After 15 days of testimony from 20 witnesses, the Manhattan district attorney’s office on Monday rested its case against former President Donald J. Trump.
The case was capped by three days of grinding cross-examination of his former fixer, Michael D. Cohen, who finally stepped off the stand on Monday afternoon, leaving jurors to weigh his truthfulness.
The defense began its case on a mission to sully the credibility of Mr. Cohen, the prosecution’s star witness, but the second witness Mr. Trump’s lawyers called to the stand quickly became embroiled in a squabble with the judge, Juan M. Merchan. The judge, not surprisingly, prevailed.
Though the defense is expected to be brief, Justice Merchan said that closing arguments would not happen until next week.
The former president is charged with falsifying 34 business records related to the reimbursement of a $130,000 hush-money payment to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, who says she had sex with Mr. Trump in Lake Tahoe, Nev., in 2006. Mr. Trump, 77, has denied the charges and has said he did not have an encounter with Ms. Daniels. If convicted, he could face prison or probation.
Here are five takeaways from Mr. Trump’s 19th day on trial.
‘The defense calls Robert Costello.’ It didn’t go well.
After Mr. Cohen was done, the defense commenced and soon called Robert Costello, a former legal adviser to Mr. Cohen, who said they spoke in 2018 and that Mr. Cohen told him that Mr. Trump “knew nothing” about payments to Ms. Daniels.