M.L. Nestel joined Raw Story in 2023. An award-winning writer and editor, his work has been published in New York Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine and The Guardian, among other titles. He also produces and writes for true-crime genre TV shows. Prior to that, he served on the Newsweek masthead as a senior writer, wrote as a correspondent at ABC News and held the titles of West Coast bureau chief and senior writer at The Daily Beast. Priors also include working as senior national correspondent at The Daily Mail and investigative reporter at all three NYC tabloids: The New York Post,The New York Daily News and Newsday. He traveled around the country as a national correspondent at The Daily. M.L. published hundreds of stories about underground music and cinema — most notably as a critic for Box Office Magazine and the New York editor at Soma Magazine. He also headed development at Fountainhead Films. M.L. splits his time between Los Angeles and New York.
Former President Donald Trump's most recent excuse about why hell has yet to break loose outside his criminal hush money trial was shredded Monday night by the New York Times reporter covering the case.
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman spoke with Anderson Cooper on CNN Monday night about the small number of of MAGA supporters who are holding court outside the Manhattan courtroom where Trump stands accused of falsifying business records to cover up hush money paid to a porn star.
"He has been hoping for something of a circus around his trial, but the reality is that only two to three dozen supporters over the last week have shown up," said Haberman, who has been covering the trial in person. "He looked very unhappy."
Cooper noted Trump has not been accompanied by family or friends, and must rely on the sole support of his legal team as District Attorney Alvin Bragg's prosecution forges forward.
"It has been striking that there's no family because I know that there was some discussion at some point in those couple of weeks about who would be with him in court," Haberman said. "He is by himself.
Their protests caught the eye of Trump, who connected the uptown events to the security outside his downtown Manhattan courthouse.
"The area surrounding the Courthouse, in Downtown Manhattan, is closed up like a drum, with New York City’s Finest (Police) all over the place," Trump posted on TruthSocial. "Why not send some to Columbia to protect Jewish Students, and others...Republicans want the right to protest in front of the Courthouse, like everyone else!"
Haberman swiftly shut down Trump's suggestion that enhanced security linked to the Ivy League was to blame for the meager turnout outside his trial.
"Trump started trying to suggest on Truth Social that that's why the number has been so small, is that they're all being blocked" Haberman said. "But that's not it, it's that people are not showing up."
