Dear readers,
Wonderful news! We made it to the end of the Donald Trump’s first criminal trial (of four). Closing arguments took place on Tuesday. Defense went first and Todd Blanche did a lot of screaming, made a critical error towards the end that required a “curative” statement from the judge and kept professing Trump’s innocence (expected. Prosecutor Josh Steinglass needed close to FIVE hours for his closing, weaving a story of fraud, crime and plotting with dirty tabloid rags to steal an election.
So let’s GET INTO IT! Defense gave a long summation, prosecutors even longer. I am going to hit the high points versus going through every single thing covered because, honestly, most of it was covered in my previous daily summaries.
Reminder: Today is just summaries. It is the last time for both sides to make their case to the jury about why the defendant, Donald Trump, is TOTALLY guilty or TOTALLY not guilty. This is it. Take 6 weeks of testimony, over 20 witnesses and many many many pieces of evidence and wrap it up in a nice little package with a bow. It is about connecting with the jury directly, not through interaction with the witnesses. It is the time when they jury looks right at – and talks right to – the 12 jurors (and 6 alternates) in the hopes that they believe your position.
Tomorrow is the MOST important day, though. That is when the judge will give the jurors the Jury Instructions. Those are written by the judge (with some input from both sides of lawyers) and are the written guidance designed the guide the jury as they deliberate the charges and the facts of the case. Jury instructions are usually brief, succinct and relevant to the case. They need to be understandable to the average juror, therefore not written for lawyers. Layman’s terms is the phrase most often used. Decisions are made using that written framing, not anything else. Not speculation, not emotion, not *vibes*.
So…here we go.
DEFENSE CLOSING:
Todd Blanche delivered the closing for defendant Donald Trump. Here are the high points.
1. Michael Cohen was Trump’s lawyer, therefore he was paid for legal work: “This was not a secret. Michael Cohen was President Trump’s personal attorney. Period.” Payments noted as legal payments were not for the Stormy Daniels hush money deal, but for legal work: “The payments were compensation to him. Nothing more.”
2. Also, Michael Cohen is a big old liar. Cohen was lying when he said that Donald Trump knew about the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels: “You can not believe his words…he has repeatedly, repeatedly lied under oath. He’s literally like the MVP of liars. You cannot send someone to prison based on the words of Michael Cohen.”
NOTE: This statement – that the jury would be sending Trump to PRISON – is a big no no in court. This led Judge Merchan to drag Todd Blanche ACROSS THE COALS, telling him that this statement was highly inappropriate.” A jury is not allowed to consider the possible penalty for a crime in their deliberations. That is for the judge to decide, at least in New York. Judge Merchan went on: “It’s simply not allowed. Period. It’s hard for me to imagine how that was accidental in any way.” When the jury returned to the courtroom, the judge told them to disregard Blanche’s comment.
3. Ignore Trump’s books because he didn’t even write them himself. Any reference to his desire for “loyalty” or how involved he is in the company’s accounting system should be ignored.
4. Someone else did it. Blanche showed the jury invoices and checks to Cohen from Trump. The word “retainer” is not a bad word. And even if it was, Trump didn’t put it there. A Trump Organization accounting employee Deb Tarasoff did it.
5. Trump was simply too busy to know about everything that was going on. Blanche said it was unreasonable to think that Trump “had full knowledge of what was happening” at his company. “That is reasonable doubt, ladies and gentlemen,” Blanche said.
6. There was no intent to defraud. Trump, he claims, didn’t break laws with the “intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof.”
7. The National Enquirer did not tip the scales in order to win the election for Donald Trump. Blanche said: “The idea that even sophisticated people like President Trump and David Pecker believed that positive stories in the National Enquirer could influence the 2016 election is preposterous.” Blanche paints David Pecker as both a “truth teller” and a not credible. You can’t have it both ways, but Blanche is trying.
8. Michael Cohen is a liar. Again. Blanche tries to convince the jury that the recording of a call with Trump was unreliable because it is short and cuts off early. He is also trying to convince the jury that because the name of the person is never said, they can’t be sure it is about Karen McDougal. Even though the person ON the call told them that was who it was about. But sure, believe Todd Blanche.
9. Stormy Daniels is also a liar and an extortionist: “This started out as an extortion and it ended up very well for Ms. Daniels, there’s no doubt about that.”
10. Trump was the real victim of the Access Hollywood tape. The release was mean to Trump’s family and he was the victim. Womp womp.
11. Michael Cohen is a liar. Thrice now. Todd Blanche raises his voice. He tells jurors that Cohen lied about his call to Trump on October 24, 2016, the one where Cohen claims he updated Trump about the Stormy Daniels situation. Blanche, yelling: “It was a lie! That was a lie and he got caught red-handed.”
12. Michael Cohen is the MVP of liars. Blanche says that Cohen has lied to his family, his banker, the FEC, to reporters, Congress, prosecutors and bosses: “He’s literally like the MVP of liars.” He also said at one point: “He lied to you repeatedly. He is biased and motivated to tell you a story that is not true.”
13. Michael Cohen is also the GLOAT. Like the GOAT (Greatest of all time, a sports reference) but in this case the “greatest liar of all time.” Blanche said “Michael Cohen is the GLOAT. He’s literally the greatest liar of all time He has lied to every single branch of Congress. He has lied to the Department of Justice.”
14. This verdict cannot be about your views of Donald Trump or “a referendum on the ballot box.” He reminds jurors “If you focus just on the evidence you heard in this courtroom, this is a very very quick and easy not guilty verdict. Thank you.”
And after 3 hours, he wrapped up.
LUNCH!
And we are BACK!
PROSECUTION CLOSING!
In summary, Steinglass brings texts, receipts and testimony in a fiery closing. Long, detailed, strong, refuting everything Blanche tried to throw at the jury.
Let’s get INTO IT!
1. Use common sense. It doesn’t matter WHY Trump broke the law. What matters is if they, the jury, feel be broke the law. Steinglass explained: “In the end it doesn’t really matter, because you don’t get to commit election fraud or falsify your business records because you think you’ve been victimized. In other words, extortion is not a defense for falsifying business records. You’ve got to use your common sense, here. Consider the utterly damning testimony of David Pecker.”
2. Even if Cohen was a liar, all the other witnesses backup his statements. He said: “You don’t need Michael Cohen to prove that one bit” when talking about the element of a conspiracy. He added that Hope Hicks, Rhona Graff, Madeleine Westerhout, Jeffrey McConney and Deborah Tarasoff all served as witnesses that confirmed Cohen’s testimony and they all claim to LIKE Donald Trump.
3. About that phone call. Steinglass shows quotes from the transcript of a call Cohen had with Davidson which says that Trump hates that he had to settle with Stormy Daniels. This directly contradicts Blanche’s insistence that Trump knew nothing about the hush money payment.
4. Stormy weather. Her story matters. The defense worked overtime to shame her, claiming she changed her story many times, but that is flat out untrue. While Steinglass agreed that “parts of her testimony” were “cringeworthy” and “uncomfortable”, she was honest. Her description of the hotel room and Trump’ toiletry bag “ring true.” He added “They’re the kind of details you’d expect someone to remember, fortunately, she was not asked or did she volunteer specific details of the sexual act itself. It certainly is true you don’t have to prove that sex took place — that is not an element of the crime, the defendant knew what happened and reinforces the incentive to buy her silence. Her story is messy, but that’s kind of the point. That’s the display the defendant didn’t want the American voter to see.” And if she was so irrelevant, why did the defense work so hard to discredit her, Steinglass asked?
5. Chutzpah. Trump trying to harm Trump’s credibility for lying – at Trump’s direction – that is CHUTZPAH. Yiddish for audacity! The AUDACITY! Steinglass explained: “the defense also tells you you should reject his testimony because he lied and took pleas in federal court. He has had some trouble accepting responsibility, For bank fraud conviction and his tax law violation, he said he admitted to you that he did the things. He pleaded guilty. He feels like he was treated unfairly and as a first offender he should have been able to pay a fine and back taxes and he believes the Trump Justice Department did him dirty. Whether that is true or not, he accepted responsibility and went to prison for it. The lies he told to Congress had to do with the Mueller investigation and the Russia probe, and what he lied about was the number of dealings the defendant had with Russia, and the only benefit was he stayed in the defendant’s good graces. Those lies that he told are being used by the same defendant to undermine his credibility. That is what some people might call chutzpah.”
6. We didn’t pick him! Steinglass reminds the jury that Michael Cohen was once in the inner most circle of Trump’s loyalty squad. In what was one of the best quotes of the day, he said: “We didn’t choose Michael Cohen. We didn’t pick him up at the witness store. Mr. Trump chose Mr. Cohen for the same qualities his attorneys now urge you to reject.”
7. Campaign finance crimes! Steinglass gets to the meat of the case: “Once money starts changing hands on behalf of the campaign, that’s election law — that’s federal election campaign finance violation.
8. Trump is the defendant, not Michael Cohen. Blanche tried to make his closing about Michael Cohen, but Steinglass reminds the jury that Michael Cohen was really the “tour guide” through the mountains of evidence introduced during the trials. He added that Cohen “provides context and color to the documents” — but he is not the trial’s main character.
9. Two other hush money payments are discussed: Dino Sajuddin (the baby out of wedlock story) and Karen McDougal.
10. Cash money. Steinglass discusses the explosive tape recording from Donald Trump and Michael Cohen on Sept. 6, 2016. This is the tape where Trump talks about paying CASH. He was actively involved in trying to keep these payments secret. Steinglass says: “This tape unequivocally shows a presidential candidate actively engaging in a scheme to influence the election.”
11. Access Hollywood tape. It was described by many witnesses as catastrophic to the campaign, with some worrying it would lead to Trump being dropped from the GOP ticket all together. IF ONLY.
(We are three hours in to the prosecution’s closing, it is 5pm and the jury still appears alert, from reports in the courtroom. The judge agrees to go until 7pm)
Defendant Trump got bored during closing and posted on his social media site that it was “boring.”
12. The documents say it all. Steinglass says that many of the documents, invoices and receipts provided “are so damning that you almost have to laugh” at any defense presented by the defendant.
13. Trump is cheap. Steinglass reads from Trump’s own books to back up the description of Trump as a micromanager, which is why “he insists on signing his own checks.” He reviewed every payment made. How would he miss a DOZEN payments to Michael Cohen? It makes no sense.
14. Ending with a bang! Steinglass went into the homestretch of his over 4 hour closing and wrapped it up in a neat little gift box for the jurors. He reminded the jurors that it is a crime to willfully create inaccurate tax forms and that therefore Trump’s intent to defraud is clear. This, he states, shows that Trump wanted to conceal the payments until after the election. Simple.
Reporters in the courtroom reported that the jury was more alert and receptive to the prosecutor’s closing. When the prosecutor grinned at them and said “Thank you for staying with me!” they smiled back. Always a good sign.
AND, scene!
Judge Merchan told the jury that they will start tomorrow at 10am. He expects jury instructions to take an hour and they will go until 4:30pm. We may have a verdict tomorrow!
