After six weeks and more than 20 witnesses, lawyers on both sides of Donald Trump’s criminal trial are delivering their closing arguments Tuesday, making their final cases to the jury before deliberations over a verdict begin this week.
Prosecutors began their presentation Tuesday afternoon, and said they will need about four hours.
Todd Blanche, Trump’s lead attorney, argued for the defense, arguing that Trump did not commit a crime and saying the prosecution’s key witness in the case, Michael Cohen, should not be trusted. He called Cohen the “greatest liar of all time,” and urged jurors to reject his testimony.
Trump is accused of signing off on a scheme to illegally falsify records, with the goal of covering up a $130,000 “hush money” payment made by Cohen to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016. The scheme was designed to subvert election law and keep the payment secret, prosecutors say. They allege Trump falsely portrayed reimbursements for the $130,000 payment as monthly checks for ongoing legal services, paid during the first year of his presidency.
Trump’s defense argued the checks and associated records were accurate. Blanche said that the prosecution failed to prove its case and told the jury that Cohen lied about several aspects of the case, at one point calling his assertions “absurd.”
After the jury hears the two sides’ summations, the judge will give them instructions and deliberations will begin. That will most likely happen Wednesday.
