NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s hush money lawsuit Closing arguments are scheduled to be made to the jury on Tuesday, with both sides looking to give the panel their final score. Before the discussion begins The fate of the first former US president to be indicted on a felony charge.
The arguments, expected to last all day, will give lawyers one final opportunity to argue to the Manhattan jury hearing the landmark case. After more than four weeks of testimonythe summary presents a significant and historically unprecedented challenge for jurors deciding whether to convict the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Payments made during the 2016 election To stop a porn actress from publicly alleging a sexual relationship with President Trump.
What you need to know about President Trump’s hush money trial:
Prosecutors will tell jurors they’ve heard enough testimony to convict Trump on all charges, while the defense will try to target Trump’s credibility and cast doubt on the strength of the evidence. Michael CohenTrump’s former lawyer and personal fixer Pleaded guilty to federal charges He was convicted for his role in the hush money payments and testified as the prosecution’s key witness at trial.
After closing arguments, possibly on Wednesday, the judge will explain to jurors the law governing the case and the factors they will consider in reaching a verdict. The decision will then proceed in secret, but notes jurors will send to the judge with questions may offer clues about their thinking.
Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, which carry a maximum sentence of four years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing. It is unclear whether prosecutors would seek prison time if convicted, or whether a judge would go ahead and impose a prison sentence.
The lawsuit claims that Cohen Porn actor Stormy Daniels In the final days of the 2016 election, Trump campaigned to stop her from going public with a story alleging she had a sexual encounter with Trump in a hotel suite on Lake Tahoe 10 years ago. Trump denies Daniels’ allegationsAnd his lawyers accused her of making it up during hours of questioning at trial.
When Trump repaid Cohen, the payments were recorded as being for legal services, but prosecutors say this was designed to conceal the true purpose of the Daniels deal and to illegally interfere in the 2016 election, in which Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, May 21, 2024. (Michael M. Santiago/Associated Press, File)
Trump’s lawyers argued that they were legitimate payments for actual legal services, and that his celebrity status, especially during the election, has allowed him to Blackmail targetHe is expected to revisit those points during closing arguments on Tuesday.
of About 20 witnesses That included Daniels, who has described her encounters with Trump in sometimes vivid detail. David PeckerCohen, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, testified that he used media companies to protect Trump and suppress stories that could damage his campaign, including paying a former Playboy model $150,000 to keep her from publishing an allegation that she had a year-long affair with Trump. Cohen testified that Trump was heavily involved in the hush money discussions. Cohen was quoted by his now-disbarred lawyer as saying that Trump said, “Just pay it.”
Prosecutors are expected to remind jurors of the bank statements, emails and other evidence they have seen, as well as audio recordings of Cohen and Trump discussing a deal involving Playboy model Karen McDougal.
The defense called two witnesses, neither of whom was Trump. They focused a lot of their energy on discrediting Cohen, highlighting his own criminal history, past lies, and His memory of important details.
A juror takes notes as Stormy Daniels testifies in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Elizabeth Williams via The Associated Press)
For example, under cross-examination, Mr. Cohen admitted to stealing tens of thousands of dollars from Mr. Trump’s companies while seeking the return of unused funds, and acknowledged that he had previously told prosecutors that he felt Ms. Daniels and her lawyers were extorting Mr. Trump.
While jurors witnessed many memorable moments, closing arguments will not address the interactions and verdicts that took place outside of their presence. And there were a lotFor example, Judge Juan M. Marchand fined Trump $10,000 for violating a gag order banning him from making inflammatory comments outside the courtroom and threatened jail time if the violations continued.
New York prosecutors have four Criminal case President Trump is at odds as he seeks to retake the White House from Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
The three other state and federal cases center on charges that he illegally stored classified documents at his Palm Beach, Florida, mansion and conspired to overturn the 2020 presidential election, but it is unclear whether any will go to trial before the November election.
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Former President Donald Trump, according to the Associated Press: https://apnews.com/hub/DonaldTrump.
