Trump hush money trial: Court hears closing arguments ahead of jury’s decision

Former United States President Donald Trump, on Tuesday (May 28) arrived at the courthouse accompanied by three of his children as the historic trial is nearing the end. The jury is set to hear the closing arguments from the prosecution and the former president’s lawyers on the charges stemming from $130,000 in hush money allegedly paid to the adult film actress, Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

‘A dark day in America’

Before entering the court, the former president spoke to reporters and read quotes from political and legal commentators who have criticised the case, something that Trump has done regularly amid the six-week trial.

He also called Judge Juan Merchan “corrupt” and “conflicted” but said he couldn’t speak about it because of the gag order.

“We’ll see how it goes. This is a very dangerous day for America. It’s a very sad day,” said Trump while entering the court with three of his children – Don Jr, Eric and Tiffany.

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As the day progressed, Trump's kids spoke in their father's support withEric calling it a“political warfare”.

Closing arguments underway

The judge reminded the jurors that the summations were not evidence and that the lawyers were not witnesses in the case before the lawyers began their statements. “You and you alone are the judges of the facts in this case,” said judge Merchan.

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche began his statement by asserting Trump is innocent and that the jurors should look beyond the salacious details of the former president’s alleged trysts and focus instead on hard evidence, which he said was lacking.

“President Trump is innocent. He did not commit any crimes, and the district attorney has not met their burden of proof. Period,” said Blanche. He also said that the jurors should look beyond key witness Daniels’ account of their alleged sexual encounter, which Trump denies.

Earlier this month Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, took the witness stand in the Manhattan court and detailed her alleged sexual encounter with Trump and testified that she was given a $130,000 hush money payment ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Blanche was making his final bid to influence the 12 jurors who decide whether Trump, 77, will become the first US president to be convicted of a crime. The former president has been accused of illegally falsifying records to cover up the hush payment.

During his statement, Balanche also asked jurors not to rely on Daniels’ or Trump’s former lawyer and fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen’s testimonies. Both of them were the prosecution’s key witnesses in the case.

Prosecution fumes over Blanche's comments

After Trump's lawyer was done with his statement, judge Merchan scoldedBlanche for hiscomment asking jurors not to send Trump to prison on Cohen's words.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass raised the issue about what he called a "ridiculous comment" and asked the judge to intervene.

"I think that saying that was outrageous," the judge said scolding Trump's lawyer.

Judge Merchan toldjurors thatBlanche’s comment was "improper and you must disregard it."

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During their statement, the prosecution sought torebutthe defence's claim thatDaniels was trying to “extort” Trump and said that even if that was true it is "not a defense to election fraud."

“You don’t get to commit election fraud or falsify business records because you believe you’ve been victimized,” he told jurors.

Steinglass also attemptedto rebuff Trump's lawyer's efforts to discredit Cohen's testimony saying hispast dishonesty should be taken into account but his anger is alsounderstandable given that, “To date, he’s the only one that’s paid the price for his role in this conspiracy.”

The prosecutor also pointed to other testimonies reminding the jury that Cohen was not the one on trial andaccused the defence of wanting to make this case all about Trump's former lawyer.

Cohen testified that as Trump’s fixer, he handled the payment to Daniels and that Trump approved the cover-up.

If found guilty, the former president faces up to four years in prison. However, imprisonment is unlikely for a first-time felon convicted of such a crime.

(With inputs from agencies)