Former US President Donald Trump railed against what he described as “the corrupt” legal process as closing arguments began in his hush money trial.
Lawyers on both sides are expected to spend all Tuesday delivering closing arguments to the jury who will decide the fate of the first former American president charged with crimes carrying a potential sentence of more than 12 months in jail.
Writing on his social media network Truth Social, the Republican candidate in this year’s election said: “Why is this corrupt government allowed to make the final argument in the case against me? Why can’t the defense go last? Big advantage, very unfair. Witch hunt!”
Donald Trump learning in real time how trial procedures work in virtually every criminal court. Prosecutors typically get a rebuttal during closings because burden of proof lies with them, not defense. pic.twitter.com/0BQZ3ZWgsJ
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) May 27, 2024
The arguments will give the attorneys one last chance to address the Manhattan jury hearing the landmark case.
After more than four weeks of testimony, the summations tee up a momentous and historically unprecedented task for the jury as it decides whether to convict the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in connection with payments during the 2016 election to prevent a porn actor from going public with her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump.
Prosecutors will tell jurors that they have heard enough testimony to convict him of all charges while defence attorneys will aim to create doubts about the strength of the evidence by targeting the credibility of Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and personal fixer who pleaded guilty to federal charges for his role in the hush money payments and served as the star prosecution witness in the trial.
The judge is expected to instruct the jury, probably on Wednesday, on the law around the case and what they need to take into account during deliberations.
Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, charges punishable by up to four years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.
It's unclear whether prosecutors would seek imprisonment in the event of a conviction, or if the judge would impose that punishment if asked.The case centers on a $130,000 payment Cohen made to porn actor Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 election to prevent her from going public with her story of a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump 10 years earlier in a Lake Tahoe hotel suite.
Trump has denied Daniels' account, and his attorney, during hours of questioning in the trial, accused her of making it up.When Trump reimbursed Cohen, the payments were logged as being for legal services, which prosecutors say was designed to conceal the true purpose of the transaction with Daniels and to illegally interfere in the 2016 election, in which Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.Trump's lawyers contend they were legitimate payments for actual legal services and say his celebrity status, particularly during the campaign, made him a target for extortion.
Prosecutors are expected to remind jurors of the bank statements, emails and other documentary evidence they have viewed, as well as an audio recording in which Cohen and Trump can be heard discussing a seperate deal involving Playboy model, Karen McDougal. Trump has denied a relationship with McDougal too.
The New York prosecution is one of four criminal cases pending against Trump as he seeks to reclaim the White House from Democrat Joe Biden.The three other state and federal cases center on charges of illegally hoarding classified documents at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election. But it's unclear that any of them will reach trial before the November election
