Donald Trump’s hush money trial has moved into a new phase, drawing closer to the moment when the jury will begin deciding his fate. Testimony concluded Tuesday, and the former president did …
Donald Trump, far left, watches as defense attorney Emil Bove questions Robert Costello, right, with Judge Juan Merchan presiding in Manhattan criminal court, Monday, May 20, 2024, in New York.
“Your honor, the defense rests,” Trump lawyer Todd Blanche told the judge. Trump’s team ended with a former federal prosecutor who was called to attack the credibility of the prosecution’s key witness, one of two people summoned to the stand by the defense. The Manhattan district attorney’s office called 20 witnesses over 15 days of testimony before resting its case Monday.
Trump had previously said he wanted to take the witness stand in his own defense, but there was no requirement or even expectation that he do so. Defendants routinely decline to testify. His attorneys, instead of mounting an effort to demonstrate Trump’s innocence to jurors, focused on attacking the credibility of the prosecution witnesses. That’s a routine defense strategy; the burden of proof in a criminal case lies with the prosecution. The defense doesn’t have to prove a thing.
He also again attacked the prosecutor, despite repeated warnings from Judge Juan M. Merchan not to violate a gag order that bars him from publicly commenting on witnesses, prosecutors, court staff or the judge’s family.a plan to keep seamy, sometimes outrageous stories about Trump out of the public eye by paying tens of thousands of dollars to “catch and kill” them.
The final witness was Robert Costello, a former federal prosecutor, who was first called Monday afternoon and who angered the judge byTuesday’s testimony was absent the same kind of drama as Trump’s lawyers sought to use Costello to undermine Cohen’s credibility. The two had a professional relationship that splintered in spectacular fashion.
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