President Trump’s lawyers rested their defense on Tuesday without him taking the witness stand in his New York ‘hush money’ trial, moving the case closer to the jury's deliberation.
“Your honor, the defense rests,” Trump lawyer Todd Blanche told the judge after testimony from a former federal prosecutor who challenged the credibility of the prosecution’s key witness.
The jury was dismissed until May 28, when closing arguments are scheduled. Attorneys were set to return later on Tuesday to discuss the judge's instructions for the jury's deliberations.
As the first U.S. president to undergo a criminal trial, Trump declined to respond to inquiries as he exited the courthouse, including queries regarding his decision not to testify. Despite previously expressing his intent to take the stand to refute obvious politically motivated charges, the Republican presumptive presidential nominee opted to remain silent.
Following the conclusion of the defense's case, Judge Juan M. Merchan advised jurors that the court session might extend late into Tuesday to facilitate both prosecution and defense summations, representing the final chance for the jury to hear from either side.
Merchan indicated that his instructions on deliberations would require approximately an hour, potentially enabling the jury to commence discussions as early as May 29. Until then, jurors were reminded not to engage in discussions about the case with individuals outside the court or among themselves.
Merchan noted that, although summations typically follow immediately after the defense rests, in this case, they are expected to take at least a day. Considering the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, he acknowledged that “there’s no way to do all that’s needed to be done” before then.
Defense attorneys urged the judge to dismiss the charges before deliberations began on Monday, arguing that prosecutors had failed to prove their case. They contended that Trump's aim was to protect his family, rather than his campaign, by quashing false and scurrilous allegations.
Defense attorney Todd Blanche asserted that soliciting a tabloid’s assistance to promote positive stories about Trump, publish negative stories about his opponents, and preemptively identify potentially damaging stories was not illegal. Blanche emphasized that none of the involved parties harbored any criminal intent. He questioned, “How can withholding a false story from the voters be considered criminal?”
After more than four weeks of testimony, jurors could begin deliberating as soon as next week to decide whether Trump is guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
