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Josh Steinglass of the prosecution was not a mob rat, but a phone call he had with Cohen for a felony trial

Joshua Steinglass of the prosecution team knew he was taking a risk by “trading brevity for thoroughness” in his closing argument in the Donald Trump felony trial in Manhattan; besides being exhausted after an 11-hour day, jurors might conclude “the people” (the formal name for the prosecution) were not sure enough about their case to avoid piling on.

Prosecutor Josh Steinglass took out his own phone, set the timer and reenacted a call that was at the center of Cohen’s cross and direct examination two weeks ago. Cohen testified that in a phone call, he had both spoken with Trump’s bodyguard about a harassing teen and separately with Trump about the payment to Daniels. Trump’s lawyers aimed to discredit Cohen’s memory of that conversation — arguing that it would be hard to broach both subjects in that short time.

Steinglass tried to show that the case didn’t rely entirely on Cohen. Steinglass came back to the same testimony several times, the first week of it being that of David Pecker, the ex- publisher of The National Enquirer, who implicated Trump in a conspiracy to interfere in the election. And Steinglass assembled, disassembled and all but cleaned what he called “the smoking gun” — the handwritten notes detailing Trump’s scheme to disguise his reimbursement of Cohen as legal expenses.

The long faces in the guest section of the hotel reflected the sense in the courtroom that Trump didn’t mean to say his $420,000 payment to Cohen was a legal retainer. Steinglass showed that Trump admitted in documents that he had made a reimbursement.

Steinglass also proved that “Michael Cohen is no rogue actor” and that in 2018 Trump, Rudy Giuliani and the lawyer Robert Costello treated Cohen like a mob rat as part of the cover-up. This was La Casa Blanca meets La Cosa Nostra.

Steinglass told the jury that in order to acquit Trump, they would have to disregard several witnesses’ testimony — not just Cohen’s — including that of former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, and other pieces of evidence like handwritten notes on bank statements that detailed the math of how the payments would be made.

The prosecutor overreached by reminding jurors not to let Trump get away with shooting someone on Fifth Avenue, reminiscent of his famous line that he could get away with anything.

Steinglass stood down just after the judge sustained the objection to that and we all dragged ourselves off to bed. The jury will decide the case on Wednesday.

Tying this to the Daniels’ payment, Steinglass reminded jurors of the timing — how the deal to have Daniels sign a nondisclosure agreement came after the Access Hollywood tape became public.

Steinglass was implying that tabloids often purchase stories so that no one else can print them.

The Steinglass Trial: A final argument in the case of Trump against a Democrat after the 2016 presidential alleged affair with a tabloid star

The deal with the tabloid showed that is was the motivation for a settlement after the alleged encounter, and he claimed that it was not his family that Trump was concerned about.

The prosecutor said it all started at the August 2015 meeting with the National Enquirer publisher. Steinglass said that if money starts changing hands, that is a federal election law violation.

Steinglass spoke about how Trump’s alleged affair with an adult film star could hurt his presidential run. He said that Trump told his associates to ignore the negative media in the leadup to the election.

He said he was almost speechless that the defense was still arguing that it was for legal work.

There were two documents showing handwritten notes from Trump’s chief financial officer and his comptroller that clearly outlined the plan to pay for taxes, an expense and a bonus for $420,000. Steinglass said, “They are the smoking guns.”

“Despite his frugality, and attention to detail, the defendant didn’t ask any questions, cause he already knew the answers,” Steinglass argued, asking the jury to not believe the “bogus narrative that the defendant was too busy” while at the White House to notice the large sums of money was being spent.

Steinglass once again went through the specific checks and invoices in question and how Deborah Tarasoff, the accounts payable supervisor at the Trump Organization, packaged them together to send to Trump even after he went to the White House.

Steinglass referred to witnesses who worked for Trump, including current and former employees. He also referred to the witnesses who work for companies that published Trump’s books about his business philosophy.

Lawyers gave their final argument in the case against former President Donald Trump on Tuesday, as the historic trial nears an end.

A 12-person jury, which has listened to 22 witnesses and over six hours of arguments, is set to begin deliberating Wednesday. They might be days or weeks before they make a decision. A unanimous jury is needed to either convict or acquit Trump.

The trial, as well as Trump’s claim of a partisan conspiracy against him, was the main reason why he refrained from campaigning for president.

On Tuesday, Trump was joined in court by more family members than usual. Several people were present in the courtroom, including Donald Jr., Eric and Tiffany, as well as Michael Boulos, daughter-in-law and co-chair of the RNC.

As Trump Lawyer Todd Blanche was beginning his closing arguments, the Biden-Harris campaign held an event outside the courthouse in Manhattan featuring actor Robert DeNiro and U.S. Capitol police officers Harry Dunn and Michael Fanone.

Prosecutors spent 6 hours walking the jury through every part of their case and refuting claims made by the defense. The jury was shown all of the evidence they were given, including Daniels’ testimony about the 2006 sexual encounter in a hotel room. Steinglass told the jury that the display the defendants didn’t want the public to see was Stormy Daniels testimony.

Some of the felony counts are caused by the two checks signed by Trump’s sons. And he also told the jury that Cohen was the one who generated the 11 invoices that make up 11 of the felony counts on Trump.

He contended that the retainer was a legitimate one, because Cohen claimed he was Trump’s personal lawyer.

The secret recording of a conversation between Cohen and Trump that could confirm knowledge of the payment to Karen McDougal was cast doubt on by him.

Source: The last words: What each side said in closing arguments for Trump’s New York trial

What Happens If You Can’t Get It Through The National Enquirer? In an Empirical Analysis of the Case of the Teenager Prank

Blanche reiterated one of the points he made in openings: It doesn’t matter if there was a conspiracy to try to affect the election. A campaign is just a conspiracy to promote a candidate.

It’s commonplace for celebrities and candidates to work with tabloids to promote their campaigns.

It makes no sense for them to believe that they could influence the election through the use of the National Enquirer.

Starting with, “Hey, Keith, how’s it going?” Steinglass went through a phone call where he talked about the subject of the teenage prank and asked if he could talk to the boss. Steinglass talked about a small talk about taking care of that thing.