#Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection w/a #HushMoney payment made to a porn star to influence the 2016 election. The case could be in the jury’s hands as early as Wed.
#Steinglass lands his argument by saying that while the sex between #StormyDaniels & #Trump took place in 2006, the payoff wasn’t until 2016 because his concern was NOT his family, as his lawyers have suggested, but the #election.
Though many of Trump’s family members have been staring at their phones throughout this summation, all of them looked up when Steinglass said that.
Steinglass shows Trump’s filing w/the federal government’s Office of Government #Ethics in May 2018 that revealed #Trump had made a payment to #MichaelCohen. The filing came days after #RudyGiuliani said on #FoxNews that Trump had reimbursed Cohen for the #StormyDaniels payment.
#Steinglass continues the argument on #WitnessIntimidation, noting that #Trump attacked #StormyDaniels on social media the same day she had an interview w/the Manhattan DA’s office. Steinglass argues that the post contains a lie — in it, Trump said that he hadn’t seen or spoken to Daniels since meeting her on a golf course in 2006.
Steinglass says that the jury knows it to be a lie because #RhonaGraff, Trump’s loyal asst, testified that Daniels had met w/Trump at Trump Tower.
#Steinglass highlights other key testimony, including #HopeHicks's remarks that it would have been “out of character” for #MichaelCohen to have made that payment out of the kindness of his heart — meaning, without approval from #Trump.
Steinglass is linking Trump to each & every action that prosecutors say led to the #crime, the falsification of 34 business records related to the #HushMoney payment to #StormyDaniels.
#Steinglass reviews the case for what may be the final time, starting w/the #Trump Tower meeting. So this is an abridged version of his already abridged timeline, reducing the case down to its key elements.
Steinglass presents the very many moments at which Trump spoke to key players in this series of events around the #StormyDaniels payment.
#Steinglass says that #Trump’s #intent to #defraud could not be any clearer, arguing that Trump could have simply paid #StormyDaniels himself, but instead devised an elaborate scheme to pay Daniels secretly that required the involvement of at least 10 other people. “Everything Mr. Trump & his cohorts did in this case was cloaked in lies,” Steinglass says, adding, “The name of the game was concealment, & all roads lead to the man who benefited the most, Donald Trump.”
Tues 29 May 2024 🧵
Good morning! It’s the last day of the #TrumpTrial before jury #deliberations.
Today Justice #Merchan will give #JuryInstructions. Then they will discuss the case among themselves for the first time; they have not been allowed to even discuss it w/each other as yet.
Closing arguments took place yesterday, & the lawyers will have no further opportunity to address the jurors before they determine whether #Trump is #guilty or not guilty of 34 felonies.
Trump is charged w/ 34 counts of falsifying business records related to the coverup of a $130k #HushMoney payment that was made to the porn star #StormyDaniels in the days leading up to the #2016election.
All of the charges are class E felonies, or the lowest category of felony in #NewYork State.
Heading into what may be the final week of the #TrumpTrial, here are links to my threads for each day of coverage starting w/opening statements & then testimony (excludes jury selection)
The language in these Cohen conversations is coded & very mob-like. The #HushMoney is described as a "business opportunity."
#MichaelCohen says that #Trump, upon learning that #StormyDaniels was shopping her story, was very angry w/Cohen, calling it a "total disaster" & saying "women are going to hate me." Cohen says he responded that he had no control over Daniels's story.
Senator #JDVance, Eric Trump, Boris Ephsteyn, his legal adviser; Alina Habba, one of the lawyers from his civil fraud trial; US House Rep #NicoleMalliotakis; Senator #TommyTuberville; & the #Iowa & #Alabama attorneys general.
This is the biggest entourage we’ve seen him with so far.
He must be scared.
#Trump has a huge posse today, including #KashPatel; #GerryKassar, a #conservative party leader in NY; #BernieKerik, fmr NYPD commissioner who was imprisoned for tax fraud & false statements; #AlanDershowitz, lawyer who defended Trump during his first impeachment, & #BorisEpshteyn, legal adviser who was #indicted in AZ for attempts to keep Trump in power after the 2020 election.
He testifies that w/respect to #StormyDaniels, Cohen said “numerous times” that #Trump “knew nothing about those payments, that he did this on his own.”
Prosecutor #Hoffinger objects to many of Emil #Bove's questions, often being sustained by #Merchan.
Costello is ignoring the judge’s rulings, so Justice Merchan warned him directly to wait for a ruling before answering.
#Blanche concludes cross-examination of #MichaelCohen w/ a whimper not a bang. He tries to remind jurors of the most dramatic moment from Thursday's cross: that Cohen may have lied on the stand when he described a conversation on Trump's bodyguard's phone in which he said he briefed #Trump about the payment to #StormyDaniels.
There was “no doubt in your mind” that that was the purpose of the call, Blanche asks. “No doubt,” Cohen replies, standing by his testimony.
#Hoffinger goes back to how #MichaelCohen was treated by the #Trump team. A complicating factor w/both Cohen & #StormyDaniels is they have multiple motives, & prosecutors have been telling the cleanest versions of their stories which makes it easy for the defense to pick at. However, the Trump team is essentially asking the #jury to believe everyone around Trump was acting shadily except for the shadiest of all – Trump.
Cross-examination of #MichaelCohen resumes, an opportunity for the defense to poke holes in his testimony & perhaps trip up or provoke the state’s key witness. The questioning of Cohen, #Trump’s fmr fixer, is the beginning of the end of Trump’s #criminal trial, which began April 15 & might conclude before Memorial Day weekend at this pace.
Blanche asks about negotiations he had w/ ABC News reporter John Santucci regarding the #StormyDaniels story.
Blanche is restating his opening argument point that NDAs were typical among the wealthy & famous & that they were not illegal. (No one has said otherwise)
Each page yesterday took him just a little more than a minute, so this will take >30 mins.
Between that & the testimony readbacks, also expected to take >30 mins, there will likely be >1 hour this morning w/the jury in the courtroom, not actively deliberating.
The #verdict must be unanimous on the primary crime falsification of business records.
Once #jurors inform the court they have reached a verdict, Justice Juan #Merchan will summon the parties to the courtroom to hear it read by the foreperson.
Merchan must still affirm the verdict & enter a final judgment.
"If the jury deliberating in Donald Trump's criminal trial makes the historic decision to convict him, the judge overseeing the case will face a monumental choice: whether to sentence the 2024 Republican presidential candidate to time behind bars."