Trump trial latest: Defence rests case without calling former US president to give evidence – Sky News
Trump’s defence team has rested its case, with ex-lawyer Robert Costello the final witness. The case is now in the hands of the jury, who could begin deliberating as soon as next week to decide whether Trump is guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Tuesday 21 May 2024 20:10, UK
As prosecutors gather in the courtroom and Donald Trump’s legal team begin discussions on the jury charge, here is an overview of what they will be doing during this charging conference.
The judge, prosecution and defence will essentially have to decide what crime they are going to ask the jury to charge the former president with.
It could either be the falsification of business records, which is a misdemeanour (and the lesser crime) or it could be the more serious felony, if lawyers can prove his intent to commit election fraud through the falsification of business records.
The charge is a Class E felony in New York, the lowest tier of felony charges in the state.
It is punishable by up to four years in prison, though there is no guarantee that a conviction would result in prison time.
To convict Trump, prosecutors must convince jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that he not only falsified or caused business records to be entered falsely – which would be a misdemeanour- but also that he did so to conceal another crime, making the charges felonies.
Prosecutors allege the other crimes included violations of campaign finance and election law.
Any verdict must be unanimous.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts.
It will ultimately be up to Judge Merchan to decide how to instruct the jury.
We will bring you an update on what is decided once the discussions have concluded.
By James Matthews, US correspondent
Looking at the timetable, we could have a verdict by the end of next week.
With the prosecution and defence having rested, the court has begun to contemplate the case’s conclusion.
Today in court, there were discussions over the instructions the judge will give the jury when its 12 members are sent to consider a verdict.
Prosecutors brought this case to court as the deliberate falsification of business records, a misdemeanour.
That’s elevated to a felony if they can prove it was an act intended to conceal information from voters that could have affected on his chances at the 2016 election.
The exact crime in question will crystallise in discussions between the judge, prosecution and defence.
A three-way courtroom conference will shape the instructions given to the jury, a last job for the judge next week before he sends them to deliberate.
It is the business of criminal prosecution, the nuts and bolts of American justice that underpin this process.
As things stand, closing arguments (summations) could begin next Tuesday, with the jury being sent out soon after.
Witness-wise, it was deprived of a big finish when Donald Trump declined to give testimony, as he had said he would.
“We’ll be resting pretty quickly,” he said. “I won’t be resting. I don’t rest. I’d like to rest sometimes, but I don’t get to rest.”
It was a statement for the cameras in the court building corridor.
The rest is history, like everything else in this most significant trial.
Thousands of miles away from New York, on the other side of the US, there has been a development today in another legal case relating to Donald Trump and alleged election interference.
Rudy Giuliani, whose name came up in testimony at the hush money trial today, has pleaded not guilty to nine felony charges stemming from his role in an effort to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in Arizona to Joe Biden.
The former New York City mayor appeared remotely for the arraignment, which was held in a Phoenix courtroom.
His trial will be held in October.
The authorities in Arizona tried unsuccessfully over several weeks to serve Mr Giuliani notice of the indictment against him.
He was finally served official notice of his indictment on Friday, when papers were served to him after his 80th birthday party.
Former Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward also pleaded not guilty today in the Phoenix courtroom to nine felony charges on the same grounds.
Her trial date is set for 17 October.
A criminal indictment is a formal accusation of a crime brought against a person, while an arraignment is a legal proceeding in which a person accused of a crime is formally charged and enters a plea.
Altogether, Arizona has indicted 18 Republicans in the election interference case.
Now we’ve heard from all the witnesses in Trump’s hush money trial, let’s recap the key things the jury was told in court.
David Pecker, former National Enquirer publisher
The long-time Trump ally was the first witness called by the prosecution.
He told the trial for several days how the former president used his influence in the media sphere to kill negative stories via “fixer” Cohen.
Crucially, he told the trial he knew that the $150,000 hush money payment he made to McDougal to buy her life story rights and essentially silence her was probably against the law – because it was coordinated with Trump’s political campaign.
A reminder that Trump is not on trial for making hush money payments – but rather that he falsified business records to cover them.
Hope Hicks, former White House aide to Donald Trump
Ms Hicks took to the stand in week two, and was asked mainly about the now infamous “Access Hollywood” tape.
In a leaked recording, Trump was heard to say about women: “I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything, grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.” It was three weeks later that the money was paid to Stormy Daniels.
The tape sent shockwaves through the Trump campaign team, Ms Hicks told the court.
She testified Trump told her to deny Ms Daniels’ allegations and disputed his claim that Michael Cohen paid the porn star “out of the goodness of his heart” – citing her understanding of Cohen’s character as a reason to doubt it.
Ms Hicks starting crying at this point in her testimony, and a brief recess was called.
Keith Davidson, former lawyer to Stormy Daniels
The man who negotiated with Trump’s team on behalf of the adult film star admitted it was his understanding that the leaking of the “Access Hollywood” tape was the driving force behind the deal happening in the first place.
Stormy Daniels, former porn star and recipient of hush money
The woman at the centre of the trial travelled to court wearing a bulletproof vest, her lawyer said.
Ms Daniels told her story of growing up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the daughter of a single mother.
By the time she met Mr Trump, aged 27, we learned she was an adult film actress and director, as well as starring in comedy movies like 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up.
In the words of our US correspondent James Matthews: “By her telling, the Trump encounter was more ‘Austin Powers’ – the penthouse suite, the satin pyjamas and the spanking with a rolled-up magazine.”
“Bullshit,” Trump was heard to mutter as she spoke.
She described to jurors an awkward and unexpected sexual encounter she claims she had with Donald Trump in 2006.
Ms Daniels described how an initial meeting at a golf tournament, where they discussed the adult film industry, progressed to a “brief” sexual encounter.
She said she did not feel physically or verbally threatened during the encounter, but she perceived an imbalance of power, with Mr Trump being “bigger and blocking the way”.
She said she found it “hard to get my shoes” after it ended “because my hands were shaking so hard”.
“He said, ‘Oh, it was great. Let’s get together again, honey bunch’,” Ms Daniels said. “I just wanted to leave.”
In addition to detailing her alleged affair with Trump, she described being threatened in 2011 in a car park after she granted a tell-all interview with a magazine.
She also renounced a 2018 statement on the witness stand that denied any affair with Trump – saying that she did not want to sign the statement because it wasn’t true.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer
The prosecution’s star witness told the court how he lied and bullied on behalf of his former boss, Donald Trump.
He said he was “knee-deep in the cult of Donald Trump” and consistently protected him out of a misplaced sense of loyalty.
However, it was testimony about how he was paid back by Trump for his hush money payment to Stormy Daniels that could land his former boss in the most trouble.
The jury was shown several invoices, cheques and stubs that Cohen says were false records.
Some of the cheques were signed by Donald Trump himself, and a total of $420,000 was sent to Cohen for a “legal retainer”.
Susan Hoffinger, for the prosecution, asked Cohen if any of the cheques were for work carried out in the month they corresponded to.
“No ma’am,” he responded, later telling the court it was purely reimbursement for the hush money he had fronted.
When questioned by the defence, Cohen also admitted to stealing thousands from Trump.
Robert Costello, former lawyer
The defence’s only witness will probably only stick in the mind for his antics in court, rather than his testimony.
Judge Merchan sent the jury and journalists out of the courtroom just minutes into his time on the stand.
Mr Costello was heard making comments under his breath and continuing to speak after objections were sustained – a signal to witnesses to stop talking.
After excusing the jury, Merchan said: “Mr Costello, I want to discuss proper decorum in my courtroom.
“When there’s a witness on the stand, if you don’t like my ruling, you don’t say ‘jeez’… You don’t give me side-eye, and you don’t roll your eyes.”
These were Trump’s words as he made his way into court, our US correspondent James Matthews says.
Seemingly putting to bed any speculation that he was going to testify, the former president told reporters about his team’s intentions: “We’ll be resting pretty quickly. I won’t be resting. I don’t rest, I’d like to rest sometimes but I don’t get to rest.”
Most legal experts, Matthews says, did not expect Trump would take the stand.
“It just would have been folly for the defence team,” Matthews says.
The courtroom is empty now, Matthews says, and the judge will be having discussions with prosecution and defence.
“These will be key discussions about how the judge charges the jury,” he says.
Matthews says on Tuesday there will be closing arguments from prosecution and defence and thereafter the judge will instruct the jury on exactly what they might be convicting Donald Trump of.
“The discussion right now is: What is the crime? What crime are you going to ask this jury to charge him with?”
The lesser crime is the falsification of business records, the more serious felony would be his intent to commit election fraud through the falsification of these records.
“We could get a verdict by the end of Wednesday or Thursday next week,” Matthews says.
The jury has left the court and will return for summations next Tuesday.
Before the jury filed out, the judge reminded them to keep an open mind and not to discuss the case with anyone.
The court will now break until 7.15pm UK time – and after the break the judge and lawyers will discuss proposed jury charges.
Trump did not stop to speak as he left the courthouse and ignored a question about why he wasn’t testifying, as he did yesterday.
If there are any updates after the break, we’ll bring them to you.
In the meantime, here is a selection of the pictures taken during the daily photo shoot before proceedings started and as Trump left court a few moments ago…
After around 50 minutes, the defence rests its case – this means they don’t have any more witnesses to call.
The prosecution will get a chance to call rebuttal witnesses now that the defence witnesses have had their turn on the stand.
The judge has said he expects closing arguments to happen on 28 May.
After more than four weeks of testimony, jurors could begin deliberating as soon as next week to decide whether Trump is guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Another email is now pulled into evidence.
This one is another one from Robert Costello to his law partner Jeff Citron in which he writes: “What should I say to this a*****e? He is playing with the most powerful man on the planet.”
The prosecutor asks: “You lost control of Michael Cohen for the President Trump, didn’t you?”
Mr Costello denies this.
Asked if he went to the House of Representatives to “publicly vilify Michael Cohen” when he was in the middle of his testimony, Mr Costello says: “I went there to testify.”
Ms Hoffinger asks if he went to the House of Representatives to “intimidate” Cohen during his testimony.
Mr Costello replies: “Intimidate Michael Cohen? Ridiculous, no.”
Next to be looked at is an email from Robert Costello to his law partner Jeff Citron in 2018.
In the email Mr Costello says it is “time for you to call Michael Cohen as he has failed to respond to my email and texts”.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger says: “You sent this with the goal of getting Michael Cohen to follow instructions?”
“No, not to follow instructions but to get everyone on the same page, because Michael Cohen had been complaining incessantly that Rudy Giuliani was making comments in the press that Cohen did not approve of,” Mr Costello replies.
Another email that same year from Mr Costello to Cohen reads: “Since you jumped off the phone rather abruptly, I did not get a chance to tell you that my friend has communicated.”
Mr Costello explains he was “telling him to express his complaints” so he could take them to Rudy Giuliani.
Ms Hoffinger asks: “You felt you were being played by Michael Cohen?”
But Mr Costello replies: “No, do you want me to explain?
“No,” Ms Hoffinger replies.
The lawyer moves on to an email from Robert Costello to Michael Cohen.
The email reads: “I spoke with Rudy, very very positive, you are ‘loved’. If you want to call me I will give you the details.”
The message goes on to say: “Sleep well tonight, you have friends in high places.”
Ms Hoffinger asks if Mr Costello was referring to Donald Trump in this email.
“Friends in high places definitely refers to President Trump, yes,” Mr Costello replies.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free