Trump hush-money trial: 1st day of jury deliberations ends with no verdict – National & International News – WED 29May2024

Trump hush-money trial: 1st day of jury deliberations ends with no verdict.

Media orgs expose Israel’s years-long campaign of spying, intimidation and threats against the ICC.

NATIONAL NEWS

Trump hush-money trial: 1st day of jury deliberations ends with no verdict

The first day of jury deliberations has concluded with no verdict in the New York hush-money trial against former President Trump. Trump is facing 34 counts of felony counts of falsifying business records, one charge for each repayment to Cohen. Prosecutors say that Trump and his team sought to cover-up the hush-money payments by labeling them as being for “legal services”. This was part of a larger scheme, prosecutors say, in which Trump, Cohen, and David Pecker (former CEO of the National Enquirer) colluded to prevent damaging and salacious stories about Trump from coming out during the 2016 election cycle.

Since the jury will have to hold a vote on all 34 counts, it would have been surprising for them to come back with a verdict today. There’s no way of knowing when a verdict will come, whether it will be days or weeks.

There’s also not much clarity on what will happen if Trump is convicted. Trump could face up to 4 years in prison per count, but Judge Juan Merchan has broad discretion on sentencing if the jury votes to convict. Assuming the jury convicts on all 34 counts, Merchan could throw the book at Trump and sentence him to spend what could amount to the rest of his life in prison. Or, he could sentence him to a large fine and probation or house arrest.

Merchan has frequently referred to the burdens that incarcerating Trump would impose on facilities, the state and corrections officers. Even if Trump goes to prison, he will still be entitled to Secret Service protection. Secret Service would be responsible for Trump’s protection, and corrections officers would be responsible for the safety of both Trump and his security detail.

Closing arguments yesterday

Yesterday, defense and prosecution attorneys gave their closing arguments. Trump’s defense team attacked the merits of the prosecution’s case and the credibility of their witnesses, especially former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen. Cohen’s testimony was key to establishing that Trump knew and approved of a scheme to falsify business records to reimburse Cohen for a $130,000 hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels, who allegedly had an extramarital fling with Trump.

Trump’s defense hammered Cohen’s admission that he had at one point stolen money from the Trump Organization, and previous instances of him lying under oath. They also dismissed the premise of the case, telling jurors it “doesn’t matter” that Trump colluded with media figures to keep information from the public. “Every campaign in this country is a conspiracy to promote a candidate,” defense attorney Todd Blanche said.

Prosecutors presented their extensive documentation of the repayments. They walked jurors through how the repayments were structured, with close oversight from Trump. The Stormy Daniels situation arose just days ahead of the election. With the campaign still recovering from the release of the Access Hollywood tape, Trump’s circle feared the nature and timing of Daniels’ allegations could sink him at the polls.

The drama inside the courtroom yesterday was somewhat overshadowed by a sideshow happening outside the courtroom. The Biden campaign chose to stage a press conference featuring actor Robert De Niro. Trump’s team labeled the Biden camp’s stunt as confirmation that the prosecutions against Trump are politically-motivated.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Media orgs expose Israel’s years-long campaign of spying, intimidation and threats against the ICC

Last week, ICC lead prosecutor Karim Khan announced he was seeking arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

During his announcement, Khan referenced “attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence” the court’s operation and threatened to prosecute offenders under Article 70 of the Rome Statue if these efforts did not cease. In a later interview with CNN’s Christian Amanpour, Khan referenced “threats, some of which are public and some of which maybe not” (timestamp 19:00-20:00) toward ICC officials.

Yesterday, the Guardian newspaper in the UK, Israeli English-language publication +972 Magazine, and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call published the results of their joint investigation which may explain some of the “threats” Khan was referring to.

These reports are the result of interviews with unnamed current and former officials at the ICC and the Israeli military, as well as Palestinian officials and human rights workers. 

A 9-year war against accountability

Netanyahu has publicly been very dismissive of the ICC and Khan’s application for an arrest warrant against him. However, these revelations suggest that he and other Israeli figures went to tremendous effort and outrageous lengths to avoid being dragged before the Hague.

In 2015, the International Criminal Court began investigating war crimes by Israel and others in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem). Fearing the ICC could indict officials at the highest levels of government, Israel’s political, military, and security establishment joined forces to influence the workings of the court, to delegitimize the court, and to undermine its investigations wherever possible.

One former Israeli intelligence official said Israeli leaders regarded the campaign against the ICC “as a war that had to be waged, and one that Israel needed to be defended against. It was described in military terms”.

According to the sources, this “war” was fought on several fronts. Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, engaged in harassment, threats, intimidation, blackmail of ICC officials and their family members. Meanwhile, Israel’s domestic military, police and intelligence agencies targeted Palestinian Authority and Palestinian NGOs through spying, wiretaps, and phone hacking.

These efforts were overseen by national security advisors to Benjamin Netanyahu. One source described Netanyahu as “obsessed” with the campaign. Israel’s highest-ranking military, diplomatic, police, and justice officials also took a keen interest – many of them, like Netanyahu, fearing prosecution. This includes former Defense Minister Benny Gantz, whom the US has recently courted as a “moderate” alternative to Netanyahu.

Here I’ve bullet-pointed some key info from the Guardian and 972 articles, but this only scratches the surface. You can find links to the full articles below.

Threats and harassment of former lead ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda

Former ICC lead prosecutor Fatou Bensouda opened the investigation into crimes in the OPT in 2015. The outlets’ sources reveal Mossad’s campaign of threats, intimidation, and blackmail against Bensouda and her family members.

• In 2015, two unidentified men showed up at Bensouda’s home and delivered an envelope containing cash and an Israeli phone number.
• Starting in 2017, former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen began “stalking” Bensouda, including surprising her in a hotel room in 2018.
• Bensouda told colleagues Cohen told her: “You should help us and let us take care of you. You don’t want to be getting into things that could compromise your security or that of your family”.
• Cohen made other statements to Bensouda implying threats against her family members.
• Mossad put together a dossier on Bensouda’s husband, which Israel’s diplomats later circulated in an unsuccessful attempt to discredit Bensouda.
• Mossad and the Israeli military intelligence also illegally monitored Bensouda’s communications with Palestinian officials and NGOs in the OPT. One source said the agencies had no misgivings about doing this because: “With Bensouda, she’s black and African, so who cares?” 

Bensouda’s 9-year term as lead prosecutor ended in 2021, but Israel’s attempts to intimidate or influence ICC officials did not cease. An ICC spokesperson said that while Khan has not been contacted by Mossad, his office has received “several forms of threats and communications that could be viewed as attempts to unduly influence its activities”. You can find out more about this in the articles linked below.

Spying campaign against Palestinian officials and NGOs

The Guardian reports that Yossi Cohen “personally led the Mossad’s involvement in an almost decade-long campaign by the country to undermine the court”. This campaign was not limited to threats against Bensouda and other officers of the court. Palestinian officials and NGOs were also targets:

• Mossad and the Israeli military intelligence used wiretaps and phone-hacking software to monitor communications between Palestinian officials and NGOs and ICC officials.
•  Al-Haq, a prominent Palestinian NGO, was a major target due to its lengthy and detailed submissions to the ICC on incidents in the OPT. Their submissions detailed crimes allegedly committed by senior Israeli officials, including IDF chiefs, directors of the Shin Bet (Israeli police), and defense ministers such as Benny Gantz.
• In 2021, Gantz attempted to outlaw Al-Haq and 5 other Palestinian NGOs by labeling them “terrorist organizations”. 
• NGOs began concealing the identity of individuals who provided testimonies out of fear of retaliation. One human rights worker told +972: “People are afraid to file a complaint [to the ICC], or to mention their real names, because they fear being persecuted by the military, of losing their entry permits. A man in Gaza who has a relative sick with cancer is scared the army will take his entry permit and prevent his treatment — this sort of thing happens.”

Attempts to block ICC investigations through sham investigations

One of the purposes of the spy campaign was to uncover details on incidents the ICC is looking into. Since the ICC is supposed to be a court of last resort, the judiciaries of individual countries can claim “complementarity” by investigating incidents themselves.

However, Israel has an abysmal record of prosecuting crimes against Palestinians by Israeli officials, soldiers or citizens. Nevertheless, here are a few recent incidents in the Gaza war where Israel is attempting to block ICC jurisdiction using this dodge:

• The bombings of the Jabaliya refugee camp that killed dozens of Palestinians last October;
• The “flour massacre” in March 2024, where IDF soldiers gunned down more than 110 Palestinians seeking food aid in northern Gaza;
• The targeted drone strikes that killed 7 foreign workers for World Central Kitchen in April;
• Sunday’s massacre of 45 Palestinians in a tent encampment in Rafah.

Links to the full articles, which are summarized here:

The Guardian: Israeli spy chief ‘threatened’ ICC prosecutor over war crimes inquiry.

The Guardian: Spying, hacking and intimidation: Israel’s nine-year ‘war’ on the ICC exposed.

+972 Magazine: Surveillance and interference: Israel’s covert war on the ICC exposed