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Jury to receive instructions at 10 a.m. after end of closing arguments


Closing arguments wrapped up at 8 p.m. on Tuesday after a marathon 10-hour session where both the defense and prosecution meticulously laid out their arguments in former President Donald Trump’s historic hush money trial.

Court is set to resume at 10 a.m. Wednesday, when the jury will receive its instructions before beginning deliberations.

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in an attempt to prevent it from becoming public during his 2016 presidential bid.

Attorneys for both sides rested their cases last week after 20 days of testimony, including that of Daniels herself and Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and so-called fixer turned foe, who said Trump directed him to pay Daniels for her silence with the promise of reimbursement.

Throughout the trial, Trump has been joined in court by a number of high profile supporters, including Republican politicians and officials. The former president has been held in contempt of court and fined $10,000 for violating a gag order issued by the judge at the beginning of the trial to protect jurors, witnesses and other court staff.

Below, get live updates on the case, including direct quotes and other details from media reports.

Live54 updates

  • Prosecution wraps up closing arguments

    Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass wrapped up his closing arguments after five hours and thanked the jury for their time. Judge Juan Merchan will give the jury instructions on Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET for about an hour before they begin deliberations.

  • 3 reasons the jury shouldn’t believe that Cohen ‘went rogue,’ according to Steinglass

    Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass presented to the jury three reasons why they shouldn’t believe that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen “went rogue” against his former boss, according to multiple reporters in the courtroom.

    1. Trump is detail-oriented and a known micromanager.

    2. Cohen is a self-promoter, so it’s hard to believe that he would undertake such major efforts on Trump’s behalf and keep it to himself.

    3. Trump was the beneficiary of everything that happened. Every payment and alleged catch-and-kill scheme favored his 2016 presidential campaign.

    “The false business records benefited one person and one person only, and that’s the defendant,” said Steinglass, according to the New York Times.

  • Prosecution has 30 minutes left to conclude closing arguments on Tuesday

    Judge Juan Merchan told prosecutor Joshua Steinglass that he has until 8 p.m. ET to deliver his closing argument tonight, which would bring his presentation to a total of five hours. If Steinglass doesn’t finish, he will be able to do so Wednesday morning.

  • Steinglass says Trump ‘went on the attack’ once Cohen became disloyal

    Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass showed the jury tweets written by Trump the day after his former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to various crimes in 2018.

    Steinglass stressed that the former president “went on the attack” against Cohen once he became disloyal. Those attacks, said Steinglass, “continue to this day,” reported CNN.

    “These tweets were not only designed to punish Cohen, they were also designed to send a message to other potential witnesses,” Steinglass said.

  • Court back in session — again

    Court is back in session after a short evening break. The prosecution has been presenting closing arguments for four hours. Judge Merchan indicated court will wrap for the day at 8 p.m. ET.

  • What was written on Trump’s Post-It notes?

    Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings on the morning of May 28. (Julia Nikhinson/Pool/AP)

    Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings on the morning of May 28. (Julia Nikhinson/Pool via AP)

    Soon after Donald Trump walked into court this morning, the former president sat down at the defense table with a tiny stack of papers in front of him highlighting various quotes from the press about the trial. On top were a number of Post-It notes.

    “This case should be dismissed by the judge,” the top Post-It read, as seen in images taken by pool photographers. “But it is totally…” it went on to say, and the rest was hidden from view.

  • Court is taking a short break

    Court is taking another break, which Judge Merchan says is expected to be the last recess of the day.

  • Prosecution says Cohen ‘knew where the bodies were buried’ as Trump’s fixer

    Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass reviewed evidence related to the FBI’s investigation of Michael Cohen in the spring of 2018 regarding work he did on Trump’s behalf.

    “Cohen knew where the bodies were buried. It was essential to keep him loyal,” Steinglass said, according to CNN.

    Prosecutors argued that attorney Robert Costello was dispatched from Trump’s team to advise him in the weeks following an FBI raid of Cohen’s home and office. Costello testified he was only serving Cohen’s best interest and not Trump’s.

    Steinglass said that Costello’s testimony was a lie as he showed the jury an email Costello sent to a partner that discussed Cohen getting “on the right page without giving him the appearance that we are following instructions from Giuliani or the president.”

  • Jurors say they can stay longer

    Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked the jurors if they were OK to go a little longer. Several jurors nodded yes. “All right,” Steinglass said as he proceeded with his closing argument, according to CNN.

  • Steinglass read an excerpt from Trump’s book ‘Think Like a Billionaire’

    Steinglass read an excerpt from Trump’s 2004 book, Think Like a Billionaire, as a way to acknowledge the former president’s attention to detail in signing checks.

    “Always look at the numbers yourself. If things turn grim you’re the one left holding the check book,” the excerpt reads, according to CNN. Another excerpt read: “For me, there’s nothing worse than a computer signing checks,” according to MSNBC’s Adam Klasfeld.

    “It’s this combination of frugality and attention to detail that led Mr. Trump to keep tight reins on his checks in particular,” Steinglass later said of Trump. “He’s frugal. He’s immersed in the details, and he insists on signing his own checks,” adding, “That’s his philosophy.”

  • Prosecution walks jury through Trump-signed checks cut to Cohen

    Steinglass walked the jury through a December 2017 check cut to Michael Cohen for $35,000 and noted the former president’s distinctive signature via Sharpie. He refuted the defense’s argument that Trump knew nothing about the reimbursement to Cohen and that the plan was formed by Cohen and Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s former CFO.

    “That’s crazy,” Steinglass said, adding that Weisselberg couldn’t approve invoices over $10,000, including Cohen’s invoice for $35,000. “No one could sign the Donald Trump checks besides Donald Trump.”

    Read more about the prosecution’s evidence in Yahoo News, here.

  • Steinglass shows the jury his favorite email in the whole case

    Steinglass pointed to what he said was one of his “favorite emails” in the whole case, according to journalists in the courtroom.

    In the email, Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen wrote to Jeff McConney, the Trump Organization’s longtime controller, who had directed Cohen to send him invoices of the alleged reimbursement from Trump. Cohen replied to McConney, “Remind me how much the monthly amount?”

    Those invoices, Steinglass argued, were reimbursement payments for the $130,000 Cohen says he paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

  • Prosecution reminds jurors of ‘smoking guns’ evidence

    People's exhibit 35. (Manhattan District Attorney's Office)

    People’s exhibit 35. (Manhattan District Attorney’s Office)

    As the prosecution’s closing arguments carried into the evening, Joshua Steinglass reviewed one of what he called the “smoking guns” of evidence, reminding jurors of People’s exhibit 35.

    It’s an October 2016 bank statement that shows Michael Cohen’s wire transfer of $130,000 in hush money to Stormy Daniels’s lawyer, Keith Davidson. It also shows handwritten notes on the lower left from Trump Organization CFO, Allen Weisselberg, breaking down the reimbursement payments to Cohen. On the lower right of the document are handwritten notes from Cohen adding repayments to a tech firm. Cohen testified that Trump saw the document at a January 2017 meeting between Trump, Cohen and Weisselberg.

  • Trump complains about ‘BORING’ day in court on Truth Social

    While the court was on a short break, Trump took to Truth Social to express his thoughts on the prosecution’s closing arguments, which have lasted 2.5 hours so far.

    In back-to-back posts, he wrote “FILIBUSTER!” in all caps.

    Trump followed that up with “BORING!” which was also in all caps.

  • Court taking a 20-minute break

    Court is taking a brief break before the prosecution continues its closing argument.

  • A brief summary of the points made by the prosecution this afternoon

    Here’s a brief overview of the points the prosecution has made in its closing arguments since the afternoon break:

    • The infamous “Access Hollywood” tape from 2005 rocked the Trump campaign to its core just weeks before the 2016 election. Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass cited testimony from former Trump aide Hope Hicks who said the tape “was so explosive, it eclipsed the coverage of a Category 4 hurricane.”

    • Steinglass called the Stormy Daniels extortion narrative “bogus” after the “Access Hollywood” tape was published. He argued that Daniels’s publicist Gina Rodriguez was texting with National Enquirer editor David Howard and did not involve Michael Cohen or Trump.

    • Steinglass showed the falsified paperwork that Cohen provided to First Republic Bank in order to open up a shell company called “Resolution Consultants LLC.” He used the company’s account to facilitate the payments to Daniels in an effort to separate Trump from the payments.

    • On the day of the wire transfer from Cohen to Daniels, call records show Cohen made two calls to Trump that morning, Steinglass noted.

    • One of the reasons the Daniels payoff happened 10 years after the alleged encounter between Trump and Daniels is that Trump was concerned about the election, not his family, Steinglass claimed.

  • Steinglass says Trump’s concern was ‘not his family, but the election’

    Steinglass pointed out the alleged $130,000 payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels was cleared in October 2016 — one month before the presidential election and a decade after the alleged affair with Trump took place in 2006.

    “It’s no surprise” that the payoff happened 10 years later, he said, according to CNN. “That’s because the defendant’s primary concern was not his family, but the election.”

  • Court back in session after brief break

    Court has resumed after a brief afternoon break. Judge Merchan said they’ll take another break around 5 p.m. ET. (The courthouse usually closes at 5 pm ET.)

  • Prosecution refutes defense’s claim that Cohen’s recording of Trump was edited

    Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass addressed Michael Cohen’s secretly recorded conversation with Donald Trump from September 2016.

    On the recording, Cohen is heard telling Trump about facilitating the payment to Karen McDougal. “So, what do we got to pay for this? 150?” Trump can be heard asking Cohen in the recording, which the prosecution says refers to the $150,000 payment AMI made to McDougal.

    The defense said in closing arguments that the tape was edited.

    Steinglass countered that it’s up to the jury to decide what the tape says. “This tape unequivocally shows a presidential candidate actively engaging in a scheme to influence the election,” Steinglass said, according to NBC News.

  • Court is taking an afternoon recess

    Court is taking a short break. When asked by Judge Merchan how much longer he had left in his closing arguments, Steinglass said he was only one-third of the way through.

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