Trump's fate is in the hands of 12 New Yorkers
Trump's fate is out of his hands |
| |
Donald Trump's attorney Todd Blanche delivers closing arguments in the former president's hush money trial in a Manhattan court on Tuesday. |
|
|
Five weeks of grinding testimony, accusations of lying from the witness stand, cringeworthy glimpses into Donald Trump's bedroom and his wild rants outside the courtroom door have come down to this: The fate of the once and possibly future president will be placed in the hands of 12 New Yorkers on Wednesday as the jury retires to consider its verdict in a trial triggered by his hush money payment to an adult film star.
Trump is accused of falsifying business records to cover up the payment in what prosecutors claim was an attempt to illegally prevent voters from learning about an alleged affair with Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Trump denies the affair and has pleaded not guilty. Jurors on Tuesday heard final arguments from both sides which painted vastly different versions of Trump's conduct, as the once most powerful man in the world sat silently.
The defense lacerated the top prosecution witness Michael Cohen, Trump's self-described former "thug" and fixer, saying the jury could not convict the ex-president on the word of someone who himself went to jail for lying to Congress — and whom they claim committed perjury on the witness stand. "He's literally like an MVP of liars," Trump's lead attorney Todd Blanche told the jury. He also argued that there was no proof that Trump had committed any crime, or that the ex-president took part in a conspiracy to interfere in an election now eight years in the past.
Prosecutors warned that the case was about a "conspiracy and a cover-up." They pilloried the defense line that Cohen was too tarnished to be believed. "We didn't pick him up at the witness store — the defendant chose Michael Cohen to be his fixer because he was willing to lie and cheat on Trump's behalf," prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said.
There is little sign that this is a trial that transfixed America — unlike celebrity cases of the past including those of O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson. Part of that is down to the fact that cameras were not allowed into the trial. It rests on a complex legal argument that the jury will have to unpick. And many legal experts believe it is the least serious case among the ex-president's four criminal indictments. It's also fair to ask whether the historic step of potentially indicting a former president for the first time is justified by the extent of alleged wrongdoing in this matter. It's not as though the republic is at stake despite the prosecution's claims of election chicanery.
But the consequences could still be profound. While Trump has weaponized his legal liabilities to cement his bond with GOP base voters, there is some polling that suggests that some Republican voters could be deterred from voting for Trump if he becomes a convicted felon. In an election likely to be decided by a few thousand votes in a few swing states, even relatively few defections could make a difference.
The jury is required only to render its verdict based on the evidence and testimony introduced in the trial and to put their own personal and political feelings towards Trump to one side. But whatever they decide will reverberate across the US and around the world given the identity and aspirations of the famous defendant. |
|
|
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass delivers closing arguments on Tuesday in Manhattan. | |
|
A $320 million pier constructed by the US to bring humanitarian to Gaza has broken in heavy seas after only a week of use. Pope Francis has apologized for using a homophobic slur during a meeting with bishops. And temperatures in Pakistan have crossed 52 degrees Celsius — more than 125°F. Meanwhile in America, the White House says that a deadly attack at a Rafah displacement camp did not cross Biden's red line over supporting Israel. Nearly one million customers in Texas are without power after powerful storms. And alpacas have tested positive for bird flu for the first time, according to the US Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Laboratories. |
|
|
'Every campaign is a conspiracy' |
During his closing argument, Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche came up with this stunning quote that encapsulates his client's dark approach to politics. "it doesn't matter if there was a conspiracy to try to win an election," Blanche told jurors. "Every campaign in this country is a conspiracy from another candidate, a group of people who are working together to help somebody win."
So much for hope, change, generational power transfers, quests to protect democracy and the sincere wish to improve the lives of tens of millions of Americans that candidates normally cite as reasons for running for the White House. Prosecution lawyer Joshua Steinglass rejected the cynicism of the defense that undoubtably represents Trump's jaundiced views of power. He warned that the case was very much about the conduct of US elections and the protection of democracy because it got to whether voters could learn the truth about their candidates. "You may say who cares if Mr. Trump slept with a porn star 10 years before the 2016 election. Many people feel that way. It's harder to say the American people don't have the right to decide for themselves whether they care or not," he said. |
|
|
Whatever the jury decides, this has been an ignominious experience for Trump. For a man who made his name as a swashbuckling self-proclaimed real estate magnate and tabloid celebrity in the money-grabbing 1980s, his weeks in court are nothing but a humiliation. The former president has been confined to an austere courtroom featuring the soulless functional furniture of the American criminal justice system. A billionaire more used to glittering chandeliers at his gold-encrusted Mar-a-Lago resort has languished hour-after-hour under the harsh, unflattering exposure of fluorescent lights hanging from a dirty ceiling. Fixings and furnishings are enormously important to Trump – he sometimes drones at length during his rallies about his exacting standards for showers and taps in his buildings and boasts about his taste in décor. All the courthouse could offer was yellowing white-washed walls, stale air and chipped wooden benches in the public gallery. But Trump could learn a lesson from his journey into a courthouse through which generations of New York City's criminal underworld figures passed before him. His five weeks here prove that no one is above the law – even flamboyant entrepreneurs who changed the skyline of the Big Apple and who may soon again command the fearsome powers of the presidency. |
|
| Your personalized news roundup awaits with the ICYMI newsletter Alongside Meanwhile in America, wrap up your day with ICYMI for a personalized selection of the stories you may have missed, tailored to your unique interests. Sign up for CNN's 'In Case You Missed It' newsletter so you're informed on the topics that matter to you. | |
|
| ® © 2024 Cable News Network. A Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All Rights Reserved.
1050 Techwood Drive NW, Atlanta, GA 30318 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Comments
Post a Comment