Defense tells jurors: ‘You cannot convict Trump of any crime based on the words of Michael Cohen’Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said jurors should want more than Michael Cohen’s testimony.
“Something beyond the word of a woman who claims that something happened in 2006” he said, referring to Stormy Daniels.
“The bottom line is, the charges in this case have to do with invoices, vouchers and checks. The invoices were all submitted by Michael Cohen,” he said.
You cannot convict President Trump. You cannot convict President Trump of any crime beyond a reasonable doubt based on the words of Michael Cohen.
“The words that Michael Cohen said to you on that stand, they matter. They matter,” Blanche said.
He told you a number of things on that witness stand that were lies.
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“The idea that President Trump would agree to pay Michael Cohen $420,000 – even though he only owed him $130,000, is absurd,” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said.
Cohen even told you that he saw Allen Weisselberg hand that piece of paper for President Trump would look at.
Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche pointed jurors to Michael Cohen’s testimony that he expected to work for free as Trump’s personal attorney.
Prosecutors, of course, hope this testimony bolsters Cohen’s claim that the repayments related to hush money and not legal services.
“Do you believe for more than a second that after getting stiffed on his bonus in 2016,” Blanche said,
Do you think that Mr Cohen thought, ‘I’m going to work for free.’ Is that the man that testified? Or, is that a lie?
“Even without Mr Cohen, what we just went through, the government can’t get by the fact that the invoices were not generated by anybody at the Trump Organization – they were generated by Michael Cohen,” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said.
“The fact that the invoices talk about services rendered by Michael Cohen and the fact that he was rendering services in 2017.”
All of that, Blanche said, “ends the case – not guilty.”
Blanche said that, at the end of the day, prosecutors expect jurors to rely on Cohen which, for reasons he will continue to expand upon, is not enough.
“As you heard from two witnesses Donald Trump was very busy. He was running the country. There shouldn’t be any surprise about that,” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said, entering into another line of argument.
He said that the work-saddled Trump sometimes had a half-inch worth of personal checks he had to sign.
“The facts that the checks and the personal information was Fed Ex-ed from Trump Tower to [Trump bodyguard] Keith Schiller,” who gave it to Trump, “is common sense”, Blanche said.
Recall: Witness testimony revealed that Trump would get mail, such as checks, mailed to his bodyguard, who would then bring it into the White House. They have suggested that doing so was routine for presidents who wanted to get personal mail, because of delays in receiving mail at the White House even for presidents.
Trump attorney notes that Don Jr and Eric Trump were not called as witnessesTrump’s attorney Todd Blanche is trying to chip away at allegations that there was a scheme to falsify business records.
He points to a document that Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr signed off on, related to repayment to Michael Cohen.
“Guess who else you did not hear from in this trial – Don or Eric,” Blanche said.
Is there some allegation they’re part of the scheme, they’re part of the conspiracy? That is reasonable doubt. We have no burden to do anything. The burden is always on the government. They make decisions about who to call at trial. They called Cohen. They did not call Don or Eric.
As for vouchers describing payment to Michael Cohen as a legal service, Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said “there’s no other way to categorize an invoice from a lawyer” to Donald Trump.
“The government has criminalized that,” Blanche said. “That’s absurd.”
“He put that signature block on every single email that he sent in 2017, this was not a secret,” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said.
Michael Cohen was Donald Trump’s personal attorney, period.
Trump says it is ‘a dark day in America’ before entering courtroomDonald Trump spoke to reporters before heading into the courtroom, as he repeated his claims that he was forced to attend his hush-money trial because of Joe Biden, without providing evidence.
Trump, with his attorney Todd Blanche beside him, read excerpts from a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) story, at times interrupting himself with his own opinion.
He called the judge, Juan Merchan, “corrupt” and “conflicted” but said he couldn’t speak about the trial because of the gag order. He added:
We’ll see how it goes. This is a very dangerous day for America. It’s a very sad day.
Donald Trump speaks to the media with his attorney Todd Blanche (R) during his criminal trial for allegedly covering up hush-money payments at Manhattan criminal court in New York City. Photograph: Spencer Platt/AFP/Getty Images“Cohen was rendering services to President Trump in 2017 as his personal attorney,” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said.
There’s really no question that in 2017, Michael Cohen was serving as President Trump’s personal attorney.
Cohen said, “one of the reasons he needed to serve as President Trump’s personal attorney was because there were outstanding matters that he was dealing with”.
“The language in the check documentation is all driven by the vouchers which is all driven by invoices,” Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said.
“Every single one was addressed to Allen Weisselberg, care of Donald Trump,” he said, referring to the former Trump Organization CFO.
He continued:
There’s no dispute that not a single invoice was sent to Donald Trump directly.
Defense tells jurors: ‘You cannot convict Trump of any crime based on the words of Michael Cohen’Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said jurors should want more than Michael Cohen’s testimony.
“Something beyond the word of a woman who claims that something happened in 2006” he said, referring to Stormy Daniels.
“The bottom line is, the charges in this case have to do with invoices, vouchers and checks. The invoices were all submitted by Michael Cohen,” he said.
You cannot convict President Trump. You cannot convict President Trump of any crime beyond a reasonable doubt based on the words of Michael Cohen.
“The words that Michael Cohen said to you on that stand, they matter. They matter,” Blanche said.
He told you a number of things on that witness stand that were lies.
Defense begins closing arguments: ‘President Trump is innocent’The defense attorney Todd Blanche is starting his closing argument.
“Every one of you have been here on time and we see you paying close attention to the evidence all day every day and we really appreciate that,” Blanche said.
“Our criminal justice system, as Judge Merchan just told you, is unique.”
Blanche said: “Each of you will decide at the end of this case whether President Trump is guilty or not guilty.”
President Trump is innocent. He did not commit any crimes and the district attorney has not met their burden of proof, period. The evidence is all in, it all came in as of last Tuesday, and that evidence – as I said to you on April 22 – should leave you wanting more.
The jury has entered the courtroom.
Judge Juan Merchan is telling jurors about closing arguments and what they mean.
He notes that the defense goes first, as it’s the law.
Please bear in mind the following points: first, you are the finders of fact and it is for you and you alone to determine the facts from the evidence. You should remember whatever the lawyers say or however they say it are simply arguments submitted for your consideration.
Judge Juan Merchan gives an instruction to both sides before closing arguments start:
Those of you who have appeared me who have summed up before me, I just want to remind you, please do not go into the law.
The reason for doing so is because it’s up to judges to tell jurors about the law and how it applies to their deliberations, not the lawyers on the case.
Hugo Lowell
Donald Trump’s entourage today includes:
His son Donald Trump Jr
His son Eric Trump
His daughter-in-law Lara Trump
His daughter Tiffany Trump
His son-in-law Michael Boulos
Real estate investor Steve Witkoff
Trump lawyer Will Scharf
Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn
Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said that his closing arguments will take around two and a half hours.
The prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said the length of the closing arguments will have to be “responsive” to the defense closings, but they expect at this point that it will be about four and a half hours.
Judge Juan Merchan is on the bench and court is starting.
The jury is not in yet, so expect preliminary business.