Closing summary
It’s been a lively day in New York, where former president Donald Trump is on trial for criminally falsifying and hiding a hush money payment to an adult film star. On his way out of the courtroom just now, Trump complained to reporters that prosecutors said their case could take at least another two weeks to present.
Repeating previous false claims, he insisted the trial was merely a ruse to keep the Republican party’s presumptive presidential nominee “off the campaign trail”.
“I thought they would be finished today,” Trump said. “The judge is so happy about two or three more weeks because they all want to keep me off the campaign trail. That’s all this is about, election interference”.
Judge Juan Merchan has been a frequent target of Trump’s ire through the three weeks of the trial so far.
We’ll be back again tomorrow to cover more developments in Trump’s hush money trial. Here’s a look at today’s highlights from the courtroom:
Deborah Tarasoff, a former accountant at the Trump Organization, testified that Trump personally signed reimbursement checks to his “fixer” Michael Cohen, who made the payment to adult movie star Stormy Daniels that’s at the heart of this case. Showing that Trump signed them chips away at the defense claim Trump was detached from the transactions.
Tarasoff was led through a succession of checks to Cohen that she cut, then sent to Trump for signing, some while the former president was in the White House. The purpose appeared to be giving the jury a clear understanding of the regular practices in place at the company and how the hush money payment to Daniels veered outside normal procedures to point of illegality.
This morning, Jeffrey McConney, the Trump Organization’s retired controller and senior vice-president, took the stand. Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo pressed him hard on the company’s accounting and reporting procedures, seeming to make headway on the argument that Trump was in full control of his personal and company finances, and had authorized and was aware of the purpose of the payment to Daniels.
But Trump’s lawyer Emil Bove got McConney to concede he had never spoken with Trump about repayments to Cohen, and had never been directed to register the payments in a certain way, or improperly.
Bove suggested there was no falsification, in part because of the narrow way Trump Organization payments had to be recorded using the drop-down menu of an “antiquated” software recording system.
Additionally, McConney conceded, Cohen was Trump’s personal lawyer, and that he always recorded payments to lawyers as “legal expenses” in the ledger during his 36-plus years with the company.
Judge Juan Merchan found Trump in contempt for breaching a gag order by speaking about the jury, namely how quickly it was seated, and his belief it was made up of “95% Democrats”. Merchan fined Trump $1,000, bringing the total fines to $10,000 for 10 separate breaches, and warned Trump he faced jail for any subsequent infraction.
Updated
Trump prosecution case to run 'another two weeks'
Donald Trump’s New York hush-money trial is in recess until Tuesday morning, after questioning of the day’s final witness, former Trump Organization accountant Deb Tarasoff, concluded without a redirect.
Judge Juan Merchan told jurors that testimony was finishing about a half-hour earlier than usual, and dismissed them.
Once they were out, he questioned prosecutor Joshua Steinglass about how fast he felt the trial was moving.
“We’re doing well,” Steinglass said.
“Could you give me a little more than that?” Merchan asked, to laughter in the courtroom.
Steinglass said he thought the prosecution’s case will run about another two weeks from Tuesday, as a “very, very rough guess”.
Updated
