This post is NOT exclusively about the prosecution’s leadoff witness but more in the nature of a Trump trial note. I better create a new category to clarify matters. Done.

Consider this and future Trump trial notes pieces, the moral equivalent of live blogging. I wish the acronym were better than MEOLB, but what can ya do? Anyone else old enough to remember MEOW? It was a play on Jimmy Carter’s statement that the energy crisis was the moral equivalent of war.

I couldn’t resist a Pecker joke in the title. I bet everyone reading has made their share. I may not even get to the details of Pecker’s testimony today, but a good title is a terrible thing to waste. Let’s ask Woody Woodpecker what he thinks:

Not bad for a goofball toon. Thanks, Woody.

The contempt hearing is going on as I write this in the morning. A reminder: because of my illness, I only have the strength to write first thing in the morning and late in the evening. This is a morning post. Does that make it morning or even mourning in America? Discuss amongst yourselves.

Trump actually has competent lawyers trying this case, but even good lawyers make missteps, especially when the client is a MAGA Yippie and a narcissistic nincompoop.

Todd Blanche began his opening statement with a declaration that his client is innocent. That’s not a legal term and even if it were, it sets the bar higher than Blanche should want it. The best he’s likely to do in this case is to hang the jury, which has nothing to do with this Trumper madness:

It only takes one juror to cause a mistrial, which is the proverbial hung jury. It has nothing to do with David Pecker’s name…

This Lou Reed tune should be Todd Blanche’s theme song as he tries the case:

I wonder if anyone in Judge Merchan’s courtroom laughed when Blanche tried to portray the Kaiser of Chaos as an ordinary guy: “He’s not just Donald Trump that you’ve seen on TV and read about and seen photos of. He’s also a man. He’s a husband. He’s a father. And he’s a person, just like you and just like me.”

The problem with this passage is that NONE of Trump’s relatives are in the courtroom. If he were a good husband and father, someone from the Trump tribe would be there. The presence of Milania would also support the defense’s argument that Trump didn’t schtup Stormy. This maximum denial defense is likely to cause problems for the Trump defense team. Good.

Blanche also made a big deal of Michael Cohen’s past lies. Criminal trial witnesses are often criminals themselves. Cohen was lying for Trump and went to jail for his actions in furtherance of the election interference conspiracy. The prosecution is prepared to corroborate Cohen’s testimony with documents and other witnesses.

As we wait to hear what happens in the contempt hearing, three Trump trial notes links:

What I Saw Working At The National Enquirer by Lachlan Cartwright.  In 2016, the author was a Pecker person with knowledge of the catch and kill tactics used by his boss to help the Trump campaign.

Inside Todd Blanche’s Plan To Keep Donald Trump Out Of Jail by Andrew Rice. It’s arguably a puff piece about Trump’s main mouthpiece but I believe in this old adage: Know thy enemy.

Finally, TPM’s Josh Kovensky is live blogging the porn star hush money election interference case.

There’s a truly astonishing Fox clip that David Kurtz posted in today’s Morning Memo:

Watters: Trump has been on the move his whole life. Golf, rallies, movement, action, sunlight, fresh air, freedom. This isn’t lawfare. This is torture. They’re making 77 year old man sit in a room for 8 hours straight, four days a week pic.twitter.com/44Msywm7fe

— Acyn (@Acyn) April 23, 2024

Poor baby.

I agree with Kurtz that this is a sign that things are going poorly for Trump. The bigger the Fox lie, the worse things are going for Defendant Trump.

I have one pet peeve to share. The amateur lawyers among the pundits and reporters insisted on calling yesterday day one of the trial. Anyone who has tried a case will tell you that any trial begins with voir dire. I know that’s a legal technicality but what’s a technicality among friends?

I don’t think I’ll be able to write about Pecker on the stand today, I’ll close with the contempt hearing, which did not go well for Todd Blanche whose arguments were so Trumpy as to make Judge Merchan say: “You’re losing all credibility with the court.”

Ouch. It’s only the second week of the trial. Perhaps Blanche should stop allowing Trumpian “logic” such as this to run the defense:

I almost never repost Trump’s social posts, but this one — crafted during the break right after a disaster of an argument — takes the cake. He is trying desperately to bait Merchan, who still has not retaken the bench. pic.twitter.com/d94EsCXo2r

— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) April 23, 2024

Judge Merchan is reserving judgment on the contempt motion. Wise choice. It’s best for him not to rule while aggravated with Todd Blanche. It’s what good judges do.

Pecker retakes the stand and I need to lie down. It makes me jones for a televised trial where I could lie on the couch and watch the proceedings. Oh well, what the hell.

It’s 10:30 AM central time. That concludes this edition of Trump Trial Notes without more Pecker coverage as my strength is waning. The post is scheduled to go live at 11 central, but you knew that already because you’re reading it. I might be back later today. If not, as the movie poster says, tomorrow is another day:

You didn’t expect me to trot out Scarlett O’Hara, did you? That movie is strictly noir: Steve Cochran, baby.

The last word goes to Kay Kyser and his Orchestra with Gloria Wood on vocals. I am not making this up.

A final note on the post title. It’s  a pity that Pecker’s first name isn’t either John or Richard.