The Habersham County Elections Board met Tuesday afternoon, May 28, 2024, to certify the May 21 Primary election results. (Jerry Neace/NowHabersham.com)
The Habersham County Board of Elections & Voter Registration will conduct a recount of the May 21, 2024, General Primary Commission District 1 Race.
According to the official certified election returns, challenger Eric Holbrooks defeated Palmer by 1,707 to 1,687 votes. A total of 5,492 votes were cast in the race, meaning less than half a percentage point separates the two, paving the way for the recount.
“I just think that as close as it is, there’s always a possibility of an error,” Palmer told Now Habersham.
That recount will occur at 2 p.m. on Monday, June 3, in the county elections office at 403 Habersham County Shopping Center near Belk in Cornelia.
Kelly Woodall is assured of a spot in the runoff after receiving 2,098 of the 5,492 votes cast, or 38.2%.
Habersham County has released more information about the three suspects arrested in a brief police chase in Clarkesville that resulted in an hours-long manhunt for one of the suspects on May 30.
Steven Ferguson, VonKeith Hall, and Darius Henry were all booked into the Habersham County Detention Center on Wednesday afternoon and evening.
Ferguson is being held on felony fleeing or attempting to elude police officer, misdemeanor obstruction or hindering law enforcement officer, and fugitive from justice.
Hall and Henry are both only charged with misdemeanor obstruction or hindering law enforcement officer.
Bond has not been set yet for the three suspects.
Habersham County deputies canvas the area on Spring Street near Washington Street during the hours-long manhunt Wednesday afternoon. (Jerry Neace/NowHabersham.com)
Henry was the last suspect arrested Wednesday evening after authorities searched the area in the vicinity of Wilbanks Lumber Yard and Dunkin Donuts in Clarkesville for five hours. He was later arrested on State Route 365 and Duncan Bridge Road during a traffic stop after leaving the area when a female driver picked him up in a white sedan.
Further charges are pending not only in Habersham County but in other jurisdictions in Georgia and at least five other states.
The woman who gave Henry a ride out of Clarkesville on Wednesday will not face charges at this time, according to the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office.
“She was cooperative and released on scene along with her adolescent daughter,” said Investigator George Cason.
The unidentified woman helped one of three suspects flee from the search area set up following a brief chase in Clarkesville on Wednesday, May 28.
Stolen credit card
According to a news release from the sheriff’s office released late Wednesday, Habersham County officials were contacted by investigators in the Dalton area who were tracking a rental vehicle that had three suspects who were involved in burglaries and thefts in their jurisdiction.
As Now Habersham first reported on Wednesday, that vehicle was tracked to Habersham County, where a Habersham County deputy encountered it near Dairy Queen in Clarkesville.
The deputy attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver fled initiating a brief car chase that ended in front of Dunkin Donuts in Clarkesville.
A tow truck hauls away the suspect vehicle that wrecked during a chase with deputies in Clarkesville on May 29, 2024. The suspects fled on foot and a manhunt is underway. (Jerry Neace/NowHabersham.com)
All three occupants of the vehicle fled on foot. Two went into the Wilbanks Lumber property, while the third went into the woods and continued to run on foot.
The two that went into the grounds of Wilbanks Lumber were apprehended in a woodpile inside a building by investigators, deputies, and other officers. One of the two men was wanted for aggravated assault.
The sheriff’s office says K9s “were unable to establish a true track on the third man due to wind and saturation in the area.”
Suspect slipped away after calling for ride
“While meeting with Habersham County Sheriff’s Investigator George Cason, Clarkesville Police Chief Danny Clouatre, and Officer Brant Benoit around 8 p.m., the three observed a white, late model vehicle with dark-tinted windows pick up a male who came out of the woods and then immediately left the area,” says Habersham County Public Information Officer Rob Moore.
“Because they were some distance from the vehicle, they and other units began to canvass the area attempting to locate it.”
According to Moore, Cason located the vehicle traveling south on GA 365 at Level Grove Road and initiated a traffic stop on GA 365 at Duncan Bridge Road in Baldwin once a backup unit arrived with him.
The third suspect, who was a passenger in that car, was arrested during the traffic stop.
A Georgia State Patrol helicopter passes over the Habersham County courthouse while searching for a suspect who fled on foot from a police chase Wednesday afternoon, May 29, 2024. (Photo by Sherri Purcell)
In addition to pending obstruction and fleeing charges, “there was a crime that was committed there at My Georgia Credit Union where a debit card was used from a member of My Georgia Credit Union by these men, and we’re going to be following up on that,” Cason said.
‘Bigger than North Georgia’
All three men were booked at the Habersham County Detention Center in Clarkesville.
Cason said the case is bigger than just North Georgia.
“They’re going around using debit cards, credit cards, fraudulent checks, doing a lot of fraud and stuff where they’re stealing money from people,” Cason said. “It’s tied into about five different states, possibly six, all the way even out to Texas.”
Cason said the female driver who picked up the third man “was very cooperative.”
She had been called by the man saying there had been an emergency and she needed to come get him. Cason said when she saw that he was hot and sweaty, she suspected something might be wrong.
“She was just waiting for one of us to pull her over,” Cason said.
Investigation continues
“We especially want to thank Clarkesville Police Department for all their help, as well as all agencies that responded or sent personnel,” Cason said.
Other agencies assisting with the search include K9 teams from Banks County and White County, a helicopter from Georgia State Patrol Aviation, and police officers from Demorest and Baldwin.
No firearms were located on any of the suspects, and there was no information that any of them was armed.
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts presides over the second impeachment trial of President Donald Trump in January 2020. (U.S. Senate livestream image via PBS)
(States Newsroom) — U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. told leading Democrats on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday he will not meet with them to discuss the court’s code of ethics, following revelations of displays of politically oriented flags at the homes of Justice Samuel Alito.
Individual justices will continue to decide their own recusals, Roberts wrote to Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, a Democrat of Illinois, and Subcommittee on the Federal Courts Chair Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, in a letter obtained by States Newsroom.
Durbin and Whitehouse had asked Roberts a week earlier to force Alito to recuse himself from upcoming decisions related to the 2020 election and to meet to discuss proposals to strengthen Supreme Court ethics rules.
“I must respectfully decline your request for a meeting,” Roberts wrote in the two-paragraph letter dated Thursday. “Separation of powers concerns and the importance of preserving judicial independence counsel against such appearances.”
Justices rarely meet with legislators, particularly those who have expressed an interest in matters before the court, Roberts wrote.
Meeting with members of only one party would be especially problematic, he said.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Durbin rejected Roberts’ reasoning, saying Durbin only sought to address the lack of public confidence in the court.
“The Chief Justice is wrong to say that simply meeting with members of Congress to discuss the Supreme Court’s ethics crisis threatens the separation of powers or judicial independence,” the spokesperson wrote.
“Due to the Chief Justice’s intransigence, Chair Durbin will continue his efforts to pass legislation establishing an enforceable code of conduct for all nine Supreme Court justices — regardless of which President appointed them.”
‘Immediately take appropriate steps’
Durbin and Whitehouse wrote to Roberts on May 23, asking him “to immediately take appropriate steps to ensure that Justice Alito will recuse himself in any cases related to the 2020 presidential election and January 6th attack on the Capitol.”
Flags at two Alito homes appeared to promote former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that his loss in the 2020 election was the result of a rigged election. That claim spurred the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.
A May 22 New York Times report documented that a flag at Alito’s Virginia home flew upside down in the weeks following the 2020 election. Alito told the Times that his wife displayed that flag in reaction to a neighborhood dispute.
A New Jersey vacation home belonging to the Alitos was photographed in the summer of 2023 flying an “Appeal to Heaven” flag, which bears that slogan above a simple pine tree design. The second flag was also first reported in the New York Times.
Both flags were carried by rioters during the Capitol attack, raising questions for Durbin and Whitehouse about Alito’s ability to be objective in cases concerning former President Donald Trump’s role in the attack.
The court heard oral arguments last month in a case about whether presidential immunity shielded Trump from prosecution on federal charges he sought to overturn the legitimate election results.
The Democratic senators specified that the case was one from which Alito should recuse himself.
Roberts’ letter said Alito had written to the committee himself on that issue. That letter was not immediately available Thursday.
An occupant in this Chevy Trailblazer was taken to the hospital after it collided with a car and struck a tree on Wyly Street in Cornelia on May 28, 2024. (Daniel Purcell/NowHabersham.com)
A two-vehicle wreck in Cornelia Tuesday night sent one person to the hospital. The injured patient was in an SUV that struck a tree.
The accident happened on May 28 at Wyly Street and Summit in Cornelia.
According to the police report, Brandi Bass was driving a passenger car and stopped at the stop sign on Summit Street. She then pulled onto Wyly Street and collided with a Chevrolet Trailblazer.
The impact caused the SUV to crash head-on into a tree, resulting in suspected serious injury to its driver, Thania Garcia. Habersham County EMS transported Garcia to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Demorest.
Bass was checked by EMTS at the scene. Police cited her for failure to yield after stopping at a stop sign.
The impact crushed the front end of the sedan. (Daniel Purcell/NowHabersham.com)(Daniel Purcell/NowHabersham.com)
FILE PHOTO — The Cornelia City Park Story Trail features reading stations where walkers can stop and read pages from a book. By the end of the trail, they've read the full story. (Jerry Neace/Now Habersham.com)
Now that the kids are out of school, you may find yourself looking for ways to fill up their days. The Cornelia City Park Story Trail is one stop you might want to make.
The story trail opened last August and has a new story to tell. The new featured book is “Mama Bird Papa Bird: Obey Right Away.”
This second installment of the Mama Bird Papa Bird series follows Baby Bird on an adventure where he learns a valuable lesson. The book is written by local author Wanda Obermeier. As you walk the trail, you can stop at the different stations to read a page from the book so that, by the end of your walk, you’ve read the book.
Pebble Ministry, based in Habersham, spearheaded the project. Founder Troyce Simmons said when it opened, it was the only one in Northeast Georgia outside of Hall County. Similar trails exist in other parts of the state.
The purpose of the story trail is to foster a sense of fun and community as people walk and read together.
Pebble Ministry’s Chief Financial Officer, Christine Simmons, encourages users to share feedback. There’s a QR code at the end of the trail you can scan to do that.
For more information about story trail books, email [email protected].
A Georgia State Patrol helicopter passes over the Habersham County courthouse while searching for a suspect who fled on foot from a police chase Wednesday afternoon, May 29, 2024. (Photo by Sherri Purcell)
The third and final suspect who fled from a police chase in Clarkesville Wednesday afternoon is now in custody. Investigators say he was captured in a traffic stop on GA 365 near Duncan Bridge Road.
The manhunt ended when officers got a tip that the suspect left Clarkesville in a white sedan. Deputies pulled him over in a traffic stop outside Cornelia approximately 15 minutes later. It’s unclear the relationship of the suspect to the vehicle’s driver.
According to Habersham County deputies, two other suspects were apprehended earlier in the day in Wilbanks Lumber Yard in Clarkesville. All three fled on foot when the vehicle they were in was disabled while a deputy chased them.
It started with a stolen credit card
A tow truck hauls away the suspect vehicle that wrecked during a chase with deputies in Clarkesville on May 29, 2024. The suspects fled on foot, and a manhunt is underway. (Jerry Neace/NowHabersham.com)
The Wednesday afternoon incident began at the Dairy Queen on Historic US 441 in Clarkesville after the suspects allegedly attempted to use a stolen credit card at the fast food chain.
According to officials on the scene, the credit card company alerted authorities and a Habersham County sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to the restaurant. As she approached, the suspects reportedly fled.
A chase ensued. According to authorities, the fleeing vehicle was disabled when it struck the curb in front of the BP gas station near McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts on Washington Street in Clarkesville.
Possible ties to Florida theft ring
Officials tell Now Habersham that the stolen credit card may be tied to a string of auto break-ins in the area. The suspects are all from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and may be involved with a theft ring from that state.
K9 units from Banks County, White County, and Baldwin, local law enforcement, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and State Patrol assisted in the search.
A Cornelia fire truck and law enforcement block the entrance to the Johnons & Johnson Ethicon plant in Cornelia after a suspicious package was found at the plant Wednesday morning, May 29, 2024. (Nora Almazan/NowHabersham.com)
The Ethicon plant in Cornelia was evacuated early Wednesday morning after someone found a suspicious package in the office area.
Cornelia police and firefighters, along with other law enforcement agencies, responded to the call around 9:25 a.m. on May 29.
“Following protocol, we evacuated the building and alerted neighboring businesses so they could follow their protocol,” Cornelia Police Chief Jonathan Roberts tells Now Habersham.
The Ethicon plant is located off US Business 441 in Cornelia. (Nora Almazan/NowHabersham.com)
Authorities called in a bomb detection K-9 from the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office. Roberts says during the investigation, they determined the suspicious package was a homemade spooling device that an employee made in an effort to make their job easier.
Chief Roberts thanked the sheriff’s office and other public safety officials for their rapid response. He adds, “We are very fortunate and thankful that everything turned out okay and that Ethicon followed their safety protocols in order to keep the plant and its employees safe.”
Tarp Head is with his son J.T. Head III of Cleveland, GA. J.T. is the youngest person to pilot a Hot Air Balloon solo. (photo submitted)
The ascension of the balloons in the newly dawned sky captures the attention of spectators in Helen, Georgia, and throughout Northeast Georgia. It is a moment that never gets old to balloonists, spectators, and ground crews. You can be a part of it all this weekend at the Helen Hot Air Balloon Race and Festival.
“Ballooning brings out the kid in everyone,” Tarp Head, owner of Head Balloons, Inc. and Balloonmeister for the event, explained. “There is something incredible about the colors and the feeling when you see them in the sky.”
Head Balloon, Inc. manufactures hot air balloons in Helen, GA. (photo submitted)
Tarp Head saw his first hot air balloon in 1973 at the age of 19 and knows all too well that special feeling when the eyes look up and see the beauty of ballooning.
Head Balloons, Inc. is a balloon manufacturing company specializing in custom-built balloons by creating unique designs and utilizing the most rugged materials available today. Head received his FAA license to manufacture balloons in 1981.
“I started out wanting to learn to fly balloons,” Tarp added. “When something would rip, I would sew it up.” From piloting to repair, balloons became a part of Tarp, and 40-plus years later, he still loves everything about the business.
Tarp and his wife Desiree met at a balloon festival in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The two have been married for 23 years. “Desiree is one of the premier crew chiefs in the world,” Tarp said of his wife.
In the Head household, it doesn’t stop there. Four years ago, J.T. Head III, Tarp and Desiree’s son, piloted a solo flight at the age of 8. He is the youngest person in the world to pilot a hot air balloon solo.
By the Federal Aviation Administration regulations, a person must be 14 years old to fly a full-sized balloon. J.T. piloted an ultralight aircraft made by David Bristol, a family friend. No pilot certification was required.
J.T. Head, III is the youngest person to pilot a solo flight in a Hot Air Balloon. (photo submitted)
Head Balloon is one of four manufacturers of hot air balloons in the United States.
“There are so many other ways for people to enjoy the thrills of life – ballooning is not as popular as it once was,” Tarp said. “We sell between 15 to 20 hot air balloons a year.”
Start-up costs for someone to become involved in the sport don’t have to be expensive. A new balloon with the equipment could cost in the area of $40,000.00, but a person can find used equipment at reasonable prices. “It’s like buying a used car instead of a new one,” Tarp explained.
Tarp and his family will be in Helen this weekend for the 51st Annual Helen to the Atlantic Hot Air Balloon Race and Festival. The Helendorf River Inn and Suites hosts the event each year and has since its beginnings in 1973.
Tarp has worked with Catherine Cleiman of the Helendorf for many years. “I helped Catherine’s parents many years ago before they passed away. Catherine has been involved in ballooning for as long as I have.”
This is an event you will not want to miss. Catherine, along with her son Cole and the staff of the Helendorf, make the event come to life for the city of Helen.
Catherine Cleiman of the Helendorf Inn & Suites and Tarp Head at the Helen to the Atlantic Balloon Race & Festival. (photo submitted)
Lift-off for the Helen to the Atlantic Balloon Race and Mass Ascension begins at 7 a.m. on Thursday, May 30th.
At 6:30 p.m. the local balloon event continues. On May 31st and June 1st, times are 7 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. There are no ballooning activities during the day so visitors can enjoy the city of Helen and all it offers.
The launch field is located across the river from Cool River Tubing and the city’s River Park on the Wilkin’s property. To enter the field, go across the bridge at Cool River Tubing and turn left. While most balloons will use the launch field, a few may also launch in various places around town.
If the weather permits, there are opportunities to experience a tethered balloon ride for spectators with a sense of adventure.
Baldwin Councilmember Alice Venter addresses Councilmember Joseph Satterfield advocating for the Chief Administrative Officer's salary increase. (Jerry Neace/NowHabersham.com)
The salary increase for the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) for the city became a contentious topic of discussion during Baldwin’s City Council meeting Tuesday evening.
The discussion started out civil enough but was bathed in confusion. No one had a copy of the employment contract. It was assumed that it was with the City Attorney’s office.
As part of the employment contract, an annual review must be performed by the council and discussed with Chief Administrative Officer Emily Woodmaster. Councilmember Alice Venter asked Woodmaster how she felt about her review. Mayor Stephanie Almagno said, “She did not receive it. It is with legal.”
Venter then asked, “How are we going to discuss this?” She added, ”This is going to kind of hinder our discussion of the budget too.”
Venter was not clear as to why the review was sent to legal. Almagno said that it was legal’s recommendation that it be sent to him. Venter said that it was not legal’s responsibility but the council’s responsibility to handle the review process.
It was agreed by the council that Almagno would complete the review process this week and meet with Woodmaster so they could complete her annual review.
Once it was clear to the council that they were not going to be able to discuss the elements of the contract, they decided to move forward with discussing the salary within the contract. The need for that was to ensure that the increase in the CAO’s salary was included in the budget.
Salary increase
The CAO salary discussion was spearheaded by Councilmember Alice Venter. She explained to the council that Woodmaster has not asked for an increase in her salary. “For the record, the CAO has not asked for anything,” Venter said.
As Venter continued, she became more agitated and began addressing her comments towards Councilmember Joseph Satterfield. Directing her comments to Satterfield, she referenced a pay study completed by the city last year. “The pay study does not include anything but the CAO position,” she said.
Almagno said that the salary for the position was looked at closely with the pay study. One factor was should the occupant of the position become incapacitated for whatever reason, the city would have to offer a marketable salary to recruit a replacement for the position.
Venter stated that the CAO currently is the lowest paid in the county. She added that she is also the only woman CAO among the cities.
“The CAO salary, at the moment, is $104,000. I proposed a 10% increase,” Venter said.
She explained that the city was doing away with paid time off (PTO) for salaried employees but included the pay in the salaries for those exempt employees. She added that the dollar amount equivalent for the CAO position was $6,000.
Venter also said that all of the employees would be receiving a 2.5% cost of living adjustment to their salaries this coming year due to inflation. She factored all of the increases and adjustments for the CAO salary. The CAO salary, according to Venter, will increase from $104,000 to $123,410.
She explained the various duties that the CAO has to perform stating that the CAO has to manage a city that is in two counties.
Salary contention
“I will fight you over the CAO contract. I will fight you over the salary. Because it’s the right thing to do,” Venter said to the council.
Satterfield explained that he had a discussion with another CAO in the county. In that discussion, he learned that Mark Musselwhite had several years of experience in government as a councilmember and a Mayor.
He added the similarities of the CAO position between Demorest and Baldwin, stating that Demorest does not have an HR Director nor a Finance Director and he performs those duties as does Woodmaster. Satterfield also stated that Demorest manages approximately 7,500 water accounts compared to Baldwin’s approximately 1,900. The only difference he saw was Baldwin collects taxes from two counties.
Almagno said that it’s more than collecting taxes. It’s managing two sets of numbers, tax digests, ARPA funds from two counties, and SPLOST from two counties.
“You can’t compare city to city to city. Every city is unique,” Almagno told Satterfield.
Clarke County Sheriff John Q. Williams addresses ACC commissioners at a work session on Jan. 12, 2023. Chief Deputy Frank Woods is behind Williams. (WUGA.com)
Equal pay for Clarke County Sheriff’s deputies may be on hold as the deadline for next year’s budget comes closer.
At a budget meeting Thursday, Mayor Kelly Girtz and several commissioners debated whether or not sheriff’s deputies should receive the same salary as their counterparts in the Athens-Clarke County Police Department who receive the same training.
Sheriff John Q Williams sounded the alarm at a budget meeting in mid-May that equal pay would be necessary for the retention of deputies.
“If you want people dying in jail, keep having us be short staffed,” Sheriff Williams said.
During Thursday’s budget hearing, Patrick Davenport, Commissioner in the 1st District, suggested budgeting in room for a pay study rather than raising deputies’ salaries for next year.
“We’re picking and choosing our favorites. I think a more holistic study will benefit. Just me, I am prejudiced. That’s my fault. I think our police officers do a much better and finer job in protecting our community,” he said.
The Mayor told Commissioners to consider the gap in pay between Georgia State Patrol Officers and Georgia Department of Corrections.
“Those are both public safety units in the state of Georgia. Their gap is much wider than our gap. Our gap between sheriff’s deputies working the jail and those who are policing the streets through ACCPD is relatively narrow compared to that gap between Department of Corrections and State Patrol,” Girtz said.
However, the gap in salaries between entry-level Georgia State Patrol Officers and state correctional officers is about $4,000, while the gap between local sheriff’s deputies and ACCPD officers is about $5,000.
The question of deputy pay will be settled for the next fiscal year on June 5th, when commissioners are expected to approve the budget.
This article comes to Now Habersham in partnership with WUGA
White County Elections Supervisor Amie Veater reports that the White County Elections Board met Tuesday and certified the May 21 General Primary/Nonpartisan Election results.
The Official & Complete Election Summary shows that 4,349 of the county’s 21,374 registered voters cast ballots in the primary. That’s a 20.35% voter turnout, including absentee by mail, early, and election-day voting.
All election night totals remained the same with the certified results.
File photo — Former President Donald Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records, which prosecutors say was an effort to hide a potential sex scandal, both before and after the 2016 presidential election. Trump is the first former U.S. president to face trial on criminal charges. (Sarah Yenesel-Pool/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (States Newsroom) — Closing arguments in the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president concluded Tuesday, leaving the jury to now decide if Donald Trump is guilty of faking reimbursement to his personal lawyer for hush money paid to a porn star just before the 2016 presidential election.
Just outside the Lower Manhattan courthouse during summations, the campaign to reelect President Joe Biden held a press conference featuring actor Robert DeNiro and two former U.S. Capitol Police officers who were overwhelmed by the angry mob of Trump supporters who stormed the building on Jan. 6, 2021.
DeNiro bickered with a heckler, and the Trump campaign followed with its own press conference.
The trial’s final day of arguments wrapped up after nearly eight hours of closing arguments, during which the defense portrayed Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, as the “M.V.P. of liars” and Trump as a victim of extortion and too busy a leader in 2017 to understand the payments to Cohen.
Meanwhile, the prosecution walked jurors through excruciating details of events and witness testimony to show that Trump’s objective, along with those in his orbit, was to “hoodwink the American voter” leading up to the 2016 election, according to reporters at the courthouse.
New York does not allow recording in the courtroom but provides public transcripts of the proceedings.
Actor Robert DeNiro speaks outside the Manhattan courthouse where former President Donald Trump is on trial. Former U.S. Capitol police officers Harry Dunn and Michael Fanone joined DeNiro for the press conference organized on behalf of the Biden campaign on May 28, 2024. (Livestream image courtesy C-Span)
Trump, the presumed 2024 Republican presidential nominee, is charged with 34 felonies, one for each of the 11 invoices, 11 checks, and 12 ledger entries that New York state prosecutors allege were cooked up as routine “legal expenses,” hiding what were really reimbursements to Cohen for paying off adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Trump denies any wrongdoing
Daniels, also an adult film director, testified in early May to a 2006 sexual encounter at a Lake Tahoe golf tournament with Trump, which he maintains never happened.
Cohen, the prosecution’s key witness, later told the jurors that he wired Daniels $130,000 to secure her signature on a nondisclosure agreement in late October 2016 and that Trump was aware.
Cohen’s payment swiftly followed the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Trump was recorded telling a TV host that his fame allows him to grab women by the genitals.
The revelation spun Trump’s campaign into a frenzy over possibly losing women voters, additional witnesses testified.
Further, Cohen testified that Trump was present during conversations to hatch a plan with the Trump Organization’s longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, to repay Cohen under the guise of “legal expenses.” Cohen would eventually receive a grossed-up sum of $420,000 to account for a bonus and taxes.
The hush money trial, which began in mid-April, is likely the only one to occur prior to the November election. Three other criminal cases against the former president, two federal and one in Georgia, remain stalled.
Throughout the six-week trial, jurors heard from nearly two dozen witnesses called by the prosecution to establish Trump’s history of working to suppress negative stories.
David Pecker, former National Enquirer publisher, testified to coordinating with Trump and Cohen earlier in 2016 to pay off former Playboy model Karen McDougal and bury her story of an alleged affair with Trump.
The G.L.O.A.T.
In his closing statements, Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, addressed the jury for nearly three hours, arguing that Trump made no such effort to influence the 2016 election by “unlawful means.”
Blanche told the jurors to put the idea of a conspiracy aside, emphasizing that the existence of a nondisclosure agreement is “not a crime.” Working with editors to buy sources’ silence and bury stories was routine, Blanche said.
“Every campaign in this country is a conspiracy,” he told the jurors, according to reporters at the courthouse.
While no hard contract existed between Trump and Cohen at the time, Blanche argued that the two had entered into an “oral” retainer agreement and that Cohen was lying about how much work he was actually doing for Trump.
By the time Trump reached the Oval Office and personally signed nine of the 11 checks for Cohen, the then-president was too busy “running the country” to realize what he was signing, Blanche said.
As for the classification of the payments on the ledger, Blanche argued that the Trump Organization’s software featured limited dropdown menu categories and that “legal expenses” was one of the options.
Blanche’s closing statements were largely dominated by his effort to persuade jurors that Cohen’s testimony could not be trusted.
“There is no way that you can find that President Trump knew about this payment at the time it was made without believing the words of Michael Cohen — period,” Blanche told the jurors, according to reporters in the courtroom.
Using another sports metaphor, Blanche told jurors that Cohen is the “G.L.O.A.T.”
“He’s literally the greatest liar of all time,” Blanche said.
He closed by urging the jurors not to send Trump “to prison” based on Cohen’s testimony.
Justice Juan Merchan admonished Blanche for mentioning prison, pointing out that a guilty verdict does not necessarily mean prison time. Merchan told the jurors to disregard that “improper” comment, according to reporters at the courthouse.
‘The only one who’s paid the price’
For just under five hours, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass led jurors through his closing argument, clocking the longest day of the trial.
Steinglass started off by telling them the prosecution only needs to prove the following: There were false business records used as part of the conspiracy and that Trump knew about them.
Steinglass reviewed earlier evidence presented to the jury — phone records, handwritten notes, recorded phone conversations and checks bearing Trump’s own signature. He also recalled the damning testimony of several Trump allies, including Pecker, the publisher.
“The conspiracy to unlawfully influence the 2016 election — you don’t need Michael Cohen to prove that one bit,” Steinglass said, according to reporters at the courthouse.
Steinglass leaned into Cohen’s seedy past, including his lying to Congress and his jail time for campaign finance violations related to hush money payments to women who alleged extramarital affairs with Trump.
These actions, he said, were taken on Trump’s behalf to defend and shield him; the irony, Steinglass said, is now they are being used against Cohen, again, to protect Trump.
Cohen transformed from a loyal Trump ally into a bitter foe who has published books titled “Disloyal” and “Revenge,” and produces a podcast called “Mea Culpa” on which he regularly lambastes Trump.
Cohen is “understandably angry that to date, he’s the only one who’s paid the price for his role in this conspiracy,” Blanche told the jurors, according to reporters, who noted Trump was shaking his head.
Steinglass attempted to humanize Cohen for the jurors, telling them one can “hardly blame” the former fixer — who now has a criminal record and no law license — for selling merchandise, including t-shirts depicting Trump in an orange prison jumpsuit.
Steinglass also refuted the defense’s argument that Trump’s actions ahead of the 2016 election were routine, describing the National Enquirer as “a covert arm” of the Trump campaign and “the very antithesis of a normal legitimate press function.”
“Everything Mr. Trump and his cohorts did in this case was cloaked in lies,” Steinglass said nearing the end of his closing statement. “The name of the game was concealment, and all roads lead to the man who benefited the most, Donald Trump.”
Biden deploys DeNiro
On the sidewalk just outside the New York County Supreme Court, the Biden campaign deployed DeNiro, the voice of the latest campaign ad, and former U.S. Capitol Police officers Harry Dunn and Michael Fanone. The officers are campaigning for Biden in battleground states, the campaign said in a press release.
The campaign’s Michael Tyler, communications director, introduced the trio and said they were not in Manhattan because of the trial proceedings but rather because that’s where the media is concentrated.
Loud protesters, whom DeNiro called “crazy,” competed with the speakers.
“Donald Trump has created this,” DeNiro said, pointing to the demonstrators. “He wants to sow total chaos, which he’s succeeding in some areas … I love this city, and I don’t want to destroy it. Donald Trump wants to destroy not only this city but the country, and eventually, he could destroy the world.”
“These guys are the true heroes,” De Niro said, pointing to Dunn and Fanone behind him. “They stood and put their lives on the line for these low lives, for Trump.”
A protester then interrupted DeNiro to call the officers “traitors.”
“I don’t even know how to deal with you, my friend,” DeNiro snapped back during the livestreamed event.
Both Dunn and Fanone testified two years ago before lawmakers investigating the violent mob that overran the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 as Congress gathered for a joint session to certify Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory. Trump still falsely claims he won the election.
Jason Miller, senior adviser to Trump, held up Tuesday’s copy of the New York Post bearing the headline “Nothing to Bragg About,” a play on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s name.
“Everybody knows this case is complete garbage,” Miller said. “President Trump did nothing wrong. This is all politics.”
On Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, the former president posted “BORING!” in all capital letters during a break in the Steinglass summation.
Late Monday, Trump posted in all caps a complaint about the order in which closing arguments would occur — a routine, well-established series of remarks in trials.
“WHY IS THE CORRUPT GOVERNMENT ALLOWED TO MAKE THE FINAL ARGUMENT IN THE CASE AGAINST ME? WHY CAN’T THE DEFENSE GO LAST? BIG ADVANTAGE, VERY UNFAIR. WITCH HUNT!” he wrote.
