NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump's lawyers on Monday pressed the judge overseeing his hush money trial to stop the case from going to the jury and throw out the charges after prosecutors concluded their presentation of evidence. Judge Juan M. Merchan did not immediately rule on the request, which came at the end of a heated day that included the prosecution's star witness admitting to stealing tens of thousands of dollars from Trump's company and the judge briefly kicking reporters out of the courtroom after becoming angered by a defense witness.
The trial will resume Tuesday with more testimony from Robert Costello, a former federal prosecutor the defense hopes to use to attack the credibility of Trump attorney-turned-adversary Michael Cohen . Cohen was the last witness — at least for now — for prosecutors, who are trying to prove that Trump sought to bury unflattering stories about himself and then falsified internal business records to cover it up as part of a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election . The defense has painted Cohen as a media-obsessed liar who is on a revenge mission aimed at taking down Trump.
After jurors left for the day, defense attorney Todd Blanche told the judge that prosecutors failed to prove their case and that it should be thrown out immediately. Blanche beseeched the judge to “not let this case go to the jury relying on Mr. Cohen’s testimony.
" The judge appeared unmoved by the argument, asking the defense attorney whet.