‘I don’t get rest’: Donald Trump decides not to take stand in hush money trial

Published

1 year ago

May 21, 2024

admin

Donald Trump did not take the stand in his hush money trial, as jurors could start deliberating on whether or not he is guilty next week.

Mr Trump, 77, is accused of falsifying business records over hush money payments to the porn star Stormy Daniels in the lead-up to his 2016 presidential campaign.

But on day 20 of the trial, the former president’s defence rested without calling him to the stand. Instead, former federal prosecutor Robert Costello was called as the final witness.

Follow latest: Defence rests case without calling Trump

Judge Juan Merchan said he expects closing arguments to happen on 28 May. Jurors have been dismissed until then, and could begin deliberating as soon as next week to decide whether or not Trump is guilty.

Ever since the outset of the trial in April, Trump had asserted he would testify in his own defence despite it being uncommon for defendants to do so.

The former president also falsely claimed a gag order placed on him by judge Merchan prevented him from speaking in court.

‘We’ll be resting pretty quickly’

Sky News’ US correspondent James Matthews also heard Trump tell reporters ahead of Tuesday’s proceedings: “We’ll be resting pretty quickly. I won’t be resting.

“I don’t rest, I’d like to rest sometimes but I don’t get to rest.”

Analysis: Verdict could be in by the end of next week – but still one big question to answer first

Looking at the timetable, we could have a verdict by the end of next week. With the prosecution and defence having rested, the court has begun to contemplate the case’s conclusion.

Tuesday has seen discussions over the instructions the judge will give the jury when its 12 members are sent to consider a verdict.

Prosecutors brought this case to court as the deliberate falsification of business records, a misdemeanour. That’s elevated to a felony if they can prove it was an act intended to conceal information from voters that could have impacted on his chances at the 2016 election.

The exact crime in question will crystallise in discussions between the judge, prosecution, and defence. A three-way courtroom conference will shape the instructions given to the jury, a last job for the judge next week before he sends them to deliberate.

It is the business of criminal prosecution, the nuts and bolts of American justice that underpin this process. As things stand, closing arguments (summations) could begin next Tuesday, with the jury being sent out soon after.

Witness-wise, it was deprived of a big finish when Donald Trump declined to give testimony, as he had said he would.

“We’ll be resting pretty quickly,” he said. “I won’t be resting. I don’t rest. I’d like to rest sometimes, but I don’t get to rest.”

It was a statement for the cameras in the court building corridor. The rest is history, like everything else in this most significant trial.

The prosecution alleges the former president tried to cover up a $130,000 payment to Ms Daniels, who told the court she had a “sexual encounter” with Trump at a celebrity golf outing in Lake Tahoe in July 2006.

Though the hush money payment itself is not illegal, the former president faces 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide his reimbursement to his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who initially paid for the transaction.

Cohen testified that a number of invoices, cheques and stubs were false records made to cover payments to Ms Daniels, and said none of them were for work carried out in the months to which they corresponded.

Trump has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers say there was nothing criminal about the Daniels deal or the way Cohen was paid.

Cohen lied under oath

The former president’s defence have also attempted to discredit Mr Cohen, who admitted during the trial that he lied under oath.

Defence lawyer Todd Blanche said on Monday: “There is no way that the court should let this case go to the jury relying on Cohen’s testimony.”

Trump’s lawyers also moved to have judge Merchan dismiss the case before jury deliberations, arguing there was no evidence that Trump had committed the crimes.

The judge did not immediately rule on the request by the defence.

And speaking outside the courtroom after the defence rested, Donald Trump Jr defended his father’s choice to not testify and repeated claims that the trial is politically motivated.

“Why would you justify this insanity? You don’t subject yourself to that. You’re going in a kangaroo court, nothing more nothing less,” he said.

“There’s absolutely no reason or justification to do that whatsoever. Everyone sees it for the sham that it is.”

US

Donald Trump threatens to revoke Rosie O’Donnell’s US citizenship

Published

1 hour ago

July 13, 2025

admin

Donald Trump threatens to revoke Rosie O'Donnell's US citizenship

Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.

In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”

He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.

O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.

“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.

“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”

O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.

She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.

O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.

This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.

But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.

Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.

“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.

“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”

US

Farmer becomes first person to die during Trump’s ICE raids

Published

4 hours ago

July 13, 2025

admin

Farmer becomes first person to die during Trump's ICE raids

A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.

Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.

His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.

The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.

“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.

Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.

Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.

Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.

“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.

“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”

Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.

In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.

“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.

US

Donald Trump threatens to revoke Rosie O’Donnell’s US citizenship

Published

4 hours ago

July 13, 2025

admin

He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.

O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.

“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.

“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”

O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.

O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.

This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.

But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.

“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.

“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”