Former President Donald Trump decided not to testify in his trial for falsification of accounting records in New York, which concluded its testimony phase this Tuesday and is approaching a verdict.
After about five weeks, 19 testimonies, hundreds of documents and even statements of explicit sexual content, the first criminal trial against a former president of the United States is approaching its end.
Judge Juan Merchan announced that starting next week the final arguments will begin and the deliberation of the jurors will begin.
“On Tuesday you will hear arguments” from the defense and the prosecution, “and I hope you will begin deliberating” the next day, Merchan told jurors.
The jury must decide whether Trump is guilty of 34 accounting falsifications related to the payment of $130,000 to former porn actress Stormy Daniels, to buy her silence and avoid a possible sex scandal at the end of the 2016 presidential campaign.
The actress, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims to have had a sexual relationship with Trump in 2006, when he was already married to his current wife Melania. Donald Trump denies it.
Although the trial is not being broadcast live on TV due to New York law, the imminent verdict represents a delicate moment for Trump, who aspires to return to the White House in the November elections, in which he will once again face Democrat Joe Biden. .
For the Republican candidate to be declared guilty, the unanimity of the juries is necessary.
“Everyone says that there is no crime (…) All the experts say that there is no crime and that I have not done anything wrong,” the 77-year-old billionaire said upon his arrival at court.
If convicted, Trump could still run for president.
The interrogations ended with a defense witness, lawyer Robert Costello, a veteran of the courts who the day before questioned the version of the main accuser, Trump’s former personal lawyer and confidant, Michael Cohen.
This last witness, who had already started testifying on Monday, made the normally imperturbable Judge Merchan leave his chest.
