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Jury receiving instructions from judge ahead of deliberations


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 resumed at 10 a.m. Wednesday as the jury is set to 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.

Live59 updates

  • Trump calls Judge Merchan ‘corrupt and conflicted’ on Truth Social before court this morning

    Before he arrived at the courthouse this morning, Trump described his trial as “kangaroo court.”

    “Kangaroo court! A corrupt and conflicted judge,” Trump wrote, in all caps. “There was no crime, except for the bum that got caught stealing from me!” he added, referring to his former lawyer and “fixer,” Michael Cohen.

  • Judge explains criteria for a guilty verdict of falsifying business records in 1st degree

    Trump sits at a table, flanked by his attorneys, in Manhattan criminal court.

    Trump, flanked by his attorneys, in Manhattan criminal court on Wednesday. (Jabin Botsford/Pool via Reuters)

    Judge Merchan explained the specific charges the jury will have to consider against Trump, which are 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Those business records are 11 invoices, 12 vouchers and 11 checks related to the reimbursement of Michael Cohen, Trump’s former so-called fixer, after Cohen made a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.

    “A person is guilty of falsifying business records in the first degree when with intent to defraud, which includes the intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof, he makes or causes a false entry in the records of a business enterprise,” Merchan explained, according to CNN.

    The jury must be unanimous in finding the defendant guilty, but the jury doesn’t need to agree on “whether the defendant committed the crime personally, or acted in concert with another, or both.”

  • Judge Merchan is instructing the jury

    Judge Juan Merchan is reading instructions for the jury and noted that they will not receive a hard copy. But they can ask Merchan to read them back in part or in whole if needed. Here’s what the judge has told them so far:

    • “You and you alone are the judges of the facts,” he said, adding jurors “are responsible for deciding whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty,” according to CBS News.

    • Merchan instructed the jurors to set aside any opinions or biases in favor of or against Trump when considering the verdict

    • The jurors can’t “speculate about matters related to sentence or punishment” because that is up to the judge, according to CNN.

    • They can’t hold it against Trump for not testifying because the defendant doesn’t have to prove he is not guilty. That burden is on the prosecution.

    • He said it’s not enough to say the defendant is “probably guilty” while explaining what reasonable doubt means. “If you are not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of the charged crime, you must find the defendant not guilty,” Merchan said, noting the opposite is also true, according to CNN.

  • Here’s who showed up to Trump’s trial today

    • Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr.

    • Trump’s longtime friend Steven Witkoff

    • Aides Natalie Harp, Karoline Leavitt, Jason Miller and Steven Cheung

    • Boris Epshteyn, Trump’s indicted legal adviser

  • Trump arrives at courthouse for jury deliberations

    Trump awaits the start of proceedings in his criminal trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York City on May 29.

    Trump at Manhattan criminal court in New York City on Wednesday. (Charly Triballeau/AFP)

    Former President Donald Trump has arrived at the courthouse in Manhattan, where jury deliberations in his criminal hush money trial will begin soon. Judge Juan Merchan is delivering jury instructions, which is expected to take about an hour.

    Trump and attorneys for the prosecution and defense are expected to stay at the courthouse in case a verdict is reached today.

  • 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.

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