Donald Trump’s lawyers have rested their defense in his New York hush money criminal trial, without the former president taking the witness stand. This move brings the case closer to the moment when the jury will begin deciding his fate.
On Tuesday, Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche told the judge, “Your honor, the defense rests.” This came after the defense team called a former federal prosecutor to attack the credibility of the prosecution’s key witness. The Manhattan district attorney’s office had called 20 witnesses over 15 days of testimony before resting their case on Monday.
The jury has been sent home for a week and will return on May 28 for closing arguments. However, the attorneys returned to the courtroom to discuss how the judge will instruct jurors on deliberations. Trump, the first former American president to be tried criminally, did not answer questions about why he did not testify.
It was previously reported that Trump wanted to take the witness stand in his own defense, but there was no requirement or expectation for him to do so. It is common for defendants to decline to testify. Instead of trying to prove Trump’s innocence, his attorneys focused on attacking the credibility of the prosecution’s witnesses. This is a routine defense strategy as the burden of proof in a criminal case lies with the prosecution, and the defense does not have to prove anything.
Despite denouncing the trial as a politically motivated travesty of justice, Trump has been using the proceedings to further his political agenda. He has been using the trial as a fundraising pitch, criticizing President Joe Biden during his time in front of the cameras, and showcasing his own political supporters.
The prosecution has accused Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, of a scheme to bury negative stories in an illegal effort to influence the 2016 presidential election. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing. This is the first of Trump’s four criminal cases to go to trial and could possibly be the only one before the 2024 presidential election.
“They have no case,” Trump said on Tuesday morning before court adjourned. “There’s no crime.”
Throughout the trial, the jury has been given a glimpse into the underbelly of the tabloid business world. Trump’s allies at the National Enquirer were involved in a plan to keep negative stories about him out of the public eye by paying tens of thousands of dollars to “catch and kill” them. The jury also heard from porn actress Stormy Daniels, who detailed an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in a hotel room. Trump has denied any sexual encounter with Daniels.
The crux of the prosecution’s case centers on business transactions, including internal Trump Organization records that falsely labeled payments to Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, as legal expenses. Prosecutors argue that these payments were actually reimbursements to Cohen for a $130,000 payment he made on Trump’s behalf to keep Daniels quiet. Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records.
As he left a news conference on Tuesday with supporters of the former president outside the courthouse, Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. defended his father’s decision not to testify.
“There’d be absolutely no reason, no justification to do that whatsoever. Everyone sees it for the sham that it is,” the younger Trump said.
The judge has yet to rule on a defense request to dismiss the charges before deliberations begin. The defense argues that the prosecution has failed to prove their case. However, such requests are rarely granted in criminal cases.
The final witness called by the defense was Robert Costello, who was brought in to undermine Cohen’s credibility. The two had a professional relationship that ended in a public falling out. During his testimony on Monday, Costello angered the judge by rolling his eyes and talking under his breath. The judge cleared the courtroom and threatened to remove him if he did not show more respect for decorum.
Costello had offered to represent Cohen soon after the lawyer’s hotel room, office, and home were raided. He was also a witness before last year’s grand jury that indicted Trump, providing testimony to undermine Cohen’s account. In a recent interview, Costello accused Cohen of lying to the jury and using the case to “monetize” himself.
Costello contradicted Cohen’s testimony, stating that Trump had “no knowledge” of the hush money payment to Daniels. “Michael Cohen said numerous times that President Trump knew nothing about those payments, that he did this on his own, and he repeated
