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The defense promptly began presenting their arguments this morning, and after calling just two witnesses, they have rested their case.
The jurors have been dismissed by Judge Juan Merchan util May 28th.
The defense's initial witness was a paralegal who had compiled a chart of phone calls between Michael Cohen and his attorney, Robert Costello. Following this brief testimony, Costello himself took the stand. Echoing his previous statements to Congress, Costello testified that Cohen was desperate to alleviate his legal troubles in 2018. Costello recounted telling Cohen that cooperation and truthful information about Trump could resolve his issues quickly. According to Costello, Cohen responded, "I swear to God, Bob, I don’t have anything on Donald Trump.”
Costello further testified that Cohen repeatedly stated Trump had no knowledge of the payments made to Stormy Daniels, asserting, "Michael Cohen said numerous times that President Trump knew nothing about those payments, that he did this on his own, and he repeated that numerous times.”
In light of Costello's testimony, the defense requested Judge Merchan to dismiss the case against Trump. Trump's lawyer, Todd Blanche, argued, "There’s absolutely no evidence that the filings were false. The business records were not false. There’s no disputing that Mr. Cohen provided legal services for President Trump in 2017.” Judge Merchan indicated he would rule on the motion to dismiss at a later time.