The jury in former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York will resume deliberations Thursday to reach a verdict, a day after jurors received their instructions to decide the case.
The 12 Manhattan residents on the jury met behind closed doors for nearly five hours on Wednesday. They ended the day by asking to review several portions of testimony from two witnesses in the case, David Pecker and Michael Cohen, about key interactions both 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 reimbursements for a “hush money” payment Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Prosecutors say Trump tried to cover up the payment by disguising the purpose of the refunds.
The testimony jurors wanted to review covered several interactions involving Cohen, Trump and Pecker, the CEO of American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer. Prosecutors say the three were involved in a “catch and kill” scheme to bury negative stories about Trump.
The jury asked to hear parts of the testimony related to Pecker’s testimony about a phone conversation he had with Trump; his decision to refuse to sign over to Cohen the life rights of a former Playboy model who said he had sex with Trump; and a meeting at Trump Tower in 2015. They also asked for Cohen’s testimony about the Trump Tower meeting.
