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.
All 12 jurors must agree to find #Trump#guilty in order to #convict him of any one of the #felonies w/which he has been charged: 34 counts of falsifying business records. The judge in the case, Juan M. #Merchan, repeatedly made this clear, saying in his instructions to the #jury: “Each count you consider, whether guilty or not guilty, must be #unanimous.”
#MichaelCohen has linked #Trump directly to the scheme to reimburse him for the #StormyDaniels#HushMoney payment, which forms the basis for the falsification of business records charges. And he has said that Trump was personally concerned that Daniels's story, if it got out, could affect his chances w/ female voters, which speaks directly to the underlying election #conspiracy statute that elevates those charges from misdemeanors to #felonies.
#MichaelCohen has now testified that he, #Trump & David #Pecker, the publisher of The #NationalEnquirer, entered into a plot to suppress negative stories about Trump. He says Pecker "would be able to help us to know in advance what was coming out" & try to stop it from doing so.
This is the #conspiracy prosecutors allege Trump participated in - 1 of the potential #crimes that transforms the charges Trump is facing into #felonies.
#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.
Prosecutor #Colangelo argues “there’s nothing new at all” about their theory. The charges against #Trump are #felonies because he falsified business records to conceal another #crime. They signaled that other crime was seeking to promote his own #election "by unlawful means," in violation of state #ElectionLaw. That introduces a 3rd potential crime.
3 potential crimes, all wrapped into each of the 34 felony charges of falsifying business records.