Michael Cohen, Day 2

Trump New York Trial Diary, Entry #17

Good Morning:

The line today.

Behond, the #BeastOfTheDay!

whalesnation

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It was a very early morning today—and a bit of a crazy one. The Lawfare New York crew neglected to get line-sitters until it was too late, and the line-sitters were all booked. And that should have been a sign that things were going to be crowded this morning.

So I arrived very early (shortly after 6:00 am) to try to get a spot in line. But it was not early enough, as things turned out. The press line-up to watch Michael Cohen get cross-examined this morning was already so long that the police were just about to start turning people away. I was one of the last people allowed into the line.

And this raised a problem: Tyler was still at home.

Lawfare has one reserved seat in the courtroom, which Anna is using today. But our other seats are just regular press seats, given out on a first-come, first-served basis. So if I was at the end of the line, where I might not get in, and Tyler wasn’t in line at all, Lawfare was kind of screwed. We could end up with only one person in the courtroom or the overflow room. That would be bad.

Urgent action was required, and fortunately, the opportunity presented itself in the form of a scraggly guy who made his way down the line asking if anyone wanted to buy his spot in the front of it—which, he claimed, he had staked out at 1:00 pm yesterday. I took him up on this for $400. Tyler arrived shortly thereafter and took my place near the back of the line. I am now in the courthouse, while Tyler is still working on getting in as well. With any luck, Lawfare will be fully staffed in the courtroom today.

Cohen yesterday gave the government what it needs on the two key points for which prosecutors put him on the stand—assuming, that is, that the jury believes him.