What happened
Manhattan prosecutors and Donald Trump’s defense lawyers delivered 10 hours of closing arguments Tuesday. Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up an alleged affair with porn actress Stormy Daniels and illicitly influence the 2016 presidential election.
Who said what
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche “had a clear message for jurors: The prosecution’s case rests on the testimony of Trump fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen, and he can’t be believed,” The Associated Press said. He called Cohen “literally the greatest liar of all time,” and showed jurors a PowerPoint labeled “Case Turns on Cohen.” Blanche also argued prosecutors had Daniels testify about her sexual encounter with Trump to “embarrass” him.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said the “messy” and “uncomfortable” Daniels testimony showed why, after a recording of Trump boasting of sexual assault emerged right before the election, he agreed to secretly pay her the $130,000 in hush money allegedly disguised as legal fees. “Stormy Daniels is the motive,” he said. “This case is about Donald Trump,” not Cohen, who is merely a useful “tour guide” through the mountains of hard evidence, Steinglass added. You don’t have to like him, but “like all fixers, Cohen knew where the bodies were buried.”
What next?
Judge Juan Merchan will give the 12 jurors their instructions Wednesday, then they “could take anywhere from a few hours to weeks to reach a verdict,” The New York Times said.
The defense and prosecution gave their closing arguments in Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial on Tuesday
