'Former US president Donald Trump is innocent'

He did not commit any crimes, and the district attorney has not met their burden of proof, lawyer of Trump says

As the hush money trial of former US President Donald Trump is nearing its conclusion, both parties have started their closing arguments.

The 77-year-old was indicted last year in March for paying hush money to Stormy Daniels in 2016 before the presidential elections.

During the closing remarks, Todd Blanche, who is Trump’s attorney, said that the former president is innocent, questioning the credence of the testimony by Michael Cohen.

“We see you paying close attention to the evidence all day every day, and we really appreciate that,” Blanche added.

“I started out by saying something that I’m going to repeat to you right now. It’s as true right now as it was on April 22. And that is President Trump is innocent. He did not commit any crimes, and the district attorney has not met their burden of proof — period. The evidence is all in,” Blanche said.

“The evidence should leave you wanting more. You should want and expect more than the testimony of Michael Cohen,” Blanche stated.

Defense attorney Todd Blanche maintained that the case is about documents, not Stormy Daniels. He said: “It’s a paper case. This case is not about an encounter with Stormy Daniels 18 years ago.”

“An encounter that President Trump has unequivocally and repeatedly denied occurred,” the Republican’s lawyer said.

“You cannot convict President Trump of any crime beyond a reasonable doubt on the words of Michael Cohen. They were lies. Pure and simple,” Blanche said.