Closing Arguments Expected Today in Trump’s ‘Hush Money’ Trial, Placing GOP Front-Runner’s Fate in Jury’s Hands

Prosecutors and defense lawyers in Donald Trump’s hush money trial are set to deliver closing arguments to the jury Tuesday, each side looking to score final points with the panel before it starts deliberating the fate of the first former American president to be charged with felony crimes.The arguments, expected to last the entire day, 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 an adult film actress from going public with her claims of a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump.Prosecutors will tell jurors that they have heard enough testimony to convictMr. Trump of all charges while defense attorneys will aim to create doubts about the strength of 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 who served as the star prosecution witness in the trial.After the closing arguments are given, the judge will instruct the jury, likely Wednesday, on the law governing the case and the factors it can take into account during deliberations. The deliberations will then proceed in secret, though some clues as to the jury’s thinking may arrive through any notes it sends to the judge with questions.Mr. 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 actress 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 Mr. Trump 10 years earlier at a Lake Tahoe hotel suite. Mr. Trump has denied Ms. Daniels’ account, and his attorney, during hours of questioning in the trial, accused her of making it up.When Mr. 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 Ms. Daniels and to illegally interfere in the 2016 election, in which Mr. Trump defeated Secretary Clinton.Mr. Trump’s lawyers contend they were legitimate payments for actual legal services, and they say that his celebrity status, particularly during the campaign, made him a target for extortion, points they are expected to revisit during their closing arguments Tuesday.The New York prosecution is one of four criminal cases Mr. Trump is confronting as he seeks to reclaim the White House from President 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. It’s unclear whether any of them will reach trial before the November election.

Closing Arguments Expected Today in Trump’s ‘Hush Money’ Trial, Placing GOP Front-Runner’s Fate in Jury’s Hands

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