Trump is very, very worried about the April 15th trial date.

[kentuck]

He doesn't do "trials".

He either pays off the plaintiffs or delays the process until it disappears.

But, this time, it is different.

There is Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels waiting to testify. Hope Hicks is a wild card and they don't know what she might say? The facts do not look good for Trump. He really needs to make this trial disappear.

It was nothing unusual for him to try to pay someone off to keep them quiet. It was not the first time he had done it. Unfortunately, it was right before the 2016 election and he did not need any more negative attention. Michael Cohen, who swore he would "take a bullet" for him, was sent to prison for his part in the pay-off. Obviously, there is no love lost there.

So, is Trump worried about April 15th?

I would say, very much so.

[Maeve]

1. I f'ing hope he's worried sick

Sick to death, even (all phrases meant metaphorically, Special Agents!)
And for good measure

[SWBTATTReg]

2. Good. I hope he suffers. Bigly.

[cilla4progress]

3. It was in the immediate wake of the GRAB THEM BY THE PUSSY TAPE

yes, that the former US president made, and was elected WITH SUPPORT FROM EVANGELICAL XTIANS, in spite of...

so "the sick fuck" aptly determined it might have been a problem.

Or maybe not..with that crowd....

[kentuck]

4. But he would rather not take the chance...

...if he could buy her silence.

[cilla4progress]

7. Yeah, that's what

he didn't want to get out...

Why did I have to live during this sick fuck time????

[lindysalsagal]

5. Exactly. The new "federal police without controls" promise

Doesn't sound like something a confident candidate would promise. He re-stated it in a rally out west yesterday. Keith Olbermann played the audio in today's countdown podcast. He got cheers from the crowd when he promised zero oversight or controls on local, state or fed cops. It will be putting control of everything and everyone in the hands of local police chiefs. Basically, feudalism in America without the rich families or church influence. I wonder if police know he's making these promises?
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-countdown-with-keith-olbe-99705496/

[agingdem]

6. Honestly, I am so tired of Maggie Haberman and

"people with knowledge" tracking Trump's "worries"...I mean, the asshole is trashing the judge, his daughter, the prosecutor and his family every damn day...and what...a fucking gag order/an expanded gag order?...so what!!!

[Johnny2X2X]

8. It becomes real to a lot of people then

I know it's hard for people here to believe, but a lot of people don't really know much about the Stormy Daniels case. They think it's just noise and political, they don't know why it was illegal and that is was way more than some wild claim.

There are moderates and some Republicans out there who don't know that Trump doesn;t deny the sex and that there was a payoff right before the 2016 election and how the payoff happened. I really hope there's cameras allowed in the court room, the public has a right to know the exact facts around this.

And there are in fact Trump voters who are in denial about this and hearing the gory details for them is going to be shocking.

[kentuck]

9. It was a crime...

...made worse by the fact that it happened just before the election.

He did not want to take the gamble that it would not matter to his voters, so he decided to pay her off.

In hindsight, maybe it wouldn't have mattered to his supporters, but he did not know it at the time.

It was a serious crime.

[obamanut2012]

10. Hicks quit twice, including January 6/7

And, was one of the group to encourage Cassidy Hutchinson to testify. She is a wild card to an extent, but more against Trumpie Bear than for.