After 10 hours, closing arguments in Trump hush-money trial are done
Both prosecution and defense have rested their cases in Donald Trump’s hush-money trial. Trump’s defense attorney Todd Blanche’s closing argument took about three hours and prosecutor Joshua Steinglass’s lasted for nearly five hours.
Trump, who usually speaks after court hearings, left in his motorcade without making a statement.
Here are some highlights from the day:
Trump was accompanied by his children Donald Jr, Eric and Tiffany, alongside their spouses. Ivanka and Melania Trump were noticeably absent with someone calling out, “Where’s Melania”? as Trump walked into the courtroom.
Trump spoke to reporters before heading into the courtroom. He called the judge, Juan Merchan, “corrupt” and “conflicted” but said he couldn’t speak about the trial because of the gag order. He added: “We’ll see how it goes. This is a very dangerous day for America. It’s a very sad day.”
During his closing argument to the jury, Blanche emphasized that Michael Cohen had lied to the jury, calling him the “MVP of liars” and tried to cast doubt on the integrity of a 2016 audio recording that Cohen made of Trump.
Robert De Niro spoke outside of the building where Trump’s hearing was held to talk about the threats he believes the nation will face if Trump is elected again in 2024. “We don’t want to wake up after the election saying ‘What again? My God, what the hell have we done?’” the actor told reporters.
Steinglass began his closing argument by telling the jury that despite Blanche’s swipes at Cohen’s credibility, “this case is not about Michael Cohen. This case is about Donald Trump,” Steinglass said. “Three rich and powerful men, high up in Trump Tower, tried to become even more powerful by controlling the information that reached voters.”
Steinglass also brought up the Access Hollywood recording of Trump from 2005 and its impact on Trump’s campaign strategy, saying: “The video was vulgar, to say the least,” Steinglass said. “That media strategy shifted from deny, deny, deny, to spin. Ms Hicks testified that among campaign leadership, the consensus was that this was a crisis.”
Trump’s frugality was referenced several times as Steinglass tries to convince the jury that Trump falsified legal documents to cover up repayment to Cohen for allegedly paying hush money to Stormy Daniels.
As he wrapped his nearly five-hour closing statement Steinglass emphasized that Trump allegedly acted in concert with his team to effect a cover-up. “Mr Trump doesn’t have to do these acts himself. He can act in concert with others, and that’s what the allegation is,” Steinglass said.
Thanks for following the blog. Read our full story from today in court here.
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Prosecution wraps up and urges jury to find Trump guilty
After nearly five hours prosecutor Joshua Steinglass has said his final words to the jury that will decide whether or not Donald Trump falsified business records to conceal hush money repayments to Michael Cohen.
In response to Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche’s argument that Trump couldn’t have tried to influence the election by committing crimes after the election, Steinglass said: “The defendant was still actively trying to prevent his catch-and-kill scheme from going public,” … and, with Trump announcing he wanted to run again, “He had every reason to continue to conceal his election fraud,” Steinglass said.
“The defendant’s intent to defraud in this case could not be any clearer,” Steinglass continued. “Instead, the defendant, Weisselberg and Cohen devised this elaborate scheme involving at least 10 other people.” Trump, Steinglass said, “used his own business records as the vehicle” to cover up this conspiracy.
“Everything Mr. Trump and his cohorts did in this case were cloaked in lies - lies,” Steinglass said.
“The name of the game was concealment – and all roads lead inescapably to the man who needed it most, the defendant, former president Donald Trump,” Steinglass said.
Steinglass is imploring jurors to return a guilty verdict. “In the interest of justice and in the name of the people of the state of New York, I ask you to find the defendant guilty. Thank you.”
Jury deliberations are expected to start on Wednesday after Judge Merchan delivers jury instructions.
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We’re getting to what might be the wind-down of Steinglass’ closing argument. He’s showing jurors slides that largely reiterate the evidence, just in another visual form, to show Trump’s “direct involvement”.
“The defense wants you to think that Mr Cohen went rogue. But there are at least three reasons you shouldn’t believe that argument,” Steinglass told jurors. “Number one: Trump was a micromanager. It was just not in his nature to remain in the dark about matters that might undermine his campaign.”
Steinglass also touched on how Trump can be guilty of the counts because of others’ actions. For example, during jury selection, Steinglass started to allude to how a husband is legally on the hook for a hitman whom he hires to kill his wife. This prompted an objection from Trump’s defense, which was sustained.
“Mr Trump doesn’t have to do these acts himself. He can act in concert with others, and that’s what the allegation is,” Steinglass said.
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After another break, closing statements in Trump’s hush-money trial are continuing with prosecutor Joshua Steinglass showing jurors a diagram of Cohen’s establishment of Resolution Consultants, an LLC which, Cohen said, he formed to carry out a hush-money payment but ultimately didn’t use. The diagram also shows October 2016 dates when Cohen communicated with tabloid figures, about Daniels.
“Mr Trump is being kept abreast of every development,” Steinglass said.
“Cohen had $130,000 reasons to get the defedant’s blessing,” Steinglass said of Cohen seeking, and receiving, approval from Trump for the Daniels payoff.
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Prosecution says Trump deeply involved in financial decisions
Donald Trump’s frugality has been referenced several times as Joshua Steinglass tries to convince the jury that Trump falsified legal documents to cover up repayment to Michael Cohen for allegedly paying hush money to Stormy Daniels.
Steinglass argues that Trump was deeply involved in financial decisions before and during his presidency. “The defendant remained involved even with minor decisions about where his money was going,” Steinglass said. “Mr Trump wanted to retain control over his $80 cable bill because that is who he is … that is who he’s been from the very beginning, he’s frugal,” Steinglass said.
To underscore Trump’s self-professed involvement in his finances Steinglass pointed to an excerpt from one of Trump’s books. Steinglass read that Trump wrote: “As I said before, I always sign my checks, so I know where my money’s going. In the same spirit. I also always try to read my bills to make sure I’m not being over-charged.”
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To drive home the claim that Cohen repaid for the hush money he gave to Stormy Daniels and not for legal services, Steinglass is pointing to Cohen’s claim that he did perhaps 10 hours of legal work for Trump and his family in 2017.
“Cohen spent more time being cross-examined at this trial than he did doing legal work for Donald Trump in 2017. Do you think Donald Trump would spend $42,000 an hour on legal work?” Steinglass said, referring to the total $420,000 in payouts Cohen received that year.
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Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is now trying to drive home Trump’s involvement in covering up payments made to Stormy Daniels and subsequent repayment to Michael Cohen. Steinglass referenced a 2017 meeting at Trump Tower, attended by Trump, Cohen, and former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg. Cohen alleged that his repayment was discussed and that Trump, who was present, gave the OK for repayment.
Cohen was ultimately given a check for $420,000 that Trump’s legal team said was for services Cohen rendered as Trump’s attorney.
“I’m almost speechless that they’re still trying to make the arguments that in 2017 the payments were for services rendered,” Steinglass said, pointing to handwritten notes that said to “gross up” Cohen’s payment.
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After a 20-minute break, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is resuming his hours-long closing statement in Donald Trump’s hush-money trial.
Steinglass argues that former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who had been griping openly with those in his circle that he hadn’t been repaid for the $130,000 he gave to Stormy Daniels, was a liability for Trump. Trump knew that he couldn’t just write a check for 130,000, “so enter the false business records”, Steinglass told jurors.
We talked about the conspiracy to influence the election and even after Mr Trump got elected, he still had to make sure no one found out about the conspiracy. But here’s the problem – Michael Cohen was out $130,000.
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Trump's 'primary concern was not his family, but the election', says prosecutor
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said there was no surprise that the hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels didn’t take place until two weeks before the 2016 election, even though the encounter with Donald Trump took place in 2006, Reuters reported.
Steinglass said:
And that’s because the defendant’s primary concern was not his family, but the election.
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It was a scenario that Donald Trump, in his pre-presidential celebrity days, might have relished; as he sat inside a Manhattan courtroom, Robert De Niro was waiting outside.
But this was politics and De Niro, the pugnacious star of myriad Hollywood gangster films, was there not to pay homage to the former president as a fellow VIP, but to diss him in terms that might have been in place in Goodfellas or Mean Streets.
Introduced by the Biden campaign communications director, Michael Tyler, De Niro – a vitriolic critic of Trump who has provided the voiceover for a new 30-second advertisement warning of the perils of his return – adapted to the role with professional aplomb.
“This is my neighbourhood, downtown New York City. I grew up here and feel at home in these streets,” the 80-year-old Oscar winner said outside the New York courthouse, before remarking on the strangeness of Trump being in a courtroom across the street, “because he doesn’t belong in my city”.
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Prosecutor says Stormy Daniels undermined Trump's strategy of spinning Access Hollywood tape
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass, continuing to double down on motive, goes back to the timeline: after the debate, which happened shortly after the Access Hollywood tape, women came forward accusing Trump of sexual misconduct.
Hope Hicks, Steinglass said, testified that “the defendant knew there was a crisis”.
“You really can’t understand this case without appreciating the climate,” Steinglass said of the Access Hollywood tape fallout.
“It caused pandemonium” in the campaign. This is why Trump so desperately needed the hush-money payment, Steinglass said. “He was negotiating to muzzle a porn star” who was threatening to go public.
Stormy Daniels was a walking, talking reminder that the defendant was not only worse – she would have totally undermined his strategy for spinning the Access Hollywood tape.
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Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass notes that the Trump campaign put out a statement after the release of the Access Hollywood tape that described his comments as “locker-room” talk.
Steinglass said that Trump also tweeted out a video the next day to “try and stop the bleeding”.
Trump said in the video:
I’ve said some foolish things but there’s a big difference between the words and actions of other people.
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Prosecutor turns to Access Hollywood tape impact on Trump campaign
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is resuming his closing. He’s talking about the impact of the Access Hollywood video and aftermath, which speaks to motive.
“The video was vulgar, to say the least,” Steinglass said of the tape.
He’s going over the media inquiry and talks about how the campaign started to panic, and pointed as well to Hope Hicks’ testimony.
Her initial instinct was to deny the veracity of this video, but that changed.
That media strategy shifted from deny, deny, deny, to spin. Ms Hicks testified that among campaign leadership, the consensus was that this was a crisis.
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Judge Juan Merchan tells the courtroom that there will be another break today around 5pm, adding:
And then we’ll be back around 5:30 or so, and see how everyone is at that point.
Before the break, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said he was about a third of the way through his closing argument.
Following a brief break, Donald Trump has returned to the courtroom.
Before the break, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass revealed he was about a third of the way through his closing statements.
Several jaws dropped in the gallery as Steinglass said that. He has already been speaking for more than 90 minutes.
The court is taking a short afternoon break.
Prosecutor says call between Trump and Cohen 'unequivocally' shows effort to influence 2016 election
Manhattan district attorney prosecutor Josh Steinglass argues that whatever the defense tries to say about a recording that Cohen made of Trump acknowledging he knew the Karen McDougal story was being bought for $150,000 – the second of the three alleged catch-and-kill efforts – “this tape suggests Trump will pay cash.”
He’s trying to do it in way that doesn’t leave a paper trail. Cohen’s basically telling him he’s going to set up a shell corporation, and spoke to [former Trump Organization CFO] Allen Weiselberg about how to do it.
It unequivocally shows the campaign actively engaging in a scheme to influence the election by killing the McDougal story. And that’s why they’re so keen to discredit.
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Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is emphasizing the campaign-contribution element of the underlying crime in the falsification charge.
He talks about American Media Inc’s (AMI) $150,000 payment to Karen McDougal, who allegedly had a sexual relationship with Trump.
David Pecker testified that AMI, the National Enquirer’s parent company, paid her – knowing full well it would never be published.
“Pecker was willing to sacrifice AMI’s bottom line in service to Trump’s campaign,” Steinglass said.
This deal was the very antithesis of the normal, legitimate press function.
Steinglass said:
AMI purchased the life rights for, and at the request of, the defendant.
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It’s very hard to read jurors but from my limited vantage point, the descriptor that comes to mind is “low energy”.
They seem to be paying attention, but I don’t know whether anything titillating – this is a case about an adult film actor at the heart of an election interference scandal, after all – has that same effect after five weeks of lawyers droning on.
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Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass turns to the defense’s contention that Karen McDougal wanted to keep quiet.
McDougal’s intentions are totally irrelevant, Steinglass says. The question is, what is the defendant’s motivation? Steinglass said:
Their motivation was to serve the campaign, which makes this a catch-and-kill.
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Each story Trump tried to have buried amounts to unlawful campaign contribution, prosecutor argues
Manhattan district attorney prosecutor Josh Steinglass argues each of the three stories that Donald Trump tried to have buried were actually unlawful contributions to the Trump campaign.
“It was an illegal corporate campaign contribution,” Steinglass says of the first story proffered by the doorman Gino Sajudin about Trump having an illegitimate child. “And it was done in collusion with the campaign.”
“Election day was still 10 months away, but Sajudin had been neutralized for the remainder of the campaign,” Steinglass argued.
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The Manhattan district attorney has to prove that Donald Trump falsified business records with the intent to commit a second crime.
Prosecutor Josh Steinglass suggests to the jury that the unlawful means Trump allegedly used to influence the 2016 election was when money started to change hands for the benefit of the campaign.
“Contracts are not illegal,” Steinglass conceded, but they can be if there’s a contract to say, kill your wife.
Likewise, Steinglass says, non-disclosure agreements can be illegal – “including when they constitute unlawful campaign contributions”.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass tried to address the question “Who cares if Mr Trump slept with a porn star 10 years before the presidential election?”
He said that the plot to cover up bad stories by Michael Cohen, David Pecker and Donald Trump wasn’t about the porn star, but about taking away Americans’ rights to have that information and, thus, choose whether they cared.
The value of this corrupt bargain … it turned out to be one of the most valuable contributions to the Trump campaign.
He added:
This scheme cooked up by these men, at this time, could very well be what got Donald Trump elected.
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'This case is not about Michael Cohen. This case is about Donald Trump,' says prosecutor
“It’s obvious they want to make this case about Michael Cohen – it isn’t. That’s a deflection,” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said.
The defense had Michael Cohen on the stand for three days and asked maybe an hour … This case is not about Michael Cohen. This case is about Donald Trump and whether he should be held accountable for making false entries in his own business records. Michael Cohen’s significance in this case is that he provides color and context to documents. He’s like a tour guide.
Of the summer 2015 meeting with Donald Trump, David Pecker and Cohen, Steinglass said:
Three rich and powerful men, high up in Trump Tower, tried to become even more powerful by controlling the information that reached voters.
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Manhattan district attorney prosecutor Josh Steinglass suggests the jury doesn’t have to credit the defense accusation that Cohen lied about his 20 October 2016 call to Keith Schiller, Trump’s bodyguard.
Trump’s lawyers claimed Cohen must have only spoken about being prank-called by a 14-year-old.
Cohen could have spoken to Schiller both about the prank calls and also to apprise Trump about the hush money, the prosecutor says.
Steinglass simulated how the call might have gone, putting his hand to his ear as if it was a phone, and showed he could talk about both in under 49 seconds – roughly the length of call, according to phone records.
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Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass says Michael Cohen “was really more of the defendant’s fixer than his lawyer”.
He didn’t answer to the general counsel – he answered to the defendant directly … the guy with the boots on the ground who could bully people, threaten them with lawsuits, all at the defendant’s direction.
Cohen was in place for Trump to provide “plausible deniability”, though, Steinglass said, in the prosecutors’ case Cohen provides “implausible deniability”.
Steinglass notes that the prosecution didn’t go out of its way to get Cohen on the stand. “We didn’t pick him up at the witness store.”
“It’s difficult to find a case with more corroboration than this one,” Steinglass said. “You don’t need to waste any time thinking about this one.”
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Manhattan district attorney prosecutor Josh Steinglass is trying to show the jury that some of the defense’s attempts to undercut Cohen are inconsistent.
The defense claimed that Cohen lied to Congress – but that’s kind of rich, Steinglass says, since Cohen lied to Congress at Trump’s behest, and Cohen got no benefit apart from staying in Trump’s good graces.
The defense also claimed that Cohen stole $60,000 from the Trump Organization, when he billed Trump for $50,000 in order to reimburse a $20,000 cost to an IT company because the $30,000 delta was doubled up in the repayment scheme.
Steinglass says Trump’s lawyers can’t have it both ways – either Cohen is a thief, or he was reimbursed. But they can’t have it both ways.
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Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is also taking issue with the defense’s emphasis on Michael Cohen’s dishonesty with Congress.
Steinglass noted that Cohen lied in relation to the Mueller probe, about the number of times Trump had interacted with Russia.
They’re complaining, Steinglass said, about Cohen lying to protect their client – Trump. Steinglass said:
That’s what some people might call chutzpah.
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Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass continues to try addressing Michael Cohen’s credibility issues.
He effectively argues that Cohen has lost everything – he was behind bars, he can’t have his taxi medallions, he can’t get loans for real estate. Of course he’d be bitter about what happened.
“I’m not asking you to feel bad for Michael Cohen – he made his bed,” Steinglass said, but “you can hardly blame him for making money off the one thing he has left, which is his knowledge of the inner workings of the Trump phenomenon”.
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Prosecutor says Michael Cohen 'understandably angry' after Trump 'cut him loose like a hot potato'
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is trying hard to address the defense’s continuous attacks on Michael Cohen’s credibility.
He admits that Cohen is an interested witness – and says that jurors are free to take that into account but, he effectively argued, it makes sense that Cohen is.
“Michael Cohen is understandably angry …… to date, he’s the only one who’s paid the price. [Former American Media Inc publisher David] Pecker got a non-prosecution agreement. [Former National Enquirer editor Dylan] Howard is in Australia,” Steinglass said.
Cohen did the defendant’s bidding for years – his right-hand man, his consigliere … and when it went bad, the defendant cut him loose, like a hot potato, and tweeted out to the world that Cohen was a scumbag, a sleazebag, and all the while the election law violations to which Cohen pleaded guilty were done at the direction of the defendant!
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'Stormy Daniels is the motive': prosecutor says Trump would not pay $130,000 because of 'a photo on a golf course'
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass says former American Media Inc CEO David Pecker’s testimony was “damning”.
Steinglass noted how Pecker had no incentive to lie and in fact considered Donald Trump a friend.
There were others, too, like Hope Hicks and ex-Trump Organization executive Jeffrey McConney, who liked Trump and didn’t have any reason to harm him.
They offer testimony that is damning that they have no motive to fabricate … These people like the defendant; if anything, they have an incentive to skew their testimony in a way that may help the defendant.
Turning to Stormy Daniels, Steinglass says:
That’s the display the defendant didn’t want the American voter to see. In simplest terms, Stormy Daniels is the motive and you can bet Mr Trump would not pay $130,000 – twice that grossed up with taxes – just because he took a photo with someone on a golf course.
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During the lunch break, Donald Trump’s children held a news conference outside the courthouse where they echoed comments by their father’s defense lawyers.
Donald Trump Jr described Michael Cohen as “the Goat [greatest of all time] of liars”, adding that his father’s former fixer has “quite literally lied to every single person and body he’s ever been in front of in his life before”.
He said the Biden campaign holding a news conference earlier this morning showed it was a “political persecution” , adding:
This is a sham. This is insane. It needs to stop.
Eric Trump, who has regularly attended his father’s trial, said the former president is the “toughest man I’ve ever seen” and “he endures this nonsense every single day.”
He added:
I want to say sorry to the jury that’s in there. This has been the greatest colossal waste of time.
Lara Trump, his wife and the Republican National Committee co-chair, said this was a case “about politics, pure and simple”.
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Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is now talking about the motivation of Stormy Daniels.
Daniels’ first goal was to get the story on record because she believed that was the best way to protect herself and her family.
“That’s a different thing than this extortion narrative that they’re selling,” Steinglass says.
After the Daniels story resurfaced, Cohen reached out to Davidson first – not the other way around. Now, think what you want about Mr Davidson and this whole practice of trading on sexual stories … in the end it doesn’t really matter. You don’t get to commit election fraud or falsify business records because you feel you’ve been victimized.
Extortion, Steinglass said, is not a defense for breaking the law.
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Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass begins closing arguments
Joshua Steinglass is delivering the prosecution’s closing argument. He refers to his colleague Matthew Colangelo’s opening statements:
In his opening, Mr Colangelo told you that this case at its core is about a conspiracy and a cover-up. Tune out the noise and ignore the sideshows and if you’ve done that … you will see that the people have presented powerful evidence.
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Judge instructs jury to disregard defense's comment that Trump could go to jail
NowJudge Juan Merchan tells jurors:
During the defense summation, you heard Mr Blanche ask in substance, do not send the defendant to prison. That comment was improper, and you must disregard it.
Merchan says if there is a verdict of guilty, it is his job to impose an appropriate sentence.
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Before the lunch break, judge Juan Merchan scolded Trump attorney Todd Blanche for suggesting to the jury that Donald Trump could go to jail if convicted.
AP quoted Merchan as saying:
That was outrageous, Mr Blanche. Someone who’s been a prosecutor as long as you have and a defense attorney as long as you have, you know that making a comment like that is highly inappropriate. It’s simply not allowed. Period.
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Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger presented a proposed curative instruction to Judge Juan Merchan about part of Trump attorney Todd Blanche’s closing, specifically his line: “You cannot, you cannot send someone to prison … based upon the words of Michael Cohen.”
Jurors are not supposed to consider whether someone goes to prison when deliberating their verdict.
So Merchan can give a “curative instruction” to jurors to address this issue after the fact.
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Donald Trump has walked back into the courtroom.
His daughter Tiffany and his two oldest sons, Eric and Don Jr, are present.
Judge Juan Merchan has returned to the bench.
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No cameras are allowed inside the courtroom, but a sketch artist has captured Trump attorney Todd Blanche presenting the defense’s closing arguments.
The sketch shows the judge, Juan Merchan, presiding as Donald Trump listens to Blanche’s arguments.
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The defense has finished its closing argument.
Court will now take a lunch recess, after which prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is expected to deliver a closing argument.
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Trump attorney says case 'isn't a referendum of your views on Trump'
Trump attorney Todd Blanche ends his closing arguments by thanking the jury for paying attention.
Blanche says:
This isn’t a referendum of your views on President Trump. This is not a referendum of your views on the ballot box … The verdict that you’re going to reach has to do with the evidence you heard here.
He adds:
If you do that, if you focus just on the evidence that you heard in this courtroom, this is a very, very quick and easy not-guilty verdict. Thank you.
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Trump attorney says Michael Cohen is the 'GLOAT'
“Have you guys heard of ‘GOAT’, a goat, greatest of all time,” Trump attorney Todd Blanche said. “Tom Brady’s a Goat, the greatest of all time.”
Michael Cohen is the Gloat – the greatest liar of all time.
Blanche said Cohen has lied to Congress, to federal judges, to state judges, to his family, to his bankers, to his colleagues.
He stole from President Trump … His words can’t be trusted.
Blanche continued: “all those lies, put them aside the moment … But then he came in here … and lied to each of you - repeatedly.”
You cannot, you cannot send someone to prison … based upon the words of Michael Cohen.
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The fifth reason for the jury to have reasonable doubt, Trump attorney Todd Blanche said, is that “there’s no evidence of any illegal effort to influence the 2016 election.”
“For you to believe this happened, you have to believe at this August 2015 meeting a conspiracy was formed -- an illegal conspiracy to influence the election,” Blanche said, prompting an objection from prose curators.
The seventh reason, he says, is that Karen McDougal didn’t want her story published, and “that’s not catch and kill.”
Reason number eight is that the Stormy Daniels story “was already public”, Blanche says.
Next up, number nine, is the “manipulation of evidence.”
We’ve seen Trump’s team talking alleged evidence tampering in this case, especially Michael Cohen’s phones.
Trump attorney says there are 10 reasons for jurors to have reasonable doubt
Trump attorney Todd Blanche tells jurors “I’m almost done” … and then tells them that he has 10 reasons why there’s reasonable doubt.
The first reason you should have real reasonable doubt is that Cohen created those invoices … There’s no evidence that President Trump knew these invoices were sent.
“The second is the Valentine’s Day 2017 communication that we talked about, the voucher and the checks,” Blanche said, adding that “there’s no proof that Donald Trump ever, ever” knew there was bad information on them. “Two of the checks he never even saw.”
Number three and four: Blanche said there was no intent to defraud, and that there was no illegal agreement to influence the election.
The bottom line is, as we talked about at length, there is no falsification of business records, period, and any argument on the contrary by the people is wrong.
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Trump attorney Todd Blanche is now playing excerpts from Michael Cohen’s podcast Mea Culpa, in which Cohen always talks about Trump and said he’d be delighted if he were in legal trouble.
Mr Cohen, by the way, is making millions of dollars off of his hatred of Donald Trump – he sells merchandise showing an image of Mr Trump in an orange jumpsuit behind bars.
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Trump attorney says Michael Cohen is the 'MVP of liars'
Trump attorney Todd Blanche tells the jury that “if there’s anything we’ve learned during this trial, it’s that Michael Cohen doesn’t take this oath seriously, period”.
He adds:
He’s literally like an MVP of liars. He lies constantly. He’s lied to Congress. He’s lied to prosecutors. He lies to his bosses. He lies to reporters. He lies to federal judges. He’s also a thief – he literally stole, on his way out the door, tens of thousands from the Trump Organization. He admitted to committing a felony on the stand – never prosecuted. What should matter to you [were] the lies that he said when he took the oath two weeks ago and lied to you.
As Blanche said this, he pointed to the witness stand, arguably the most dramatic moment of his presentation.
When you come in here and you take a oath like he did that matters, that has to matter, and he lied to you, make no mistake about it.
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“There was another time he lied to you,” Trump attorney Todd Blanche said of Michael Cohen.
It was a text message from Melania Trump to Cohen asking him to call Trump.
Phone records, Blanche said, didn’t show a Cohen-to-Trump call. But Cohen claims to have rang his ex-boss.
There are no calls to President Trump on that day from Mr Cohen’s phones – any of them. President Trump’s phone records are in evidence. You can look at them. You’ll see no phone call. Now, is that the biggest lie in the world? Maybe not. The government shows Mr Cohn a text from President Trump’s wife, please call DJT … [Cohen says:] oh yeah, I called him from a land line … It’s a lie.
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Trump attorney Todd Blanche said he doesn’t know “how many lies are enough lies to just reject Mr Cohen’s testimony”.
“It was a lie!” Blanche said, raising his voice, while reiterating his claim that Cohen lied.
“He got caught red-handed,” Blanche said of Cohen, who told jurors that he called Keith Schiller, Trump’s bodyguard, several days before the October 2016 payoff to Stormy Daniels, to apprise him of the situation.
Cohen’s call, Blanche said, was actually about a teenager harassing one of them on the phone. “That is per-jur-y!”
Trump attorney Todd Blanche, on Donald Trump’s reaction to the Access Hollywood tape release, said: “Nobody wants their family to [see] that sort of thing – doesn’t matter if you’re running for office, doesn’t matter if you’re running The Apprentice … ”
President Trump, Blanche said, “did not react to the Access Hollywood tape in any way the government is suggesting”.
Remember: Prosecutors claimed that Trump was eager to do what he had to do to silence bad press, fearing that more allegations in the wake of the Access Hollywood tape would be a death blow to the campaign.
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Trump attorney turns to Stormy Daniels as he resumes closing arguments
Court has resumed after a short morning break.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche resumes his closing statement:
The question for you is: was what happened with Ms Daniels in 2016 consistent with the conspiracy, the conspiracy that the people tell you [that] Mr Cohen, President Trump and David Pecker entered into in 2015?
Blanche is now trying to chip away at Stormy Daniels’ motivations. He noted how the late pornographer Larry Flint had offered to pay her legal fees.
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In Donald Trump’s other criminal case in Florida – over his retention of classified documents – the presiding US district judge, Aileen Cannon, has denied the special counsel’s motion to bar Trump from lying that Joe Biden wanted him assassinated during the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago.
The judge ruled that prosecutors had not meaningfully conferred with Trump’s legal team before they filed the motion, which violated local rules of procedure.
The motion was dismissed without prejudice, which means prosecutors can re-file – and her decision cannot be appealed to the 11th circuit.
Judge Cannon also threatens Special Counsel with SANCTIONS — which Trump had requested — if prosecutors in future don’t specify the substance of conferrals and allow Trump to make a statement https://t.co/t7QU6lygzs
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) May 28, 2024
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The court is taking a morning break.
Donald Trump has exited the courtroom. Three of his children trailed behind him as he walked down the aisle.
“Mr Davidson has made a career out of trying to extort people – just like he did with President Trump,” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche says of Stormy Daniels’ attorney when the hush-money payment was being brokered.
You heard that he did this with multiple people over the years – Lindsay Lohan, Charley Sheen, and others.
Blanche’s discussion of Davidson stems from the fact that he was a key prosecution witness who described how payments to Karen McDougal and Daniels worked.
Blanche is effectively telling jurors that Davidson was outright sleazy – even associated with a person known as a sex-tape broker – and tried to shake down celebrities.
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Trump attorney casts doubt on integrity of Michael Cohen recording
“You have no idea about the integrity about this file, this recording,” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said about the Michael Cohen recording.
He noted how the recording just cuts off. Cohen said that he had received a phone call, ending the recording.
He said that testimony from a telephone company technician indicates that Cohen didn’t pick up the phone call – it went to voicemail, Blanche said.
This isn’t the first time Trump’s team has questioned the integrity of evidence, and flirted with the idea that there was tampering.
One of Trump’s attorneys, Emil Bove, asked a forensic analyst whether Cohen’s phones had been put in a signal-blocking Faraday Cage.
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Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche turns to a 2016 recording Michael Cohen made of a conversation he had with Donald Trump in which Cohen claims the two discussed the Karen McDougal payout.
Blanche says that there is no discussion of paying $150,000 to McDougal in this recording, despite what Cohen says.
“We’ll have to pay them something,” Cohen can be heard saying. President Trump says “financing? What financing? He has no idea what Michael Cohen is talking about ... Mr Cohen is talking about financing, Mr Trump clearly has no idea what he’s talking about.”
They’re “literally talking past each other” about what was happening, Blanche says.
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Trump attorney says Karen McDougal deal 'not a catch or kill'
Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche argued that the effort to silence the former Playboy model Karen McDougal is “not a catch and kill either” because she didn’t want her story published.
McDougal “wanted to kick start her career” and the agreement with American Media Inc was to do just that, Blanche said.
How is that a catch and kill? It is not.
Blanche notes that the former AMI CEO David Pecker said that Michael Cohen said “I would take care of” the McDougal story, adding that “ultimately [there is] no proof that Trump ever bought the McDougal story”.
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Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche notes that David Pecker, the former National Enquirer publisher, testified earlier in the trial that there was nothing unusual about catch and kill stories.
Blanche notes that Pecker was suppressing stories as far back as 1988, and says that there is no criminal intent. There is nothing wrong with politicians like Donald Trump trying to get positive stories, he says.
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Trump attorney: 'Every campaign is a conspiracy to win an election'
Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche argues that prosecutors want jurors to believe that Donald Trump caused false filings to promote the candidacy of an election that he already won.
“Even if you find that’s true, that’s still not enough.” Blanche said.
It doesn’t matter if there was a conspiracy to try and win an election. Every campaign in this country is a conspiracy to win an election. You have to find that this effort was done by unlawful means.
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Robert De Niro, at a press conference across the street from the Manhattan courthouse, says voters have a second chance to make sure Donald Trump is not elected to the White House again.
“We don’t want to wake up after the election saying ‘What again? My God, what the hell have we done?’” the actor told reporters.
If Trump gets into the White House, “he will never leave”, he goes on.
Is that the country we want to live in? Do we want him running this country and saying ‘I’m not leaving, I’m dictator for life’?
“This is not a threat. This is a reality,” De Niro says, adding that the reason he joined the Biden-Harris campaign is “because the only way to preserve our freedoms and hold on to our humanity is to vote for Joe Biden for president”.
Behind De Niro stood Harry Dunn and Michael Fanone, two law enforcement officers who defended the US Capitol on January 6.
“These guys are the true heroes,” De Niro says. “They stood and put their lives on the line to defend this county and our democracy.”
When a heckler interrupts by saying the two officers “lied under oath”, De Niro snaps back that “I don’t even know how to deal with you” and says he is “honored” to be with Dunn and Fanone today.
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“Mr Pecker told you that it was really good business to work with President Trump,” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said, referring to the former American Media Inc CEO David Pecker.
Blanche says:
As far back as 1988, Mr Pecker told you, that he had helped suppressed a story for Mr Trump – 1988, that’s 17 years ahead of the August 2015 meeting.
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'Trump could destroy the world', says Robert De Niro outside courthouse
Just across the street from the courthouse, the Biden campaign is holding a press conference including the actor Robert De Niro.
De Niro says downtown New York city is his neighborhood. “I grew up here and feel at home in the streets … I love the city.”
He says the Twin Towers “fell just over there”, adding that we vowed “we will not allow terrorists to change our way of life.”
Donald Trump “wants to sow total chaos”, De Niro says, arguing that the former president is a “tyrant”.
Donald Trump wants to destroy not only the city, but the country and eventually he could destroy the world.
The former president “does not belong in my city. I don’t know where he belongs, but he certainly doesn’t belong here,” he says, adding that Trump is a “grubby real estate hustler masquerading as a big shot”.
De Niro says he became involved with the Biden Harris campaign to remind people that Trump will “use violence against anyone who stands in the way of his megalomania and greed.” He adds:
Yesterday was Memorial Day. It’s a good time to reflect on how Americans fought and died so that we may enjoy the freedoms guaranteed to us by a democratic government … Under Trump, this kind of government will perish from the earth. If Trump returns to the White House, you can kiss these freedoms goodbye that we all take for granted.
DeNiro arrives outside Manhattan criminal courthouse for Biden campaign event pic.twitter.com/dHbcrWk6QS
— Robert Costa (@costareports) May 28, 2024
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Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche has talked about the meeting of Donald Trump, the former tabloid executive David Pecker and Michael Cohen at Trump Tower in 2015, shortly after the then Apprentice star announced his candidacy.
“Many politicians work with the media to try and promote their image.” Blanche continued, “It was standard operating procedure to do so. He spent decades working. Blanche said:
Nothing criminal, nothing criminal about it, it’s done all the time.
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“The government’s theory is that in 2017, President Trump caused false filings to be made on books on his personal records, to promote the candidacy of an election that he already won,” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said.
The government wants you to believe did these things, with these records, to conceal efforts to promote his successful candidacy in 2016 – the year before.
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Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche also noted that Trump’s comptroller held on to the documents in this case which were purportedly falsified.
The reasoning seems to be: if documents were falsified, with an intent to defraud, why would his underling hold onto them?
“This is a case about false filings – about false business records,” Blanche said.
And yet the supposed evidence of false filing was in the records of Trump’s payroll department.
Blanche also said that a 1099 tax form had been filed for Cohen.
If there was some deep-rooted intent to defraud, why do you think it was reported to the IRS?
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Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche spoke of the early February meeting between Michael Cohen and the White House where, he testified, Donald Trump asked if he was OK on money.
Cohen quoted Trump along the lines of, “Do you need money? Do you want me to write you a check?” Blanche said. Cohen claimed to have said “no.”
Blanche noted that Cohen worked with others to get paid shortly thereafter, which I think he’s noting to undermine that Trump was responsible for any payment.
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“The idea that President Trump would agree to pay Michael Cohen $420,000 – even though he only owed him $130,000, is absurd,” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said.
Cohen even told you that he saw Allen Weisselberg hand that piece of paper for President Trump would look at.
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Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche pointed jurors to Michael Cohen’s testimony that he expected to work for free as Trump’s personal attorney.
Prosecutors, of course, hope this testimony bolsters Cohen’s claim that the repayments related to hush money and not legal services.
“Do you believe for more than a second that after getting stiffed on his bonus in 2016,” Blanche said,
Do you think that Mr Cohen thought, ‘I’m going to work for free.’ Is that the man that testified? Or, is that a lie?
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“Even without Mr Cohen, what we just went through, the government can’t get by the fact that the invoices were not generated by anybody at the Trump Organization – they were generated by Michael Cohen,” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said.
“The fact that the invoices talk about services rendered by Michael Cohen and the fact that he was rendering services in 2017.”
All of that, Blanche said, “ends the case – not guilty.”
Blanche said that, at the end of the day, prosecutors expect jurors to rely on Cohen which, for reasons he will continue to expand upon, is not enough.
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“As you heard from two witnesses Donald Trump was very busy. He was running the country. There shouldn’t be any surprise about that,” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said, entering into another line of argument.
He said that the work-saddled Trump sometimes had a half-inch worth of personal checks he had to sign.
“The facts that the checks and the personal information was Fed Ex-ed from Trump Tower to [Trump bodyguard] Keith Schiller,” who gave it to Trump, “is common sense”, Blanche said.
Recall: Witness testimony revealed that Trump would get mail, such as checks, mailed to his bodyguard, who would then bring it into the White House. They have suggested that doing so was routine for presidents who wanted to get personal mail, because of delays in receiving mail at the White House even for presidents.
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Trump attorney notes that Don Jr and Eric Trump were not called as witnesses
Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche is trying to chip away at allegations that there was a scheme to falsify business records.
He points to a document that Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr signed off on, related to repayment to Michael Cohen.
“Guess who else you did not hear from in this trial – Don or Eric,” Blanche said.
Is there some allegation they’re part of the scheme, they’re part of the conspiracy? That is reasonable doubt. We have no burden to do anything. The burden is always on the government. They make decisions about who to call at trial. They called Cohen. They did not call Don or Eric.
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As for vouchers describing payment to Michael Cohen as a legal service, Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said “there’s no other way to categorize an invoice from a lawyer” to Donald Trump.
“The government has criminalized that,” Blanche said. “That’s absurd.”
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“He put that signature block on every single email that he sent in 2017, this was not a secret,” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said.
Michael Cohen was Donald Trump’s personal attorney, period.
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Trump says it is 'a dark day in America' before entering courtroom
Donald Trump spoke to reporters before heading into the courtroom, as he repeated his claims that he was forced to attend his hush-money trial because of Joe Biden, without providing evidence.
Trump, with his attorney Todd Blanche beside him, read excerpts from a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) story, at times interrupting himself with his own opinion.
He called the judge, Juan Merchan, “corrupt” and “conflicted” but said he couldn’t speak about the trial because of the gag order. He added:
We’ll see how it goes. This is a very dangerous day for America. It’s a very sad day.
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“Cohen was rendering services to President Trump in 2017 as his personal attorney,” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said.
There’s really no question that in 2017, Michael Cohen was serving as President Trump’s personal attorney.
Cohen said, “one of the reasons he needed to serve as President Trump’s personal attorney was because there were outstanding matters that he was dealing with”.
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“The language in the check documentation is all driven by the vouchers which is all driven by invoices,” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said.
“Every single one was addressed to Allen Weisselberg, care of Donald Trump,” he said, referring to the former Trump Organization CFO.
He continued:
There’s no dispute that not a single invoice was sent to Donald Trump directly.
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Defense tells jurors: 'You cannot convict Trump of any crime based on the words of Michael Cohen'
Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said jurors should want more than Michael Cohen’s testimony.
“Something beyond the word of a woman who claims that something happened in 2006” he said, referring to Stormy Daniels.
“The bottom line is, the charges in this case have to do with invoices, vouchers and checks. The invoices were all submitted by Michael Cohen,” he said.
You cannot convict President Trump. You cannot convict President Trump of any crime beyond a reasonable doubt based on the words of Michael Cohen.
“The words that Michael Cohen said to you on that stand, they matter. They matter,” Blanche said.
He told you a number of things on that witness stand that were lies.
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Defense begins closing arguments: 'President Trump is innocent'
The defense attorney Todd Blanche is starting his closing argument.
“Every one of you have been here on time and we see you paying close attention to the evidence all day every day and we really appreciate that,” Blanche said.
“Our criminal justice system, as Judge Merchan just told you, is unique.”
Blanche said: “Each of you will decide at the end of this case whether President Trump is guilty or not guilty.”
President Trump is innocent. He did not commit any crimes and the district attorney has not met their burden of proof, period. The evidence is all in, it all came in as of last Tuesday, and that evidence – as I said to you on April 22 – should leave you wanting more.
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The jury has entered the courtroom.
Judge Juan Merchan is telling jurors about closing arguments and what they mean.
He notes that the defense goes first, as it’s the law.
Please bear in mind the following points: first, you are the finders of fact and it is for you and you alone to determine the facts from the evidence. You should remember whatever the lawyers say or however they say it are simply arguments submitted for your consideration.
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Judge Juan Merchan gives an instruction to both sides before closing arguments start:
Those of you who have appeared me who have summed up before me, I just want to remind you, please do not go into the law.
The reason for doing so is because it’s up to judges to tell jurors about the law and how it applies to their deliberations, not the lawyers on the case.
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Donald Trump’s entourage today includes:
His son Donald Trump Jr
His son Eric Trump
His daughter-in-law Lara Trump
His daughter Tiffany Trump
His son-in-law Michael Boulos
Real estate investor Steve Witkoff
Trump lawyer Will Scharf
Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn
Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said that his closing arguments will take around two and a half hours.
The prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said the length of the closing arguments will have to be “responsive” to the defense closings, but they expect at this point that it will be about four and a half hours.
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Judge Juan Merchan is on the bench and court is starting.
The jury is not in yet, so expect preliminary business.
Trump enters courtroom
Donald Trump is entering the courtroom. He’s wearing a red tie and a suit that appears to fall somewhere between black and slate gray.
Tiffany Trump is here as well as two of Trump’s sons.
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Tiffany Trump and Donald Trump Jr were pictured departing Trump Tower this morning to attend closing arguments in their father’s hush-money criminal trial.
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Prosecutors led by the Manhattan assistant district attorney Joshua Steinglass have entered the courtroom ahead of closing arguments.
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Donald Trump will be accompanied by several of his family members in court today. They include:
His son Donald Trump Jr
His son Eric Trump
His daughter-in-law Lara Trump
His daughter Tiffany Trump
His son-in-law Michael Boulos
Other family members who have not yet joined him in court include:
His wife, the former first lady Melania Trump
His eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump
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Trump arrives at courthouse
Donald Trump has arrived at the Manhattan courthouse for closing arguments.
Donald Trump has left Trump Tower to make his way to court on Tuesday morning.
A handful of supporters appeared to be waiting for his arrival outside the Manhattan courthouse, where closing arguments are set to begin soon.
The defense will go first before the prosecution sums up its case. Closing arguments are expected to last all day.
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Who is on the Trump trial jury?
The jury for the first criminal trial of a former president in US history is made up of seven men and five women who live in different parts of Manhattan, including the Upper East Side, Harlem, Hell’s Kitchen and the West Village.
They come from a range of personal backgrounds and employment histories. Several jurors said they had no strong opinions on Trump, and a few said that they do not closely follow the news. The exact racial makeup of the jury, and the ages of the jurors, is unclear.
The full identities of the jury will remain anonymous because of security concerns, but during jury selection the individuals were asked to provide some personal details about themselves. Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the criminal hush-money trial, barred reporters from revealing the current and former employers of jurors and urged them not to use physical descriptors that could compromise their identity.
Before the jury begins its deliberations, the judge, Juan Merchan, is expected to instruct jurors on the law governing the case.
Jury instructions provide a roadmap for what jurors can and cannot take into account as they evaluate Donald Trump’s guilt or innocence, according to AP.
Merchan last week denied a request by Trump’s lawyers that he tell the jury that the types of hush-money payments at issue in Trump’s case are not inherently illegal, describing such an instruction as unnecessary.
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Trump did not testify in his own criminal trial
The defense rested in Donald Trump’s criminal trial last Tuesday without the former president himself testifying.
Trump had previously railed about being silenced and falsely claimed he was not allowed to testify, but ultimately elected of his own volition not to take the stand in his own defense.
The former president previously said he would “absolutely” testify in his hush-money trial, telling reporters last month:
I’m testifying. I tell the truth, I mean, all I can do is tell the truth. And the truth is that there is no case.
Trump’s decision not to testify came without fanfare. The move was not surprising – defendants in criminal cases rarely testify, because they would be subject to cross-examination, during which they could easily say something that harms their defense – but followed several instances of Trump claiming he was not allowed to do so.
The judge, Juan Merchan, had gone so far as to address Trump’s claims, saying: “I want to stress, Mr Trump, that you have an absolute right to testify at trial,” and adding that the gag order preventing Trump from verbally attacking witnesses did not affect his right to take the stand.
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Closing arguments set to begin as jury prepares to deliberate in Trump hush-money trial
Good morning. After more than four weeks in a freezing New York courtroom, nearly two dozen witnesses and 10 gag order violations, lawyers for the prosecution and defense last week rested in Donald Trump’s historic criminal hush-money trial.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of felony falsification of business records over an alleged hush-money scheme involving the adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal. Prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney say that Trump facilitated payoffs to the women through his then attorney Michael Cohen to cover up alleged extramarital liaisons that could have damaged his candidacy in the 2016 election.
Trump’s criminal hush-money trial: what to know
A guide to Trump’s hush-money trial – so far
The jurors: who is on the Trump trial jury?
From Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels: the key players
Closing arguments will begin today, and then the jury will start deliberations. A jury of seven men and five women who live in Manhattan will have to consider the charges against the former US president and presumptive Republican nominee. If they find Trump guilty, he could face prison time.
We’re at the courthouse again today. Stay with us.
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