Trump trial: Biden calls Trump's remarks 'dangerous'
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.
Top headlines:
Trump guilty on all 34 counts
Jury sends note with 4 requests for testimony
"Good afternoon. We have received a note," Judge Merchan said after taking the bench.
The jury has made four requests for testimony:
- Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker's testimony about the phone conversation with Donald Trump
- Pecker's testimony about the decision regarding the assignment of Playboy model Karen McDougal's life rights
- Pecker's testimony about the 2015 Trump Tower meeting
- Michael Cohen's testimony about the 2015 Trump Tower meeting
Parties return to the courtroom
The prosecution team has returned to the courtroom, with about seven members of the DA's office in the gallery.
Trump has returned to the courtroom as well.
He entered alongside his lawyer Todd Blanche, with his other lawyers and staff following behind.
Trump says he doesn't 'even know what the charges are'
As the jury continues its deliberations, Donald Trump posted on his social media platform in all caps that "I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE CHARGES ARE IN THIS RIGGED CASE."
"I AM ENTITLED TO SPECIFICITY JUST LIKE ANYONE ELSE," he wrote.
The post comes after Trump watched Judge Merchan spend over an hour instructing the jury on the law and specific charges in the case, including each of the 34 counts that the former president faces for falsifying business records in order to hide a hush money payment to boost his prospects in the 2016 election.
Trump says 'Mother Teresa could not beat these charges'
"Mother Teresa could not beat these charges," former President Trump told reporters as he exited the courtroom following Judge Merchan's jury instructions.
"We'll see how we do," Trump said as the jury began its deliberations. "It's a very disgraceful situation."
Trump reiterated his grievances with the judge and case's limited gag order, before complaining that he should be on the campaign trail.
"This is five weeks and five weeks of really, essentially, not campaigning," Trump said.
He exited the hallway without answering any questions from reporters.
-Kelsey Walsh
Defense says there was no 'tight conspiracy'
Defense attorney Todd Blanche sought to undermine a key moment in the state's story of the case -- the White House meeting in February 2017, in which Cohen said he and Trump discussed the plan to repay him.
Blanche showed jurors an email in which Cohen asked a Trump Organization employee to remind him what the agreed-upon monthly sum would be, which was sent less than a week after the meeting.
Blanche said the email demonstrated that there was no discussion of an agreement -- no "tight conspiracy."
"Six days later Cohen doesn't even know how much he's supposed to be paid,' Blanche said.
He also argued against the idea that the parties conspired to win the election.
"It doesn't matter if there was a conspiracy to try and win an election," Blanche said. "By the way, even that -- even if you find that's true -- that's still not enough. It doesn't matter if there was a conspiracy to try to win an election. Every campaign in this country is a conspiracy to promote a candidate."