Jonah BromwichReporting from inside the courthouse
We are taking a lunch break, and we’ll hear the prosecution’s closing argument when we return.
May 28, 2024, 12:55 p.m. ET
Maggie HabermanReporting from inside the courthouse
Justice Merchan is now excoriating Todd Blanche for making an “outrageous” statement. Merchan is clearly furious, and reminds Blanche, and not for the first time, that he was a prosecutor for long enough to know that it was out of bounds.
May 28, 2024, 12:56 p.m. ET
Jonah BromwichReporting from inside the courthouse
“Making a comment like that is highly inappropriate,” the judge said. “It is simply not allowed, period.”
May 28, 2024, 12:53 p.m. ET15
Jonah BromwichReporting from inside the courthouse
Before he concluded, Todd Blanche asked that the jurors not send his client to prison. Now, with the jury excused, Joshua Steinglass, the prosecutor who will give his side’s closing argument, stands up and objects. “That was a blatant and wholly inappropriate effort to call sympathy for their client,” Steinglass says, asking for a curative instruction.
May 28, 2024, 12:50 p.m. ET
Jonah BromwichReporting from inside the courthouse
Todd Blanche concludes, again thanking the jurors. He tells them that if they pay close attention to the evidence they heard in the courtroom, “this is a very quick and easy not guilty verdict.” With that, the defense’s closing argument is over
May 28, 2024, 12:45 p.m. ET22 minutes ago22 minutes ago
Michael GoldReporting from inside the courthouse
Todd Blanche listed 10 reasons that he believed the jury should have reasonable doubt as to Trump’s guilt. But the list was hard to follow. He misstated the fourth point, which he then broke into three parts. And he gave all of the points equal weight, even as he only glanced over some of them in the rest of his summation.
May 28, 2024, 12:47 p.m. ET
Jonah BromwichReporting from inside the courthouse
The last reason for reasonable doubt on Blanche’s list is simply: Michael Cohen. Blanche calls Cohen: “The human embodiment of reasonable doubt, literally.”
May 28, 2024, 12:38 p.m. ET
Jonah BromwichReporting from inside the courthouse
Todd Blanche announces that he is almost done, and acknowledges “I’ve been talking a lot.” But before he concludes, he says, he will offer a list of 10 pieces of evidence that should induce reasonable doubt in the jury.