey Baker in a memo. “We are not, and will not, parachute into these communities at the last minute, expecting their vote.”
Current pollingdata shows a slight drop in support from young Black voters (18-49), registering at 58 percent. However, support from older Black voters remains substantially high at 88 percent. Biden took 87 percent of the overall black vote in 2020. Even a small shift in voting patterns in the pivotal battleground states could tip the scale in the forthcoming elections.
While Biden is experiencing a notable drop in support from black and other minority voters, Trump’s popularity with black voters, especially younger black males, is rising.
According to a recent NBC News poll, Trump has around 25 percent support from young black voters and the support of 6 percent of older black voters. Other recent polls have shown black voters doubling their support of Trump doubling over 2016’s numbers, suggesting Trump could take anywhere from 17 percent to 23 percent of the black vote in 2024. No Republican candidate has received more than 13 percent of the black vote since 1964.
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In the face of former President Trump's rising popularity with black voters, Joe Biden is seeking to strengthen his connection with the key Democrat demographic with a series of engagements ahead of his commencement speech at the historically black Morehouse College this Sunday. The agenda includes meeting Georgia citizens and engaging with small-business owners in Detroit. The President will also give a speech at the NAACP event on the same night.
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Frank Fahrenkopf, co-chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates, believes Donald Trump “got rolled” by Joe Biden‘s camp when he agreed to just two presidential debates, earlier than usual in the election cycle and organized by leftist networks CNN and ABC. The CNN debate, scheduled for June 27, will have no audience and will be moderated by CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash to make Biden more comfortable.
“Someone called me this morning and said it was political malpractice,” Fahrenkopf told POLITICO. He agreed that Trump’s agreement to debate on Biden’s terms “could end up being one of the great blunders of the entire election cycle.”
He blamed the former president’s staff for the “blunder,” saying he doubted “Donald saw all of the details” before agreeing to Biden’s terms and calling it “a pretty spectacular job by the Biden people.”
Fahrenkopf acknowledged this despite being unhappy with Biden pushing the Commission on Presidential Debates out of the process for the first time in 36 years. “I know where all this is coming [from] — this is Anita Dunn,” he said, referring to Joe Biden’s White House strategist and communications chief, an ally of far-left “bloodbath” hoaxers MeidasTouch.
“This is her plan. I know. She’s fought — she was against the commission for years and years and years,” Fahrenkopf explained. “Anita hates us and always has.”
He also accused Ron Klain, Biden’s former chief of staff who recently admitted the incumbent was failing on inflation, of being involved.
Trump adviser Chris LaCivita denied his team had been “rolled,” saying, “Frank’s political analysis is as relevant as the Commission on Presidential Debates is … which is … oh wait … done.”
However, conservative analysts, including National Pulse editor-in-chief Raheem Kassam, have also expressed concern that the Biden debates are “a trap.”
I disagree with this. Agreeing to an audience-less debate with mic-off buttons on CNN was a trap. pic.twitter.com/4h2sQjiPG7
Frank Fahrenkopf, co-chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates, believes Donald Trump "got rolled" by Joe Biden's camp when he agreed to just two presidential debates, earlier than usual in the election cycle and organized by leftist networks CNN and ABC. The CNN debate, scheduled for June 27, will have no audience and will be moderated by CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash to make Biden more comfortable.
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Donald Trump could send migrants to safe countries overseas to receive asylum. The plan is inspired by a deal the British government has struck with Paul Kagame’s government in Rwanda, diverting migrants seeking asylum in Britain to the African country. It is believed sending migrants to safe third countries like Rwanda, instead of hosting them in the West, will discourage “asylum shopping” and bogus claims of persecution by economic migrants.
Outside advisors to Trump’s team have “started identifying countries in South America, including Panama, and in Africa” where asylum seekers could be sent, according to the Wall Street Journal. Trump struck a deal that diverted around 1,000 asylum seekers from El Salvador and Honduras to Guatemala in 2019 so they could seek asylum in that country instead of the United States.
The Anglo-Rwandan deal dates to 2022 but has been mired in constant delays by activists bringing lawsuits before left-leaning judges. The British authorities only sent their first migrant to Rwanda — who went voluntarily — towards the end of April. Raids have been launched to detain further migrants for forcible removal pending further lawsuits.
However, a deal to divert asylum seekers from the U.S. to third countries could work more effectively than the Rwanda deal. Australia, which used to experience significant issues with migrants making dangerous voyages to its territory by sea, struck a deal to remove any seaborne migrants to third countries in the Pacific for processing in 2013. Even if found to be genuine refugees, these boat migrants would be hosted in countries other than Australia — lowering arrivals to nearly zero for many years.
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Donald Trump could send migrants to safe countries overseas to receive asylum. The plan is inspired by a deal the British government has struck with Paul Kagame's government in Rwanda, diverting migrants seeking asylum in Britain to the African country. It is believed sending migrants to safe third countries like Rwanda, instead of hosting them in the West, will discourage "asylum shopping" and bogus claims of persecution by economic migrants.
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House Republicans are introducing the ‘Let Trump Speak Act’ to stop judges from gagging the former president and other criminal and civil defendants in most circumstances. The bill stipulates that “No judge of the United States or of any State may issue a gag order to the defendant in any criminal or civil proceedings except to prevent the disclosure of confidential information provided in discovery, to protect the privacy of minors, or as part of a plea agreement.”
Compromised judges overseeing Trump cases use gag orders to stop Trump from exposing their inappropriate ties to his political rivals. Arthur Engoron, overseeing Democrat New York Attorney Letitia James‘s civil lawsuit against Trump and his business, banned him from discussing his “co-judge” law clerk Allison Greenfield’s ties to James and Biden. Juan Merchan, overseeing Democrat Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg‘s prosecution of Trump, uses gag orders even more aggressively. He wants to prevent the former president from talking about his daughter, Loren Merchan. She is cheering openly for Trump’s imprisonment. She also has extensive financial links to the Biden regime and the Democratic Party more broadly.
FIRST AMENDMENT.
“We have watched for years as a politically-weaponized Department of Justice and Democrat activist judges have gone after President Donald J. Trump,” said Rep. Andy Ogles, who introduced the legislation. “There is no right more sacred to Americans than the right to speak freely, as guaranteed in the First Amendment,” he added, arguing that “activists within the justice system are attempting to strip President Trump of this right for the sake of their own political agenda.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who has put forward a resolution to award Trump the Congressional Gold Medal, is co-sponsoring Ogles’s bill. “We have seen how our institutions have gone after President Trump to try and forcibly silence him,” she said. “This vital American value must not be corrupted, especially by those driven by political rivalries.”
House Republicans are introducing the 'Let Trump Speak Act' to stop judges from gagging the former president and other criminal and civil defendants in most circumstances. The bill stipulates that "No judge of the United States or of any State may issue a gag order to the defendant in any criminal or civil proceedings except to prevent the disclosure of confidential information provided in discovery, to protect the privacy of minors, or as part of a plea agreement."
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The 14th day of former President Donald J. Trump‘s Manhattan-based trial was exclusively dedicated to the defense’s cross-examination of the disbarred serial perjurer Michael Cohen. On Wednesday, Cohen’s former criminal defense attorney, Robert Costello, testified before Congress that his old client had repeatedly claimed to him that he had no evidence against Donald Trump. With most of his Tuesday testimony now in question, Trump’s lead counsel, Todd Blanche, zeroed in on more of Cohen’s lies and hammered the prosecution’s star witness over the shifting details of the disgraced lawyer’s testimony.
COHEN GETS MEIDAS TOUCHED.
The morning started with a muddled exchange about when Cohen found out about Bragg’s indictment against former President Trump. Judge JuanMerchan later sidelined much of the questioning and testimony surrounding this as attorneys on both sides struggled to clarify the timeline of events.
Next, however, Blanche entered into the evidence record a recording of the serial perjurer’s Mea Culpa podcast hosted by the far-left website MeidasTouch. Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger objected to the move but was overruled by Judge Merchan.
Cohen can be heard on the podcast recording congratulating Bragg on the Trump indictment. Additionally, Cohen states that he spent countless hours with Bragg. “You never met Alvin Bragg, right?” Blanche asked Cohen.
“Correct,” responded the disgraced lawyer. Again, Blanche, with tightly controlled questioning, elicits another instance where Cohen lied—in this case, to his audience regarding his interactions with the Manhattan District Attorney.
MOTIVATED BY REVENGE.
The next stage of the Trump defense team’s cross-examination of Michael Cohen focused on the serial perjurer’s possible motivations for testifying against his former boss. Blanche hammered Cohen on the latter’s public statements, celebrating the chance Trump could be sent to prison.
“I truly f**king hope that this man ends up in prison,” Cohen could be heard on a podcast recording played for the jury. The disgraced attorney went on to say: “But revenge is a dish best served cold, and you better believe I want this man to go down and rot inside for what he did to my family.”
Blanche asked Cohen if he had ever said his work with prosecutors had helped get the former President indicted. “I took some credit, yes,” he replied. Trump‘s lead counsel repeated his question. “Yes, that’s what I believe,” responded Cohen.
COHEN CAN’T HELP HIMSELF.
“You continued to call President Trump various names on your podcasts and when you’re even doing CNN interviews, correct?” Blanche asked next, and Cohen admitted he did. Cohen was then presented with his April 21, 2024, TikTok post just before the trial began. In the video, Cohen states he has “mental excitement about the fact that this trial was starting.”
Blanche asked Cohen if he knew a paralegal was monitoring his social media. “That didn’t stop you, did it?” Blanche pressed Cohen. “No, sir,” he replied.
Trump’s defense team hit Cohen hard on both Tuesday and Thursday for his lack of self-control and inability to follow instructions. Blanche’s strategy appears to be to illustrate to jurors that Cohen is motivated only by his own self-perception and selfish desires. Beyond his simply profiting from the trial, Blanche is underscoring that Cohen often acts on his own with disregard for how his actions affect others.
LIES, LIES, AND MORE LIES.
Again taking aim at Cohen’s credibility, Blanche walked the disbarred attorney through multiple past instances where he was proven to have lied before courts, lawyers, and Congress. “Was that oath that you took every single time, so going back to all the depositions, the same oath that you took Monday morning in this courtroom?” Blanche asked, with Cohen responding: “Yes, sir.”
“And each time you met with a federal agent you were told that if you made a false statement that that was a felony, a federal crime, correct?” Blanche continued. Again, Cohen responded: “Yes, sir.”
Blanche next focused on Cohen’s lies before the House Intelligence Committee in 2017. “There were a couple of different lies?” he asked Cohen, the latter responding: “That’s correct.”
Cohen admitted to Blanche that he had lied under oath to the Congressional committee and lied again when he met with the special counsel in April 2018.
WHOSE FAULT IS IT?
Trump’s lead defense counsel pressed further, again trapping Cohen into admitting that he lied because of what he perceived he should do. “You said you were accepting responsibility for those lies, for lying to Congress. But in fact, you repeatedly said — and even said this morning, and even this week — that the reason why you lied was because of your loyalty to President Trump,” Blanche asked.
“I worked with a joint defense agreement, and we crafted the two-page document in order to stay on message — the message we all knew Mr. Trump wanted, including Mr. Trump’s attorney at the time,” Cohen replied. Blanche followed up, asking the disgraced attorney: “So are you saying you’re accepting responsibility or blaming the joint defense agreement?”
Cohen begrudgingly admitted on the stand, “I accepted responsibility, I read it, and I submitted it to the committee.”
UNTRUE VERSUS A LIE.
Blanche grilled Cohen about whether federal prosecutors threatened him or tried to induce him to plead guilty to a series of 2018 tax evasion charges. “Nobody induced you or threatened you to plead guilty, correct?” Blanche asked Cohen.
“As I stated previously, I was provided 48 hours within which to accept the plea, or the Southern District of New York was going to file an 80-page indictment that included my wife. And I elected to protect my family,” the disgraced lawyer responded. Blanche pressed Cohen again about his characterization of interactions with federal prosecutors.
Cohen responded the second time, “I never denied the underlying facts; I just did not believe that I should have been criminally charged for either of those six offenses.”
Blanche pushed back, asking Cohen if there was a difference between him saying something untrue and stating a lie. “I was using just different terminology,” Cohen replied.
“So it was a lie?” Blanche asked. Cohen responded: “Correct.”
WHAT ABOUT BOB?
Much of Blanche’s cross-examination of Cohen seems to be setting up Robert Costello as — possibly — the singular defense witness. Costello is Cohen’s former criminal defense attorney who has, in recent days, told both Congress and several media outlets that his former client is lying on the stand.
The questioning regarding Cohen’s interactions with federal prosecutors is especially pertinent as Costello testified before Congress directly on conversations he had with his client about the federal tax charges. On Wednesday, The National Pulse reported that Costello said: “I explained that if Cohen had truthful information that would implicate DonaldTrump, I could get him out of his legal troubles by the end of the week.” He added: “I emphasized that any information Cohen could give would have to be truthful, otherwise it was useless.”
“Each time Cohen said to me: ‘I swear to God, Bob, I don’t have anything on Donald Trump,’” Costello recalled. He continued: “Cohen must have said this at least ten times because I kept coming back to it from different approaches.”
LYING TO A FEDERAL JUDGE.
Trump’s lead defense counsel next addressed Cohen and the fact that the disbarred lawyer had lied to a federal judge. “You testified under oath at a different trial that you did not commit the crimes that you pled guilty to before Judge Pauley, correct?” Blanche asked Cohen, referring to the latter’s perjury before the late U.S. District Court Judge William H. Pauley III.
“Correct,” answered Cohen.
Blanche, citing Cohen’s own words, asked the serial perjurer if it was true that he lied to Judge Pauley because “the stakes affected you personally?” Cohen confirmed to Blanche this was true. Pushing further, Blanche pressed Cohen as to why—during his 2019 testimony before Congress—the disgraced lawyer didn’t tell lawmakers he had lied to the federal judge.
“By not telling Congress or the Senate that you had lied under oath, do you believe that you were omitting important information?” Trump’s lead counsel asked Cohen, and Judge Merchan again overruled the prosecution‘s objection.
“I don’t believe I was asked the question,” Cohen said.
BLAME GAME.
As the morning’s cross-examination began its final stretch, Blanche focused on Cohen‘s refusal to take responsibility for his actions. “You blame a lot of people over the years for the conduct that you were convicted of,” Blanche told Cohen. The disgraced lawyer responded: “I blame people, yes.”
Blanche proceeded to rattle off a list of people and institutions that Cohen has pointed the finger at for his crimes over the years. These included Cohen’s accountant, bank, federal prosecutors, federal judges, and Donald Trump. Cohen admitted he had blamed each one.
Observers in the courtroom described Cohen as appearing angry and annoyed as Blanche pressed him on every person he’s blamed and his prior convictions for tax evasion and perjury.
A JILTED LAWYER.
Blanche shifted gears again, focusing on the 2016 presidential transition and Cohen’s disappointment at being left behind in New York City. Blanche asked Cohen if it was true that he wanted to serve as the White House chief of staff. “I would have liked to have been considered for ego purpose,” Cohen responded.
After former President Trump tapped Reince Priebus to serve as his chief of staff, Cohen admitted to Blanche that he was disappointed. Blanche then presented Cohen with texts between the latter and his daughter. In the text, Cohen told his daughter that he was with Trump at that very moment and that “he wants me to go, just not sure the position,” insinuating that he’d be joining the President in Washington, D.C.
This line of question is important because, as others have testified, Cohen was not seriously considered for any role in the White House or approached about a role. Blanche likely intended this inquiry to reinforce Cohen’s penchant for lying, even to his own daughter. Additionally, the moment further proved that Cohen has an almost delusional opinion of himself and his actions.
“Did you express disappointment to Pastor Scott repeatedly that President Trump hadn’t brought you into the administration?” Trump’s lead counsel asked Cohen. The prosecution’s witness responded annoyedly: “Not into the administration — I knew the role I wanted… I may have expressed frustration.”
When Blanche pressed Cohen as to why he needed someone to put in a good word for a role in the White House when Cohen claimed he talked to Trump almost every day, the disgraced lawyer said, “It’s always good to have somebody else advocate.”
PRANKED BY A TEENAGER.
Just before the lunch break, Trump‘s defense team took aim at one of the prosecution and Cohen’s key claims. Blanche presented Cohen with a series of text and call logs that Cohen had claimed were him reaching out to Trump regarding the resolution of the Stormy Daniels hush money payment. Trump’s lead counsel contended that rather than reaching out to Trump, Cohen was actually calling Trump’s bodyguard, Keith Schiller, for help dealing with a series of harassing phone calls he was receiving from a 14-year-old prankster. The texts between Cohen and Schiller appear to indicate that the latter was indeed the case.
However, Cohen insisted to Blanche that the prankster wasn’t all that he discussed on the calls, stating: “I know that Keith was with Mr. Trump at the time and there was more potentially than this.” A skeptical Blanche, noting the short amount of time over which the texts and calls took place, asked Cohen if he really “had enough time to update Schiller about all the [harassment] problems you were having and also update President Trump about the status of the Stormy Daniels situation because you had to keep him informed?”
“I always ran everything by the boss immediately, and in this case, it would have been saying, ‘Everything has been taken care of — it’s been resolved,'” Cohen responded.
LAWYER OR PR GUY?
The post-lunch cross-examination continued with Blanche pressing Cohen on whether he frequently worked to drive positive stories for Donald Trump. Cohen testified that he would often work place positive stories and that Trump would “blow up” if he failed. At this point, former President Trump visibly shook his head “no” as Cohen spoke.
“It was my routine to always advise Mr. Trump because the story that I was going to put out is not the way he would want it. One, it would cause him to blow up at me, and two, it would probably be the end of my job,” Cohen told Blanche. Again, it appears Blanche’s strategy was to portray Cohen as someone who viewed their role as something more ‘connected‘ than it was.
A CAMPAIGN SURROGATE?
In the next series of questions, Cohen was pressed on whether he ever had a role in the 2016 Trump presidential campaign. Former Trump campaign aide Hope Hicks testified earlier in the trial that Cohen was not a part of the campaign but would often try and interfere with the campaign staff.
Cohen testified that while he wasn’t a campaign staff member, he was a “surrogate.” The serial perjurer, however, has not produced any documentation or evidence of this role being in any official capacity.
“Your testimony is the frustration toward you that didn’t come from President Trump; it came from the campaign staffers?” Blanche asked Cohen. He replied, “Correct.”
COHEN FALLS APART.
As the fourteenth day of trial testimony neared its end, Cohen inadvertently may have crushed District Attorney Alvin Bragg‘s case. Prosecutors have maintained that the hush money payments were campaign expenditures and not legal fees, as Trump’s only concern was about the Stormy Daniels story’s impact on the 2016 election.
However, when discussing the 2011 blog post marking the first public allegations regarding an affair with Stormy Daniels, Cohen admitted Trump was worried about the impact the story would have on his family. “Fair to say that the first time you heard about that and the story by Ms. Daniels, when you talked to President Trump about it, he said he was worried about what his family would think, correct?” Blanche asked.
“Yes, as well as, of course, for the brand,” Cohen admitted. Blanched continued to press Cohen, addressing his 2021 conversation with law enforcement: “The first thing that President Trump said to you was that his family wouldn’t like that very much?”
“That’s true,” Cohen replied.
After Blanche rehashed additional details of conversations Cohen allegedly had with Trump and other associates, the court adjourned at 4PM with Cohen’s cross-examination set to continue on Monday.
You can read The National Pulse’s Day Thirteen trial coverage here, and if you find our work worthwhile, consider joining as a supporter.
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The 14th day of former President Donald J. Trump's Manhattan-based trial was exclusively dedicated to the defense's cross-examination of the disbarred serial perjurer Michael Cohen. On Wednesday, Cohen's former criminal defense attorney, Robert Costello, testified before Congress that his old client had repeatedly claimed to him that he had no evidence against Donald Trump. With most of his Tuesday testimony now in question, Trump's lead counsel, Todd Blanche, zeroed in on more of Cohen's lies and hammered the prosecution's star witness over the shifting details of the disgraced lawyer's testimony.
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The husband of porn star Stormy Daniels has suggested the couple may flee the country if former President Donald Trump is acquitted in his current New York ‘hush money’ trial. Daniels, who accuses Trump of paying her to keep quiet about an alleged affair, is at the center of the legal case.
Following her disastrous court appearance last week, Daniels’ husband, Barrett Blade, voiced concerns about the couple’s future in the United States during an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett. Responding to what their next step might be if Trump is declared innocent, Blade said, “I think if it’s not guilty, we’ve got to decide what to do. Good chance we’ll probably vacate this country.”
Blade expressed unease regardless of the trial’s outcome, fearing continued animosity towards Daniels from Trump supporters. “If he is found guilty, then she’s still got to deal with all the hate,” Blade said.
Trump’s legal team has been critical of Daniels. Attorney Susan Necheles suggested that Daniels’ past involvement in the production and direction of pornographic films could have influenced her story about her encounter with Trump. Counter to this, Daniels stated in her testimony that the sexual experiences portrayed in her films were real, just like the one she alleges took place with Trump. However, in a recently published profile, Daniels admits to having been sexually aggressive towards Trump and that she came forward with her ‘story’ to “make some money.”
Daniels wishes to move forward without the constant scrutiny she’s faced since coming forward with her story. Her husband, however, appears to believe their life will never be the same. “We just want to do what normal people would get to do in some aspects, but I don’t know if that ever will be, and it breaks my heart.”
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The husband of porn star Stormy Daniels has suggested the couple may flee the country if former President Donald Trump is acquitted in his current New York 'hush money' trial. Daniels, who accuses Trump of paying her to keep quiet about an alleged affair, is at the center of the legal case.
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The Republican Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, Robin Vos, appears determined to protect a state election official who abused her authority to allow illegal voting procedures to take place in the state during the 2020 election. Wisconsin Election Commission (WEC) administrator Megan Wolfe unilaterally cleared the way for the use of ballot drop boxes — without the backing of any Wisconsin law or statute. Additionally, Wolfe is alleged to have openly colluded with far-left election non-profit groups and allowed local election clerks to incorrectly register some voters as “indefinitely confined” in abrogation of state law.
While the Wisconsin Republican Speaker has at least given vocal backing to calls for Wolfe’s resignation, it appears that is as far as he’s willing to go. In fact, Vos purposefully assigned the articles of impeachment against Wolfe to an assembly committee so that the issue would die there. The committee has not taken action on the articles since November last year.
SPECIAL SESSION IMPEACHMENT.
Despite a detailed account of numerous instances where Wolfe either bent or twisted state law in favor of Democratic candidates in Wisconsin’s 2020 election, Speaker Vos has thus far refused to call legislators in for a special session to impeach and remove Wolfe. However, impeaching Wolfe isn’t an insurmountable hurdle akin to the Mayorkas impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate. The State Assembly only requires a majority vote, and two-thirds of the State Senate is needed to convict and remove. Republicans hold a comfortable majority in the State Assembly and a super-majority in the State Senate.
Vos’s refusal to call a special session to impeach and remove Wolfe is even stranger when considering the nature of her appointment to the WEC. Wolfe’s re-nomination was actually rejected by the State Senate, with lawmakers effectively firing her. However, the Wisconsin Supreme Court intervened, allowing Wolfe to remain in office, stating that an appointee cannot be removed if a replacement is not confirmed by the legislative body. Sen. Chris Kapenga (R), the President of the Senate, has stated it is his view that Wolfe is not legally entitled to her appointment, with her re-nomination having been rejected.
Additionally, lawmakers in the state legislation contend a special session would allow them to address a bevy of election integrity issues. These measures include passing a resolution that would ban the use of drop boxes, requiring human signature matching, and a clean-up of voter rolls.
VOS’S SHADY CONNECTIONS.
The Republican Speaker has been an outspoken critic of former President Donald J. Trump. Vos pledged to do everything possible to prevent Trump from securing the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Even more concerning, however, is the Speaker’s connections with a Chinese Communist Party front group. Vos serves on the board of the State Legislative Leaders Foundation (SLLF), which is affiliated with the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC).
Vos’s anti-Trump statements, connections to Chinese communists, and refusal to take action against Wolfe’s illegitimate appointment to the WEC have resulted in a growing recall movement against him. Currently, the effort is just 2,000 signatures short of the number required to be filed on May 28, 2024, to start the recall process.
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The Republican Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, Robin Vos, appears determined to protect a state election official who abused her authority to allow illegal voting procedures to take place in the state during the 2020 election. Wisconsin Election Commission (WEC) administrator Megan Wolfe unilaterally cleared the way for the use of ballot drop boxes — without the backing of any Wisconsin law or statute. Additionally, Wolfe is alleged to have openly colluded with far-left election non-profit groups and allowed local election clerks to incorrectly register some voters as "indefinitely confined" in abrogation of state law.
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In a move to recognize former President Donald Trump’s lasting impact on U.S. history and diplomacy, a group of House Republicans has proposed a resolution to award him the Congressional Gold Medal. This prestigious award, considered the highest civilian honor in the country, alongside the Presidential Medal of Freedom, commemorates those who have significantly contributed to U.S. culture and history.
The resolution, spearheaded by Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna and co-signed by seven other Republican supporters, aims to celebrate Trump’s “exceptional leadership.” The former president oversaw the destruction of the Islamic State’s physical caliphate in Syria and Iraq, reversed the Barack Obama administration’s appeasement of Iran, and strong-armed European NATO members into increasing their contributions, among other foreign policy achievements — including a historic summit with North Korea. Famously, he was the first president since the 1970s not to lead the U.S. into any new wars.
However, in order for Trump to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, the resolution will have to win passage in both the Republican-majority House of Representatives and the Democrat-controlled Senate, which seems unlikely.
The House GOP has been rather limp in its support of former President Trump as the Joe Biden regime wages an ongoing lawfare campaign against him. Resolutions to expunge politically motivated impeachments, which ended in Senate acquittals, were promised almost a year ago, when Kevin McCarthy was still Speaker. These could have been passed without reference to the Senate, but ultimately went nowhere.
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In a move to recognize former President Donald Trump's lasting impact on U.S. history and diplomacy, a group of House Republicans has proposed a resolution to award him the Congressional Gold Medal. This prestigious award, considered the highest civilian honor in the country, alongside the Presidential Medal of Freedom, commemorates those who have significantly contributed to U.S. culture and history.
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The thirteenth day of former President Donald J. Trump‘s Manhattan-based hush moneytrial continued with the prosecution’s direct examination of their star witness, serial perjurer Michael Cohen. Much like Monday’s testimony, Cohen and prosecutor Susan Hoffinger spent much of the morning and early afternoon discussing invoices and verbal payment agreements that may or may not have only existed in Cohen‘s head. Todd Blanche handled Cohen’s cross-examination, with the two clashing from the start.
Also of note, court transcripts of a sidebar conversation between Trump‘s defense team, Judge Juan Merchan, and prosecutor Joshua Steinglass revealed that Michael Cohen is the last witness for the prosecution. Previously, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office had indicated they’d be bringing one additional witness after Cohen. With the prosecution’s case coming to a close, they have yet to detail what, if any, underlying crime former President Trump has committed.
The court won’t be in session Wednesday or Friday. Michael Cohen’s cross-examination will continue on Thursday.
A MATTER OF LOYALTY.
Starting the second day of direct examination by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger, Cohen claimed he had been Trump‘s personal counsel for “approximately 15 months.” When Hoffinger asked him why he lied for Trump, Cohen responded, “Out of loyalty and to protect him.” The disgraced attorney’s insistence on terms like “loyalty” and “respect” is likely why prosecutors focused so much with prior witnesses on Trump’s use of similar terms. Prosecutors had quotes using similar words from several books authored by Trump entered into the evidentiary record.
Much like Cohen‘s recollections of what Trump may or may not have said, his understanding of “loyalty” and “respect” isn’t derived from Trump but is his own. A secondary problem for the prosecution and Cohen’s discussion of “loyalty” is the fact that the disgraced attorney admitted to unethically recording a conversation with his client — over which he may have also perjured himself again.
COHEN ADMITS HE LIED TO CONGRESS.
As the morning wore on, Hoffinger — likely acknowledging her witness’s past inability to be truthful — asked Cohen to address his conviction for lying to Congress. The disgraced attorney explained the circumstances of his perjury charge and sentence. “They dealt with the Trump Tower Moscow real estate project, specifically the number of times that I claimed to have spoken to Mr. Trump about the project as well as the time period for those conversations,” Cohen testified.
Hoffinger next asked Cohen why he lied. “Because I was staying on Mr. Trump’s message that there was no Russia, Russia, Russia, and again in coordination with the joint defense team, that’s what was preferred,” he responded, appearing to mock a turn of phrase often used by Trump when the corporate media brings up the Russia Hoax.
THE TIMELINE STILL MAKES NO SENSE.
During yesterday’s testimony, The National Pulse highlighted an issue with Cohen and the District Attorney’s prosecutors’ timeline of alleged crimes. The alleged hush money repayments made to Cohen were all said to have occurred in 2017, well after the 2016 election, casting doubt on the prosecution’s assertion that the hush money payments were made to influence the election.
This morning, Cohen muddied the timeline even further, testifying that he continued to pressure individuals around both StormyDaniels and Karen McDougal to lie about their alleged affairs with Trump well into 2018. When asked why he continued to work on the Daniels and McDougal stories, Cohen replied: “In order to protect Mr. Trump.”
If the primary concern was the impact the Daniels and McDougal stories could have on the 2016 presidential election, Cohen offered no reason to the court and jury for continuing to work as a ‘fixer‘ on the stories nearly two years later.
NOTHING COHEN SAYS CAN BE BELIEVED.
The disgraced and disbarred attorney spent much of the late morning describing a bevy of instances in which he claims he lied on behalf of former President Trump. District Attorney Alvin Bragg‘s prosecutors likely felt they had to go down this path as it would be exposed during Cohen’s cross-examination beginning in the afternoon.
However, Cohen‘s admissions of being untruthful to an almost pathological degree cast a shadow on the remainder of his direct examination. The one-time Trump associate claimed he spoke with the former President regarding the false statement he gave to the media about the hush money payment to Daniels. According to Cohen, he told Trump “that I had paid the money on his behalf without his knowledge because just because something isn’t true doesn’t mean it can’t hurt you and that I did it.”
Cohen then dubiously claimed Trump replied, “That’s good, good.”
STORMY DANIEL’S DENIAL.
In another moment, Cohen may have let slip that many of his actions were of his own accord. He testified that he was the one to inform former President Trump that Stormy Daniels would be issuing a statement denying the affair allegation. When asked by Hoffinger why he was the one who told Trump, Cohen responded, “One to get credit for expressing that I was continuing to ensure that he was protected and stayed loyal. And the other so we could have this matter taken care of.”
Cohen told Hoffinger that Stormy Daniels’s denial statement was false. When asked how he knew, Cohen responded it was because he had written the statement. Again, while his claim may appear damaging on the surface, it reinforces the contention that he is untrustworthy and lacks credibility.
The direct examination of Cohen did not improve from here in terms of bolstering his credibility. When the prosecution submitted his 2018 letter to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) regarding the Stormy Daniels payment, Cohen was asked why he had lied about the Trump Organization and campaign not having knowledge of the payment. Again, Cohen — without directly implicating Trump — said the letter was meant to be misleading “in order to protect Mr Trump, stay on message, demonstrate my continued loyalty.”
JUDGE MERCHAN’S INSTRUCTIONS.
At this point, Judge JuanMerchan stopped the direct examination to instruct the jury regarding Cohen’s FEC letter and statement. He told the jurors that Cohen’s statement was only admissible in the context of their assessment of the serial perjurer’s credibility as a witness. Merchan continued, instructing the jury that the fact that an FEC investigation into the Trump campaign occurred was not admissible and should have no bearing on their deliberations.
A little over an hour later, Judge Merchan issued a second set of jury instructions regarding Cohen having pleaded guilty to lying to Congress. Merchan said the guilty plea was not to have any bearing as evidence of Trump‘s guilt but could be used to assess Cohen’s credibility.
“Mr. Cohen’s plea is not evidence of the defendant’s guilt, and you may not consider it in determining whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty of the charged crimes,” Merchan said.
COHEN ‘STOPPED LYING IN 2018.’
The prosecution’s direct examination of Cohen wound down just before the court broke for lunch. Hoffinger walked Cohen through how he communicated with other business associates and confidants within the Trump orbit. In addition, the context and whether the recording Cohen had made of his conversation with Donald Trump regarding David Pecker and the McDougal payment was altered in any way was raised again.
“At any time, did you alter or modify the audio recording of your conversation with Mr. Trump as contained in PX246?” Hoffinger asked Cohen. He replied, “No, ma’am.”
The disgraced attorney told the jury that he hasn’t lied since 2018, suggesting that the several criminal cases against him and his subsequent three-year prison sentence caused him to have a moral revelation. “I regret doing things for him that I should not have — lying, bullying people in order to effectuate a goal. I don’t regret working with the Trump Organization,” Cohen said. Again, he stopped short of firmly stating he was ordered to do anything illegal. Instead, Cohen again focused on the need to “keep the loyalty.”
CROSS-EXAMINATION BEGINS.
Former President Trump‘s lead defense attorney, Todd Blanche, handled Michael Cohen‘s cross-examination and the long-expected fireworks kicking off immediately. “You went on TikTok and called me a crying little sh*t,” asked Blanche in an opening salvo. Cohen responded, “Sounds like something I would say.” As Cohen finished, prosecutors frantically objected to the question, which Judge Merchan sustained, striking the question and response from the record.
Blanche’s opening strategy appears to have been to paint Cohen as someone who runs their mouth and still demeans others, undermining his claims to have turned a new leaf.
Taking another shot at Cohen’s credibility and personal investment in the trial outcome, Blanche asked: “Is this trial important to you, Mr. Cohen?” The disgraced attorney answered: “Personally, yes.”
COHEN HAMMERED ON TIKTOK POSTS.
After lunch, Blanche spent a sustained period hammering Cohen on his social media posts throughout the trial. “You also talked on social media, during this trial, about President Trump, have you not?” Trump‘s attorney asked Cohen. The serial perjurer replied: “Sounds correct, yes.”
Addressing Michael Cohen’s TikTok video posts, Blanche asked him if he had referred to Trump as a “dictator douchebag.” Cohen again acknowledged that he likely had. “On that same TikTok on April 23, you referred to President Trump when he left the courtroom — you said that he goes right into that little cage, which is where he belongs in a f**king cage like an animal?” Blanche asked Cohen next.
Blanche’s line of questioning served two purposes. One illustrates the extreme degree of hostility Cohen still holds for former President Trump, which could color his testimony as possibly false or biased. The other highlights Cohen’s hazy recollection of recent comments. During the prosecution’s direct examination, Cohen was able to recall — evidently in great detail — conversations between five and ten years old with former President Trump.
A HAZY MEMORY.
“Do you remember in February 2021, you were going on TV talking about the investigation?” Blanche asked Cohen, referring to the District Attorney investigation prior to Bragg’s indictment of Trump. Cohen could not give a concrete response, instead replying: “I go on TV often, so I’m not sure what the topic was.”
Blanche continued to press Cohen, asking him if he had often talked to the press about the investigation. Cohen, again, refused to give a firm answer, stating instead: “It sounds correct.”
The response prompted another terse exchange between Blanche and Cohen, with Trump‘s defense attorney firing back: “I don’t want it to sound correct. Is it correct?” Michael Cohen finally relented, responding, “Yes, it would be correct.”
Zeroing in on conversations Cohen had with his attorney, Lanny Davis, regarding media appearances, Blanche drew Cohen’s memoryproblems out into the open for the jury: “You testified yesterday about very specific recollections that you have about telephone conversations you had with President Trump in 2016 — but you have no recollection that last month just over a year ago that you promised the district attorney that you would stop going on TV?”
“What I was saying to you, sir, I don’t recall even having these conversations with Lanny Davis about not going on television,” Cohen replied before adding: “I recall the conversations with President Trump at the time, yes.”
COHEN MAKES MONEY OFF TRUMP.
Moving on, Blanche focused on Cohen’s financial motivations for attacking and ostensibly lying about former President Trump. He asked Cohen about his social media activity, specifically his TikTok videos. Cohen testified he spends about an hour on TikTok every night. When Blanche asked if he makes money off his social media posts, Cohen admitted he does but contended, “It’s not significant.”
Continuing the social media theme, Blanche asked Cohen if he uses TikTok to make money. The serial perjurer replied, “Money is made from it, yes.”
“That’s not my question. One of the reasons you do it is to make money, yes or no?” Blanche fired back.
Cohen’s ‘obsession’ with Trump was the final theme of Blanche’s cross-examination before the court adjourned for the day. Blanche read a series of glowing statements about Trump that Cohen has made over the years. “At the time, you weren’t lying, right?” Trump’s defense attorney asked Cohen. “At that time, I was knee-deep into the cult of Donald Trump, yes,” Cohen responded, adding: “I was not lying, it’s how I felt.”
Blanche asked Cohen if he was obsessed with Donald Trump. “I wouldn’t say obsessed. I admired him tremendously,” Cohen replied. He continued: “I can’t recall using that word. I wouldn’t say it would be wrong.”
Pivoting into a darker form of obsession, Blanche confronted Cohen over claims he now wants to see Trump in prison: “Have you regularly commented on your podcasts that you want President Trump to be convicted in this case?”
“Yes, probably,” Cohen responded.
When pressed further on why he responded with “probably,” Cohen said: “Because I don’t specifically know if I used those words, but yes, I would like to see that.”
You can read The National Pulse’s Day Twelve trial coverage here, and if you find our work worthwhile, consider joining as a supporter.
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The thirteenth day of former President Donald J. Trump's Manhattan-based hush money trial continued with the prosecution's direct examination of their star witness, serial perjurer Michael Cohen. Much like Monday's testimony, Cohen and prosecutor Susan Hoffinger spent much of the morning and early afternoon discussing invoices and verbal payment agreements that may or may not have only existed in Cohen's head. Todd Blanche handled Cohen's cross-examination, with the two clashing from the start.
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George Washington University (GWU) law professor Jonathan Turley believes disgraced and disbarred attorney MichaelCohen may have perjured himself again during Monday’s testimony in former President Donald J. Trump‘s hush money trial. Cohen previously pleaded guilty to lying to Congress — a felony — in 2018 and was sentenced to two months in prison for the crime.
Turley noted that Cohen‘s reasoning for secretly recording a phone conversation with then-President-elect Trump was questionable. “The one thing about yesterday that was striking is I thought that Michael Cohen may have committed perjury again,” the GWU law professor toldFox News‘s Dana Perino on Tuesday.
He continued: “In my view, one of his answers just made no sense at all. He said that he taped his client, former President Trump, in order to keep DavidPecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, honest and make sure he paid. First of all, it made no sense at all why he would do that, Pecker had been in communication with Trump himself, but it didn’t make any sense at all.” The distinguished law professor also noted that such behavior breaks professional ethical standards.
Previously sentenced for tax evasion and disbarred, Cohen is a key witness for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg‘s prosecution of former President Trump. What crime Trump committed has yet to be made clear in the course of the Manhattan hush money trial. Cohen was recently dubbed a “serial perjurer” and ethically “perverse” by a federal judge after the disgraced attorney asked for an end to the conditions of his early release.
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George Washington University (GWU) law professor Jonathan Turley believes disgraced and disbarred attorney MichaelCohen may have perjured himself again during Monday's testimony in former President Donald J. Trump's hush money trial. Cohen previously pleaded guilty to lying to Congress — a felony — in 2018 and was sentenced to two months in prison for the crime.
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