The criminal trial of Donald J. Trump, the first prosecution of a US president, concluded its abbreviated sixth week with both the prosecution and defense resting their cases.
As early as next week, after weeks of listening to lurid testimony and scrutinizing dozens of pages of financial documents, twelve Manhattan residents will begin to debate whether Mr. Trump is guilty.
The former president is accused of falsifying 34 company records related to a hush money payment to an adult film star, Stormy Daniels, who says she had a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in 2006. Prosecutors say Mr. Trump tried to conceal the payment, which was made in the days before the 2016 election.
Mr Trump has denied the allegations and the sex. If convicted, he could face jail time or probation.
Here are the most memorable things said in court over the past seven days:
“That was a lie.”
During cross-examination that lasted three days, Todd Blanche, one of Mr. Trump's lawyers, tried to convince jurors that the testimony of Michael D. Cohen, the prosecution's key witness, had been inconsistent.
“That was a lie,” Mr. Blanche said, his voice echoing through the courtroom Thursday as he shouted at Mr. Cohen, a man himself known for his brusque tactics as Mr. Trump's trusted enforcer.
Mr. Cohen had testified that before making the hush money payment, he asked permission from the man he called “the boss.” He called the number of Trump's bodyguard, Keith Schiller, for one minute and 36 seconds. Mr. Cohen testified that he spoke briefly with Mr. Schiller before speaking to Mr. Trump.
Mr. Blanche accused Mr. Cohen of lying and said he had actually called Mr. Schiller to complain after he became annoyed with a teenage prankster.
“You were actually talking to Mr. Schiller about receiving harassing phone calls from a 14-year-old, right?” said Mr. Blanche. Mr. Cohen claimed that he called Mr. Schiller to talk to Mr. Trump about the payout to Ms. Daniels.
“Your Honor, the people are resting.”
Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor, told the judge Monday that the state's case had been concluded. After fifteen days of testimony, Mr. Cohen, the twentieth witness, was the prosecution's last.
The team assembled by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg included attorneys with state, federal and white-collar criminal law backgrounds.
They called many witnesses who used to work with or for Mr. Trump David Peckeran old friend of the former president who, as publisher of The National Enquirer, had helped quash potentially damaging stories.
Prosecutors struck a deal with Mr. Cohen, who linked Mr. Trump to the documents that prosecutors say were falsified to conceal the deal with Ms. Daniels.
“Are you staring at me now?”
The judge, Juan M. Merchan, cleared the Manhattan courtroom Monday, furious after the defense's key witness appeared to confront him from the stand.
The defense called on the witness, Robert J. Costello, a former federal prosecutor with ties to Mr. Trump's legal team, to attack Mr. Cohen's credibility. Mr. Costello, once an informal adviser to Mr. Cohen, shook his head at one of Judge Merchan's statements and muttered on the stand.
“Are you staring at me now?” Judge Merchan asked Mr Costello before ordering the courtroom to be cleared and the witness to be lectured.
He told Mr Costello his behavior was “contemptuous” and said: “If you try to stare at me one more time, I'll remove you from the stands.” and adds, to the defense lawyers, “I will hear his testimony, do you hear me?”
“Make sure Cohen gets on the right page.”
Mr. Costello, who for years represented Rudolph W. Giuliani, a longtime aide to the former president, was the defense's only substantive witness. Mr. Trump exercised his right not to testify in his own trial.
Mr. Costello questioned Mr. Cohen's testimony, saying that Mr. Cohen told him in 2018 that Mr. Trump had nothing to do with the hush-money payment. The witness reiterated Mr. Trump's legal position that Mr. Cohen had acted on his own.
But Mr Costello's conduct brought its own challenges for the defence. When he took the stand, prosecutors were able to get a new piece of evidence in the record.
“Our problem is to get Cohen on the right page without giving him the appearance that we are following Giuliani's or the president's instructions,” he said. Mr Costello wrote an email to a partner in 2018. One prosecutor, Susan Hoffinger, suggested that Mr. Costello was an agent of Mr. Trump trying to prevent Mr. Cohen from turning against the then-president.
“You'll hopefully start your deliberations sometime on Wednesday.”
On Tuesday, after both sides had rested, the judge told the jury that they would most likely receive the case next week and decide whether Mr. Trump was guilty.
The prosecution and defense will make their closing arguments on Tuesday, after the long Memorial Day weekend. Deliberations are expected to begin on Wednesday.