Jimmy Kimmel covers the Trump 34- felony- count trial going to the jury, members of the Trump Crime Family standing up for Don Snoreleone, Trump's reception at the Libertarian Party convention, and the "Wheel of Fortune" answer that rocked the internet.
Today, after Judge Juan Merchan gives his instructions to the jury, they will begin deliberations on the 34 felony counts of business fraud on which the Malignant Loser is charged. If you're looking for a bare bones summary of the core of the case, this works:
On Tuesday afternoon, Manhattan prosecutor Joshua Steinglass presents the state's closing argument against former President Donald Trump, seeking to reframe the case after two hours of defense arguments that it all relies on the credibility of one Michael Cohen.
Steinglass began by arguing that that the case is not in fact about Trump’s former fixer. “That’s a deflection,” Steinglass told the jury, CNN reported. “It’s about Mr. Trump and whether he should be held accountable for making false business entries in his own business records,” he continued, and "whether he and his staff did that to cover up election interference.”
The prosecutor reminded the jury of the testimony from David Pecker, former publisher of the National Enquirer, and his stated belief that Trump had an affair with Playboy model Karen McDougal. Trump has denied the affair but, Steinglass noted, Pecker testified that the former president had described her as a "nice girl," indicating that he knew her.
Steinglass called Pecker's testimony "powerful evidence of the defendant’s involvement, wholly apart from Cohen." [snip]
The former president has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records. And while the charges against him stem from his reimbursement payments to Cohen, who paid off adult movie star Daniels, Steinglass reminded the jury that Cohen’s “significance in this case is that he provides context and color to the documents, the phone records.”
In fact, each criminal charge Trump faces is directly related to a specific entry among the business records of his organization. Steinglass said jurors should see Cohen as "like a tour guide through the physical evidence," and that while his own credibility has been questioned, "those documents don't lie and they don't forget." (our emphasis)
The jury will deliberate until 4:30 today (if that's necessary). As we've noted previously, there are multiple variations on what the jury may decide. Let's see if "no one is above the law" still applies in this country.
Today we'll have closing arguments in the trial of the Malignant Loser/ Don Snoreleone on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a conspiracy to cover up payments to porn star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election. It's likely the case will go to the jury tomorrow, pending last minute desperation moves by the defense:
Donald Trump’s first criminal trial has arrived at its dramatic final act with lawyers for both sides primed on Tuesday to hammer home their cases before jurors consider a verdict that could make history.
The summations mark the climax of a trial that started more than a month ago. They are expected to last all day Tuesday and could stretch into the following day. After Judge Juan Merchan instructs jurors on the law, Trump and the rest of the country will be held in suspense to see whether he will become the first ex-president and presumptive GOP nominee to be convicted of a crime after allegedly falsifying financial records to hide a hush money payment to an adult film star in 2016. [snip]
Trump’s defense team is trying to spare their client the ignominy of a conviction that would stain his reputation. The ex-president’s lead lawyer, Todd Blanche, is expected to zero in on the credibility of Trump’s former fixer-turned-nemesis, Michael Cohen, who endured a bruising cross-examination, and to ask why other key figures in the ex-president’s business and personal orbit were not called by prosecutors, CNN’s Kara Scannell reported.
Joshua Steinglass, who is conducting closing arguments for the prosecution, will follow Blanche and is expected to spend several hours taking the jury through text messages, phone logs, other witnesses’ testimony and the 34 allegedly falsified documents to corroborate Cohen’s testimony. Ultimately, the team working for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, will try to convince seven men and five women jurors that Trump orchestrated a scheme to keep unflattering information from voters in what was an early example of election interference...
You can follow live updates here. What's the over/ under on him staying awake?
A unanimous jury is required for conviction on any count, so there are several verdict permutations possible. Any outcome other than guilty verdicts would benefit the Malignant Loser, of course. Fingers crossed.
(Photo: awake, for now/ Yuki Iwamura-Pool/Getty Images)
