Donald Trump’s hush money trial is heading into the final stretch, with prosecutors resting their case after their final witness, Michael Cohen, testified for hours.
AP is live from a courthouse in New York with prosecutors’ hush money case against Donald Trump heading into the final stretch.The prosecution could have an opportunity to call rebuttal witnesses if Trump’s lawyers put on witnesses of their own. Judge Juan M. Merchan said hehe stole tens of thousands of dollars from Trump’s companyNext, the defense is calling attorney Robert Costello to the witness stand. But first, the prosecution has asked for a bench conference out of earshot of the jury.
Blanche conferred with prosecutor Joshua Steinglass and reached the deal during a short break in the trial after conferring with Trump and other members of his defense team about how to proceed.Actor Chuck Zito returns from a lunch break to former President Donald Trump’s trial at the Manhattan Criminal court, Monday, May 20, 2024, in New York.
During a break, lawyer and former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz offered his reason for being in court amongst Trump’s allies: “I’m not here to show political support for anybody, but to show strong opposition to the case itself.” In 60 years of practicing law, he says it’s “weakest case I’ve ever seen.”Todd Blanche argued it will unnecessarily prolong the trial. He said prosecutors are on the verge of resting their case and that the defense may rest its case Monday, too.
The judge said the photo amounts to hearsay without being authenticated by a representative of the TV network. Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass said prosecutors are arranging to have the executive director of the C-SPAN archives, Robert Browning, return to the witness stand. Browning testified earlier in the trial to authenticate videos of Trump campaign speeches in 2016.
In a news conference after his grand jury appearance, he told reporters he had come forward to provide exculpatory information about Trump and to make clear he did not believe Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal crimes and served time in prison, could be trusted. Cohen previously testified that he needed to speak with Trump “to discuss the Stormy Daniels matter and the resolution of it” and he knew Schiller would be with him. Cohen wired $130,000 to Daniels’ lawyer two days after the call in question.
“You’d have trouble finding a single person he has actually told the truth to,” the South Carolina attorney general said. Cohen said he later sought reimbursement for the full amount at the same time he was seeking payment for the money he paid Daniels. He said he kept the difference instead of paying Red Finch as a way of making up for his reduced bonus.
When he was later reimbursed by Allen Weisselberg to pay back Red Finch, Cohen kept the proceeds for himself – an act of deception that, Cohen admitted earlier in the day, amounted to stealing from the Trump Organization. Cohen testified he’d be better off financially if Trump isn’t convicted because it would give him more fodder for the podcasts that provide a sizeable chunk of his livelihood.
“Well, the journey that you’ve been on,” Blanche noted, “has included near-daily attacks on President Trump.”Pushed before the morning break to describe his lucrative Trump-related side businesses, Cohen told defense attorney Todd Blanche “there is a television show” in the works. So until April 2018, “you had told anybody who asked that President Trump knew nothing about the payment at the time?” Blanche asked.In April 2018, federal authorities searched Cohen’s home, office and other locations tied to him. Four months later, CohenCohen testified he made $4 million from six clients, including AT&T, which was attempting to acquire Time Warner at the time.
At times, Cohen seemed disoriented by the approach, asking the defense attorney to rephrase his questions or calling them “confusing.” But Cohen has also largely kept his cool on the witness stand so far, offering short and dispassionate replies to Blanche, who he addressed as “sir.
Eric Trump, Trump’s son, who is in court, posted on X: “This just got interesting: Michael Cohen is now admitting to stealing money from our company.”After walking Cohen through a list of personal business dealings and Trump-related responsibilities he was juggling in the lead-up to the late October 2016 payment to Daniels, Blanche pointedly asked Cohen about what the witness has said were two key phone calls in which he apprised Trump of the impending payout.
The charges against Trump — falsifying business records — center on the way he ultimately reimbursed Cohen for the Daniels payment. Trump has pleaded not guilty.Under cross-examination, Cohen testified that he was extremely busy in the weeks before he paid Daniels — and not just with trying to silence the porn actor.
The judge echoed his pretrial ruling that, if called, Smith can give general background on the FEC — its purpose, background and the laws it enforces — and the definitions of such terms as “campaign contribution.”
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