Trump sought to ‘hoodwink’ voters with porn star payment, prosecutor tells jury

A New York prosecutor told jurors that the hush money payment at the heart of former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial was an attempt to “hoodwink the American voter” during the 2016 election, as lawyers made their closing arguments on Tuesday.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said the $130,000 payment that ensured porn star Stormy Daniels would not discuss an alleged sexual encounter was part of a broad effort to bury stories that might have damaged his first White House bid.
“We’ll never know if this effort to hoodwink the American voter impacted the election, but that’s something we don’t need to prove,” Steinglass said.
Jurors could begin deliberating as soon as Wednesday in the first criminal trial of a U.S. president. The trial was due to resume at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT) with the judge issuing instructions to the jury.
Trump, 77, faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business documents to cover up the payment to Daniels. He has pleaded not guilty, denies ever having sex with Daniels and appeared to be unimpressed with Steinglass’s closing argument.