Trump is ‘innocent,’ defense lawyer tells jury as closing arguments get underway in hush money trial
Donald Trump is “innocent” and did not breach the law, a lawyer for the former president said jurors during final arguments Tuesday as the blockbuster hush money trial neared completion.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is “innocent” and did not break the law, a lawyer for the former president told jurors during closing arguments Tuesday as the landmark hush money trial moved closer to its conclusion.
The arguments, expected to last the entire day, will give attorneys one last chance to address the Manhattan jury and to score final points with the panel before it starts deliberating the fate of the first former American president to be charged with felony crimes.
“President Trump is innocent. He did not commit any crimes, and the district attorney has not met their burden of proof. Period,” said defense attorney Todd Blanche, who said the evidence in the case should “leave you wanting.”
After more than four weeks of testimony, the summaries set the jury up for a momentous and historically unprecedented task: deciding whether to convict the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in connection with payments made during the 2016 election to prevent a porn actor from publicizing her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump.
Because prosecutors have the burden of proof in the case, they will present their arguments last.
Prosecutors will tell jurors that they have heard enough testimony to convict Trump on all charges, while defense attorneys will try to cast doubt on the strength of the evidence by attacking the credibility of Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer who pleaded guilty to federal charges for his role in the hush money payments and served as the star prosecution witness in the trial.
After closing arguments are given, the judge will instruct the jury, likely Wednesday, on the law governing the case and the factors the panel can take into account during deliberations. The deliberations will then proceed in secret, though some clues as to the jury’s thinking may arrive through any notes it sends to the judge with questions.
Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, charges punishable by up to four years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing. It’s unclear whether prosecutors would seek imprisonment in the event of a conviction, or if the judge would impose that punishment if asked.
The lawsuit revolves around a $130,000 payment Cohen made to porn performer Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 election to prevent her from going public with her narrative about a sexual encounter she claims she had with Trump ten years ago in a Lake Tahoe hotel suite. Trump has refuted Daniels’ testimony, and his lawyer accused her of fabricating it during hours of cross-examination in court.
When Trump reimbursed Cohen, the payments were recorded as legal services, which prosecutors believe was done to conceal the true purpose of the transaction with Daniels and illegally intervene in the 2016 election, which Trump won over Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Trump’s lawyers contend they were legitimate payments for actual legal services, and they say that his celebrity status, particularly during the campaign, made him a target for extortion, points they are expected to revisit during their closing arguments Tuesday.
The nearly two dozen witnesses included Daniels, who described in sometimes vivid detail the encounter she says she had with Trump; David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, who testified that he used his media enterprise to protect Trump by squelching stories that could harm his campaign, including by paying $150,000 to a former Playboy model to keep her from going public with a claim that she had had a yearlong affair with Trump; and Cohen, who testified that Trump was intimately involved in the hush money discussions — “Just pay it,” the now-disbarred lawyer quoted Trump as saying.
Prosecutors are anticipated to remind jurors about the bank records, emails, and other material evidence they have seen, as well as an audio recording of Cohen and Trump discussing the agreement involving the Playboy model, Karen McDougal. Trump has also denied a relationship with McDougal.
Defense counsel summoned two witnesses, neither of them was Donald Trump. They concentrated much of their efforts on discrediting Cohen, questioning him about his own criminal history, previous lying, and recollection of critical facts.
On cross-examination, Cohen admitted stealing tens of thousands of dollars from Trump’s company by requesting reimbursement for funds he had not spent. Cohen admitted once telling a prosecutor that he believed Daniels and her lawyer were extorting Trump.
Though jurors witnessed numerous memorable moments, they won’t be told during closing arguments about exchanges and rulings that occurred outside their presence — and there were many. Judge Juan M. Merchan, for instance, fined Trump $10,000 for violating a gag order barring incendiary out-of-court comments and threatened to jail him if it continued.
The New York prosecution is one of four criminal cases pending against Trump as he seeks to reclaim the White House from Democrat Joe Biden.
The three other state and federal cases center on charges of illegally hoarding classified documents at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election. But it’s unclear that any of them will reach trial before the November election.
