The closing argument for the defense spent a bit more time on Stormy Daniels than I expected, but otherwise, it was what I anticipated–lots of memorable attacks on Michael Cohen and plenty of mud on the wall. In my view, the scattershot approach probably burned some credibility with the jury on the factual issue that is genuinely debatable: the lack of corroboration as to Trump’s role with the false records. You can probably attribute that to Trump’s desire for complete vindication, not to any lack of competence on the part of his lawyers.
The prosecution’s closing was at least an hour too long. Nevertheless, it is fair to say that it demolished the arguments of the defense on issues such as whether Cohen was freelancing or whether the payments were actually reimbursements. I don’t think there is any real likelihood the jury will decide for the defense on those points.
The real issues in this case are legal. What was the prosecution required to prove relative to the intersection of the falsified records and the alleged election conspiracy? After all, the records were generated after the election, and they weren’t in the public domain.
As far as I can tell, neither side said much about that during the closing. My guess is that means the judge has told them he will be giving jury instructions that favor the prosecution. We’ll find out today.