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 casts doubt on Cohen's recording of Trump
"So you have a lawyer recording his client," defense attorney Todd Blanche said of Michael Cohen's 2016 recording of a meeting with Trump.
"There is a lot of dispute about that recording. A lot," Blanche said. "The government has not shown you that that evidence is reliable."
Blanche again played the recording for the jury.
Blanche said Trump never said the words "150" about McDougal in the call, disputing what the transcript prosecutors made says.
"Listen to the recording, see if you hear 150," Blanche said. "There is a lot of doubt that it discussed Karen McDougal."
"What did you just hear? 'Transfer of all the stuff'," Blanche said, saying that was actually about a box of stuff related to Trump that was at the National Enquirer offices.
Trump, at the defense table, appears fully engaged, with one arm propped on the back of his chair, looking directly at Blanche's back.
Defense argues that McDougal payment wasn't catch and kill
Moving on to the arrangement with Playboy model Karen McDougal, defense attorney Todd Blanche argued there was no catch and kill at all.
"What is clear from what you heard ... this was not a catch and kill either," Blanche said. "Karen McDougal did not want her story published," Blanche said, saying she wanted to kickstart her career. "How is that a catch and kill? It's not."
"To be clear, it was not Mrs. McDougal's intention to publish her story," Blanche said, seeking to undercut prosecutors' theory this was an ongoing conspiracy to influence the election.
“There was never any risk that her allegations would influence the election because she didn’t want her allegations published,” Blanche said.
'Nothing usual about catching and killing,' defense says
Defense attorney Todd Blanche says turned his attention to the three alleged catch-and-kill schemes cited by prosecutors, telling the jury that such arrangements were a normal industry practice and not illegal.
"There is nothing unusual ... about catching and killing," Blanche said.
He started with Dino Sajudin, the Trump Organization doorman who made unfounded claims about a love-child Trump supposedly fathered. Blanche called it "literally a made-up story."
Blanche used National Enquirer publisher David Pecker's initial desire to publish the story to undercut the idea of a conspiracy.
"The government wants you to believe that in Aaugust 2015 there was a super conspiratorial criminal meeting, where Mr. Pecker is going to criminally help Trump, and the first opportunity, he says, Oh no, I'm publishing this," Blanche said.
"What kind of a conspiracy is that?!" Blanche asked.
Defense says National Enquirer followed 'standard procedure'
Defense attorney Todd Blanche highlighted that American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer, normally helped campaigns with suppressing negative information.
"This is the same thing AMI had been doing for decades," Blanche said. "They had been doing it for President Trump since the 90s."
"Nothing criminal about it -- it's done all the time," Blanche said.
Blanche added that AMI worked with Rahm Emanuel and Arnold Schwarzenegger during their campaigns and that published David Pecker thought his arrangement with Trump was "good business."
"There is zero criminal intent in that 2015 meeting," Cohen said about the Trump Tower meeting where prosecutors argued that the conspiracy originated.
Blanche calls the idea that "sophisticated people" like Trump and Pecker "believed positive stories in the National Enquirer could influence the 2016 election is preposterous."
Blanche highlighted the limited circulation of the National Enquirer -- about 350,000 at the time of the alleged scheme -- prevented the publication from having a meaningful impact on voters.
Trump attacks judge a day after his conviction
Donald Trump, speaking from Trump Tower, lodged a litany of complaints about his conviction yesterday on criminal charges, attacking the judge in the case, the DA who brought it, his former attorney who testified against him, and the charges themselves.
"We had a conflicted judge, highly conflicted. There's never been a more conflicted judge," he said of Judge Juan Merchan.
"You saw what happened to some of the witnesses that were on our side," Trump said. "They were literally crucified by this man who looks like an angel, but he's really a devil. He looks so nice and soft. People say, 'Oh he seems like such nice man' -- unless you saw him in action."
"It's a rigged -- it was a rigged trial," Trump said, repeating his oft-stated baseless claim.