NEW YORK (AP) — Closing arguments in Donald Trump ‘s historic hush money trial concluded Tuesday evening in a Manhattan courtroom. It was the final opportunity for prosecutors and defense attorneys to convince the jury of their respective cases before deliberations begin.
Defense lawyer Todd Blanche spoke for about three hours in the morning while prosecutor Joshua Steinglass went for over five hours. Court continued much longer than usual — stretching until 8 p.m.
Jurors will undertake the unprecedented task of deciding whether to convict the former U.S. president of felony criminal charges stemming from hush money payments tied to an alleged scheme to buy and bury stories that might have threatened Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
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At the heart of the charges are reimbursements paid to Michael Cohen for a $130,000 hush money payment that was given to porn actor Stormy Daniels in exchange for not going public with her claim about a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump.
Prosecutors say the payments to Cohen, Trump’s then-lawyer, were falsely logged as “legal expenses” to hide the true nature of the transactions.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing.
He pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records, charges which are punishable by up to four years in prison.
Closing arguments lasted all day Tuesday, with jury deliberations beginning as soon as Wednesday.
The case is the first of Trump’s four indictments to go to trial as he seeks to reclaim the White House from Democrat Joe Biden.
The other cases center on charges of illegally hoarding classified documents at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election. It’s unclear whether any of them will reach trial before the November election.
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CLOSING ARGUMENTS COME TO AN END
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass finished his summation by imploring jurors to find Donald Trump guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records.
“Donald Trump can’t shoot someone on Fifth Avenue at rush hour and get away with it,” Steinglass said, parroting Trump’s own long ago remark, prompting an objection from Trump’s lawyer. The objection was sustained.
During his closing remarks, Steinglass had sprinted — and, at times, staggered — through the timeline of events covered during Donald Trump’s hush money trial, repeating many of the points he’s already made, albeit with more emphatic takeaways.
As the judge’s 8 p.m. deadline was minutes away, Steinglass acknowledged his summation had been “really long.”
“I apologize for trading brevity for thoroughness,” he told jurors, “but we only get one shot at this.”
Steinglass spoke for over five hours. Todd Blanche, Trump’s defense attorney, went for about three.
Judge Juan Merchan told jurors he’ll give them instructions Wednesday before they start deliberating. Court will start at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, the judge said, noting the long day on Tuesday. He said court will go until 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday and that they’ll revisit scheduling and the length of days as the week goes on.
Jurors appeared resilient but relieved to be going home as they marched out of the courtroom after the marathon day of summations.
Following the longer-than-usual day in the courtroom, the former president didn’t give his usual post-court remarks to the press in the hallway.
PROSECUTOR CITES EXAMPLES OF INTIMIDATION BY TRUMP BEFORE COURT TAKES ITS FINAL RECESS
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass showed jurors a series of Donald Trump’s social media posts lashing out at his former lawyer Michael Cohen after Cohen defected, which the prosecutor argued were not only designed to punish the former fixer, but to signal to other potential witnesses: “cooperate and you will face the wrath of Donald Trump.”
He also cited lawsuits Trump had filed against Cohen and Daniels as other examples of intimidation.
“The defendant wanted everyone to see the cost of taking him on,” Steinglass said.
A related argument, regarding threats Daniels said she faced after going public, prompted Trump’s lawyers to object. Defense lawyer Todd Blanche called it “extraordinarily prejudicial.” Steinglass stressed that he wasn’t suggesting Trump was behind the threats, but Judge Juan Merchan told him to move along anyway.
The sides argued briefly over that issue while the jury was out of the courtroom for the final recess.
But the day wasn’t over. The prosecution’s summation, which began around 2 p.m., was still going as of 7 p.m.
Merchan told Steinglass he’s facing a hard out at 8 p.m. All day, jurors have said they can work until that time, but not later, the judge said. Merchan suggested the lawyer have his colleagues give him a note to indicate when it reaches that time so he can then wrap up… (truncated)
