A defense lawyer for Donald J. Trump said Tuesday in the closing argument of his criminal hush-money trial that the former president was not only innocent, but also a victim of extortion by liars seeking his demise.
The person in fact at fault was Michael D. Cohen, his former fixer and a key witness for prosecutors in the first criminal case against a former American president, said Todd Blanche, the lawyer who delivered the closing argument.
During a sometimes meandering three-hour closing presentation, Mr. Blanche declared that Mr. Cohen lied directly to the jury and that Mr. Trump did not know about Mr. Cohen’s hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels, an adult film star who said she had sex with the former president.
Mr. Blanche used sports metaphors and a rambling Top 10 list in an effort to convince the 12 jurors of Mr. Trump’s innocence, repeatedly taking aim at Mr. Cohen.
“He’s literally like the M.V.P. of liars,” Mr. Blanche told the jury.
Later, Mr. Blanche tried a different sports-inspired description: “Michael Cohen is the G.L.O.A.T.,” he said, short for the “greatest liar of all time.”
Mr. Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records that stem from the $130,000 payment by Mr. Cohen to Ms. Daniels, who had been considering going public in the days before the 2016 election with her account of a sexual encounter a decade before.
Prosecutors have argued that Mr. Trump falsified records when he repaid Mr. Cohen in 2017 for that deal, deliberately mislabeling reimbursements as “legal expenses” to conceal their true purpose. The financial documents were processed by the Trump Organization, the former president’s family business.
Mr. Blanche told jurors Tuesday that the prosecution had not met its burden of proof, adding that the evidence “should leave you wanting more.” He reminded the jury that only Mr. Cohen had testified that Mr. Trump knew everything about the hush-money payment to Ms. Daniels.
“You cannot convict President Trump on any crime beyond a reasonable doubt on the words of Michael Cohen,” Mr. Blanche said.
Mr. Blanche said that Mr. Cohen had an ax to grind because he did not appreciate what Mr. Trump “did and did not do for him” after taking office.
Mr. Blanche said that there was “not a shred of evidence” that Mr. Trump had plotted to falsify records related to reimbursing Mr. Cohen. He also said that Mr. Cohen had a legitimate legal retainer with Mr. Trump as his personal lawyer. The records were not false, Mr. Blanche claimed, because of an oral retainer agreement. Prosecutors have said that no such agreement existed.
Several times, Mr. Blanche said that Mr. Trump did not have sex with Ms. Daniels.
He wrapped up the closing argument by listing 10 reasons that jurors should have reasonable doubt about Mr. Trump’s guilt. The final reason was Mr. Cohen, whom he called “the human embodiment of reasonable doubt.”
