
NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Donald Trump’s hush money trial is coming to an end as prosecutors and defense lawyers deliver closing arguments to the jury.
5:20 P.M. - The prosecutions closing argument stretches into a third hour
Steinglass is recapping the details of the back-and-forth between Daniels’ representatives and Cohen over the payoff deal.
Steinglass is supplementing his detailed recitation with phone records, text messages, encrypted communications and excerpts of testimony, seemingly trying to reinforce his theme that there’s a “mountain” of corroboration for the allegations at hand.
Meanwhile, Trump is taking in this leg of the summation with his head back and his eyes closed — a strategy he’s employed throughout the trial.
While Manhattan famously has a night court that handles arraignments — first court appearances of those recently arrested — it’s quite unusual for state court trials here to run as late as 7 p.m. or 8 p.m.
The judge has been consulting with high-level court security officers, among others, about the plan.
4:30 P.M. - Steinglass connects the ‘Access Hollywood’ tape and Stormy Daniels’ payment
Steinglass stressed that to understand the case against Trump, jurors need to understand the climate in which the deal to pay off Daniels was made — just after the “Access Hollywood” tape leak had “caused pandemonium in the Trump campaign.”
“It’s critical to appreciate this,” Steinglass said. At the same time he was dismissing his words on the tape as “locker room talk,” Trump “was negotiating to muzzle a porn star,” the prosecutor said.
“Stormy Daniels was a walking, talking reminder that the defendant wasn’t only words. She would have totally undermined his strategy of spinning away the ‘Access Hollywood’ tape,” Steinglass said.
Steinglass is recapping the details of the back-and-forth between Daniels’ representatives and Cohen over the payoff deal.
Steinglass is supplementing his detailed recitation with phone records, text messages, encrypted communications and excerpts of testimony, seemingly trying to reinforce his theme that there’s a “mountain” of corroboration for the allegations at hand.
Meanwhile, Trump is taking in this leg of the summation with his head back and his eyes closed — a strategy he’s employed throughout the trial.
4:00 P.M. - Prosecution closing argument turns to ‘Access Hollywood’ tape
Steinglass has resumed delivering his closing argument, focusing now on the publication of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape in October 2016 and the fallout for Trump’s campaign, with just weeks to go before Election Day.

Steinglass reminded jurors how Hope Hicks, then the campaign’s communications director, testified that news coverage of the “Access Hollywood” tape knocked a Category 4 hurricane out of the headlines.
The prosecutor dubbed the tape a “Category 5" hurricane.
3:30 P.M. - Steinglass seeks to make ‘catch-and-kill’ connection
Steinglass pushed back on Blanche’s contention that the National Enquirer’s deal to bury the Trump Tower doorman’s bogus story wasn’t a form of catch and kill.
Steinglass noted that the National Enquirer amended its source agreement with doorman Dino Sajudin so that he would be paid the agreed upon $30,000 fee within five days of signing the document — instead of upon publication of the story, as had been previously drafted.
“The only reason to kill a bogus story,” certainly wasn’t to act in a financially responsible fashion or satisfy the tabloid’s investors, Steinglass argued, but to be “in service of the defendant’s campaign.”
3:15 P.M. - Steinglass channels his inner thespian, acts out a hypothetical call between Cohen and Trump
Steinglass used a bit of stagecraft to challenge the defense’s assertion that Cohen was lying about the subject of an Oct. 24, 2016, phone call in which he says he told Trump the Daniels payoff was being finalized.
Steinglass demonstrated a hypothetical version of the phone call, showing jurors how Cohen could’ve covered multiple subjects in less than a minute.
Cohen said he called Trump’s bodyguard that night because he knew they’d be together and that’s how he sometimes got ahold of Trump.
Trump’s lawyers, citing phone and text message records, contend the true nature of the call had to do with harassing phone calls Cohen was dealing with, and that he was calling the bodyguard, Keith Schiller, to talk about that issue.
“To them, that is the big lie,” Steinglass said, characterizing the defense argument.
Cohen’s actual call to Schiller’s phone number lasted 96 seconds, according to phone records. Steinglass showed, with his hypothetical, that Cohen could’ve spoken to Schiller about the prank calls, asked him to pass the phone to Trump and then discussed the Daniels deal with Trump, all in 49 seconds.
As he finished the demonstration, Steinglass took a swipe at his own acting skills, telling jurors: “Sorry if I didn’t do a good job.”
One juror cracked a slight smile as Steinglass acted out the hypothetical call.
‘This case is not about Michael Cohen. It’s about Donald Trump’
After Trump’s lawyer insisted to jurors that the case rested on Cohen and that they couldn’t trust him, Steinglass sought to persuade the group that there is “a mountain of evidence, of corroborating testimony, that tends to connect the defendant to this crime.”
He pointed to testimony from Pecker and others, to the recorded conversation in which Trump and Cohen appear to discuss the McDougal deal, and to Trump’s own tweets.
“It’s not about whether you like Michael Cohen. It’s not about whether you want to go into business with Michael Cohen. It’s whether he has useful, reliable information to give you about what went down in this case, and the truth is that he was in the best position to know,” the prosecutor said.
Steinglass accused the defense of wanting to make this case all about Cohen.
“It isn’t. That’s a deflection,” he said. “This case is not about Michael Cohen. It’s about Donald Trump.”
3 P.M. - Steinglass rebuffs the defense’s efforts to discredit Michael Cohen’s testimony
He said that, of course, the jury should take Cohen’s past dishonesty into account.
“How could you not?” he asked.
But he said that Cohen’s anger is understandable given that, “To date, he’s the only one that’s paid the price for his role in this conspiracy.”
Cohen, Steinglass argued, did Trump’s bidding for years, was his right-hand man, and then, when things went bad, was cut lose and thrown under the bus.
“Anyone in Cohen’s shoes would want the defendant to be held accountable,” he argued.
Daniels’ at times “cringeworthy” testimony about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump in 2006 was vital because it “only reinforces his incentive to buy her silence,” Steinglass said.
The prosecutor said Daniels’ account of her hotel-suite meeting with Trump — replete with details of the décor and what she saw when she snooped in Trump’s toiletry kit — was full of touchstones “that kind of ring true.”
“Her story is messy. It makes people uncomfortable to hear. It probably makes some of you uncomfortable to hear. But that’s kind of the point,” Steinglass said.
He told jurors: “In the simplest terms, Stormy Daniels is the motive.”
“We don’t have to prove that sex actually took place, but the defendant knew what happened in that hotel room and the extent that you credit her testimony, that only reinforces his incentive to buy her silence,” Steinglass argued.

2:45 P.M. - Allegations of extortion are ‘not a defense to election fraud’
Seeking to rebut the defense’s claim that Stormy Daniels was trying to “extort” Trump, Steinglass noted that her representatives initially sought to sell the story to media outlets, not to Trump. The prosecutor also cited Daniels’ testimony, where the actor explained why she felt going public was the best way to protect herself and her family from pressure to stay silent.
Regardless, allegations of extortion are “not a defense to election fraud,” the prosecutor said.
“You don’t get to commit election fraud or falsify business records because you believe you’ve been victimized,” he told jurors.
2:30 P.M. - Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass begins his closing argument
He speaks from the same podium that Blanche used, looking directly at jurors from a position between the prosecution and defense tables.
“This case, at its core, is about a conspiracy and a cover-up,” Steinglass said as he began his remarks.
Prosecutors have presented “powerful evidence of the defendant’s guilt,” he said.
1 P.M. - Blanche concludes his closing argument
Blanche finishes his summation by telling jurors the case “isn’t a referendum on your views of President Trump.”
“This is not a referendum on the ballot box — who you voted for in 2016 or 2020, who you plan on voting for in 2024. That is not what this is about,” the attorney told jurors. “The verdict you have to reach has to do with the evidence you heard in this courtroom,” and nothing else, he reminds them.
12:50 P.M. - Blanche labels Cohen ‘the human embodiment of reasonable doubt’
“He lied to you repeatedly. He lied many, many times before you even met him. His financial and personal well-being depends on this case. He is biased and motivated to tell you a story that is not true,” the attorney told jurors.
Mimicking the acronym GOAT, used primarily in sports for “greatest of all time,” Blanche also declared Cohen “the GLOAT: the greatest liar of all time.”
12:45 P.M. - Blanche calls Cohen ‘an MVP of liars’
The defense lawyer’s voice grew to a roar — the loudest he’s been all morning — as he declared that Cohen lied about speaking to Trump by phone about the Daniels arrangement on Oct. 24, 2016.
“He lied to his family, his wife, about the $130,000 home equity line of credit, to his kids, he lied to the FEC, to every single reporter he talked to, he’s like an MVP of liars…,” Blanche said.
“It was a lie,” Blanche said. “That was a lie and he got caught red-handed.”
12:30 P.M. - Blanche turns his attention to Stormy Daniels
As Blanche resumed the defense’s summation, he pointed out that Daniels issued two statements in 2018 denying that she’d ever had a sexual encounter with Trump. She testified that she signed off on them at her lawyer’s urging.
Blanche said Trump never knew about the payoff to Stormy Daniels. According to him, Cohen paid it, negotiated it, and worked it out for future favors and to look good. He also claimed that Trump never signed the NDA for Daniels; it was signed by Michael Cohen, who inserted Trump’s name there (with an alias).
“What Trump knew in 2016 you only know from one source, and that’s Michael Cohen” Blanche said.
12:15 P.M. - Trump returns to court
The two rows of family members, advisors, and others accompanying Trump waited until he sat down before taking their own seats in the spectator section.
11:30 A.M. - Blanche argues ‘people already knew’ about Stormy Daniels’ claims
Turning to Daniels’ story, Blanche noted that her allegations of a sexual encounter with Trump were aired on a gossip site in 2011, four years before Trump announced his presidential candidacy. Trump has denied having sex with Daniels.
“So how could this issue have influenced the election?” Blanche argued. “People already knew about the allegations.”
At the behest of Daniels and Cohen, the story was taken off the site.
Blanche asserted that the real impetus behind Daniels’ interest in making a deal in 2016 was that some people wanted to use the election as pressure to “extort” Trump.
11:05 A.M. - Biden campaign deploys actor Robert De Niro, Jan. 6 first responders near Trump’s trial
The Biden campaign has sent Robert De Niro and two law enforcement officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 not far from the criminal court where Donald Trump’s hush money trial is happening.
Speaking while the former president is stuck in court, De Niro said Trump wants to “destroy not only the city, but the country and eventually he could destroy the world.”
As he spoke, Trump protesters screamed anti-Biden chants.

11 A.M. - Blanche says no criminal motive in Trump Tower meeting with Cohen and Pecker
“The idea of positive stories in the National Enquirer influencing an election is preposterous," Blanche said. "The idea that their meeting at Trump Tower in 2015 would influence an election makes no sense. When they met, they got together at the time and said, ‘OK, we’re gonna commit a crime.’”
10:50 A.M. - Blanche urges jurors to ignore concerns over ‘conspiracy’
Blanche implored the jury to reject the prosecution’s contention that Trump engaged in a conspiracy to influence the 2016 election by involving himself in efforts to bury negative stories about him — and to reject the allegation that, after the fact, he falsified records of Cohen’s payments to hide that conspiracy.
“The government wants you to believe that President Trump did these things with his records to conceal efforts to promote his successful candidacy in 2016, the year before,” Blanche said.
“Even that, even if you find that is true, that is not enough ... it doesn’t matter if there’s a conspiracy to win an election. Every campaign in this country is a conspiracy to promote a candidate, a group of people who are working together to help somebody win.”

10:30 A.M. - Blanche now challenging the tally sheet showing the total payment of 420K
Blanche says there’s no other evidence except Cohen, who says one amount was “grossed up” to compensate for what would be owed in taxes. Blanche says the “gross up” on the tally sheet “is a lie.”
Cohen got $420,000 in all from Trump in 2017, a sum that the ex-lawyer and prosecutors have said included the $130,000 reimbursement related to Daniels, a $50,000 repayment for an unrelated expense and a $60,000 bonus. On top of that, they’ve said, there was extra money to cover taxes that would be due on the $130,000 as income — taxes that wouldn’t apply if it had simply been paid as a business expense reimbursement.
“That is absurd,” Blanche told jurors, pointing to “all the other evidence you heard about how carefully President Trump watches his finances.”
The defense had previously argued Tuesday that Trump may not have been fully aware of all his invoices.
In an effort to show Trump was distant from the transactions at the heart of the charges. Blanche focused for a bit on a February 2017 email that then-Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney sent to an accounts payable staffer, telling her how to handle the payments to Cohen.
“Post to legal expenses. Put ‘retainer for the months of January and February 2017’ in the description,” the email read in part.
McConney testified that he never talked to Trump about how to characterize the payments and was “just taking information from the invoice” Cohen had submitted.
Blanche stressed that Trump was busy during the time when he signed the checks at the heart of the case.
“It matters where President Trump was,” at this time Blanche said.
He noted Trump assistant Madeleine Westerhout had testified that Trump would sometimes sign checks while meeting with people or while on the phone, not knowing what they were.
Blanche argued it was unreasonable to suggest Trump was aware of the details of every invoice just because he knew of some. “That is a stretch and that is reasonable doubt, ladies and gentlemen,” he said.
10:30 A.M. - Trump is wide awake
Looking over at the jury, sometimes Trump shakes his head “no” when Todd Blanche points out what he considers an absurdity—something he says is not illegal, like vouchers or checks.
10:15 A.M. - Welcome to Todd Blanche’s PowerPoint presentation
The defense is using a PowerPoint presentation as it begins its summation and tries to shift blame to Michael Cohen and the Trump Organization.
Blanche is showing the jury copies of the invoices, vouchers and checks that are at the heart of the case — vouchers and checks he says were entered and prepared by the company’s accounting department.
The PowerPoint also notes Cohen sent the invoices for his services. None of the invoices were sent directly to then-President Trump, Blanche says.
10:10 A.M. - Blanche says Cohen made up a story about the payoff - says he was on retainer
“There was a retainer agreement and that’s how retainer agreements work,” Blanche said. “ Michael Cohen had one with Novartis — $1.2 million. He had six interactions with them. Anything criminal about that? No - he was on call just like he was on call with President Trump.”
He continued, “What makes more sense, that President Trump paying a retainer, $35,000 a month – an agreement he made with his personal attorney - makes perfect sense, or the version Michael Cohen told you – ‘I was gonna work for free, and make a lot of money as a consultant, $35,000 not really my retainer fee but paying over, and the NDA – for the first time he decided to pay me back triple. I stole a little bit on that, he didn’t want to pay for a poll…’? Usually, the simplest answer is the right one, and that’s certainly the case here.”
10 A.M. - Blanche picked apart Michael Cohen’s testimony, stating that he lied
“You cannot convict President Trump of any crime beyond a reasonable doubt based on the words of Michael Cohen,” Blanche said. “Key conversations and interactions that he claimed he had with Dylan Howard, Allen Weisselberg, and Keith Schiller - they were not witnesses in this trial. Words that Michael Cohen said on that stand - they matter - he took an oath, he swore to tell the truth, told you any number of things on the witness stand - they were lies, pure and simple.”
9:45 A.M. - Donald Trump lawyer Todd Blanche delivered his closing argument
Todd Blanche started by thanking the jury for their service. He then stated, “President Trump is innocent - he did not commit any crimes and the DA has not met their burden of proof - period. That evidence should leave you wanting more. You should want and expect more than the testimony of Michael Cohen. More than Deb Terasoff, how she booked certain invoices. You should demand more than the testimony of Keith Davidson, who was really just trying to extort money from President Trump in the lead-up to the presidential election.”
He continued, “This case is a paper case; it’s not about an encounter with Stormy Daniels 18 years ago, an account that President Trump has unequivocally said has never occurred.”
“The consequences of the lack of proof that you all heard over the past five weeks is simple: It is a not guilty verdict, period.”
9:30 A.M. - The scene in the courtroom
Trump stood and looked back for a moment after he arrived at the defense table, then sat between his attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove. Before the proceedings began, Trump appeared animated, gesturing and chatting with his lawyers.
Seated behind Trump were his family members, including his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. and his daughter Tiffany. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg was also in the courtroom. Trump had entered leading the entourage, with attorney Todd Blanche right behind him, followed by his children and other campaign staff and politicos.
The judge was on the bench. He said he had given both sides the charges on Thursday. Blanche expected 2 1/2 hours for the defense, while the prosecution anticipated 4 1/2 hours. The judge mentioned he would ask the jury if they could stay beyond 4:30 to complete them.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.