Michael Cohen is 'an MVP of liars,' says Trump's defense team during closing arguments in New York case

With the New York trial against former President Donald Trump coming to an end, the prosecution and the defense are set to give their closing arguments this week.

Acting Justice Juan Merchan said he anticipates providing jury instructions on Wednesday, according to live updates from the courthouse. The attorneys were provided with the judge's jury instructions on Thursday afternoon, and neither party flagged any errors, Merchan noted.

'The district attorney has not met their burden of proof.'

Ahead of closing arguments, Merchan reminded jurors that nothing said by the attorneys constitutes "evidence."

"You are the finders of fact, and it is for you and for you alone to determine the facts from the evidence," Merchan stated.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche presented the defense's closing argument first on Tuesday. He estimated that it would take approximately two and a half hours.

"I started out by saying something that I'm going to repeat to you right now. It's as true right now as it was on April 22. And that is President Trump is innocent. He did not commit any crimes, and the district attorney has not met their burden of proof — period. The evidence is all in," Blanche told the 12-person jury.

Blanche focused the majority of his time on discrediting the prosecution's key witness, Michael Cohen, Trump's former attorney, who claimed that he paid porn actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep silent about an alleged affair she had with the former president. During his testimony, Cohen, a convicted felon and admitted liar, stated that he made the settlement payment to Daniels at Trump's request and that the Trump Organization reimbursed him.

Last year, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) charged Trump with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied Daniels' affair allegations.

Bragg's entire case hinged on the testimony of Cohen, who claimed that Trump falsified business records by marking payments to his then-personal attorney as legal expenses.

Blanche argued that the government failed to corroborate Cohen's testimony.

"The evidence should leave you wanting more. You should want and expect more than the testimony of Michael Cohen," Blanche told jurors. "This case is about documents. It's a paper case. This case is not about an encounter with Stormy Daniels 18 years ago."

He argued that the business records were "not false" and that there was "not intent to defraud."

Trump's defense team noted that Cohen's testimony mentioned many critical conversations with individuals who were not called as witnesses in the case, including former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, Trump's former bodyguard Keith Schiller, and former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard.

"Cohen lied to you," Blanche told jurors.

In 2017, Trump paid Cohen $35,000 monthly, a total of $420,000. Cohen claimed that the payments were partly a reimbursement for the $130,000 settlement he paid to Daniels. He also stated that Trump reimbursed him for a $50,000 payment he made to RedFinch for technology services. While on the stand, Cohen admitted to only paying RedFinch a portion of what he reported to Trump. He claimed that Trump shortchanged him on his yearly bonus and argued that "it was almost like self-help" to steal $60,000.

Blanche told the jury, "The idea that President Trump would agree to pay Cohen $420,000" when the Daniels settlement agreement was only $130,000 "is absurd."

Blanche also attempted to discredit Daniels' testimony.

"Why did prosecutors call Stormy Daniels, when there was no dispute that there was an NDA settlement and she knew nothing about Trump's internal business practices?" Blanche asked. "I'll tell you why. They did it to try to inflame your emotions; they did it to try to embarrass President Trump."

Prosecutors attempted to object to Blanche's comment, but Merchan overruled the objection.

Blanche returned to Cohen's lack of credibility.

"He's repeatedly lied under oath. He's lied to his family. He lied to his wife about the home equity line of credit ... he lied to his banker," Trump's attorney told jurors. "He's literally like an MVP of liars."

Blanche provided the jury with a list of 10 reasons they should have reasonable doubt. He argued that Cohen had created the invoices and there was no evidence that Trump knew the invoices had been sent. The defense argued that there was no evidence of any intent to defraud, attempt to commit, or conceal another crime. Additionally, he contended that there was no agreement to influence the 2016 election, as the prosecution alleged.

Blanche further claimed that the National Enquirer would have run the story it purchased from the former Trump Tower doorman if it had been true, but it was not. Karen McDougal wanted to keep her story private, he noted. Blanche added that Daniels' story was already public years before the settlement agreement. The defense also argued that there was manipulation of evidence.

For Blanche's final reason, he told the jurors that Cohen is "the human embodiment of reasonable doubt."

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