by Alexis Simendinger & Kristina Karisch
Prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office rested their case Monday against former President Trump, bringing the first criminal trial of a U.S. president in the country’s history nearer to a close.
The defense now has the opening to present witnesses to try to persuade at least one potential skeptic on the jury that Trump committed no crime with his company’s business records in 2016, when he was a White House candidate. The former president argues that he’s a victim of a “conflicted” and “corrupt” judge and partisan prosecutor who want to prevent him from campaigning for the presidency.
He also argues that Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and the prosecution’s flawed star witness, is a convicted liar who admitted Monday on the stand to stealing from the Trump Organization and changing his story about his former boss, allegedly for personal financial gain.
“You did steal from the Trump Organization based on expected reimbursement from RedFinch?” Trump lawyer Todd Blanche asked the now disbarred Cohen.
“Yes, sir,” the former Trump fixer replied, referring to his decision to pocket tens of thousands of dollars in padded reimbursement after paying for a tech firm to rig polls in the former president’s favor.
Cohen has testified that Trump was the mastermind behind an alleged scheme to pay for the silence of two women who said they’d had sex with him and reimbursed Cohen for the payments while allegedly illegally falsifying documents to mask the expenses. But the former lawyer also testified Monday that he changed his story after initially saying Trump had nothing to do with hush payments.
The conclusion of Trump’s made-for-tabloids drama — featuring a porn star, the former National Enquirer publisher who helped Trump in 2016 and a revolving cheering section of GOP VIP Trump loyalists — may gallop through its final phase. But the roster of witnesses for the defense remains unclear, and Trump’s decision about taking the stand is a topic of speculation and suspense. Legal experts have said either option presents political and legal consequences for the former president. The risks are real and few experienced in criminal trials think he should do it.
Trump has dangled the idea that he might take the stand, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth and answer questions in his own defense.
“All I can do is tell the truth,” the defendant told reporters at the outset of his trial.
Blanche told the judge at a sidebar conference that he had no indication Monday of whether Trump would opt to testify. Judge Juan Merchan indicated that closing arguments would be next Tuesday.
3 Things to Think about
- The Hill: Returning as a defense witness today is lawyer Robert Costello, whose decorum on the stand Monday attracted sharp rebukes from the judge, as evident in the transcript released Monday night.
- The Hill’s Niall Stanage: Cohen trouble, judicial fireworks: Five takeaways from the Trump trial on day 19.
- The Hill: Senate Republicans see a Trump verdict as a political wild card.
