Court against Trump, defence lawyers urge judges to drop charges

Judge Juan M. Merchan did not immediately decide on the defence request, which came at the end of a hot day that included acceptance by the chief prosecutor's witness for stealing tens of thousands of dollars from Mr. Trump's company and the wrath of the judge with a witness protection that led to a brief release of journalists from the courtroom.

The trial will resume Tuesday with the continuation of testimony by Robert Costello, a former federal prosecutor who hopes to use it to attack the credibility of former Mr. Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen.

Mr. Cohen is the last witness, at least for now, to prosecutors who are trying to prove that Mr. Trump tried to conceal the history of the affair with Mrs. Daniels and then forged business records to cover them as part of a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 presidential elections. The defense has portrayed Mr. Cohen as a moral liar, who is on a revenge mission aimed at harming former President Trump.

After the jury members left the courtroom, defence lawyer Todd Blanche told the judges that prosecutors failed to prove the charges and that they should be dropped immediately. Lawyer Blanche begged the judge not to allow this case to go jury by relying on Mr. Cohen's testimony”.

The judge appeared uncoupled by the defense argument, asking the lawyer if he believed that “as a legal case, this person is not as worthy to believe he should not even be considered by the jury?”

“You said his lies are irrefutable”, the judge responded. “But you think he'll deceive 12 New Yorkers to believe this lie?

Mr. Trump's defense attorneys' request came after a chaotic scene caused by the judges' anger at the behavior of witness Robert Castello, which led to the provisional extraction of journalists from the courtroom.

Mr. Castello, former federal prosecutor in New York, testified that Mr. Cohen had told him that Mr. Trump “didn't know anything” about paying $130 thousand for the Stormy Daniels porn actress.

“Michael Cohen said several times that President Trump knew nothing about those payments, that he had made them himself, and he repeated it several times”, said Mr. Castello before members of the jury. He will again appear in court Tuesday.

Michael Cohen admitted Monday before the jury he stole tens of thousands of dollars from Mr. Trump's company. Mr. Cohen acknowledged this as defence lawyers focused on his violations, with the aim of raising questions about his credibility.

Mr. Trump's lawyers hope that such acceptance by Mr. Cohen, along with his numerous criminal acts and lies in the past, will sow doubts in jury members at the deposit made by key prosecution witness Mr. Cohen, concerning the former president's involvement in the scheme of making payments before the 2016 elections. The protective side has presented Mr. Cohen as a typical con man who is campaigning revenge against Mr. Trump.

Returning to the witness bank for the fourth day and turning to questions by defense lawyer Todd Blanche, Mr. Cohen admitted that he had pocketed a total of $50,000 that Mr. Cohen claimed paid for by a technology firm to which the company owed him some services.

But Mr. Cohen said he actually paid this firm only $20,000 worth of cash, which he wrapped in paper bags.

So you stole from Trump Organization?

Mr. Cohen replied by adding that he had not returned the money to the organization. Never has Mr. Cohen been charged with stealing from Mr. Trump's company.

Mr. Cohen is the last witness to the prosecution and it is not clear whether defence lawyers will call witnesses, or even former President Trump himself.

After nearly four weeks of evidence about sexual relations, pay and Plavide magazine emissions, or accounting details of Mr. Trump's company, members of the jury can probably begin from next week to examine the facts to decide whether the former president is guilty of 34 counts of counterfeiting business data in the first criminal trial against a former American president.

The charges are based on the internal documentation of the Trump Organisation, where payments to Mr. Cohen are registered as legal expenses. Prosecutors say they were actually remuneration for $130,000 to gain silence from pornographic movie actress Stormy Daniels.

Former President Trump has declared himself innocent. His lawyers say there is no criminal offence for the deal with Mrs. Daniels, or the way Mr. Cohen is paid. / VOA