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
Prosecutor role-plays alleged call between Cohen, Trump
Prosecutor Josh Steinglass addressed the defense allegation that Michael Cohen lied on the witness stand about an Oct. 24, 2016, phone call with Trump bodyguard Keith Schiller while Schiller was with Trump.
“Of course the defense says, ‘Ah-ha! That’s per-jur-y,’” Steinglass said, exaggerating the syllables to mimick how defense attorney Todd Blanche had said it during his closing.
“To them, that’s the big lie. But that’s not the only interpretation,” said Steinglass.
Steinglass then role-played the alleged conversation between Schiller and Cohen to suggest that Cohen could have talked to both Schiller and Trump during the 90-second call, as Cohen had testified.
“Forty-nine seconds,” Steinglass said after completing the role-play.
Cohen is 'understandably angry,' prosecutor says
"Michael Cohen is understandably angry that to date he's the only one who paid the price," prosecutor Josh Steinglass said about the state's star witness.
"Cohen did the defendant's bidding for years," Steinglass said. "Anyone in Cohen's shoes would want the defendant to be held accountable.
Regarding Cohen stealing $30,000 from the Trump Organization by submitting an inflated reimbursement request for IT expenses, Steinglass said Cohen "is the one who brought it to everyone's attention. He raised it. He volunteered it."
As to why he wasn't arrested, Steinglass said, "he paid his price."
"He's been convicted of multiple felonies, ... he can't get a mortgage ... not to mention the steady stream of online attacks," Steinglass said.
And, Steinglass added, Cohen's theft is not a defense to falsifying business records.
State says Trump didn't want public to hear Daniels' story
Prosecutor Josh Steinglass conceded that Stormy Daniels gave, at times, "cringe-worthy" testimony -- but told they jury the details she provided bolster her credibility.
"To be sure, there were parts of her testimony that were cringe-worthy," Steinglass said. "Some of the details of what the suite looked like, the contents of his toiletry bag" he said "ring true."
He accused the defense of working hard to discredit Daniels because that's the story Trump didn't want the American public to see.
"Stormy Daniels is the motive," Steinglass said. "And you can bet the defendant would not pay $130,000 ... just because he took a photograph with someone on the golf course."
Prosecutor calls Pecker's testimony 'devastating'
Prosecutor Josh Steinglass took aim at the defense assertion that Stormy Daniels was out to extort Donald Trump.
"Maybe you think it's a sordid practice," he said. "In the end it doesn't really matter because you don't get to commit election fraud or falsify business records because you believe you have been victimized."
Steinglass told the jurors that many of the witnesses they heard from are Trump friends or fans.
"Pecker has no reason to lie here," he said, speaking of former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker. "He still considers Donald Trump a friend and mentor, and still his testimony is utterly devastating."
"These people like the defendant," Steinglass said. "If anything, they have incentive to skew the testimony" in a way that will help him.
Prosecutor says AMI agreement was to 'serve the campaign'
Prosecutor Josh Steinglass rehashed the phone call that then-National Enquirer publisher David Pecker said he had with Trump about the Karen McDougal payment.
During the phone call, Pecker testified that Trump expressed skepticism about the hush money payment.
"Mr. Trump said to me ... 'I don't buy stories.' And he said, 'Anything you do anything like this, it always gets out,'" Pecker testified.
"He thought that these stories always get out and I guess he was right about that," Steinglass told jurors.
"Their motivation was to serve the campaign -- that's what makes this a catch-and-kill" the prosecutor said.
Michael Cohen was Trump's "liaison" to Pecker, "conveying Mr. Trump's instructions every step of the way," Steinglass said.
"Critical here is Pecker's acknowledgement that he never intended to publish the story under any circumstances … Pecker was willing to sacrifice AMI's bottom line in service of the campaign," said Steinglass, emphasizing that that AMI's $150,000 payment to Karen McDougal was not standard operating procedure for the National Enquirer.
Steinglass told jurors that Pecker thought the story, if true, was "National Enquirer gold" -- yet he would not have run the story to help Trump.
"Pecker was willing to sacrifice AMI's bottom line in service of Donald Trump's campaign," Steinglass said. "This deal was the very antithesis of a normal press function."