Trump hush money trial: Trump found guilty on all counts in historic case
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.
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Trump guilty on all 34 counts
Defense lists their reasons why Trump should be acquitted
Defense attorney Todd Blanche listed 10 reasons why he says the jury should have reasonable doubt about the prosecution's case. The first four:
- "You should have real reasonable doubt is that Cohen created those invoices," Blanche said. "They are accurate and President Trump did not have any intent to defraud."
- "There is no proof that President Trump ever, ever saw anything that Ms. Tarasoff or Mr. McConney did," Blanche said referring to the Trump Organization employees who processed the invoices, adding that Trump was busy running the country when he signed the associated checks.
- "There is absolutely no evidence of an intent to defraud," Blanche said, highlighting the forms that disclosed the Cohen payment to authorities.
- Blanche argued that Trump has "absolutely no intent to unlawfully influence the 2016 election."
Michael Cohen is 'MVP of liars,' defense says
Defense attorney Todd Blanche continued to argue that the jury cannot trust Cohen's testimony as a whole based on the misstatements they highlighted.
"We happened to catch him in a lie," Blanche said. "We put them into evidence, and now you know it happened."
Blanche argued that the lie highlighted that Cohen didn't care about his oath to tell the truth.
"For that we have an oath, we have an oath that every witness takes when they testify before you the jury. It matters -- the oath matters to most. He lied," Blanche said, as the jury watched attentively.
Blanche told the jury that Michael Cohen lied to his banker, his family, his wife, every single reporter he speaks to, prosecutors, and federal judges.
"He lied to you, make no mistake about it," said Blanche.
"He's literally like an MVP of liars," Blanche said of Cohen.
'It was a lie!' Blanche shouts regarding Cohen testimony
Defense attorney Todd Blanche told jurors that Michael Cohen's one-time legal adviser Robert Costello -- the only substantive defense witness -- offered testimony to demonstrate that Cohen lied on the witness stand.
Blanche argued that Cohen lied about what he asked of Costello and how often they communicated.
"It's just another example of Mr. Cohen taking the witness stand and lying to you," Blanche said, suggesting that Cohen lied on the stand enough times that the jury should consider throwing out his entire testimony.
"I don't know how many lies are enough lies just to reject Mr. Cohen's testimony ... big or small, meaningful or not meaningful, but that was a lie," Blanche said.
Blanche argued that prosecutors attempted to prop up Cohen's credibility by offering phone records to corroborate his testimony, but the strategy backfired.
"They showed him phone records and they showed him calls between him and others to help his testimony seem more corroborate and more credible," Blanche said. "We all know how that ended."
Raising his voice, Blanche reminded the jury about the inconsistency he highlighted in Cohen's testimony about a October 24, 2016, phone call.
"It was a lie!" Blanche shouted. "That was a lie and he got caught red-handed!"
"That is perjury!" Blanche shouted, drawing out each syllable.
"They are perfectly happy to have a witness commit perjury to lie to you," Blanche said, prompting an objection from prosecutors.
"Sustained," said Judge Merchan.
Daniels testified to 'embarrass' Trump, defense says
Defense attorney Todd Blanche suggested to the jury why Stormy Daniels was called as a witness, given there was no dispute about a nondisclosure agreement being signed and that she knew nothing about the records in question.
"I'll tell you why -- they did it to try to inflame your emotions. They did it to try to embarrass President Trump" Blanche said.
It drew a loud objection from prosecutors that was overruled.
Trump has disputed the sexual encounter ever happened.
Jury rehears Cohen testimony about Trump Tower meeting
Turning to Michael Cohen's testimony, the jury reheard his testimony, under questioning from prosecutors, that Pecker -- during the 2015 Trump Tower meeting -- vowed to keep an eye out for "anything negative about Mr. Trump" and flag them to Cohen.
Q: Could you tell the jury, please, what was discussed and what was agreed to at that meeting?
A: What was discussed was the power of the National Enquirer in terms of being located at the cash register of so many supermarkets and bodegas; that if we can place positive stories about Mr. Trump, that would be beneficial; that if we could place negative stories about some of the other candidates, that would also be beneficial.
Q: Was there anything else that Mr. Pecker said he could also do for Mr. Trump's candidacy?
A: Yeah.
Q: What, in substance, did he say?
A: What he said was that he could keep an eye out for anything negative about Mr. Trump, and that he would be able to help us to know in advance what was coming out and try to stop it from coming out.
Q: And who did he say he would get in touch with if his -- he was able to identify those types of stories?
A: The answer was: Me. Mr. Trump also. Knowing my relationship with David, "The two of you should work together. And anything negative that comes , you let Michael know, and we'll handle it."