By Kate Christobek and Jesse McKinley
New York: After 15 days of testimony from 20 witnesses, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Monday rested its case against former President Donald Trump.
The case was capped by three days of grinding cross-examination of his former fixer, Michael D. Cohen, who finally stepped off the stand on Monday afternoon, leaving jurors to weigh his truthfulness of the prosecution’s star witness.
The defense began its case on a mission to sully the credibility of Cohen, the prosecution’s star witness, but the second witness Trump’s lawyers called to the stand quickly became embroiled in a squabble with the judge, Juan M. Merchan. The judge, not surprisingly, prevailed.
Though the defense is expected to be brief, Merchan said that closing arguments would not happen until next week.
The former president is charged with falsifying 34 business records related to the reimbursement of a $130,000 hush-money payment to a porn actor, Stormy Daniels, who says she had sex with Trump in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in 2006. Trump, 77, has denied the charges and has said he did not have an encounter with Daniels. If convicted, he could face prison or probation.
Here are five takeaways from Trump’s 19th day on trial.
‘The defense calls Robert Costello.’ It didn’t go well.
After Cohen was done, the defense commenced and soon called Robert Costello, a former legal adviser to Cohen, who said they spoke in 2018 and that Cohen told him that Trump “knew nothing” about payments to Daniels.
But after several objections by prosecutors, Costello said “jeez.” Soon after, Merchan sent the jury away and scolded Costello for not displaying “proper decorum” and giving him “side-eye.”
It didn’t stop there: Merchan quickly cleared the courtroom to deal with Costello.
When onlookers left the room, according to a transcript, the judge told Costello that his conduct was “contemptuous” and said, “If you try to stare me down one more time I will remove you from the stand.” Addressing the defense lawyers, he added, “I will strike his testimony, do you hear me?”
Costello asked, “Can I say something, please?” And Merchan replied: “No. No. This is not a conversation.”
Prosecutors sought to link a phone call with a photograph.
Last week, Todd Blanche, Trump’s lead lawyer, confronted Cohen about a phone call on October 24, 2016.
Cohen said that during that call— made to Trump’s bodyguard, Keith Schiller— he talked to Trump about the payoff to Daniels. The defense had another theory: He was complaining to Schiller about pranks that a teenager was playing on him.
After cross-examination, prosecutors sought to introduce a photo showing Trump with Schiller that was taken about the same time as the call. It was admitted into evidence, even though the defense tried to prevent it.
The importance of that argument about Cohen’s testimony, which bears on his general credibility, seemed clear to Blanche, who mentioned it at least twice Monday. The photo— and the jury’s interpretation of it— could become significant.
Defense lawyers had mixed results as they tried to muddy the waters.
Blanche seemed to be searching for a decisive moment.
He tried to raise questions about other calls that Cohen said he placed to Trump around the time of the hush-money payment. But Cohen stood firm, saying, “My recollection is that I was speaking to him about Stormy Daniels, because that was what he tasked me to take care of.”
But Blanche found success when he moved from calling Cohen a liar to calling him a thief. Under his questioning, Cohen admitted to having stolen $30,000 from the Trump Organization.
A prosecutor, Susan Hoffinger, gave Cohen the chance to say his theft was an angry reaction to having his bonus cut, and he agreed that it was wrong. But the image remained of a man stealing from a company he’d previously praised as a “big family.”
Cohen was surprisingly steady.
Cohen, Trump’s combustible former lawyer and fixer, never lost his temper, despite admitting all manner of bad behavior. On Monday, he also admitted having a financial interest in the case’s outcome. Trump is a topic of his podcast and other endeavors. But Cohen said that a Trump acquittal would be better for him economically.
“It gives me more to talk about,” he said.
A galloping trial slows to a stroll.
The trial was clipping along last week and it seemed possible that the jury would be deliberating before Memorial Day. Those plans were dashed on Monday when Merchan announced that closing arguments would be delayed until after the holiday weekend.
The defense is expected to rest on Tuesday, barring a last-minute surprise, and that could mean an extended break for jurors.
The parties are then expected to make their closing arguments on May 28. Whom that timing helps is hard to divine, though it gives both sides time to hone their final pitches.
It also provides jurors a clear runway to deliberate as long as necessary.