On Tuesday morning, 5 weeks after the primary jurors had been seated for the prison trial of Donald J. Trump, the protection rested, with closing arguments after which jury deliberations scheduled for after Memorial Day weekend.
And, regardless of dangling the chance, Mr. Trump didn’t testify.
Testimony began April 22 with a tabloid writer known as by the prosecution, David Pecker, and ended with a lawyer known as by the protection, Robert Costello. In between had been a porn star, Stormy Daniels; Mr. Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen; an erstwhile aide of Mr. Trump, Hope Hicks; and a bevy of lesser-known witnesses, principally for the prosecution.
The previous president is charged with falsifying 34 enterprise information to cover Mr. Cohen’s reimbursement for a $130,000 hush-money cost he made to Ms. Daniels, who says she had intercourse with Mr. Trump in 2006. Mr. Trump, 77, has denied the fees and the encounter. If convicted, he might face jail or probation.
Listed here are 5 takeaways from Mr. Trump’s twentieth day on trial.
The protection’s massive witness could not have been a terrific concept.
Mr. Costello, as soon as Mr. Cohen’s casual adviser, continued on the stand on Tuesday, after a reprimand Monday from Justice Juan M. Merchan, who mentioned he had been “contemptuous.”
Mr. Costello had been known as by the protection to assault Mr. Cohen’s credibility, however throughout cross-examination, prosecutors sought to painting him as an agent of Mr. Trump, suggesting he was making an attempt to forestall Mr. Cohen from cooperating with federal investigators. That included studying an e-mail from Mr. Costello saying he was making an attempt to “get Cohen on the suitable web page.”
The protection had hoped to break Mr. Cohen — a key prosecution witness — past restore. Mr. Costello’s uneven efficiency could also be remembered, too.
Trump talked so much, simply not in court docket.
Mr. Trump’s vociferousness has by no means been questioned. In the course of the trial, he frequently spoke exterior the courtroom, together with Tuesday, when he repeated refrains slamming the trial and complaining concerning the courtroom temperature.
Whereas he known as the trial “election interference,” saying it was impeding his marketing campaign, Mr. Trump did squeeze in rallies on weekends and off-days, in addition to some golf.
However after teasing an look on the stand, he declined to testify. And after violating a gag order 10 instances, he carped rigorously, significantly after Justice Merchan threatened jail time.
Trump’s entourage exhibited his pull over his celebration.
Republican politicians may not usually flock to defend an individual enmeshed in a trial prompted by a porn star’s story of extramarital intercourse. However Mr. Trump has a good maintain on his celebration, and right-wing luminaries got here to help their presumptive presidential nominee.
All through the trial, guests included a number of potential vice-presidential candidates — together with Senator J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican, and Vivek Ramaswamy, who was as soon as Mr. Trump’s major opponent — and a brood of Republican lawmakers. Mr. Trump’s son, Donald Jr., additionally attended Tuesday; one other son, Eric, was a daily. There was additionally a former chief of New York’s Hells Angels chapter.
Many guests then attacked witnesses, one thing Mr. Trump couldn’t do due to the gag order.
Maybe essentially the most notable attendee was Mike Johnson, the speaker of the Home, who known as the trial “corrupt” and a “sham.” It was a outstanding assault on the authorized system by a staunch conservative who’s second in line to the presidency — and a sign of Mr. Trump’s sway.
Some key figures had been by no means known as to the stand.
Notable as some witnesses had been, absences had been additionally attention-grabbing. One massive identify: Karen McDougal, a former Playboy mannequin who says she had an affair with Mr. Trump in 2006 and 2007. Mr. Trump denies this, and she or he was not known as as a witness, although she indicated she was maintaining a tally of the case.
Different unseen characters who had been regularly talked about included Keith Schiller, the previous president’s bodyguard, and Dylan Howard, a former editor of The Nationwide Enquirer, who had a medical situation that prevented him touring from Australia.
Each might need advised attention-grabbing tales: Mr. Howard helped purchase up and bury unflattering tales about Mr. Trump, together with Ms. McDougal’s. He additionally participated in discussions about Ms. Daniels’s story.
Mr. Schiller was near Mr. Trump, and fielded a name from Mr. Cohen by which Mr. Cohen says he mentioned Ms. Daniels with the previous president. However Mr. Schiller was not known as by the prosecution or protection.
It will likely be at the very least every week earlier than the jury begins to deliberate.
Jurors will return Might 28 for closing arguments, which Justice Merchan predicted would final all the day. On Tuesday afternoon, legal professionals argued over jury directions, an essential a part of any trial.
After a number of hours of debate, with each side seemingly successful some factors, Justice Merchan mentioned he would offer a closing model of these directions on Thursday.
Justice Merchan mentioned he hoped deliberations would start Might 29. And after sitting silently by way of 22 witnesses over 16 days of testimony, the jurors’ verdict will likely be unprecedented: the primary in an American president’s prison trial.
