Today is Friday, May 3, 2024. For those who might be interested in knowing why I was absent from my blog yesterday, I can offer this explanation: Elliot and I were entertaining a guest last night over dinner engaging in some very scintillating conversation. Our guest was “Taylor,” a thirtyish young man who is currently dating our second adopted “niece,” “Rebecca,” who is the daughter of our Easton, Pennsylvania, friend, “Jeff.” Taylor now lives in Astoria after growing up in rural Pennsylvania with a long, extended family: one full sibling, with several half-siblings. Another reason for his visit was to show me a little bit of his comic book collection after he learned that I still collect comic books to this day. He brought full-length books, one featuring Superman clashing with then-heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali and another featuring Superman and Wonder Woman battling it out too. Taylor also had a copy of Interview magazine that was launched by the late Andy Warhol.

For dinner, Elliot served homemade meatloaf and baked potatoes. We had vegetables and dip for hors d’oeuvres. Taylor brought dessert from La Boulangerie. To conclude our meal, I boiled water for tea and Elliot served Taylor his blend of strong coffee.

All in all, Taylor stayed almost four hours, leaving close to 10 p.m. I must say that we succeeded in keeping him intrigued with our conversation; he didn’t leave that early. Afterward, I decided to turn on the dishwasher which is generally left desolate much of the time. Then it got too late to write anything, so Elliot and I began watching an old episode of the Twilight Zone starring Burgess Meredith in the role of the Devil who helps a floundering town editor with his sagging circulation.

Then I began rewatching Susan Haywood’s Oscar-winning performance in 1958’s I Want to Live in which she portrays real-life Death Row inmate Barbara Graham, who was found guilty of murdering a wealthy widow, along with two companions, in 1953. She was eventually executed in the gas chamber. Sadly, I fell asleep during the pivotal murder scene in which she allegedly breaks into this widow’s house with the intent of robbing her of money and jewels. Throughout the trial and subsequent incarceration at San Quentin, Graham maintained her innocence. Her history of prostitution and perjury convictions couldn’t have helped her any.

In the regular news, today marked Day 11 of the unprecedented Donald Duck trial in New York. The main witness for the prosecution was Chump’s former campaign press secretary and White House communications director Hope Hicks who took the stand this morning and described the fallout from the “Access Hollywood” tape and the Drumpf White House response to stories about hush money payments. This development is covered in an online CNN article by Jeremy Herb, Kara Scannell, and Lauren del Valle entitled “Takeaways from Day 11 of the Donald Trump hush money trial as Hope Hicks testifies.”

Hicks was reportedly very nervous, and she mostly avoided eye contact with the defendant while answering questions from prosecutors for more than two hours. When prosecutors finished with their queries and Chump’s attorney took the podium, Hicks began crying and appeared to be overwhelmed; she finished her testimony after a brief break.

Through Hicks’ testimony, prosecutors showed jurors the transcript of the infamous tape that upended Trump’s campaign – and, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, fueled Chump’s concern about keeping Stormy Daniels quiet in the days before the November 2016 election.

Some takeaways from Day 11 of the Drumpf election interference trial:

Hicks describes the tape ‘crisis’ and denying Daniels’ allegations

Much of Drumpf’s former communications director’s testimony focused on her role on the Dump campaign in October 2016, just before Election Day. Prosecutors asked what happened when the “Access Hollywood” tape came out.

Hicks bluntly asserted, “The tape was damaging. This was a crisis.”

Jurors hear how Trump responded to ‘Access Hollywood’ tape

Jurors got to see a full transcript of the tape that almost sunk Chump’s presidential campaign – but sadly, didn’t – including his infamous “grab them by the pussy” comment, as well as other vulgar language the campaign tried to dismiss as “locker room talk.”

(Trump, however, could not be heard on the explosive tape, as the judge ruled the video would be prejudicial to the jury.)

Hope Hicks took the jury inside the chaos within Drumpf’s campaign scrambling in response to The Washington Post story on October 7, 2016. Hicks first learned about the tape when the reporter emailed her for comment for his story that day.

Prosecutors are getting closer to the crime

For two weeks, prosecutors have delved deeply into the negotiations that led to hush money payments made to Karen McDougal and Daniels before the 2016 election.

But those payments are not illegal on their own. Chump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records stemming from how he allegedly hid the way Cohen was reimbursed for paying $130,000 to Daniels in order to keep her quiet before the 2016 election.

With Hicks’ testimony, prosecutors nudged closer to the repayment and the alleged charges.

Attacks continue against ‘Mr. Fix It,’ Michael Cohen

Trump’s legal team continued its trial-long assault on Cohen’s credibility Friday, going after everything from the way he handled his cell phones to how he would go “rogue” during the 2016 campaign.

Hicks was questioned by Chump’s attorneys as to whether Cohen was brought in on campaign strategy and did things that were not authorized by the campaign.

“He liked to call himself a fixer, or ‘Mr. Fix It’ – and it was only because he first broke it that he was able to fix it,” Hicks said, laughing.

Judge reminds Trump the gag order doesn’t mean he can’t testify

Just like the toddler that he is, Drumpf continues to rail against the gag order issued by Judge Merchan that blocks the defendant from speaking out about potential witnesses and most people in or associated with the court or the New York District Attorney’s Office.

The presumptive repugnican presidential nominee has repeatedly made the gag order sound far broader than it is, CNN fact checker Daniel Dale wrote. He lied to audience members in the audience in a Michigan rally that he couldn’t even talk to them because the poor, little evil judge gagged him. However, the gag order says nothing to prevent Drumpf from making a campaign speech.

Previously, Drumpf has made the mistaken claim that it would prevent him from taking the stand. The judge overseeing the case, however, made clear that there was no doubt that he could take the stand if he so desires. In court Friday, Merchan said, “It does not prohibit you from taking the stand and it does not limit or maximize what you can say.” I suspect that the orange-haired defendant is using this argument as a way to get out of testifying at his own trial, which everyone knows would go horribly for him if he did.

For violating the gag order, Drumpf has paid the $9,000 fine he was assessed for previously breaking the gag order, using two cashier’s checks.

So far, Merchan has not ruled on the additional alleged gag order violations brought against the blabbermouth.

As for reaching a possible verdict, I’m just hearing on the Anderson Cooper show on MSNBC tonight that a verdict could be reached by Memorial Day. That would be something since the trial began on Tax Day, April 15.

Have a good weekend.

Just to let you know: Tomorrow will be my last blog before Mother’s Day 2024, May 12, because Elliot and I are flying to Iceland for 6 days starting on Sunday, May 5. We’re returning to New York in the early evening of May 11. Iceland, if you don’t know, is known for its dramatic landscapes, including volcanoes, geysers, hot springs, and lava fields. There are protected glaciers in two national parks. Most of the population lives in the capital, Reykjavik, which is where Elliot and I are staying. Here people speak English for the most part, even though the official language is Icelandic. As of 2022, the population of Reykjavik is only 382,003. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to see the phenomenal cosmic light show known as the aurora borealis, or the Northern Lights, because of the timing of our visit. They usually might be seen from late September through late March. But we should be able to visit the world-famous Blue Lagoon which is a featured stop on one of our day tours. This should be amazing!

Stay safe and be well.