After more than 10 hours in court on Tuesday, hearing closing arguments, the jury in former President Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial is expected to begin its deliberations. This is Yahoo News’ succinct update on the criminal and civil cases against Trump. Here are the latest developments.
What happened today
Lawyers for Trump and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office made their closing arguments in the historic trial in which the former president is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a secret $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to hide an alleged extramarital affair. of voters. Judge Juan Merchan told jurors he would give them instructions Wednesday morning on how to reach a verdict in the case. “Jurors, thank you again for your patience,” Merchan said.
Enlarge: ‘An MVP of liars’ vs. ‘a conspiracy and a cover-up’
Trump’s closing argument: Trump lawyer Todd Blanche argued that prosecutors did not present a single “scrap of evidence” to show that Trump falsified business records or attempted to influence the 2016 presidential election when he reimbursed Cohen for the $130,000 payment to Daniels.
Although Blanche told jurors that Daniels had tried to extort money from Trump, he devoted most of his time chasing Cohen, who Blanche sought to portray as the witness around whom the prosecution built its case.
“You cannot convict President Trump of any crime beyond a reasonable doubt, in the words of Michael Cohen,” Blanche said, calling him “an MVP of liars.”
“He is the human embodiment of reasonable doubt,” Blanche added, noting that Cohen admitted during the trial to stealing $60,000 from the Trump Organization.
As for Trump himself, Blanche portrayed him as out of the loop regarding Cohen’s plans to help his presidential campaign by paying Daniels for his silence, saying instead that Trump was simply reimbursing Cohen for legal services rendered.
Blanche sought to convince jurors that politics had nothing to do with the payment to Daniels and that it therefore did not rise to the level of a criminal campaign finance violation.
“This is not a referendum on your views on President Trump. This is not a referendum on the ballot box,” said Blanche.
Final arguments of the prosecution: Senior trial attorney Joshua Steinglass presented the prosecution’s closing argument that the case was about “a conspiracy and a cover-up” to keep voters from knowing about the alleged sexual relationship between Trump and Daniels.
That conspiracy, Steinglass told the jury, involved people other than Cohen.
“In this case, there is literally a mountain of corroborating testimony evidence that tends to connect the defendant to this crime, from Pecker to Hicks to the defendant’s own employees,” said Steinglass, referring to former National Enquirer chief David Pecker, and former Trump advisor Hope. Hicks, adding: “It is difficult to conceive of a case with more corroboration than this.”
The conspiracy, which included a “catch and kill” deal with the National Enquirer to stop the publication of negative stories about Trump, Steinglass said, had tangible results.
“This scheme, hatched by these men at this time, could very well be what elected President Trump,” Steinglass said, according to CNN.
Like Blanche, Steinglass also focused much of his closure on Cohen, openly admitting his ethical failings.
“We did not choose Michael Cohen to be our witness. We didn’t catch him in the witness shop,” Steinglass added. “The defendant chose Michael Cohen as his intermediary because he was willing to lie and cheat on his behalf.”
In a presentation that lasted more than five hours, Steinglass offered the jury a meticulous timeline of the alleged scheme, refreshing their memory of the evidence presented by prosecutors. This included Trump campaign officials’ responses to the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape, forged documents used to open bank accounts from which Daniels was paid, phone records leading up to that payment, and notes from Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, who set a timeline for reimbursing Cohen. Steinglass called Weisselberg’s payment schedule the “smoking guns” of the trial.
“He didn’t really pay for a lawyer,” Steinglass said of the refunds Trump made to Cohen. “He paid a porn star by funneling money through a lawyer.”
“This case is not about Michael Cohen. It’s about Mr. Trump and whether he should be held accountable for making false business records in his own business records. Whether he and his team did it to cover up election interference,” Steinglass said.
“The defendant was the beneficiary of this entire scheme,” Steinglass reiterated at the end of his closing argument, the New York Times reported. “He was the one trying to get elected.”
Judge Merchan’s instructions will arrive on Wednesday: Citing the long hours the jury spent in court Tuesday, Merchan told the jury he would wait until Wednesday morning to instruct them on how to render a verdict in the case. Although the day ended without significant interruptions, Merchan reprimanded defense and prosecution attorneys on two occasions.
After Blanche told the jury that they “can’t send someone to prison” based on the testimony of someone like Cohen, prosecutors objected and Merchan issued a clarification.
“That comment was inappropriate and you should disregard it. In your deliberations, you may not discuss, consider or even speculate on matters relating to sentence or punishment,” the judge told the jury.
When Steinglass was concluding his closing argument, he appeared to disregard Merchan’s instructions to let him handle the jury’s instructions on legal issues and their verdict. After explaining the concepts of reasonable doubt and accessory liability, Merchan supported two defense objections and criticized Steinglass.
“I will explain the law,” the judge told him.
What is the next?
Court will return to session on Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET, when Merchan will give instructions to the jury and send them off to render their verdict.
