Highlights: Witness testimony finished in Trump hush money trial, setting up closing arguments

Judge Merchan today cemented next week's court schedule.

The judge said court will not be in session again until next Tuesday, and that there will be court next Wednesday as well.

Trump repeatedly described the case against him as "election interference" in hallway remarks that lasted about 20 minutes after court was dismissed for the day.

He also sought to connect President Joe Biden to the trial, saying, "The White House ... they're the one trying this case."

Judge Merchan has dismissed court for the day.

Based upon the judge's comments, it's clear that court will not reconvene on Thursday.

Court is expected to return next Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. ET for closing arguments and then jury instructions for deliberations. Merchan indicated earlier today that next Tuesday's proceedings may run long.

Defense attorney Emil Bove is urging Judge Merchan to give an instruction about “the involvement” of counsel, despite the judge’s pre-trial rulings that Trump could not argue that he was convinced of the lawfulness of his conduct because lawyers were involved.

Bove argued that the evidence at trial makes it appropriate for them to have an instruction that attorneys were involved because it bears directly on Trump’s intent.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo reminded Merchan that the issue was litigated previously and that the prosecution didn't open the door to such an instruction, in particular because under New York law, one predicate to obtaining such an instruction is that the defendant himself testifies.

Trump lawyer Emil Bove is now arguing that they need a limiting instruction about the legitimate purpose of testimony about the "Access Hollywood" tape.

This testimony was used to show the impact on Trump of the publication of the tape. Judge Merchan asked the defense to direct him to the transcript pages at issue, but said that for now he agrees with the district attorney’s office that such an instruction is not necessary.

Judge Merchan told the parties that they've gone through all of his concerns about the jury instructions and asked prosecutors and Trump's defense team what they'd like to address.

Merchan denied the defense’s request for an instruction that NDAs are not inherently illegal, noting that they have plenty of testimony to that point and can argue it on summation.

Trump attorney Emil Bove also asked for an instruction about putting any prejudice against Trump out of their minds, which is based on a similar instruction from the Trump Organization trial, where the organization itself was the defendant, but Trump was not.

Merchan would have denied the request, but the District Attorney’s Office offered a modified version with what it said included more neutral language, and Merchan agreed.

In further debate over jury instructions, prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told the judge that the trial evidence could easily support a finding that the other crime was tax fraud.

The argument came during a discussion in which Colangelo said all they have to prove is Trump’s intent to conceal another crime, not that the crime actually happened.

Judge Merchan has just ruled that if the jurors find that Trump made or caused business records to be made to conceal a conspiracy to promote his election through unlawful means, the jurors can have different ideas about what those unlawful means are.

In other words, the jurors don't have to all agree on what unlawful means Trump employed, but have to agree that he did in fact use some kind of unlawful means to promote his election in 2016.

Trump’s defense argued that, now that it’s clear that the unlawful means through which the alleged conspiracy was carried out should itself be a criminal violation, the word “willfully” is needed in two places.

The government said that the language of New York Election Law 17-152, which is apparently the crime the DA will argue Trump intended to conceal, only discusses “unlawful means” and is not limited to criminal violations.

Trump lawyer Emil Bove said there has to be intent that reflects the highest level intent of the object conspiracy, meaning criminal conspiracy must have a criminal object.

Bove said that they need the assertion of “willfully” to make clear that the object of the unlawful activity features criminal intent.

As the judge mulls these highly complex instructions on the law, it’s worth remembering there are two lawyers on the jury.

Some former prosecutors say they are loathe to have lawyers as jurors, fearing they’ll hold the state to a higher standard. But these two jurors were nevertheless empaneled and we won’t know their influence on the deliberations for a while, if ever.

Judge Merchan expressed concern about another submission for jury instructions regarding intent to defraud or to aid or conceal.

Trump attorney Emil Bove said that the jury is being asked to evaluate not only fraud but intent to conceal another crime.

“There’s nothing in the statute about two separate intents," prosecutor Matthew Colangelo responded, adding that prosecutors acknowledged that they were tasked with having to establish two elements.

Trump appears more engaged this afternoon than at earlier points in the trial, tapping his attorney Todd Blanche on the shoulder, pointing across the room, pursing his lips and whispering to defense attorney Susan Necheles while listening to the lawyers and the judge debate the jury instructions.

Trump closed his eyes intermittently before almost immediately resuming some kind of activity, and he has been leafing through the papers in front of him, a stack that includes printed pictures.

Judge Merchan is now dealing with the expanded "intent" instruction issue and has indicated that he agrees with the defense on causing false entries when those false entries are reasonably foreseeable to the defendant based on his conduct.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo argued that case law supports the prosecution's position. Trump's lawyer Emil Bove said that the district attorney’s theory of the case is tantamount to "causing the causer." Colangelo maintained that “acting in concert with someone” is separate from the concept of “cause” and is not duplicative.

Merchan ultimately reserves decision but repeats that it's his inclination to strike the "reasonably foreseeable" language.

The arguments over jury instructions that have monopolized the last roughly 30 minutes are probably the most technical we've seen since the trial started.

But the instructions could be some of the most important decisions that the judge makes because they are the basis by which the jury will decide whether Trump is guilty or not.

Lawyers are going through arguments about the instructions to the jury, but the public and the media trying to follow along lack one key element: a copy of the proposed instructions.

It is incredibly challenging to follow without being able to read the draft charges.

For his part, Trump is sitting with his eyes closed while the lawyers go back and forth.

Judge Merchan proposes leaving in this sentence: “If the payment would have been made even in the absence of the candidacy, the payment should not be treated as a contribution.”

Trump's lawyer Emil Bove says that is an accurate recitation of the “irrespective rule” but they want to offer examples to the jury from the FEC’s prior application of the rule.

Merchan said that he is reserving decision, but his inclination is to use some of each side’s language.

The defense wants an instruction that the phrase “for the purpose of influencing an election” refers to spending clearly and unambiguously related to the election.

The prosecution says that the jury needs less, not more, and that the phrase “for the purpose of influencing an election” is fairly straightforward.

The next disputed area concerns the defendant’s desire to say there was no limit on an individual’s contributions to his own campaign.

Trump's lawyer Emil Bove says they want this language to help the jury understand Trump could have paid on his own.

Judge Merchan says the defense can argue this on summation but he’s not giving this instruction.

Judge Merchan said he is reserving making a decision about adding the word "willfully" to two places in the jury instructions.

The first charge the parties are arguing about concerns the Federal Election Campaign Act, or FECA.

The defense argues that now it is clear that the unlawful means through which the alleged conspiracy was carried out should itself be a criminal violation, necessitating the addition of the term “willfully” in two places.

The government says that the language of New York Election Law 17-152 (which is apparently the crime the district attorney's office will argue Trump intended to conceal) only discusses “unlawful means,” and it is not limited to criminal violations.

As Trump returned to the courtroom, he told reporters that there is "no crime" but that the prosecution may "try and devise one right now" as he argued Judge Merchan "has been very helpful to the other side."

"We have a situation where we have no crime and this next couple of hours is very important because the judge can try and manufacture one," Trump said.

He emphasized the same remarks he's made over the last few weeks of the trial, continuing to say that there is no basis for the trial and argued that Merchan is a corrupt judge.

Court is back in session.

Judge Merchan and lawyers for both the prosecution and the defense will discuss what can be included in jury instructions.

This gives both sides the chance to discuss what jurors should be advised before they proceed with deliberations.

Rudy Giuliani has pleaded not guilty to nine felony charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Arizona, The Associated Press reported.

Giuliani and other Trump allies, including former Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward, were arraigned today after being charged in the “fake electors” scheme seeking to falsely declare that Trump had won the battleground state.

Giuliani, a former New York City mayor who served as Trump’s personal attorney, was mentioned several times throughout Robert Costello’s testimony today.

Costello testified that he had known Giuliani for 50 years and that Giuliani attended his wedding. The prosecution also displayed emails showing Costello mention Giuliani in email exchanges with his law partner Jeff Citron and Michael Cohen.

Trump has been surrounded by allies throughout the trial, including some potential VP picks, like Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.

Alan Dershowitz, who was in court with Trump on Monday, talked briefly with me just now about his time inside the courtroom, which he called “eventful.”

The prominent lawyer said Judge Merchan, who erupted in frustration yesterday with defense witness Robert Costello, “really obviously showed his bias” when he cleared the room to excoriate Costello. Dershowitz was in the room for the duration.

“I saw the judge’s affect when he was screaming at the lawyer,” Dershowitz said. “The judge really lost his cool and for the first time, really, really obviously showed his bias.”

Speaking to cameras outside the courtroom, Donald Trump Jr. was emphatic that his father didn't commit a crime and that "the only problem is the witnesses who are experts in these things aren’t allowed to actually testify to that. Because you have a rigged system."

Courts don't allow legal experts to testify because judges are responsible for interpreting the law.

Today was the first day Donald Trump Jr. attended the trial.

He said that the prosecution's star witness, Michael Cohen, is a convicted liar and "now an admitted thief ... who they're hanging the entire case on." He said the other star witness "happens to be a porn star."

Judge Merchan explains that the jury won't return to court until next Tuesday for summations, adding that those closing arguments "will not be quick" and he expects his instructions to take at least an hour.

He said the court would have been in session today and Thursday. “There is no way that we can possibly do what needs to be done in a cohesive manner."

The judge said he decided the best thing to do was for the jury to adjourn now and return next Tuesday. He directed the jurors to continue keeping an open mind and then he'll give final instructions on the law. He added that he expects to potentially work next Wednesday as well.

The defense has rested.

This morning’s testimony also illustrates why calling Costello as a witness was always a double-edged sword. The defense team called him because he undermines Cohen’s credibility, by repeating Cohen’s alleged admission that he had “nothing” on Trump.

Yet, today, the prosecution has effectively painted him as working to keep Cohen quiet and then being angry when he failed — using his own emails against him.

That was a masterclass in effective cross. Not only did Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger use Costello’s own emails against him brilliantly, but she kept calling back to his statement yesterday that an email spoke for itself —making his responses this morning seem less credible.

In an email to his law partner Jeff Citron, Costello wrote, “What should I say to this asshole? He is playing with the most powerful man on the planet.” 

Asked whether this email speaks for itself, Costello agreed.

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger entered into evidence an email that Costello wrote to Cohen.

“You are making a very big mistake if you believe the stories these ‘journalists’ are writing about you," Costello wrote. "They want you to cave. They want you to fail. They do not want you to persevere and succeed. If you really believe you are not being supported properly by your former boss, then you should make your opinion known.”

Hoffinger displayed an email showing that Costello told his law partner Jeff Citron that their goal was to get "Cohen on the right page without giving him the appearance that we are following instructions from Giuliani or the president."

"In my opinion," Costello wrote in the email, "this is the clear & correct strategy."

Cohen, in his testimony, accused Costello and Trump's campaign of trying to exert a pressure campaign to get him to respond as they wished.

Already, Costello is being difficult with his testimony as he answers questions from prosecutor Susan Hoffinger — only making himself more dislikable to the jury.

Costello is being impeached by exhibit after exhibit. It feels like a waste of energy to quibble with Hoffinger on these emails as they speak for themselves and don't require his added remarks and rebuffs.

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked Robert Costello if he was very close to Rudy Giuliani and had known him for 50 years.

Costello said yes, he's known Giuliani for years and said Giuliani attended his wedding.

Giuliani has been a close Trump ally for several years, including serving as his personal attorney. The former New York City mayor has become central to Trump's legal woes, including being indicted in Georgia on charges related to the effort to overturn the 2020 election.

Speaking to reporters before entering the courtroom on Day 20 of the hush money trial, Trump again griped that he would rather be campaigning instead of “sitting in an ice box all day” for almost five weeks and added that his team would be resting their case "pretty quickly."

After listing several conservative legal scholars who echoed his assertion that he did not commit wrongdoing, the former president blasted the hush money trial as a “kangaroo court,” said he hopes the appellate division “will take care” of the legal battles he’s facing and accused Judge Juan Merchan without evidence of being “highly conflicted.”

Trump insisted that his lawyers have presented a “phenomenal case” in the hush money trial and that "we’ve won the case by any standard.”

“Any other judge would’ve thrown this case out," he said.

Hoffinger started her cross-examination of Costello with a series of questions about emails he provided to the district attorney's office — including one message from Cohen in which he told Costello to stop contacting him.

“Please cease contacting me as you do not and have never represented me in this or any matter," Cohen wrote, according to the exhibit displayed to the courtroom.

Court has begun for the day with Costello set to return to the stand.

Here are Trump's guests today in court:

• Donald Trump Jr.
• Former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker
• Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi
• Sen. Eric Schmitt
• Rep. Daniel Webster
• Rep. Dan Meuser
• Rep. Ronny Jackson

Trump has been calling the politicians who make the pilgrimage to stand behind him in the New York City court where he is on trial his “surrogates” — as they push the lines of personal attacks that he has been barred from making because of a gag order.

The coordination and organization between Trump and those supporters have stoked questions about whether the remarks by the cast of Republicans amount to a violation of Trump’s gag order. But legal experts say that it’s difficult for prosecutors to argue a violation has occurred when Trump isn’t the one doing the talking and that, even if they were successful, it might trigger a consequence they’re trying to avoid: sending Trump to jail.

Read the full story here.

Dayna Perry, Cohen's lawyer, said she felt “relieved and exhausted but good” in her first interview after her client’s testimony in the Trump hush money trial concluded.

In response to Merchan’s excoriation of Robert Costello’s grumblings during his testimony, Perry said she and her client had left the courthouse by the time Costello took the stand but argued that Costello’s behavior underscores Cohen’s testimony about his distrust in Costello.

“And so, as Judge Juan Merchan apparently said at sidebar, the behavior bordered on 'contemptuous,' a legal term, and I think not -- not overly surprising given what we heard from the witness stand,” Perry said.

Pressed by Jen Psaki about whether she regrets Cohen waiving his attorney-client privilege when it comes to Costello, Perry said she doesn’t think there were “any blows that landed” because her client testified about the true nature of their relationship and “why he stayed at arm's length” from Costello.

Costello returns to the stand, and his demeanor will be under close scrutiny, particularly by Judge Merchan.

The judge threatened to strike all of Costello's testimony if he continues to exhibit the same kind of behavior from yesterday that Merchan described as "contemptuous." Losing Costello's testimony would be a setback for the defense, who called the veteran New York lawyer in an effort to undermine some of Cohen's recollection of events.

After Costello steps down from the stand, all attention will turn to Trump's attorneys to see if they call another witness or decide to rest. They have not said definitively whether Trump will testify.

In another sign that the trial is nearing the end, the prosecution rested after former Trump lawyer and self-described fixer Michael Cohen took the stand for the last time.

Cohen, in discussing the transactions surrounding the hush money payment, described a discrepancy in funds that prompted Trump's attorney to ask Cohen if he “stole from the Trump Organization.”

His response: “Yes, sir.”

The defense then called two witnesses — only to have the judge threaten to strike the remarks of Robert Costello, whose testimony aims to undermine Cohen's credibility.