Alvin Bragg’s Team Points To ‘Smoking Gun’ in Trump Case

Prosecutors from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg have argued that “smoking gun” documents were presented in the New York City criminal trial of former President Donald Trump.

Joshua Steinglass called notes from former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg and former controller Jeff McConney “the smoking guns” while delivering the prosecution’s closing arguments in the Trump trial on Tuesday, according to Newsweek reporter Katherine Fung, who was present in the courtroom.

The notes purportedly instructed Trump to illegally falsify business records to cover up “hush money” payments that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

Steinglass said during his closing statement that he was “speechless” Trump’s defense team was still claiming that the payments were “legal fees,” calling the documents presented during trial “so damning you almost have to laugh.”

The Context

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up the hush money payments, an alleged plot that took place during his first presidential campaign. The ex-president claims that the charges are part of a political “witch hunt,” maintaining that he is the victim of “election interference” as he campaigns for a return to the White House in this year’s election.

Cohen was previously convicted and served time in jail for his role in facilitating the payments to Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, both of whom claimed affairs with Trump around the time that then-future First Lady Melania Trump was pregnant with the couple’s son Barron. The former president denies that the affairs took place.

Prosecutors presented in court the documents that they later called “the smoking guns” earlier this month: an internal payment record from Weisselberg concerning a payment to Daniels’s lawyer and handwritten notes from McConney that prosecutors say prove the money was intended as payment for Daniels.

What We Know

During his closing statement in court on Tuesday, Steinglass admonished Trump lawyer Todd Blanche for having “pretended” that the allegedly incriminating documents came from Cohen, arguing that the documents were instead from the Trump Organization.

“Mr. Blanche pretended that this all came from Michael Cohen but these documents are Trump Org documents,” Steinglass said. “It came from them!”

“They are the smoking guns,” he continued. “They completely blow out of the water the defense’s claims that it was for legal services. I’m almost speechless that they’re still trying to make this argument.”

Newsweek reached out for comment to Blanche via email on Tuesday evening.

Views

Law professor Ryan Goodman, a former special counsel to the general counsel of the Department of Defense, said that the documents were “close to being smoking guns” shortly after they were presented by the prosecution amid testimony from McConney.

“They’re really incredible documents that Mr. McConney testified about,” Goodman said during a CNN interview following the May 6 testimony. “I’d even say they’re close to being smoking guns—that significant.”

What’s Next

Blanche completed the defense’s closing argument earlier on Tuesday, at one point being admonished by New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan for warning the jury that Trump could be imprisoned if they convict him.

Steinglass had not yet completed the prosecution’s closing argument at the time of publication on Tuesday night. The jury is expected begin deliberations once closing statements are completed, with a verdict that could determine Trump’s fate potentially coming soon after.

Update 05/28/24 6:58 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.