Live65 updates

• Wed, May 29, 2024 at 7:47 PM GMT+2

  Test your knowledge of the case

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  Wed, May 29, 2024 at 6:53 PM GMT+2

  Test your knowledge of the case

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  Wed, May 29, 2024 at 6:37 PM GMT+2

  Here’s what happens now

  The 12 jurors — seven men and five women — started deliberating at 11:28 a.m. ET. Here’s what happens now:

  • The jurors have a laptop to review any evidence if needed.

  • The jury does not have printed jury instructions and will have to ask Judge Merchan to read them back in part, or in whole, as needed.

  • The jurors handed in their cellphones and electronic devices to a court officer before they began deliberations.

  • There are six alternate jurors; they are not part of jury deliberations. They cannot be excused, in case one of them is needed to replace one of the original 12 jurors. They must go to a separate room and hand in their cellphones and electronic devices while the jury deliberates.

  • The judge said jurors will work until 4:30 p.m. ET today. Beyond that, Merchan will reevaluate how long deliberations will go each day.

  • Trump and attorneys for the defense and prosecution must remain at the courthouse during jury deliberations.

  • Any verdict, guilty or not guilty, must be reached unanimously by all 12 jurors.

  • There’s no telling how long jury deliberations will take — it could take days, or even weeks.

  • If Trump is found guilty on just one count, the former president will be sentenced at a later date. If Trump is found not guilty on all counts, he will be acquitted.

  • If jurors cannot reach a unanimous decision, Merchan will urge them to continue deliberations.

  • If the jury remains deadlocked, it will result in a hung jury, which means a mistrial is declared. At that point, the prosecution would have to decide whether to bring the case against Trump again.

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  Wed, May 29, 2024 at 6:02 PM GMT+2

  What Trump told reporters as jury began deliberations

  

  Trump spoke to reporters as jury deliberations got underway. He started off by laying into Judge Juan Merchan and complained about the 34 felony charges against him, saying, “Mother Teresa could not beat these charges,” referring to the Catholic saint known for her missionary work.

  The former president meandered into talking about President Biden, blaming him for the trial and the status of the southern border. He quickly transitioned into berating Robert De Niro, who spoke on behalf of the Biden campaign outside the Manhattan courthouse Tuesday, calling the actor a “broken-down fool.”

  Trump also complained about how the hush money trial has taken him away from the campaign trail, calling it an “unfair trial.”

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  Wed, May 29, 2024 at 5:46 PM GMT+2

  Judge explains which decisions must be unanimous when jurors consider felony charges

  

  The reason the 34 counts of falsifying business records were raised to felony charges was that the first crime allegedly committed — the business fraud — was intended to conceal other crimes, which were related to influencing the 2016 election, according to prosecutors.

  Judge Merchan explained that the other crimes are alleged violations of N.Y. Election Law 17-152, which prohibits conspiracies to promote (or prevent) a person from being elected to public office through unlawful ways.

  The unlawful means in this case could be: violations of election law, falsification of other business records or violations of tax law. The judge said the jury needs to agree unanimously that Trump intended to conceal other crimes, but jurorsdon’t need to all agree on what those other crimes were.

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  Wed, May 29, 2024 at 5:32 PM GMT+2

  Jury deliberations have begun

  Judge Merchan has finished reading the instructions to the jury and they have begun to deliberate.

  The jurors had to give their cellphones to a court officer before deliberations started, and all 12 jurors can discuss the case only while all of them are present.

  Merchan said they will work until 4:30 p.m. ET today.

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  Wed, May 29, 2024 at 5:12 PM GMT+2

  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.

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  Wed, May 29, 2024 at 5:05 PM GMT+2

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

  

  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.”

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  Wed, May 29, 2024 at 4:37 PM GMT+2

  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.

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  Wed, May 29, 2024 at 4:21 PM GMT+2

  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

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  Wed, May 29, 2024 at 4:15 PM GMT+2

  Trump arrives at courthouse for jury deliberations

  

  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.

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  Wed, May 29, 2024 at 2:01 AM GMT+2

  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.

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  Wed, May 29, 2024 at 1:50 AM GMT+2

  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.

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  Wed, May 29, 2024 at 1:39 AM GMT+2

  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.

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  Wed, May 29, 2024 at 1:28 AM GMT+2

  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.

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  Wed, May 29, 2024 at 1:15 AM GMT+2

  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.

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  Wed, May 29, 2024 at 1:10 AM GMT+2

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

  

  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.

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  Wed, May 29, 2024 at 1:01 AM GMT+2

  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.

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  Wed, May 29, 2024 at 1:01 AM GMT+2

  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.”

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  Wed, May 29, 2024 at 12:39 AM GMT+2

  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.