Trump was found guilty on all 34 felony counts in his hush money trial.
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.
After the parties returned to the courtroom following the final break, Judge Merchan told prosecutor Josh Steinglass he needs to wrap up his summation by 8 p.m.
"You've been going for four hours now, and the jury has been clear they need to go by 8 o'clock," the judge said.
"Thanks for sticking with me," Steinglass told the jury before diving back into his closing argument.
After Michael Cohen implicated Trump in the hush money scheme in August 2018, Trump was "furious," prosecutor Josh Steinglass told the jury.
"His fixer had done the unthinkable, and Trump immediately went on the attack -- an attack that continues to this day," he said.
Steinglass showed a tweet Trump posted the following day: "If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don't retain the services of Michael Cohen!"
"This is the day after he pled guilty," Steinglass said.
Steinglass argued that Trump's tweets after Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 were warning messages to other potential witnesses who could cooperate against him.
"These tweets were not only designed to punish Cohen," Steinglass said. "Cooperate or you will face the wrath of Donald Trump," was the message they conveyed.
Steinglass described a "vexatious and punitive lawsuit" Trump filed against Michael Cohen and a defamation suit against Stormy Daniels as evidence of his punitive means against people who epoks out against him.
After a series of sustained objections regarding Trump's tweets and their alleged impact on Cohen's safety, Judge Merchan smiled and told the jury, "This might be a good time to take our last recess of the day."
Steinglass attacked defense attorneys for attempting to undermine Cohen's testimony using his past statements defending Trump.
"Cohen continued to deny wrongdoing. For several months, he continued to lie for the defendant," Steinglass said about Cohen's statements in 2018. "Using them now to undermine Cohen -- to undermine his credibility -- takes chutzpah."
Steinglass called it "disingenuous" for the defense to use Cohen's lies against him, when the lies in this case were allegedly "told at the defendant's direction."
"You guys good to keep going?" prosecutor Josh Steinglass asked the jury after a brief sidebar. They nodded and some smiled.
"All right!" he exclaimed, and launched back into his closing, turning to Trump's alleged efforts to get Cohen not to "flip."
"Whatever else you think about Michael Cohen, it's clear that he was the defendant's fixer. And like all fixers, Cohen knew where the bodies were buried, and it was essential to keep him loyal," Steinglass said.
Steinglass touched on Cohen's communications with his onetime legal adviser Robert Costello -- the only substantive defense witness -- to emphasize that Cohen did not trust Costello and lied to him.
Costello testified that Cohen told him that Trump was not involved in the Daniels' hush money payment before he almost got kicked off the witness stand for irking the judge.
"Cohen never really trusted Costello and can you really blame him?" Steinglass asked. "You saw Costello testify."
"He displayed nothing but disdain for this court and proper decorum and his demeanor on the stand is something you can take into account … when assessing his credibility," Steinglass said.
