Michael R. Sisak

Attorneys in Donald Trump’s hush money trial have finished their closing arguments after a marathon day in court. A prosecutor told jurors that Trump engaged in a conspiracy “to hoodwink voters” in 2016. Meanwhile, a defense lawyer branded the star witness as the “greatest liar of all time” and pressed the jury for an across-the-board acquittal. The dueling accounts were wildly divergent in their assessments of witness credibility, Trump’s culpability and the strength of evidence. The arguments offered both sides one final chance to score points with the jury before it starts deliberating the first felony case against a former American president. Deliberations could begin Wednesday.

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Prosecutor says Trump tried ‘to hoodwink voters’ while defense attacks key witness in last arguments

May 28, 2024 at 10:31 p.m.

Attorneys in Donald Trump’s hush money trial have finished their closing arguments after a marathon day in court. A prosecutor told jurors that Trump engaged in a conspiracy “to hoodwink...

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 not take the witness stand in his own defense. The jury was sent home for a week, until May 28, when closing arguments are expected. But the attorneys returned to the courtroom to debate how the judge will instruct jurors on deliberations. The two sides haggled over word choices, legal phrases and how to describe various campaign-related issues. Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying business records.

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Trump hush money trial enters new phase after defense rests without testimony from former president

May 21, 2024 at 6:31 p.m.

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...

Donald Trump’s lawyers have sought to portray the star prosecution witness in his hush money trial as a serial fabulist who is bent on seeing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee behind bars. During hours of cross-examination Thursday, defense attorney Todd Blanche pressed former Trump attorney Michael Cohen for hours with questions that focused as much on his misdeeds as on the case’s specific allegations. The defense is trying to sow doubt in jurors’ minds about Cohen’s crucial testimony implicating the former president. Whether the defense is successful in undermining Cohen’s testimony could determine Trump’s fate. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

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Michael Cohen pressed on his crimes and lies as defense attacks key Trump hush money trial witness

May 16, 2024 at 8:12 p.m.

Donald Trump’s lawyers have sought to portray the star prosecution witness in his hush money trial as a serial fabulist who is bent on seeing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee...

The star prosecution witness at Donald Trump's hush money trial says Trump was intimately involved with all aspects of a scheme to stifle stories about sex that threatened to torpedo his 2016 campaign. The revelation came Monday from Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen in matter-of-fact testimony that went to the heart of the former president’s trial. Cohen said everything required Trump’s sign-off. In hours of highly anticipated testimony, Cohen placed Trump at the center of the hush money plot. He said the then-candidate had promised to reimburse the lawyer for the money he fronted. He also said Trump was constantly updated about behind-the-scenes efforts to bury stories feared to be harmful to the campaign.

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Star witness Michael Cohen says Trump was intimately involved in all aspects of hush money scheme

May 13, 2024 at 7:13 p.m.

The star prosecution witness at Donald Trump's hush money trial says Trump was intimately involved with all aspects of a scheme to stifle stories about sex that threatened to torpedo...

Donald Trump’s defense attorney has accused Stormy Daniels of slowly altering the details of an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump. Attorney Susan Necheles is trying to convince the jury in Trump's hush money trial that a key prosecution witness cannot be believed. But Trump's case doesn’t rise or fall on Daniels’ account. It’s a trial about money changing hands in business transactions and whether those hush money payments were made to illegally influence the 2016 election. Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying internal Trump Organization business records.

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Stormy Daniels delivers shocking testimony about Trump, but trial hinges on business records

May 9, 2024 at 8:28 p.m.

Donald Trump’s defense attorney has accused Stormy Daniels of slowly altering the details of an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump. Attorney Susan Necheles is trying to convince the jury...

The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money trial has fined him $1,000 and warned of jail time for future gag order violations. The reprimand Monday opened a revelatory day of testimony, as jurors for the first time heard the details of the financial reimbursements at the center of the case and saw payment checks bearing Trump’s signature. Jeffrey McConney, the former Trump Organization controller, explained how the company reimbursed payments meant to suppress embarrassing stories during the 2016 presidential campaign. The testimony concerns a $130,000 payment from Trump attorney and personal fixer Michael Cohen to porn actor Stormy Daniels to stifle her claims of an extramarital sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier.

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Trump fined $1,000 for gag order violation in hush money case as ex-employee recounts reimbursements

May 6, 2024 at 8:25 p.m.

The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money trial has fined him $1,000 and warned of jail time for future gag order violations. The reprimand Monday opened a revelatory day...

Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump have heard a recording of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president. A visibly irritated Trump leaned forward at the defense table and jurors appeared riveted as prosecutors on Thursday played the September 2016 recording that attorney Michael Cohen secretly made of himself briefing his celebrity client on a plan to buy Karen McDougal’s story of an extramarital relationship. Testimony resumes Friday.

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Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story

May 2, 2024 at 9:44 p.m.

Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump have heard a recording of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a...

“We conclude that the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes," the court's 4-3 decision said. “The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial.”

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New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial

April 25, 2024 at 9:59 a.m.

“We conclude that the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes," the court's 4-3 decision said....

New York’s highest court has overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction and ordered a new trial. The Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the judge at the disgraced movie mogul’s landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced him with improper rulings. That included letting women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case. The 72-year-old Weinstein is serving a 23-year sentence in New York. He’ll remain imprisoned because a 2022 conviction in a Los Angeles rape case resulted in a 16-year term. Weinstein's lawyer called the reversal a “tremendous victory.” A dissenting judge called it part of a “disturbing trend” of reversals in cases involving sexual violence.

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Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction is overturned by New York’s top court

April 25, 2024 at 6:35 p.m.

New York’s highest court has overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction and ordered a new trial. The Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the judge at the disgraced movie mogul’s...

A prosecutor told jurors that Donald Trump tried to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public. The statement came Monday at the start of the former president’s historic hush money trial. A defense lawyer countered by saying Trump was innocent and by attacking the integrity of the onetime Trump confidant who’s now the government’s star witness. The opening statements offered the 12-person jury — and the voting public — a roadmap for viewing the allegations at the heart of the case and Trump’s expected defenses.

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Trump tried to ‘corrupt’ the 2016 election, prosecutor alleges as hush money trial gets underway

April 22, 2024 at 3:40 p.m.

A prosecutor told jurors that Donald Trump tried to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public. The statement came Monday...

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