Former President Donald Trump has been found guilty on all 34 felony counts related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. It marks the first time in history that a former U.S. president has been convicted on criminal charges.
Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
People of the State of NY v Donald J Trump - Guilty on All counts.
ABC News
May 28, 2024, 10:28 AM EDT
Defense says Cohen never would have worked for free
Returning to the testimony of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, defense attorney Todd Blanche asked jurors, "How is the government going to ask you to convict President Trump based on the words of Michael Cohen?"
Blanche insisted to jurors that if the payments were all for repaying Cohen, that would mean Michael Cohen was working for free in 2017 -- something he said he never would have done.
Former President Donald Trump sits in court during his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, May 28, 2024.
Julia Nikhinson/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
"Is that the man that testified, or was that a lie?" Blanche asked. "That is absurd!" he nearly shouted.
May 28, 2024, 10:21 AM EDT
Defense says Trump was 'too busy' to be involved
Defense attorney Todd Blanche reminded the jury that Trump was president at the time Cohen's invoices were being paid, suggesting that he was too busy to actually look at the checks he was signing.
"President Trump was very busy. He was running the country," Blanche said.
Blanche noted the testimony of then-Trump aide Madeleine Westerhout who testified that Trump "sometimes" looked at what he was signing.
"You can't convict President Trump because 'sometimes,' without being specific at all ... President Trump looked at invoices ... that is a stretch," Blanch said. "And that is reasonable doubt."
"The leap that the government wants you to take that he looks at the checks, looked at the invoices ... is absurd," Blanche said.
May 28, 2024, 10:15 AM EDT
Defense challenges that repayment was for hush money
Defense attorney Todd Blanche tried to downplay prosecutors' theory of the case and emphasized that Cohen was Trump's attorney in 2017 and that the $35,000 paid each month over that year was Trump paying him for his services.
"Take a step back. Nobody disputes that Mr. Cohen was President Trump's lawyer in 2017," Blanche said. "So what makes more sense, that president was paying his personal attorney in 2017 the $35,000 per an agreement he made with his personal attorney?... Or the version that Mr Cohen said?"
Blanche then mimicked Cohen's testimony, as Michael Cohen:
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump sits at his criminal trial at Manhattan state court in New York City, May 28, 2024.
Andrew Kelly/Reuters
"No, I was not paid, I was going to work for free ... I'll just work for free and make a lot of money as a consultant," Blanche said, mimicking Cohen.
"For the first time in President Trump's life, he decided to pay me back triple," Blanche continued, mimicking Cohen. "He doubled up the $130,000, he gave me $50,000 for some online poll -- by the way, I stole from him a little bit on that -- and I decided I wanted a bigger bonus. That's what really happened, ladies and gentlemen.
"There's a reason why in life usually the simplest answer is the right one -- and that's certainly the case here," Blanche said.
May 28, 2024, 10:09 AM EDT
Defense says Cohen lied about retainer agreement
Defense attorney Todd Blanche attacked Michael Cohen's testimony that he did not work under a retainer agreement for Trump, as referenced in the invoices.
"There was a retainer agreement, and that's how retainer agreements work," Blanche said, referring to Cohen's testimony. "Anything criminal about that?"
"That's not evidence of some secret agreement that Mr. Cohen had with President Trump. He broadcasted this to the world," Blanche continued. "This was not a secret. Michael Cohen was President Trump's personal attorney -- period."
Pulling up a transcript in which Cohen testified there was never expected to be a retainer agreement, Blanche said, That was a lie," stretching out each word.
"A lie is a lie, and this is a significant lie," he said.
As Blanche argued about the practice of "verbal retainer agreements," prosecutor Joshua Steinglass objected twice. Judge Merchan overruled both.