What are the conclusions after the last day of testimony in the hush money trial against Donald Trump?
Witness testimony in Donald Trump’s trial for making hush money payments has come to an end. What will happen next? These were the conclusions.
After weeks of hearings, on Tuesday afternoon, May 21, the last day of testimony in the first criminal trial of former President Donald Trump took place, in relation to the hush money case, for which the former president faces 34 charges of “falsification of business records in the first degree”, considered a serious crime in the United States with a penalty of up to four years in prison.
According to what was presented in the case, Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, made a payment of $130,000 to the adult film actress, Stormy Daniels, with whom the former president had had an affair more than a decade ago . The payment was made to prevent this romance from coming to light and thus harming Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. For this case, the Republican was charged in March 2023 and arrested in April of that same year. At that time, Trump pled not guilty, resulting in him facing a criminal trial.
Conclusions after the last day of testimonies
On the final day of testimony, Trump’s defense called two witnesses to the stand: a paralegal who contributed phone records and attorney Robert Costello, who spoke about the negotiations he made to represent Cohen after the raid on his properties in 2018. Throughout his testimony, Costello had several run-ins with Judge Juan Merchan due to his tone of voice and his inappropriate courtroom demeanor.
Previously, the prosecutors’ witness Michael Cohen testified that he stole thousands of dollars from Trump’s company while working for the former president. With this, Trump’s defense hopes that the credibility of the prosecution’s strongest witness will fall. For his part, Trump had spoken publicly about being able to testify at his own trial, however, at each opportunity, his lawyers ruled out the possibility.
With the conclusion of testimony, the next step is the final arguments of Trump’s defense and the prosecution. Both parties will return to present theirs to the jury Tuesday, May 28, because Monday is the Memorial Day holiday. Deliberations are expected to begin on Wednesday, the 29th.