Trump’s lawyers rested their case on Thursday, without the former president testifying as he previously promised to do. The jury is scheduled to deliberate the verdict next week.
Donald Trump’s defense lawyers rested their case on Tuesday – without the former president following through on a vow to testify – as the judge scheduled jury deliberations in the historic criminal trial for next week.
The trial has not been televised due to New York law, and experts are divided on whether the five weeks in court, more than 20 witnesses and often salacious testimony have damaged Trump politically.
But the looming verdict represents a moment of peril for Trump, less than six months before election day, when he hopes to oust President Joe Biden and return to the White House.
“I think a great case was put on… It should be dismissed before you even have any verdict,” the Republican said outside court on Tuesday.
Judge Juan Merchan told jurors that closing arguments would take place next Tuesday, when each side will make their pitch to the 12 New Yorkers who will decide Trump’s fate.
After sending the jury home for a six-day break over a holiday weekend, the judge convened the opposing legal teams to grapple over instructions that the jurors will be given to reach a verdict.
The jury’s decision must be unanimous for either a conviction or an acquittal, or the case is headed for a mistrial.
Trump’s lawyers have battled hard to undermine testimony against the former president, who is accused of illegally covering up hush money paid to a porn star over an alleged encounter that could have derailed his successful 2016 White House bid against Hillary Clinton.
Court and Campaign Trail
Lawyer Robert Costello was grilled further on Tuesday on emails he sent to prosecution star witness Michael Cohen after the FBI raided Cohen in 2018.
Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and fixer who eventually turned on his boss, gave testimony and provided evidence on which the prosecution case hangs.
He recounted how he kept Trump informed about $130,000 paid to porn star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence about the alleged 2006 bedroom encounter.
Trump’s lawyers set out to paint Cohen as a convicted criminal and habitual liar, recalling his time in prison for tax fraud and lying to Congress.
Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche also probed Cohen’s loyalty to Trump and then to the prosecution, looking to show jurors that Cohen is self-serving.
Throughout the trial, Trump complained that his 2024 election campaign was being stymied by the weeks-long court proceedings, which he has to attend every day.
A growing coterie of leading Republicans have been attending court each day, standing behind him as he delivers his regular tirades to reporters outside the courtroom.
Maggy Donaldson, with AFP.
