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As Donald Trump's hush money/falsified business records trial moved along on Tuesday, May 14, his former personal attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, was aggressively cross examined by the defense team in a Lower Manhattan courtroom. And if Cohen, as reported, is the prosecution's final witness, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr.'s office may rest its case sooner rather than later.

CNN's Dana Bash discussed Cohen's testimony and the cross examination with jury consultant Robert Hirschhorn and former federal prosecutor Elie Honig during a May 15 segment. And both of them identified flaws with the defense team's approach.

Hirschhorn said of Cohen, "So, he did an OK job, but he's being a little evasive — and let me tell you why. When he gives answers like 'sounds like something I would say,' that's going to bother these jurors. Just answer yes or no. 'Sounds like something I would say' is the beginning of the cracks of Michael Cohen. And so, that's one piece."

READ MORE:Trump lawyer reportedly 'growled' when confronting Cohen about profanity-laden insult

The jury consultant continued, "The other piece is: look, I think the defense lawyer had a great opportunity — and I've heard Elie say this before — the defense lawyer should have started with ten or actually 11 times where Cohen lied to somebody. Because in closing argument, you say, 'I'll tell you who the 12th was, ladies and gentlemen: He lied to you.' So, the idea is, we'll see what happens tomorrow. But I think Cohen's in for a rough ride."

Honig argued that so far, the cross examination of Cohen by Trump's defense team has been "scattershot and sub-optimal."

The CNN legal analyst and former Southern District of New York prosecutor told Bash and Hirschhorn, "I think (attorney) Todd Blanche is not at his best in the couple hours we saw yesterday. As Robert said, first of all, it jumps around topic to topic. I actually went back after our live coverage yesterday and re-read the whole transcript. You need to be thematic; you need to be clear and strong, and I would have started with the lies, as Robert just said."

Honig continued, "There is a lot of ammunition there. And then, I would have moved on to Michael Cohen's over-the-top, personal bias towards Donald Trump….Todd Blanche takes pages upon pages upon pages, having Michael Cohen say how much he once respected Donald Trump — I don't know how that exactly resonates with the jury."

READ MORE: Former FBI counsel praises 'significant color' Michael Cohen brought to testimony

Honig added, however, that he expects "a different, more pointed tone" from Blanche when the cross examination of Cohen continues. And he pointed out that Cohen's testimony "links Donald Trump directly to the actual crime charged — to the actual falsification of business records."

READ MORE: Why Stormy Daniels 'was a dangerous witness to put on for both sides': analyst

Watch the full video below or at this link.

Prominent Republicans have not been hard to find in and around a Lower Manhattan courthouse during Donald Trump's hush money/falsified business records trial.

The Republicans who have showed up to voice their support for the former president include, among others, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida), Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Florida), and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Some of them have been wearing matching red ties as an expression of solidarity with the former president (Trump is known for wearing red ties).

Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, Tuberville attacked the jurors and implied that some of them are not U.S. citizens.

READ MORE:Why are one in five GOP voters still voting for Nikki Haley over Donald Trump?

But not all Republicans believe these antics are a good idea.

On Tuesday, May 14, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told HuffPost, "Do we have something to do around here other than watch a stupid porn trial? I mean, this is ridiculous."

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), a non-MAGA conservative who has said he won't vote for Trump in November, mocked the Republicans wearing red ties during the trial and sarcastically remarked, "If I go to New York, I'll make sure I wear a white shirt and a red tie."

Murkowski isn't supporting Trump's campaign either.

READ MORE: 'All Trump has to do is turn' on them: Charlie Sykes rips GOP for 'running to the sound of the sleaze'

The Alaska senator recently told CNN, "I wish that, as Republicans, we had a nominee that I could get behind. I certainly can't get behind Donald Trump."

The Hill's Tara Suter reports, "Murkowski, who voted to convict the former president in his second impeachment trial back in 2021, has suggested that she is not fully against leaving the Republican Party, noting its shift toward Trump."

READ MORE: 'He wasn't thinking about Melania': Cohen reveals Trump’s real fears in 'hush money' testimony

Sixty-nine days after she suspended her presidential campaign, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley is still drawing a consistent one in five Republican primary voters away from the indicted ex-president Donald Trump.

Tuesday’s primaries in Maryland, Nebraska, and West Virginia continued that trend, even though she has been nearly totally silent and even though Trump has already gained enough delegates to be the presumptive Republican nominee.

In Maryland Tuesday night, 47,597 GOP voters chose Haley over Trump, for a solid 20% of the vote. In Nebraska, Haley walked away with ⁦36,872 votes, 17.9% of the total. And in West Virginia, she took 21,123 votes, although that was just 9.4%. (All vote totals and percentages are from the Associated Press via Google and are current as of time of publication.)

All three primaries were “closed,” meaning open only to register Republican voters (Maryland and Nebraska) or registered Republicans and independents (West Virginia).

One week ago in Indiana the results were strikingly similar. 128,170 Indiana GOP primary voters – 21.7% – cast their ballot for the former South Carolina governor instead of the presumptive Republican nominee.

READ MORE: ‘Mouths of Sauron’: Critics Blast ‘Mobster Tactic’ of Trump Surrogates ‘Violating’ Gag Order

“Unexpected warning signs for Trump in busy Indiana primary,” Politico reported last week, noting, “Nikki Haley’s performance in the already concluded presidential race could be a sign of trouble for Trump in more competitive states.”

Overnight, Politico reported, “Nikki Haley’s zombie presidential candidacy is still drawing a sizable slice of the Republican vote in the suburbs,” in what it deems “Warning signs for Trump.”

“Donald Trump showed weakness in the suburbs in Tuesday’s primaries, while Joe Biden’s problem with the protest vote appeared to fade,” the news outlet noted. “It’s been a paradox for Democrats fretting about Biden’s standing in the polls: Republicans are more likely to say they’ll vote for Trump in general-election polling than Democrats are for Biden, but there are more protest votes in the primaries against Trump.”

On Monday, before Tuesday primaries, Obama 2012 campaign manager Jim Messina summed it up: “Trump is failing to expand beyond hardcore MAGA base.”

Pointing to Haley’s 20%, Lisa Quigley, who spent more than a quarter century as chief of staff to two Democratic U.S. Congressmen, observed: “These are highly engaged voters, who showed up in a primary, to vote for someone who was going to lose. They did it anyway. This is happening everywhere. They are key to victory in Nov.”

Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen, as far back as March, also pointed to Haley voters as the key to Biden winning re-election.

READ MORE: Johnson Would Contest 2024 Election Results Under the Same ‘Circumstances’

“Nikki Haley won 2.9 million votes in the primary so far. Our Fox News voter analysis shows that somewhere between five in ten and six in ten of those Nikki Haley voters said they won’t vote for Trump in November,” Thiessen said, Newsweek reported. “If even a fraction of those voters deliver on that promise and stay home or vote third party or just split their votes or something, Trump loses.”

Meanwhile, Haley has barely broken her near-total silence, and has not endorsed Donald Trump.

“During a private, two-day donor retreat in Charleston, South Carolina, the former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador thanked a group of around 100 donors and her team gave a presentation on her campaign’s fundraising and strategy,” Politico also reported Wednesday. More importantly, Haley has not endorsed Trump nor offered the presumptive nominee any support – including her donor network.

On Tuesday, May 14, primary elections were held in three states: Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia. And some of the GOP primaries showed that there is still a lot of support for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — despite the fact that she discontinued her presidential campaign in early March.

When Haley's campaign ended, Trump became the GOP's presumptive 2024 presidential nominee. Yet some Republican primary voters are still voicing their support for Haley, which Politico and Newsweek describe as a major "warning sign" for Trump's campaign.

"A week after Nikki Haley earned 22 percent of the vote in Indiana's open GOP primary," Politico reporters Steven Shepard and Madison Fernandez explain, "the widespread expectation was that different rules in the states voting on Tuesday would take a huge chunk out of support for her zombie presidential candidacy…. Unlike Indiana, where voters can pick any primary ballot they'd like, the GOP primary was open only to registered Republicans in Maryland and Nebraska, and registered Republicans and independents in West Virginia."

READ MORE:Why the Rust Belt may be Biden's best reelection hope against Trump: report

The journalists add, "Despite its semi-open primary, West Virginia was the Trumpiest of the three states: The former president captured 88 percent of the vote there. But there were significant pockets of Trump resistance among Republicans in Maryland and Nebraska."

Shepard and Madison Fernandez stress that although "it wasn’t shocking to see Haley break 30 percent in the affluent D.C. suburbs of Montgomery County, Maryland…. It's more concerning for Trump that she's at 23 percent in Douglas County, Nebraska."

The Politico reporters, in their listicle, lay out five takeaways from the May 14 primaries: (1) "Closed primaries didn’t eliminate the warning signs for Trump," (2) "the Democratic establishment strikes back," (3) "the Biden protest vote fizzles," (4) "big-spending outside groups notched wins, while self-funders flopped," and (5) "incumbents flex their muscle."

Newsweek's Ewan Palmer, in an article published on May 15, stresses that the votes for Haley show that Trump is still "struggling to fully win over Republicans beyond his MAGA base."

READ MORE: Why Trump still has a 'Nikki Haley' problem at the ballot box

"There have been multiple polls which suggest that Haley supporters will not go on to vote for Trump in the 2024 election, with Biden's campaign team also said to be hoping to win over these disillusioned Republicans," Palmer reports. "The results in Maryland and Nebraska continue the trend of Haley still receiving sizable votes in the GOP primary despite dropping out of the race in March in the wake of Super Tuesday."

Palmer adds, "On May 7, Trump easily won the Indiana primary with 78.3 percent of the vote, with Haley receiving 21.7 percent of the vote — a total that amounted to more than 128,000 votes. Similar potentially worrying results for Trump were seen in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, where Haley received more than 158,000 votes: 16.6 percent. Trump was beaten in Pennsylvania by Biden in 2020 by a margin of just over one percent: 80,555 votes. Haley also received more than 26 percent and 18 percent of the GOP primary vote in the key swing states of Michigan and Arizona respectively, amounting to hundreds of thousands of votes."

National polls released in May have been showing a very close race. A Yahoo News poll released on May 14 found Trump and Biden in a dead heat, but a Morning Consult poll released that same day found Trump ahead by 1 percent. Biden, however, led Trump by 2 percent in an I&I/TIPP Insights poll.

READ MORE: How Trump's ongoing feuds with GOP governors could throw a massive wrench in his campaign

Read Politico's full article at this link and Newsweek's report here.

During Donald Trump's hush money/falsified business records trial in Lower Manhattan, many Republican allies of the former president have been showing up at the courthouse to voice their support for the former president — including Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida), former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana).

Some of them spoke to reporters outside the courthouse. Others were in the courtroom itself.

During a Wednesday morning, May 15 appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Never Trump conservative Charlie Sykes found Johnson's presence especially disconcerting.

READ MORE:'Bizarre timeline': Columnist laments 'political madness' of Stormy Daniels’ lurid testimony

"I see politicians running toward the sound of the sleaze because that is what their master is demanding of them," Sykes told hosts Joe Scarborough (a fellow Never Trumper and former GOP congressman) and Mika Brezinski. "I suppose we shouldn't be surprised, but it's still shocking. It's still amazing that you have these politicians embracing Donald Trump in the middle of a hush money trial. He could walk out of that courtroom as a convicted felon."

The conservative journalist and former Bulwark columnist continued, "Look, it's one thing for Republicans to say, 'We like Donald Trump because of his policies on taxes or on the border or on education.' But what's happening now is that it's become the new litmus test: You have to embrace it all. You have to embrace the election denial, the lies. You have to embrace the insurrection; you have to embrace the hush money to a porn star, the multiple affairs. You have to embrace the obstruction of justice. You have to make yourself part of the obstruction of justice."

Sykes warned that it's "not remotely normal" when the House speaker shows up at a former president's "felony trial" to support him "not in spite of his character, but embracing all of it."

Speaker Johnson, according to Sykes, was "using his position" to "violate the gag order" that Justice Juan Merchan has imposed on Trump during the trial.

READ MORE: Ex-federal prosecutor: Why Cohen’s hush money testimony 'exceeded expectations'

"Now, whether this is going to have effect on the jury, we don't know," Sykes argued. "Whether it is going to intimidate the jury, whether it is going to impress the jury. But again, we are seeing a scene in American politics that we have never seen before and which was unimaginable until the last two days. And by the way, as you guys have pointed out, so much for the party of morality and so much for the party of law and order."

Brzezinski noted that former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) has been vehemently critical of Johnson's visit to the Lower Manhattan courthouse during the trial, which Scarborough described as a "very sad spectacle."

On X, formerly Twitter, the arch-conservative Cheney posted, "Have to admit I’m surprised that @SpeakerJohnson wants to be in the 'I cheated on my wife with a porn star' club. I guess he's not that concerned with teaching morality to our young people after all."

Sykes commented, "The reality is that Mike Johnson's speakership hangs by a thread, that he depends upon the favor of Mar-a-Lago — that all Donald Trump has to do is turn on him, and he's out. So, here you have Mike Johnson that survived that vacate-the-speaker vote with Democratic support, basically showing where the real power in the Republican Party is."

READ MORE: Former FBI counsel praises 'significant color' Michael Cohen brought to testimony

Watch the full video below or at this link.

During his testimony in former President Donald Trump's hush money/falsified business records trial on May 13 and 14, Michael Cohen — Trump's former personal attorney and fixer — detailed his role in hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office, according to reports, may rest its case after Cohen's testimony concludes.

Former federal prosecutor Joyce White Vance offered legal analysis of Cohen's testimony — both direct and on cross examination by Trump's defense team — during a Wednesday, May 15 appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

Vance offered a caveat, telling hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski and their colleagues Willie Geist and Jonathan Lemire that "another full day of cross examination" was coming. But she stressed that Cohen's testimony, so far, has "exceeded expectations."

READ MORE:Trump lawyer reportedly 'growled' when confronting Cohen about profanity-laden insult

The MSNBC legal analyst explained, "He kept a calm demeanor, and a big part of this is less the evidence coming out and (more) the way the jury perceives Michael Cohen. They have to believe him in order to convict. There is just too much in his testimony. If he continues on this path, he may just pull it out."

Geist noted that Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche tried to paint Cohen as a "jilted former employee" and a "liar" who cannot be trusted.

Vance responded, "You know, he may have more…. I've had a lot of cases where that is the strategy on cross-examination, and where the defense lawyer tries to imply that the witness is biased against the defendant. Well, look, these witnesses are always biased against the defendant, and the prosecution handles that."

Lemire asked Vance if there is a possibility that jury deliberations could begin as soon as next week — assuming that Cohen is the prosecution's final witness — and she responded, "I think that's a possibility."

READ MORE: 'Bizarre timeline': Columnist laments 'political madness' of Stormy Daniels’ lurid testimony

"I'm a little bit surprised that we are not hearing expert testimony on the campaign finance violations that have to be proven," Vance argued. "It's possible the defense could put on, you know, a witness that will talk about that. But closing arguments, that is not going to take a full day, I wouldn't think. And then, the jury is off to the races."

Vance added that jurors, in order to convict, will need to be convinced "that Donald Trump created or caused to be created false business records" and "did that with an intent to defraud — an intent to commit or conceal another crime."

"We haven't really been looking at the evidence in that legal framework so far," Vance observed, "but that is what the judge will tell the jury they have to do. And that is a little bit different from listening to the story and saying, 'Oh, I really think Donald Trump did this.'"

READ MORE: Former FBI counsel praises 'significant color' Michael Cohen brought to testimony

Watch the full video below or at this link.

While facing four criminal indictments, presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has been aggressively campaigning on the economy — especially inflation, which he is blaming incumbent President Joe Biden for. And that messaging may be working: some polls released in May have found Trump with narrow single-digit leads, while others show Biden slightly ahead.

Recent polls in swing states, especially those in the Sun Belt, are showing Trump with an advantage.

But in an editorial published on May 14, Bloomberg News' editorial board warns that Trump's proposals would be terrible for the U.S. economy if he returns to the White House in January 2025.

READ MORE:'Econ 101': Here’s what Trump gets painfully wrong about inflation

"Whoever wins November's election," Bloomberg's editorial board argues, "inflation will present them with an immediate challenge…. It's a bit puzzling, then, that former President Donald Trump's economic agenda seems to be dedicated to raising prices."

Trump's proposals, the editorial board notes, include "tariffs of 60 percent on Chinese-made products and 10 percent on other imports" as well as "devaluing" the U.S. dollar. And Trump has toyed with the idea of a hands-on policy with the U.S. Federal Reserve.

All of this, according to the editorial, is a recipe for increasing "the cost of imported goods and inputs for domestic producers."

"Some caveats are in order," Bloomberg's editorial board explains. "Trump doesn’t always mean what he says…. But what do you get, all else equal, when you add much higher tariffs, a politicized central bank, a deliberately weakened currency and an enormous surge in public borrowing, at a time of already-elevated inflation? It would be best to not find out."

READ MORE: 'Disastrous consequences': Columnist warns this 'destructive' Trump plan could tank economy

Read Bloomberg News' full editorial at this link.

Rudy Giuliani's efforts to help Donald Trump overturn the 2020 presidential election results have resulted in both civil lawsuits and two criminal indictments for the former New York City mayor. Giuliani is among Trump's co-defendants in Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis' election interference case, and in late April, he was indicted by a grand jury in a separate election interference case being prosecuted by State Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, in Arizona.

But according to CNN, Arizona officials have been unable to "serve" Giuliani "with notice of his indictment."

CNN's Zachary Cohen reports that Giuliani "is the only defendant prosecutors have been unable to serve with a summons, according to Richie Taylor, a spokesperson for the Arizona Attorney General's Office."

READ MORE:'No one seems interested': Accountants shun bankrupt 'political pariah' Giuliani

Giuliani, the summons says, must appear before a judge on Tuesday, May 21.

"The day after the state-level grand jury handed up its indictment," Cohen reports, "two agents for the (Arizona) Attorney General's Office traveled to New York City with plans to hand-deliver the notice to Giuliani, Taylor said. The agents believed Giuliani was likely in his New York City apartment because he had recently video streamed from there — which they determined by matching the setting of the feed with pictures of the interior of the residence from an old real estate listing."

Cohen adds, "But upon arriving at the building, a person at the front desk told the agents they were not allowed to accept service of the documents, according to Taylor, who added that the individual did not dispute Giuliani lived there."

In addition to Giuliani, the Trump allies indicted in Mayes' case include former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and attorneys Boris Epshteyn, Jenna Ellis and Christina Bobb (formerly of One America News). Trump himself has not been indicted.

READ MORE: Trump allies indicted in Arizona: report

Read CNN's full report at this link.

While former President Donald Trump's eyes reportedly got some shuteye during day 17 of his New York hush money trial Tuesday, Fox News host Laura Ingraham's eyes were wide open.

The Daily Beast reports Ingraham had a pair of binoculars with her in the courtroom, and was told several times to remove them.

Although binoculars are not, "strictly speaking, banned in the courtroom," according to the Beast, they are "banned when evidence is being shown to legal counsel before being presented to the jury—which is exactly when the Fox News host whipped them out."

READ MORE: Jurors 'can absolutely see' Trump 'dozing peacefully' at trial: courtroom reporters

The news outlet reports, "Several court officers repeatedly tried and failed to get Ingraham’s attention as she stared through the binoculars, apparently zoned out. 'Ma’am! You can’t use binoculars. No binoculars, ma’am. Ma’am. Hello!'"

A Daily Beast reporter looked on as Ingraham "let out a surprised huff and threw the binoculars down," the report notes.

On the first day of Trump's trial last month, Ingraham "raised eyebrows" after comments she made to millions of Fox News viewers regarding Trump's relationship with Daniels.

"Stormy Daniels thought she had leverage over Trump back in 2016 and she used that leverage to extract some money," the right-wing host said. "Like other politicians who had made embarrassing mistakes, Donald Trump was apparently trying to get that episode behind him."

READ MORE: 'Trump hasn’t admitted that': Fox News host makes embarrassing slip in hush money coverage

Legal analyst Bradley Moss shared a clip of Ingraham's remarks via X (formerly Twitter), writing, "Wait, is Ingraham admitting that Trump had the affair? Because Trump certainly hasn't admitted that."

The Daily Beast's full report is available here (subscription required).

Although adult film actress Stormy Daniels' cross-examination in Donald Trump's New York hush money trial is over — the hate she continues to receive in the process is not — according to her husband, Barrett Blade.

The former president was charged with 34 felony counts for falsifying business records to suppress a $130,000 hush money payment made to Daniels in an effort to benefit his 2016 campaign.

Blade spoke with CNN's Erin Burnett Tuesday about his thoughts on the trial and his wife's involvement.

READ MORE: 'May be their downfall': Ex-prosecutor details Trump lawyers’ 'baffling missteps' at trial

"Have you discussed what happens — when you talk about getting on with your life [at the trial's conclusion] — if Trump is found not guilty?" Burnett asked.

"If Trump is found not guilty, either way, I don't think it gets better for her," Blade said. "I think if it's not guilty we got to decide what to do. It's a good chance we'll probably vacate this country. If he is found guilty, then she's still got to deal with all the hate, and I feel like she's the reason that he's guilty from all of his followers. So I don't see it as a win situation either way.

He emphasized, "I know that we would like to get on with our lives. I know that she wants to move past this. We just want we just want to do what normal people get to do, in some aspects, but I don't know if that ever will be. And it breaks my heart, some of the things that she has to go through that people don't realize.

"For example," Blade continued, "I don't see people fighting back for her. For instance, [veteran journalist] E. Jean Carroll — although we're super happy that everything that happened for happened — Stormy opened the door, but Stormy got sued for the exact same two comments, and she ended up getting legal fees she's got to pay for, but no one wants to help her with that."

READ MORE: 'Painful and salacious': GOP lawmakers worry trial is 'troubling sign for Trump'

"Or the women's groups; She fights for women's groups all day long, and I don't see anyone doing GoFundMe's to try to help with her legal fees and to help her out," he added. "[Disgraced celebrity attorney] Michael Avenatti — he did a GoFundMe to try to help her — but he ended up stealing all her money. There's a list that goes on and on and on."

"No one comes back and helps her out," Blade emphasized. "So that's the biggest heartbreak I think out of everything that's going on right now is that she's fighting for everybody and no one's fighting for her. And that's what makes me the most upset about all of the situation."

Watch the video below or at this link.

'Stormy opened the door': Daniels’ husband discusses 'biggest heartbreak' of New York trialwww.youtube.com

Former Donald Trump lawyer and key witness Michael Cohen took the stand for a second time Tuesday to testify about giving adult film star Stormy Daniels a hush money payment of $130,000 to benefit the MAGA hopeful's 2016 presidential campaign.

NBC News notes that Trump attorney Todd Blanche's cross-examination has been "expected to paint" the ex-Trump lawyer "as a perjurer and convicted felon; Cohen pleaded guilty to several crimes in 2018, including tax fraud and lying to Congress about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow."

MSNBC's Ari Melber spoke with Reverend Al Sharpton and Michael Cohen lawyer Lanny Davis about the MAGA hopeful's former "fixer's" demeanor during testimony, and what kind of impact he could have on the jury.

READ MORE: Trump lawyer reportedly 'growled' when confronting Cohen about profanity-laden insult

"I was not surprised when I heard what he said on the stand today," Sharpton said.

"He wasn't making excuses for him being a participant. And I think the way he's trying to redeem himself is by being very open."

Melber allowed Davis to get the last word.

"I hate to do anything beyond what the reverend just said because it was perfect," the attorney said. "But let me just say, Michael Cohen, for good or bad, can't fake it. He is who he is. He's a man in pain. He's a man filled with anger; anger towards what Trump did to him, anger towards what Trump is doing to the country, in his opinion. But he can't fake it.

READ MORE: Jurors 'can absolutely see' Trump 'dozing peacefully' at trial: courtroom reporters

Davis emphasized, "With me, I recognized right away this is a very flawed human being, just as I am, just as the reverend teaches his parishioners. We're all flawed. But he is authentic in his contrition. That's why I believe this jury will believe him."

Watch the video below or at this link.

'A man filled with anger': Michael Cohen’s lawyer explains why the 'jury will believe him'www.youtube.com

Donald Trump came to the aid of embattled Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, whose story about shooting to death her 14-month old German wirehaired pointer named Cricket has been denounced by Americans on the left and right for weeks.

Gov. Noem not only chose to put the story in her memoir, but has repeatedly defended her decision to drag the dog into a gravel pit and shoot her, killing her with one bullet without even warning her child, who asked when they returned home from school, “Where’s Cricket?”

Trump, speaking Tuesday on “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show,” the successor to the late Rush Limbaugh’s talk radio program, did not appear to have a full grasp of the story or the massive outrage and upset Gov. Noem caused.

“I’m sure you’ve seen some of the Kristi Noem story. She might be the only person getting worse press than you on the left right now with the dog shooting story,” Clay Travis told Trump. “Is she still in the mix as a VP? Have you thought maybe she’d make more sense in a cabinet? How do you analyze stories like that as you go about making a choice?”

READ MORE: Johnson Would Contest 2024 Election Results Under the Same ‘Circumstances’

Noem, until the dog shooting story came out, was widely believed to be on Trump’s short list as a vice presidential running mate.

“Well, until this week, she was doing incredibly well and she got hit hard, and sometimes you do books and you have some guy writing a book and you maybe don’t read it as carefully,” Trump offered as a defense of the governor whose dog-shooting story came out weeks ago. “You know, you have ghost writers, do they help you? And they this case didn’t help too much.”

“Now, she’s terrific,” Trump continued, lavishing praise on Noem. “Look, she’s been a supporter of mine from day one. She did a great job of governor, as governor. And you know, you look at South Dakota numbers. She’s really done a great job.”

Trump did not say what numbers specifically, nor did he say on what Governor Noem did a great job. he also did not answer the question Travis posed about North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, nor did he bring up any of the other controversies surrounding the book.

“And in some form, I mean, I think I think she’s terrific. A couple of rough stories. There’s no question about it. And when explained the dog story, you know, people, people hear that and people from different parts of the country probably feel a little bit differently, but that’s a tough story. And, but she’s a terrific person. She said she had a bad, she had a bad week.”

Watch below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Mouths of Sauron’: Critics Blast ‘Mobster Tactic’ of Trump Surrogates ‘Violating’ Gag Order

A 2021 Washington Post report noted that by the end of his presidency, former President Donald Trump had accumulated 30,573 untruths during his presidency — averaging about 21 erroneous claims a day."

Three years later, the MAGA hopeful is no stranger to baseless — and downright false claims.

During his ongoing New York hush money trial, Trump has repeatedly claimed that presiding NY Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan is participating in a partisan attack against him — opposed to simply doing his job by upholding the law.

READ MORE: Judge 'visibly annoyed' by pro-Trump entourage at hush money trial: 'Stared straight at them'

Before heading to court Tuesday — where former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen was set to testify for a second day — the former president wrote via Truth Social:

Virtually every Legal Analyst and Scholar said yesterday, at the end of the day, THAT THERE IS NO CASE, AND THAT THIS WITCH HUNT SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN BROUGHT, AND SHOULD BE THROWN OUT NOW!!! WHY WASN’T THIS HOAX BROUGHT SEVEN YEARS AGO, INSTEAD OF IN THE MIDDLE OF MY WINNING CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT — ELECTION INTERFERENCE. The problem is that this Judge, Merchan, is TOTALLY COMPROMISED, CONFLICTED, AND CORRUPT, MAKING BIG MONEY OFF OF THIS SCAM AND ITS OUTCOME. He can’t render a fair decision, too much is at stake for him and the Democrats. The Appellate Division should remove him immediately!

The MAGA hopeful told press outside of the courtroom that his allies were present to support him, saying: "The Speaker of the House is here. We have [US Rep.] Byron Donalds (R-FL)… We have a lot of great people here to talk to you, and they won’t let them speak here. I guess they want to make it difficult for them to speak. So for some reason, I can speak here, but I’m the only one that’s allowed."

Trump continued, "The gag order has to come off. So when you ask me a question about the people that we’re talking about, I’m not allowed to answer. There’s never been anything like this in the history of our country. It’s a scam. It’s election interference at a level that’s never taken place before. And now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go into the icebox and sit for a long time. Thank you very much."

As the ex-president walked off, one reporter asked, "Mr. Trump, will you testify?"

READ MORE: Jurors 'can absolutely see' Trump 'dozing peacefully' at trial: courtroom reporters

Another reporter said, "Mr. Trump! How is the judge making money off this case?"

Watch the video below or at this link.

During an interview with Time Magazine last month, Donald Trump emphasized his plans to deport "15 million and maybe as many as 20 million" people — using the National Guard, and possibly the US military — if elected in November.

According to a Tuesday, May 14 CNN report, economists believe the former president's mass deportation plan will "backfire."

Brookings Institution economic studies senior fellow Wendy Edelberg told the news outlet "she is 'confident' an immigration crackdown like the one Trump proposes would have 'negative' effects on the economy."

READ MORE: Trump’s proposals could 'send inflation skyrocketing': economists

Furthermore, economic experts also say the MAGA hopeful's plan could tank the economy "by worsening worker shortages, reigniting inflation and forcing the Federal Reserve to keep borrowing costs high for even longer."

Edelberg told CNN there's evidence that immigrants have added to "a sharp increase in demands in recent years" for a number of businesses.

"That’s the kind of thing that could spark a recession," Edelberg said of Trump's ploy. "I don’t mean to suggest this would be a cataclysmic recession, but this would be a very abrupt reduction in aggregate demand. Generally, that’s not the kind of thing that our economy likes."

RSM chief economist Joe Brusuelas told CNN one issue with the ex-president's vision "is that the supply of native-born workers simply cannot meet demand."

READ MORE: 'Greatest challenge of our generation': Johnson vows to 'round up' 11 million undocumented people

Brusuelas added, "We need to import workers. If either party oversteps in reducing the flow of workers, it’s likely we would face a serious shortage of workers and a renewed bout of inflation. You would drive the unemployment rate down to 3% and wages would pop. You’d get classic inflation."

CNN's full report is available here.

Several of Donald Trump's Republican allies have showed up at his hush money/falsified business records trial in Lower Manhattan, where they have been vigorously defending the former president outside the courthouse.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida), Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) have all showed up. Tuberville, with Vance at this side, railed against the jurors on May 13 — implying that some of them are not U.S. citizens.

With Justice Juan Merchan having imposed a partial gag order on Trump during the trial, these Republicans have, in effect, been acting as surrogates for him by echoing the former president's talking points. And according to CNN's Kaitlan Collins, Merchan has "looked visibly annoyed" by a group of pro-Trump Republicans' presence in his courtroom during the trial.

READ MORE:Former FBI counsel praises 'significant color' Michael Cohen brought to testimony

Collins told her colleague Wolf Blitzer, "This judge does not give away much. He has a very even tone. He greets Donald Trump with a 'Good morning, Mr. Trump' every single day that he walks inside the courtroom…. But there was this moment…. where it was five or six people from Trump's team…. and they get into the second row of the entire courtroom to sit in the pews, to listen to what's happening. And the judge stared straight at them as they were walking in."

The Republican Trump allies, according to Collins, included former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Florida) and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, among others.

Collins told Blitzer that Merchan "looked visibly annoyed."

The CNN reporter explained, "Michael Cohen was in the middle of a line of questioning…. You saw the judge basically stare straight at them…. It seemed disruptive to the proceedings. Every time I've been there, I've never seen a large group of people come in and sit at the front of the courtroom while the witness is on the stand testifying."

READ MORE: 'Unflappable': Legal expert advises Michael Cohen to be like Stormy Daniels on the stand

When Blitzer asked Collins if Johnson was "part of that entourage," she responded that he wasn't.

Collins told Blitzer that although the House speaker did talk to reporters outside the courthouse, she had not seen him inside the courtroom itself.

READ MORE: Why Stormy Daniels 'was a dangerous witness to put on for both sides': analyst

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In his remarks outside the courtroom Tuesday, Donald Trump demanded Judge Juan Merchan rescind the tailored gag order placed on him that was designed to ensure the sanctity of the trial and the safety of witnesses, jurors, court staff, and their families.

“The gag order has to come off,” Trump told reporters Tuesday morning, adding his frequent “never been anything like this in the history of our country” claim.

Judge Merchan just last week reportedly cited Trump’s own words from his own book when defending his decision to keep the gag order in place and not modify it.

“When you are wronged, go after those people, because it is a good feeling and because other people will see you doing it. Getting even is not always a personal thing. It’s just part of doing business,” Trump’s book passage reads.

But as The Washington Post reported Monday, Trump’s surrogates are saying “the forbidden stuff for him.” They “have helpfully stepped forward to offer a timely and convenient service: lodging those same attacks, while appearing at the trial in support of him.”

READ MORE: Trump Wails His Judge Was Appointed by ‘Democrat Politicians’ – That’s False

“Republican lawmakers have appeared at Trump’s trial — even entering and exiting the courtroom with him — and proceeded to say precisely the kinds of things he’s not allowed to.”

Because the “kinds of things he’s not allowed to” say violate the gag order.

Politico reports, “Trump’s surrogates continue launching verbal attacks that would violate gag order if Trump said them himself.”

But according to the text of Trump’s gag order, he is “directed to refrain from”:

“Making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding; Making or directing others to make public statements” about attorneys “in the case other than the District Attorney,” “members of the court’s staff and the District Attorney’s staff, or the family members of any counsel or staff member” or “any prospective juror or any juror in this criminal proceeding.”

The prosecution has not indicated it will, but it could ask the judge to examine the “directing others to make public statements” portion of the gag order.

On Tuesday, one of the most powerful elected Republicans in the country, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, became the most high-profile Trump surrogate on the planet.

RELATED: ‘Campaigning for Trump at His Criminal Trial’: Johnson Blasted for Going to NYC Courthouse

Critics are blasting Speaker Johnson, who is second in line to the presidency, for attending the trial Tuesday and for delivering remarks some are calling false, in support of the indicted ex-president and 2024 GOP presumptive nominee.

“When asked for his worldview when Mike Johnson became Speaker of the House and nobody knew anything about him he said, ‘you want to know my worldview? Go read the bible, that’s what I stand for,'” MSNBC’s Willie Geist said Tuesday. “And now today he’s at the courthouse defending the guy who’s on trial for allegedly paying off a porn star for the alleged affair he had while his wife was home with their infant son.”

Johnson and U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) are among those who went and said what the judge told Trump he could not.

Johnson strongly defended Trump Tuesday morning. And following the Trump playbook, he attacked the prosecutor, the judge, and the judge’s daughter, which could be deemed a violation of Judge Merchan’s gag order against Trump if he decides Johnson’s remarks came at Trump’s request.

Award-winning journalist Laura Bassett, the former editor-in-chief of Jezebel, responded to that video, writing, “The guy who admitted that he and his son monitor each other’s porn intake is out here publicly lying on behalf of a man who cheated on his wife with a porn star and paid to cover it up.”

Calling it “Craven,” and “lawless,” Bloomberg Opinion Senior Executive Editor Tim O’Brien remarked, “House Speaker Mike Johnson is outside the NY courthouse right now and essentially helping Trump sidestep the court’s gag order by acting as his proxy by attacking the integrity of the trial and judicial process. He’s even targeting Justice Merchan’s daughter.”

READ MORE: Johnson Would Contest 2024 Election Results Under the Same ‘Circumstances’

Congressman Donalds, who is on the short list to become Trump’s vice presidential running mate, also attacked the judge’s daughter on Tuesday, from outside the courthouse.

Political commentator Bob Cesca observed, “If you’re wondering why Vance, Tuberville, and Johnson are there, it’s because of the gag order. They’re Trump’s voice. The Mouths of Sauron,” he wrote, referring to the near-entirely evil creature from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.”

“BTW, asking surrogates to attack witnesses and the judge’s daughter is a violation of the gag order,” he added.

Former Denver Chief Deputy District Attorney Craig Silverman remarked, “Note how Trump gets Vance and Johnson to violate the gag order for him. Mobster tactic. Make your Trump champions violate the law right along with you. Once they are in for a dime, they are in for a dollar and stuck with MAGA.”

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