Words that defined the week in Donald Trump’s trial

The former president is charged with falsifying 34 business records related to a hush-money payment to an adult film actor, Stormy Daniels, who says she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Prosecutors say Trump tried to conceal the payment, which was made in the days before the 2016 election.

Trump has denied the charges and the sex. If convicted, he could face prison or probation.

Here are the most memorable things said in court over the past seven days:

“That was a lie”

During a cross-examination that spanned three days, Todd Blanche, one of Trump’s defense lawyers, sought to persuade jurors that the testimony of Michael Cohen, the key prosecution witness, had been inconsistent.

“That was a lie,” Blanche declared, his voice echoing through the courtroom on Thursday as he shouted at Cohen, a man who was himself known for his brusque tactics as Trump’s trusted enforcer.

Cohen had testified that before making the hush-money payment he sought authorization from the man he called “the boss.” He made a call, lasting a minute and 36 seconds, to the number of Trump’s bodyguard, Keith Schiller. Cohen testified that he had spoken to Schiller briefly before talking to Trump.

Blanche accused Cohen of lying, saying that he had in fact called Schiller to complain after he was annoyed by a teenage prankster.

“You were actually talking to Mr. Schiller about the fact that you were getting harassing phone calls from a 14-year-old, correct?” said Blanche. Cohen maintained that he had called Schiller to speak to Trump about the payoff to Daniels.

“Your Honor, the people rest”

President Donald Trump sits in Manhattan Criminal Court during his ongoing trial. (file/AP)

Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor, on Monday told the judge that the state’s case was finished. After 15 days of testimony, Cohen, the 20th witness, was the prosecution’s last.

The team assembled by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, consisted of lawyers with state, federal and white-collar criminal defense backgrounds.

They summoned many witnesses who used to work with or for Trump, beginning with David Pecker, a longtime friend of the former president who as the publisher of The National Enquirer had helped quash potentially damaging stories.

Prosecutors concluded with Cohen, who linked Trump to the records that prosecutors say were falsified to hide the deal with Daniels.

“Are you staring me down right now?”

The judge, Juan M. Merchan, cleared the Manhattan courtroom Monday, irate after the defense’s main witness appeared to confront him from the stand.

The defense called the witness, Robert J. Costello, a former federal prosecutor with ties to Trump’s legal team, to attack Cohen’s credibility. Costello, a onetime informal adviser to Cohen, shook his head at one of Merchan’s rulings and muttered on the stand.

“Are you staring me down right now?” Merchan demanded of Costello before ordering the courtroom emptied and lecturing the witness.

He told Costello that his conduct was “contemptuous” and said, “If you try to stare me down one more time I will remove you from the stand,” adding, to the defense lawyers, “I will strike his testimony, do you hear me?”

“Get Cohen on the right page”

Costello, who for years represented Rudy Giuliani, a longtime associate of the former president, was the defense’s only substantive witness. Trump exercised his right not to testify in his own trial.

Costello cast doubt on Cohen’s testimony, saying that in 2018 Cohen had told him that Trump had nothing to do with the hush-money payment. The witness echoed Trump’s legal position that Cohen had been acting on his own.

But Costello’s appearance brought its own challenges for the defense. When he took the stand, prosecutors were able to introduce a new piece of evidence into the record.

“Our issue is to get Cohen on the right page without giving him the appearance that we are following instructions from Giuliani or the President,” Costello wrote to a partner in a 2018 email. A prosecutor, Susan Hoffinger, suggested that Costello was an agent of Trump working to prevent Cohen from turning on the then-president.

“You will begin your deliberations, hopefully, at some point on Wednesday”

On Tuesday, after both sides rested, the judge told the jury that they would most likely receive the case next week and would move on to deciding whether Trump was guilty.

The prosecution and the defense will deliver their closing arguments Tuesday, after the long Memorial Day weekend. Deliberations are expected to start Wednesday.