Jury to decide Trump’s fate in hush money case
During closing arguments yesterday, Trump attorney Todd Blanche outlined 10 reasons why he believed jurors should have reasonable doubt.
He argued that there can be no felony falsification of business records because even in the event that there was a conspiracy to influence the election, it was not executed by “unlawful means.” Blanche also urged the jury not to send Trump to prison, a remark that Judge Juan Merchan said was “improper,” telling the jury to disregard it.
During the subsequent closing arguments by the prosecution, attorney Joshua Steinglass spoke for four hours and 40 minutes, with breaks, and argued that Trump falsified business records to cover up what amounted to an illegal campaign contribution intended to bolster his presidential bid in 2016.
Steinglass also sought to defend Michael Cohen’s testimony, arguing that the former Trump attorney whose testimony was challenged by the defense team had lied at Trump’s direction and that the former president’s attorneys used those lies to try to undermine Cohen’s credibility.
Proceedings concluded at 8 p.m., with jurors spending roughly 11 hours in court.
While Trump left the courthouse for the day without comment, he disparaged the proceedings as “boring” and a “filibuster” in posts on his Truth Social platform earlier in the evening.
