Hush Money trial: Trump trades his bluster for silence, even sleep

NEW YORK (AP) Donald Trump is not known for letting slights slide.

Yet for weeks, the famously combative presumptive Republican nominee remained silent, to the point of sometimes appearing asleep in a sterile Manhattan courtroom, amid a barrage of accusations and insults.

There were times when his former fixer turned chief prosecution witness was quoted calling him a crude cartoon misogynist and a Cheeto-sprinkled villain who belonged in a cage, like an animal. There were the graphic details relayed by a porn actor about the night she claims to have had sex. And there have been lengthy descriptions of what the prosecution says was an illegal scheme to hide secret money payments to save his then-ailing 2016 campaign.

Despite all this, even as he and his allies attacked the case outside the courtroom, Trump spent the majority of his time as a criminal defendant sitting almost motionless for hours, leaning against the case file. his burgundy leather armchair, eyes closed. He ultimately chose not to testify in a case that made him the first former president in the nation's history to be tried on criminal charges.

Closing arguments in the case are scheduled for Tuesday, after which a jury will decide whether to make him the first former president and major party candidate convicted of crimes.

Trump's courtroom demeanor represents a notable departure from the fight-at-all-costs personality that defined him over decades of public life, fueling his transformation from a New York tabloid to a former and possible future president.

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And it has been at least partly strategic, according to people familiar with Trump's approach who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. Trump's lawyers have warned him that behaving as he did in his previous trials, where he tangled with judges and stormed out, could damage his reputation with a jury that is likely watching his every move and will determine his fate.

Taking action, it seems, is not in his interest, especially since he risks imprisonment if found guilty.

Trump was also able to speak several times a day to a group of media camped outside the courtroom, giving him an outlet to vent his frustrations and get his message across. Faced with a silence that prohibits him from criticizing witnesses, his campaign has rallied multitudes of supporters, from vice presidential candidates to the House speaker, to launch these attacks instead.

But this approach carries its own risks. Some former prosecutors and lawyers who have closely followed the case said that while disruptive behavior could prove detrimental to the jury, there was also a risk that Trump would appear too disengaged.

What you want is for your customer to appear attentive, respectful and like nothing is bothering them, but also not falling asleep, said Randall D. Eliason, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney specializing for years in white-collar crime.

EYES WIDE CLOSED

Trump has repeatedly denied reports from reporters watching him via closed-circuit television that he was sleeping in court, insisting on his social media site that he just closes my beautiful blue eyes, sometimes, listens intently and takes EVERYTHING into account!!!

No, I'm not falling asleep, he told Telemundo Miami. Sometimes I sit down and close my eyes. I hear everything perfectly. At some point I may fall asleep. But I'll let you know when it does.

Eliason said Trump's behavior is certainly something jurors would notice and could potentially perceive as disrespectful if they feel he's acting like it's not even worth his attention or if they think he's taking a nap .

“If it’s a tactic to try to make it seem like he’s not concerned about the testimony, I don’t think it would work well,” he said. I guess if he really listens with his eyes closed, meditates or something, it doesn't seem so bad. But I think falling asleep, the jury would find that quite disrespectful.

On the other hand, he added, you don't want him to get really agitated like he has in previous trials.

In fact, sleeping in court would be very unusual for a defendant.

I have seen lawyers fall asleep, but never a defendant in a criminal case. Their lives are at stake and in my experience, they are not sleeping, said Stephen A. Saltzburg, a professor at George Washington University Law School who has written about the case.

It's possible that this is all an act to show: Hey, this is fake, I'm not going to pay attention to it, he added, but it also wouldn't help. Since the jury has to pay attention to it, it doesn't send the message that you respect this entire jury process.

YOUR CUSTOMER IS CONCERNED

Trump was not fully sedated. During jury selection, he appeared alert and engaged, and was at one point reprimanded by the judge for his visible reactions to one of the jurors' answers.

(While the juror was on the podium, about 12 feet from your client, your client was saying something audibly…he was making audible gestures, Judge Juan Merchan warned one of his attorneys in April .

I will not tolerate this. I will not allow any juror to be intimidated in this courtroom, he continued. I want to make this very clear.

Later, when Stormy Daniels was on the stand, Trump's reaction to her testimony again prompted Merchan to summon his lawyers.

I understand that your client is upset at this point, but he is audibly swearing and he is visually shaking his head and it is dismissive. This has the potential to intimidate the witness and the jury can see that, Merchan said, according to the transcript.

But as the trial dragged on, and particularly during the testimony of his ex-lawyer Michael Cohens, Trump more often than not sat quietly, leaning back in his chair, eyes closed, lips pursed and head tilted. backwards or to the side. He moved from time to time, sometimes to scratch an itch. At times he appeared to be dozing, his mouth hanging open as he sat for hours in the fluorescent-lit courtroom.

Other times he re-engaged, sitting up straight, talking with his lawyers or scribbling and passing notes. He often flipped through stacks of papers, looked around the courtroom or stood straight with his arms crossed across his chest. He appeared particularly alert and engaged during defense witness Robert Costello's combative testimony, during which the judge threatened to remove Costello from the stand.

But then he returned to the eyes-closed, head-back position that has become his default position.

PAST FLASHES

This stands in marked contrast to his behavior during his previous civil trials, when Trump stormed out of the courtroom, actively sparred with the judges and made no effort to hide his disdain.

During his civil trial for business fraud, in which Cohen also testified, Trump blew up at a court clerk, lashed out at the judge and, at one point, left the courtroom. The judge in the case fined Trump $355 million.

And in his defamation case against E. Jean Carroll, he was reprimanded for mumbling while she spoke, told the judge he would love to have him kicked out of the courtroom, and stood up and came out during Carroll's closing argument to the jury. .

Saltzburg said he believed Trump's behavior in the case was one of the reasons the jury awarded him a whopping $83.3 million.

They wanted to send him a clear message and they thought it would take a lot of money to do it, he said.

In this case, said Jeffrey S. Jacobovitz, a trial lawyer with extensive experience in white-collar criminal defense, Trump's behavior is something the jury would definitely notice.

The perception that he is asleep is likely to have a negative effect on the jury, he said, adding: “I think I would prefer Trump angry.”

___

Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak, Jake Offenhartz, Jennifer Peltz and Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

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