UPDATED 3:19 P.M.
NEW YORK (Reuters) -A New York prosecutor told jurors that Donald Trump engaged in a conspiracy to corrupt the 2016 election and then tried to cover it up, as lawyers made their closing arguments in the former U.S. president’s criminal hush money trial on Tuesday.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told jurors they would need to assess whether Trump, 77, falsified business documents to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.
But he said they also needed to consider broader political concerns, such as the possibility that Trump and allies like tabloid publisher David Pecker undermined the election by controlling what information would reach voters.
“This scheme, cooked up by these men at this time, could very well be what got President Trump elected,” Steinglass said.
Jurors could begin deliberations as soon as Wednesday.
Steinglass spoke after a lawyer for Trump urged jurors to set aside their personal views of Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential candidate and instead determine whether prosecutors had proven their case.
“If you focus just on that evidence you heard in this courtroom, this is a very, very quick and easy not guilty verdict,” Trump lawyer Todd Blanche said.
The case stems from a $130,000 payment in the final weeks of the 2016 election that ensured porn star Stormy Daniels would not tell voters her story of an alleged sexual encounter with Trump.
Blanche said Daniels had been trying to extort Trump by threatening to go public with her story as he battled a string of unflattering stories of sexual misconduct in the final weeks of the 2016 election. Trump denies wrongdoing and says he never had sex with Daniels.
Steinglass said it was irrelevant if Daniels was seeking a payday, because Trump broke the law by covering up evidence that his fixer Michael Cohen paid her $130,000 to keep quiet.
“You don’t get to commit election fraud or falsify business records because you think you’ve been victimized,” Steinglass said.
Prosecutors say the Daniels payment amounted to an improper campaign contribution because it kept voters from learning about an alleged affair that could have swayed their decisionmaking.
Steinglass referred to the testimony of Pecker, the former National Enquirer publisher who had described an agreement with Trump to pay for and bury stories that might have hurt his candidacy.
Prosecutors must prove Trump is guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt,” the level of certainty required by U.S. law.
Blanche drew a reprimand from the judge overseeing the trial for telling jurors the evidence was insufficient to send Trump to prison. Jurors are tasked with assessing guilt or innocence while judges determine punishment of those found guilty.
Justice Juan Merchan told jurors after they returned from lunch to ignore that statement. “That comment was improper and you must disregard it,” he said before prosecutors began their closing argument.
A conviction will not prevent Trump from trying to take back the White House from Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election. Nor will it prevent him from taking office if he wins. Opinion polls show the two men locked in a tight race.
IS COHEN CREDIBLE?
Blanche told jurors they could not trust Cohen, who testified that as Trump’s fixer he paid Daniels out of his own pocket and worked out a plan with Trump to be reimbursed through payments disguised as legal fees.
Blanche reminded them that Cohen had previously admitted to lying under oath, and said Cohen had lied again during the trial when he testified that he had spoken with Trump about paying off Daniels before the election.
“He is literally the greatest liar of all time,” Blanche said.
He said there was no evidence that Trump knew anything about how those payments were characterized in his company’s ledger. Prosecutors must prove that Trump knowingly broke the law.
Steinglass said Cohen’s dishonesty was a reflection of Trump’s malign influence.
“Mr. Trump not only corrupted those around him. He also got them to lie to cover it up,” Steinglass said.
The charges brought against Trump are misdemeanors on their own but prosecutors elevated them to felonies on the grounds that Trump was trying to cover up another crime – that of promoting a candidacy for political office by unlawful means.
Those “unlawful means,” prosecutors will argue, include excessive campaign contributions, tax violations, and other business records-related crimes.
If found guilty, Trump faces up to four years in prison, although imprisonment is unlikely for a first-time felon convicted of such a crime.
Blanche said prosecutors had not proven that there had been any underlying crime to cover up.
Trump faces three other criminal prosecutions as well, but none is likely to go to trial before the election.
Separate cases in Washington and Georgia accuse him of illegally trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat, while another case in Florida charges him with mishandling classified information after he left office in 2021.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in all of the cases and says they are an effort by Biden’s Democratic allies to hobble his presidential bid.
(Reporting by Jack Queen and Luc Cohen in New York and Andy Sullivan in Washington; Editing by Howard Goller)
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UPDATED 1:24 P.M.
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Donald Trump’s lawyer urged jurors at his hush money trial on Tuesday to set aside their personal views while considering whether he should be the first U.S. president to be convicted of a crime.
“This isn’t a referendum on your views of President Trump,” Trump lawyer Todd Blanche said in his closing argument in the trial of the businessman-turned-politician who is the 2024 Republican candidate for president.
“If you focus just on that evidence you heard in this courtroom, this is a very, very quick and easy not guilty verdict,” he said.
Blanche drew a reprimand from the judge overseeing the trial for telling jurors the evidence was insufficient to send Trump to prison. Jurors are tasked with assessing guilt or innocence while judges determine punishment of those found guilty.
Justice Juan Merchan told jurors after they returned from lunch to ignore that statement. “That comment was improper and you must disregard it,” he said before prosecutors began their closing argument.
The jury could begin deliberations as soon as Wednesday.
In his closing argument, Blanche cast Trump, 77, as a victim of blackmail by porn star Stormy Daniels and argued that prosecutors had failed to prove he covered up a $130,000 payment to buy her silence in the final days of the 2016 election about an alleged sexual encounter a decade earlier.
Blanche said Daniels had been trying to extort Trump by threatening to go public with her story as he battled a string of unflattering stories of sexual misconduct.
“She was trying to use the 2016 election as leverage to try and get paid,” Blanche told the 12 jurors who will decide whether to convict Trump, the U.S. president from 2017-2021, of falsifying documents to cover up the Daniels payment.
Trump denies wrongdoing and says he never had sex with Daniels.
Blanche urged jurors to look past the salacious details and focus on the paperwork at the heart of the case.
He said Trump did not know that his fixer Michael Cohen paid the hush money to Daniels, and said prosecutors had failed to prove that Trump falsified documents when he reimbursed Cohen after the election.
Prosecutors in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office say the Daniels payment amounted to an improper campaign contribution because it kept voters from learning about an alleged affair that could have swayed their decisionmaking.
Later on Tuesday, prosecutors will sum up the witnesses and evidence they have presented during the six-week trial. They must prove Trump is guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt,” the level of certainty required by U.S. law.
A conviction will not prevent Trump from trying to take back the White House from Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election. Nor will it prevent him from taking office if he wins. Opinion polls show the two men locked in a tight race.
Outside the courtroom, prominent Biden supporters warned that Trump would erode democracy and encourage political violence if reelected. “If he gets in, I can tell you right now he will never leave,” actor Robert De Niro said while pro-Trump demonstrators chanted in the background.
BLANCHE SAYS WITNESSES NOT CREDIBLE
Blanche told jurors they could not trust Cohen, who testified that as Trump’s fixer he paid Daniels out of his own pocket and worked out a plan with Trump to be reimbursed through payments disguised as legal fees.
Blanche reminded them that Cohen had previously admitted to lying under oath, and said Cohen had lied again during the trial when he testified that he had spoken with Trump about paying off Daniels before the election.
“He is literally the greatest liar of all time,” Blanche said.
He said there was no evidence that Trump knew anything about how those payments were characterized in his company’s ledger. Prosecutors must prove that Trump knowingly broke the law.
The charges brought against Trump are misdemeanors on their own but prosecutors elevated them to felonies on the grounds that Trump was trying to cover up another crime – that of promoting a candidacy for political office by unlawful means.
Those “unlawful means,” prosecutors will argue, include excessive campaign contributions, tax violations, and other business records-related crimes.
If found guilty, Trump faces up to four years in prison, although imprisonment is unlikely for a first-time felon convicted of such a crime.
Blanche said prosecutors had not proven that there had been any underlying crime to cover up.
Trump faces three other criminal prosecutions as well, but none is likely to go to trial before the election.
Separate cases in Washington and Georgia accuse him of illegally trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat, while another case in Florida charges him with mishandling classified information after he left office in 2021.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in all of the cases and says they are an effort by Biden’s Democratic allies to hobble his presidential bid.
(Reporting by Jack Queen and Luc Cohen in New York and Andy Sullivan in Washington; Editing by Howard Goller)
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NEW YORK (Reuters) -Donald Trump’s lawyer told jurors on Tuesday that prosecutors had failed to prove the former president was guilty of falsifying documents as the defense team began its closing argument in Trump’s criminal hush-money trial.
“President Trump is innocent. He did not commit any crimes, and the district attorney has not met their burden of proof. Period,” Trump lawyer Todd Blanche said as the trial resumed after a week-long break.
After six weeks of trial, Blanche was making his final bid to influence the 12 jurors who decide whether Trump will become the first U.S. president to be convicted of a crime.
In his closing argument, Blanche will try to convince jurors that Trump, the businessman-turned-politician, did not cover up evidence of a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to advance his 2016 presidential campaign.
Once Blanche finishes, prosecutors will sum up the witnesses and evidence they have presented as they argue Trump, 77, illegally falsified business documents to cover up the payment that ensured Daniels would not go public with her story of a 2006 sexual encounter.
Trump denies wrongdoing and says he never had sex with Daniels.
Justice Juan Merchan, overseeing the trial, said he would ask jurors to stay late so both sides could complete their arguments on Tuesday. That would allow jurors to begin deliberations as soon as Wednesday.
“You and you alone are the judges of the facts in this case,” he told jurors.
Prosecutors have the burden of proving Trump is guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt,” the level of certainty required by U.S. law. They will make their presentation after the defense, as is standard in New York criminal trials.
“Why can’t the defense go last? Big advantage, very unfair,” Trump said on social media early on Tuesday.
Over the course of the trial, Trump’s lawyers have tried to raise doubts about the credibility of prosecution witnesses, most notably Michael Cohen, who testified that as Trump’s fixer he handled the payment to Daniels and that Trump approved the cover-up.
During cross-examination, Trump’s lawyers got Cohen to discuss his felony convictions and imprisonment, his history of lying and his lingering animosity for his former boss. Cohen also admitted to stealing from Trump’s company.
If found guilty, Trump faces up to four years in prison, although imprisonment is unlikely for a first-time felon convicted of such a crime.
A conviction will not prevent Trump from trying to take back the White House from Democratic President Joe Biden as the Republican candidate in the Nov. 5 election, and it would not prevent him from taking office if he won. Opinion polls show the two candidates locked in a tight race.
Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, normally a misdemeanor under New York law.
Prosecutors in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office elevated those charges to felonies, saying Trump falsified those records to disguise what amounted to an illegal campaign contribution: the payment that bought Daniels’ silence about the alleged 2006 sexual encounter at a time when Trump was already facing multiple accusations of sexual misconduct.
Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies wrongdoing. His lawyers have implied that the $130,000 payment for Daniels’ silence was intended to spare Trump’s family from embarrassment, not to protect his White House bid. Prosecutors will cite testimony to argue otherwise.
Trump faces three other criminal prosecutions as well, but none is likely to go to trial before the election.
Separate cases in Washington and Georgia accuse him of illegally trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat, while another case in Florida charges him with mishandling classified information after he left office in 2021.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in all of the cases and says they are an effort by Biden’s Democratic allies to hobble his presidential bid.
(Reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Howard Goller)
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