The jury in former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York will resume deliberations toward reaching a verdict Thursday, a day after jurors received their instructions to decide the case.
The 12 Manhattan residents who serve on the jury met behind closed doors Wednesday for nearly five hours. They ended the day by asking to review several parts of the testimony of two witnesses in the case, David Pecker and Michael Cohen, about key interactions the two men said they had with Trump in 2015 and 2016.
The jurors also asked the judge to repeat the instructions that will guide their deliberations. The testimony and instructions will be read in court.
Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records stemming from the reimbursement of a “hush money” payment Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Prosecutors say Trump attempted to cover up the payment by concealing the purpose of the refunds.
The testimony jurors were asked to consider focused on several interactions involving Cohen, Trump and Pecker, who was the CEO of American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer. Prosecutors say the three men engaged in a “catch and kill” scheme to bury negative stories about Trump.
The jury asked to hear portions of the testimony regarding Pecker’s testimony regarding a phone call he had with Trump; his decision to refuse to transfer to Cohen the lifetime rights of a former Playboy model who said she had sex with Trump; and a meeting at Trump Tower in 2015. They also requested Cohen’s testimony about the Trump Tower meeting.
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