Defense Rests Case in Trump NY 'Hush Money' Trial
Former US Pres. Donald Trump chose not to testify in his hush-money trial Tuesday, with his defense team resting its case. The jury is expected to return in a week for closing arguments and then begin deliberating....
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Facts
- Former US Pres. Donald Trump chose not to testify in his hush-money trial Tuesday, with his defense team resting its case. The jury is expected to return in a week for closing arguments and then begin deliberating.1
- Before resting its case on Monday, the prosecution called upon former Trump legal advisor Michael Cohen, who testified that he was 'reimbursed $420,000' for the $130K he paid to Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about an alleged affair she had with Trump.2
- Trump's team then called on former Cohen advisor Robert Costello. The prosecution presented a 2018 email from Costello that read, 'Our issue is to get Cohen on the right page without giving him the appearance that we are following instructions from Giuliani or the president.'3
- Costello testified that Cohen said Trump 'knew nothing about those payments.' After Judge Merchan approved several objections to the questions asked of Costello from the defense, the witness muttered, 'Jeez,' after which Merchan cleared the courtroom and reportedly chastised him.4
- The two opposing legal teams will now debate how best to explain the legal threshold of a conviction to the jury, after which Judge Merchan will make the final determination.5
- Trump faces 34 first-degree felony counts of falsifying business records to hide the alleged $130K payment to Daniels to keep her quiet ahead of the 2016 election. The jury must find Trump guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.2
Sources: 1Reuters.com, 2FOX News, 3New York Times, 4New York Post and 5CNN.
Narratives
- Pro-Trump narrative, as provided by New York Post. If this case were brought in any other district it would've been thrown out immediately, but Judge Merchan is a loyal Democratic activist. While allowing Cohen to make unethical claims about campaign finance violations on the one hand, Merchan has become visibly perturbed when listening to Costello completely dismantle Cohen's testimony. Hopefully, the jury will see through Merchan's bias and conclude that Cohen is a criminal trying to smear Trump to save himself.
- Anti-Trump narrative, as provided by New York Times. The prosecution is clearly winning, so the only saving grace Trump has now is knowing he can delay his likely prison time through appeals. While team Trump whines about a so-called corrupt court, they're ignoring the fact that he's been incredibly lucky regarding the delays in all the other cases against him that are currently awaiting trial. The American people may be tired of hearing about these court cases, but they should remain focused until Trump is finally in prison.
