As Donald Trump's legal team presents their closing arguments, his lawyer has leveled a series of accusations against the witnesses, including perjury and 'extortion,' all while staunchly defending the former president's innocence.
In a dramatic display, the defence team utilised a PowerPoint presentation in an attempt to shift the blame onto Michael Cohen and the Trump Organization. Todd Blanche, Trump's lead attorney, theatrically outlined '10 reasons' for Trump's innocence.
Blanche spent approximately three hours dissecting the prosecution's witnesses, which included ex-lawyer Michael Cohen, whom he branded a 'liar,' 'the MVP of liars,' and even a 'thief' who embezzled money.
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Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump sits in court during his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)Concluding his speech, Blanche listed "10 reasons the jurors should have 'reasonable doubt'" and proclaimed Donald Trump not guilty. A court reporter from CNN noted down the 10 reasons:
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- Michael Cohen created the invoices
- There's no evidence that Trump knew the invoices had been sent
- There was "absolutely" no evidence of any intent to defraud
- There was no attempt to commit or conceal another crime
- There was "absolutely" no agreement to influence the 2016 election
- AMI would have run the doorman's story no matter what if it was true
- Karen McDougal did not want her story published
- Stormy Daniels' story was already public in 2011
- There was manipulation of evidence
- Michael Cohen. "He's the human embodiment of reasonable doubt"
Blanche spent a portion of his time suggesting that Karen McDougal was merely 'trying to jump-start her career,' and accusing Stormy Daniels of 'extortion.'
Blanche attempted to minimise the impact of the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape, which caused a major setback for Trump's 2016 campaign, telling the jury: "It was not a doomsday event."
Blanche admitted that Trump was disturbed by the story. "Nobody wants their family to be subjected to that type of thing," he said.
"It doesn't matter if you're running for office, if you're running 'The Apprentice' ... Nobody wants their family exposed to that type of story."
Blanche is presenting all the evidence to the jury, including the invoices, vouchers, and checks that are crucial to the case - documents he insists were managed by the company's accounting department.
The PowerPoint slides show that Cohen was issuing invoices for his services. Blanche stresses that none of these invoices were sent directly to then-President Trump.
Prosecutors have been focusing on the argument that Cohen wasn't actually being paid for legal work in 2017, but rather receiving disguised reimbursements for the Stormy Daniels payment. However, Blanche refutes this with emails and testimony showing Cohen did indeed carry out some legal duties for Trump that year.
Cohen downplayed his legal work as "very minimal," but Blanche isn't buying it, doubling down with: "Cohen lied to you. Cohen lied to you," his voice rising in conviction.
Blanche also highlighted that Cohen was never secretive about his role as Trump's personal lawyer, often appearing on TV to discuss it and even boasting the title in his email signature. "This was not a secret. Michael Cohen was President Trump's personal attorney. Period," Blanche stated emphatically.
In addition, Blanche questioned the credibility of the prosecution's star witness, accusing him of lying about working for free as Trump's personal lawyer after Trump assumed office.
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"What the government did for the past five weeks, at the end of the day, is ask you to believe the man who testified two weeks ago: Michael Cohen," Blanche told the jury. "Michael Cohen asked you to ignore the documents, ignore what the email says about sending a retainer agreement sought by Mr. Weisselberg, asked you to believe that he worked for free."
As Trump was gearing up to take office, Cohen voiced his disappointment in court over his reduced annual holiday bonus from the Trump Organization, which dropped from $150,000 to $50,000. Given his dissatisfaction, Blanche questioned the likelihood of Cohen working for free, asking the jury, "Is that the man that testified, or is that a lie? ".
Furthermore, Blanche pointed out an email from February 2017 sent by then-Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney to an accounts payable employee about how to process payments to Cohen, to show Trump's lack of involvement with the transactions at the heart of the case.
"Post to legal expenses. Put 'retainer for the months of January and February 2017' in the description," part of the email instructed. During his testimony, McConney confirmed that he had never discussed the classification of these payments with Trump, saying he was "just taking information from the invoice" supplied by Cohen.
Despite allegations, Blanche has rejected the idea that there was a plot to hide negative stories to support Trump's campaign.
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