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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Jury asks to rehear judge's instructions

Judge Merchan, returning to the bench, announced, "We did just receive another note."

The judge said the jury wants to rehear the judge's instructions.

Merchan suggested bringing them back to clarify if they want the entire instructions or just a portion.


Prosecutors said Trump Tower meeting was central to case

In his closing argument yesterday, prosecutor Josh Steinglass framed the 2015 Trump Tower meeting, for which the jury requested the transcript, as central to the case.

"That was the whole purpose of the Trump Tower meeting, to get AMI to help [Trump] win the election," Steinglass told the jurors, claiming that "the Trump Tower conspiracy violated New York state election law."

Defense attorney Todd Blanche, in his closing, pushed back on the significance of the meeting, saying it was AMI merely agreeing to do what it had done for decades.

"They had been doing it for President Trump since the Nineties," Blanche said of the arrangement to catch and kill unflattering stories. "Mr. Pecker told you that AMI purchases stories all the time.

"They purchased stories about Tiger Woods, Mark Wahlberg and other people. No crime," Blanche said.


Requested testimony centers on McDougal payment

The phone call between Trump and then-National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, which the jury requested be read back, involved an alleged discussion about Playboy model Karen McDougal, who alleged a year-long affair with Trump that Trump has denied.

"With all of the evidence and documents in this case, it's easy to lose sight of the significance of this phone call," prosecutor Josh Steinglass told jurors during his closing argument yesterday.

Steinglass argued that the call proved that Trump "was overtly discussing purchasing [McDougal's] story to keep it from being published" -- and that it also proved that Michael Cohen was telling the truth when he said he was acting at the direction of Trump.

"This call makes it impossible for the defense to claim that Cohen was acting on his own, that he was taking it upon himself to work with AMI to purchase the McDougal story," Steinglass told the jurors.


Court prepares for readback of requested testimony

"I will be in the robing room -- let me know when you are ready for readback," Judge Merchan said after the jury requested a review of four pieces of testimony from Michael Cohen and David Pecker.

Merchan then left the courtroom.

A court reporter dropped a 12-inch stack of transcripts on the prosecution counsel table then handed an index to the prosecutors.

Trump attorneys Emil Bove and and Todd Blanche appeared to be searching through papers on their table, while Trump sat motionless. Prosecutors were doing the same thing.


Prosecutor reviews impact of 'Access Hollywood' tape

More than an a hour and a half into his summation, prosecutor Josh Steinglass finally turned his attention to the Stormy Daniels hush money payment.

Steinglass resumed his summation by discussing the impact of the "Access Hollywood" tape, which prosecutors argued was the impetus for the Daniels hush money payment.

"It all began with this email from this Washington Post reporter named David Fahrenthold," Steinglass said, displaying the exhibit. Fahrenthold had reached out to then-Trump aide Hope Hicks with a transcript of the "Access Hollywood" remarks to ask for the campaign's comment.

Steinglass recapped some of Hicks' testimony, saying her "initial instinct was to deny the video's legitimacy." But once the campaign saw the video, "that strategy quickly shifted from 'deny, deny, deny' to 'spin.'"

Steinglass then played a video of Trump's reaction to the "Access Hollywood" tape in which he expressed his regret.

On Oct. 8, Steinglass says, there was a "flurry of activity" as Trump's campaign sought to spin the Access Hollywood tape. Michael Cohen asked then-National Enquirer publisher David Pecker about a RadarOnline article "about Trump being a playboy" and asked him to remove it, which he did.

"This is not catch-and-kill exactly, but they are purging the internet at the direction of the campaign," Steinglass said.