Trump keeps a straight face when judge says there is a verdict
Donald Trump was leaning back in his chair when the judge took the bench. He kept a straight face when the judge announced there was a verdict.
Attorney Todd Blanche is whispering in Trump's ear. Trump crosses his arms in front of his chest and nods slightly.
Judge asks: "Please let there be no reactions, no outbursts of any kind"
Judge Juan Merchan said, "Please let there be no reactions, no outbursts of any kind," when they read the verdict.
Trump was leaning back in his chair when the judge took the bench. He kept a straight face when the judge announced there was a verdict.
Trump just leaned over to talk to Bove. His hands are folded in front of his stomach.
JUST IN: Verdict reached in Trump’s New York hush money trial
From CNN's Kara Scannell, Lauren del Valle and Jeremy Herb
The jury has reached a verdict in Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial.
The verdict will be read in court shortly.
Trump thanks court staff and chats with defense attorney
Donald Trump is saying "Thank you" to the court staff in the well and pointing to them.
Trump's demeanor is perhaps the most relaxed it's been inside the courtroom since jury selection, as he's leaning back chatting with attorney Todd Blanche and thanking various staff.
Trump and Blanche have been chatting on and off for the past few minutes, with both of them smiling and laughing at points. A couple times when he and Blanche stopped talking, Trump would reach out and lightly swat Blanche's arm to get his attention and then they'd start talking again.
Judge says he will excuse the jury at 4:30 p.m. ET today
Judge Juan Merchan says he's going to excuse the jury at 4:30 p.m. ET today.
Merchan says he asked the parties to come in now so he could tell them that he's going to send the jury home for the day.
He's now stepped off the bench, and says he'll be back in a few minutes.
Donald Trump and the prosecutors are in the courtroom
The prosecution team has entered the courtroom as has Donald Trump.
Trump could be heard saying "I want to campaign" in the hallway as he walked in.
The jury has been deliberating for more than 11 hours at this point.
Trump has a smile on his face, laughing a bit with his attorney Todd Blanche as he sits down.
Here's a reminder of what both sides said in closing arguments before jury deliberations began
From CNN's Jeremy Herb, Lauren del Valle and Kara Scannell
Before the jury received instructions and began deliberating, the defense and prosecution gave their closing arguments in Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial.
They offered the jury opposing stories about the payment made toStormy Danielsin October 2016 and the subsequent reimbursem*nt to Michael Cohen the following year. Which narrative the jury believes could ultimately decide Trump’s legal fate.
Here are some takeaways from the closing arguments:
Defense argues jurors cannot convict on Michael Cohen’s words: Trump's attorney Todd Blanche was up first, and he spent much of his two-hour closing argument attacking the credibility of Cohen, Trump’s former fixer.
- He accused Cohen of lying directly to the jury, on top of the lies he was convicted of telling. Cohen lied so much, Blanche alleged, that he should be considered the Tom Brady of lying – the “GLOAT,” or the “Greatest Liar of All Time.”
- Blanche focused on Cohen’s claims about his phone call with Trump on October 24, 2016. Cohen testified that Trump's bodyguard Keith Schiller put Trump on the phone so Cohen could tell him he was going forward with the Daniels payment.
- Blanche told the jury it’s clear they were talking about the teen prankster because Cohen hung up and texted Schiller about the situation then followed up the next morning.
Prosecution defends Cohen but argues there’s more to the case: Over four hours and 41 minutes, Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass pushed back against Blanche’s attacks, arguing there was plenty of corroboration of Cohen’s testimony, both from documents and the testimony of others, particularly former AMI chief David Pecker.
- Steinglass tried to rebut Blanche’s allegation about the October 24, 2016, call with a bit of role-playing and acted out a theoretical call Cohen could have made where he talked to both Schiller and Trump. “These guys know each other well. They speak in coded language, and they speak fast,” Steinglass said of Cohen and Trump.
- Steinglass also focused on testimony from Pecker to help bolster Cohen’s credibility, such as showing that Cohen’s story was corroborated by Pecker’s description of a phone call with Trump about the Karen McDougal story in June 2016.
- He also walked jurors back through all of the documents and testimony they had heard or seen during the trial, beginning with the 2015 Trump Tower meeting.
Trump claims jury instructions given by judge are unfair
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury
As the jury was deliberating on Thursday, Donald Trump posted on social media that the instructions given by Judge Juan Merchan were "unfair."
In a second post on Truth Social, Trump criticized Merchan, saying he was biased and complaining about the gag order.
Some context: Trump hasrepeatedlymade the gag order sound far broader than it is. Heclaimedat a campaign rally that “I’m not even supposed to be, I would say, talking to you, because he gagged me” – though the gag order actually says nothing to prevent him from making a campaign speech.
Merchan wrote in the gag order: “Defendant has a constitutional right to speak to the American voters freely, and to defend himself publicly.”
The jury has been deliberating for more than 11 hours over 2 days
From CNN staff
The jury has now had the case for more than 11 hours.
Thepanel of 12 New Yorkerswill determine whether former President Donald Trump isguilty of 34 felony chargesof falsifying business recordsrelated to a hush money paymentto an adult film star before the 2016 presidential election.
Jurors were asked to surrender their phones during deliberations, and can only discuss the case when all 12 of them are together at the Manhattan courthouse.
They must be unanimous if they find Trump guilty on each count – on whether he committed the crime personally, acted in concert with others or both.
