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.


Trump guilty on all 34 counts


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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 exchange about gaps in Pecker's memory

The jury heard an exchange between David Pecker and defense attorney Emil Bove where Bove highlighted that Pecker originally thought the Trump Tower meeting took place in the first week of August 2015. Pecker testified that the meeting actually happened in the middle of August.

Bove used the moment as an opportunity to highlight "gaps" in Pecker's memory and emphasize how long ago the meeting took place.

Q: And you changed your testimony here; right?

A: Yes, when I discovered that it was in the middle -- that it was the middle of August.

Q: And when you say that you "discovered," what you mean is that somebody told you that, notwithstanding what you testified about in the Grand Jury, President Trump was actually not in New York City during the first week of August; correct?

A: I -- I don't recall anyone telling me about that, that Mr. Trump was away in the first week of August.

Q: And then you changed your testimony, this week, on that issue; right?

A: Yes, that's correct.

Q: Why did you change your testimony?
A: I thought that -- I didn't know the exact date. I thought -- I know it was in the first half of August, so I thought it was the middle of August, that's what I recollected. That's why I corrected my -- the dates, yes.

A: I didn't believe that the exact date was --

Q: I understand. And I don't mean to put you on the spot. What I'm getting at, though, is that these things happened a long time ago; right?

A: Yes.

Q: And even when you're doing your best, and I'm sure you are right now, it's hard to remember exactly what happened when; right?

A: Yes.

Q: And when you are remembering about conversations that you had, it's hard to remember what people said almost ten years ago; correct?

A: You -- Ahhhh, yes.

Q: And so there are some instances where your mind sort of fills in gaps; right?

A: To the best of my knowledge.

Q: And you do your best to explain what happened in a way that makes sense; correct?

A: To what I remember.

Q: Yeah, to what you remember. And you fill in some details to keep things in sequence; right, and to make them sound logical?

A: I try to make them -- to what I remember. And to be truthful.

Q: I understand. But there are some gaps; correct?

A: Yes.