Democracy Dies in Darkness
Former president Donald Trump sits in Manhattan criminal court on Monday. (Mark Peterson/Pool/Redux Pictures/AP)

Defense rests in Trump’s hush money trial

1 min

Donald Trump’s lawyers finished presenting their defense case Tuesday, and the trial judge said closing arguments will be next week. Donald Trump will not testify.

The last witness, Robert Costello, began testifying late Monday and spent less than an hour on the stand Tuesday. New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan threatened to hold him in contempt of court Monday after he showed disagreement with the judge’s rulings.

Key updates
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Prosecutors rested their case Monday. Trump’s attorneys rested theirs Tuesday, saying they were not calling additional witnesses — meaning Trump will not testify.
The trial will not take place Wednesday or Friday and probably will be on hiatus Thursday if everything except closing arguments is taken care of Tuesday. Rather than try to squeeze in closings and deliberations before the Memorial Day holiday, Merchan said closing arguments would take place next week.
The trial is not being televised. The Washington Post has reporters in the courtroom and media overflow room who are posting live updates.
Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to his reimbursement of Michael Cohen for a hush money payment before the 2016 election to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, who alleged that she had a sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.
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Prosecutors rested their case Monday. Trump’s attorneys rested theirs Tuesday, saying they were not calling additional witnesses — meaning Trump will not testify.
The trial will not take place Wednesday or Friday and probably will be on hiatus Thursday if everything except closing arguments is taken care of Tuesday. Rather than try to squeeze in closings and deliberations before the Memorial Day holiday, Merchan said closing arguments would take place next week.
The trial is not being televised. The Washington Post has reporters in the courtroom and media overflow room who are posting live updates.
Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to his reimbursement of Michael Cohen for a hush money payment before the 2016 election to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, who alleged that she had a sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.
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