The New York trial of former President Donald Trump is nearing its end, with the prosecution and defense scheduled to make closing arguments this week.
Acting Judge Juan Merchan said he would give instructions to the jury on Wednesday. live update From the court. Attorneys received jury instructions from the judge on Thursday afternoon, and neither party pointed out any errors, Marchan noted.
“The district attorney has not met his burden of proof.”
Ahead of closing arguments, Marchan reminded jurors that nothing the lawyers say constitutes “evidence.”
“You are the fact finders and only you are permitted to determine the facts from the evidence,” Marchan said.
Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, was the first to deliver the defense’s closing argument on Tuesday, which he estimated would take about two and a half hours.
“I said at the outset what I will say to you again, and it was on April 22nd and it remains the same today: President Trump is innocent. He committed no crime and the district attorney has not met his burden of proof. That’s it. The evidence is there,” Blanche told the 12-person jury.
Blanche spent most of her time trying to discredit the prosecution’s star witness, Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, who claimed he paid porn actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about her alleged affair with the former president. Cohen, a convicted and admitted liar, said in his testimony that he paid Daniels a settlement at Trump’s request and that the Trump Organization repaid him.
Last year, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, indicted Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and has denied having an affair with Daniels.
Bragg’s entire case hinged on testimony from Cohen, who alleged that Trump falsified business records by listing payments to his then-personal lawyer as legal expenses.
Branche argued that the government failed to corroborate Cohen’s testimony.
“The evidence should leave you wanting to know more. You should want and expect more than Michael Cohen’s testimony,” Blanche told jurors. “This case is about documents. This is a case on documents. This is not a case about an encounter with Stormy Daniels 18 years ago.”
He argued that the business records were “not false” and that there was “no intent to defraud.”
Trump’s lawyers noted that Cohen’s testimony included numerous significant conversations with people who were not called as witnesses in the case, including the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer Allen Weislberg, Trump’s former bodyguard Keith Schiller and former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard.
“Mr. Cohen lied to you,” Blanche told jurors.
In 2017, Trump paid Cohen $35,000 a month for a total of $420,000. Cohen claimed the payments were partial repayment of the $130,000 settlement he paid Daniels. He also said he repaid $50,000 in technical services paid by Trump to Red Finch. On the stand, Cohen acknowledged that he only paid Red Finch a portion of the amount he reported to Trump. He claimed that Trump had cheated him out of his annual bonus and that stealing the $60,000 was “like a self-improvement scheme.”
“It is absurd that President Trump would agree to pay Cohen $420,000” when the settlement agreement with Daniels was for just $130,000, Blanche told jurors.
Blanche also tried to discredit Daniels’ testimony.
“Why did the prosecutors call Stormy Daniels when there was no dispute that there was a non-disclosure agreement and she knew nothing about President Trump’s internal business practices?” Blanche asked. “I’ll tell you why. They were trying to play on your emotions. They were trying to embarrass President Trump.”
Prosecutors tried to challenge Blanche’s comments, but Marchand overruled the objections.
Blanche spoke about Cohen’s lack of credibility.
“He lied under oath multiple times. He lied to his family. He lied to his wife about the mortgage loan. He lied to his bankers,” Trump’s lawyer told jurors. “He’s literally like the MVP of lying.”
Branche gave the jury 10 reasons to be reasonably doubtful. He argued that Cohen prepared the invoice and there was no evidence that Trump knew the invoice had been sent. The defense argued that there was no evidence of intent to defraud, conspiracy to commit a crime or intent to cover up another crime. They further argued that there was no agreement to influence the 2016 election, as the prosecution had argued.
Branche further argued that the National Enquirer would have published the story it bought from a former Trump Tower doorman if it had been true, which it wasn’t. Karen McDougal wanted her story to remain private, he noted. Branche added that Daniels’ story had already been published years before the settlement agreement. The defense also alleged evidence manipulation.
In her final argument, Blanche told jurors that Cohen was “the embodiment of reasonable doubt.”
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