At Trump Hush-Money Trial Closings, Lawyers Offer Clashing Accounts – The New York Times
Trump Hush-Money Trial
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A defense lawyer painted Donald J. Trump as the victim of unscrupulous people, but a prosecutor said Mr. Trump had directed a scheme to conceal a hush-money payment.
Ben Protess, Jonah E. Bromwich and
For nearly three hours on Tuesday, Donald J. Trump’s lawyer did his level best to persuade the jury to acquit, wielding a scalpel to attack nearly every strand of the criminal case against the former president.
Then it was a prosecutor’s turn. Rather than using a fine blade, he swung a sledgehammer.
Throughout the afternoon and early evening, the prosecutor delivered a sweeping closing argument that he hoped would persuade the jury of 12 New Yorkers to reach one conclusion: Mr. Trump was guilty of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal involving a porn star. The prosecutor, Joshua Steinglass, wove together an array of witness testimony and documents to drive home the weekslong case, the first criminal trial of an American president.
By the time Mr. Steinglass neared the finish line, the courthouse had closed to other business, and the traffic on the Lower Manhattan streets had slowed from the frenzy of the day. It had been nearly 10 hours since Mr. Trump’s lawyer had first sought to plant the seeds of doubt in the minds of jurors, calling the case “absurd” and “preposterous,” and now Mr. Steinglass got the final word.
The defense needed only to create a reasonable doubt, while the prosecution needed to sell the jury on a story that could have only one ending.
The indictment unveiled in April 2023 centers on a hush-money deal with a porn star, but a related document alleges a broader scheme to protect Donald J. Trump’s 2016 campaign.
In the morning, Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, had commanded the spotlight.
He aimed attacks at the prosecution’s bedrock contention that the records were false, and that Mr. Trump was responsible for creating them. But Mr. Blanche saved his harshest criticism for the prosecution’s star witness, Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s former fixer. It was he who paid off the porn star, Stormy Daniels, in a hush-money deal in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Here’s how key figures involved in making hush-money payoffs on behalf of Donald J. Trump are connected.
The first criminal trial of former President Donald J. Trump is underway. Take a closer look at central figures related to the case.
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