Here's what happened at Trump's trial today
- The prosecution rested its case against Donald Trump after his former lawyer Michael Cohen completed a fourth day on the stand. Cohen faced more questions about a key phone call he said he had with Trump in Oct. 2016. He also testified that he stole money from the Trump Organization as a form of "self-help."
- Cohen's testimony is central to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against Trump. The former president is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. He has pleaded not guilty.
- Cohen was the prosecution's final witness. The defense called to the stand Robert Costello, a criminal attorney who Cohen once considered hiring but with whom he now publicly feuds. Costello was admonished by Judge Juan Merchan over his remarks and behavior on the stand when the judge sustained objections pertaining to his testimony. The judge also removed all journalists from the courtroom to reprimand Costello.
- Merchan said both sides should expect to deliver closing arguments on May 28, after the Memorial Day holiday.
'We have a right to remain here': Journalists protested as judge cleared courtroom
Members of the media protested in open court today when Judge Merchan took the highly unusual step of clearing journalists from the courtroom during trial proceedings.
"Your Honor, may I object on behalf of the press," one person in the audience said, according to the official court transcript. "Your Honor, our lawyer is objecting, the press lawyer is objecting. We have a right to remain here."
The transcript includes other quotes from "a person in the audience" but does not specify if it was the same individual. The press was cleared by Merchan before he admonished defense witness Robert Costello for his behavior on the stand.
"This is an open courtroom," one person said while asking why the room was being cleared of journalists, while the attorneys and Trump’s surrogates were allowed to stay.
A court officer responded by saying, "This is not an open forum. We will answer all questions in the hallway."
NBC News has requested comment from a court spokesperson on why Merchan cleared the court to address Costello.
Judge tells Costello his ‘conduct is contemptuous’ after clearing press from courtroom
Judge Merchan chastised defense witness Robert Costello and threatened to strike all of his testimony in an exchange that took place after the judge unexpectedly had reporters removed from the courtroom.
"I’m putting you on notice that your conduct is contemptuous," the judge told Costello, according to the court transcript released this evening. "If you try to stare me down one more time, I will remove you from the stand."
Merchan then told Trump's attorney Emil Bove that he would strike Costello's "entire testimony" if his conduct persisted.
"Listen to the question and answer the question," Merchan told Costello.
"Can I say something, please?" Costello asked.
"No. No. This is not a conversation," the judge responded before telling the court officer to let the press back in the room.
When will this trial be over?
The schedule has been in a bit of a tumult today. When the trial wrapped last week, Judge Merchan told the lawyers to be prepared to deliver closing arguments this Tuesday. But before testimony even resumed this morning, the end of the trial had already been delayed by another week.
That’s because it wasn’t clear whether witness testimony was going to be finished by the end of the day today and whether there would be enough time for closing arguments, jury instructions and then deliberations to begin before the long holiday weekend. So Merchan made the decision to let witness testimony conclude this week and then take off for the holiday.
Then, another twist got added to the mix when the defense and prosecution argued over entering a photo from a C-SPAN video. To be able to enter the photo, the prosecution asked to bring in another witness, requesting to do so tomorrow. But Trump’s lawyers got mad, saying they had two witnesses waiting and wanted to conclude today. Eventually, they reached an agreement.
So the schedule as it is written now: Defense witness Robert Costello will be back on the stand tomorrow, and the judge and lawyers will meet Thursday to discuss jury instructions. They're taking Friday and Monday off for Memorial Day and closing arguments will be next week.
Trump complains about judge admonishing defense witness
Trump exited the courtroom and complained about Judge Merchan clearing the courtroom to admonish a defense witness.
"The press is not happy, I don’t imagine, they just got thrown out of a courthouse. Nobody has seen anything like it," Trump said.
Trump also complained that he wasn't able to call an expert witness to discuss federal election law. Courts generally oppose legal witness testimony since it's the court that interprets the law in a case.
Court adjourned for the day
Judge Merchan has dismissed the court for the day and said it will reconvene tomorrow at 9:30 am ET.
Judge won't rule immediately on defense's motion to dismiss
Judge Merchan said he will wait to decide on Trump lawyer Todd Blanche's motion to dismiss the case.
Trump attorney argues case can't hang only on Cohen's testimony
Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche argued that the case can't be decided based only on Cohen's testimony.
“There is no way the court should let this case go to the jury relying on Mr. Cohen’s testimony," Blanche told the judge.
Blanche went on to say that Cohen has lied to the court repeatedly about his congressional testimony, and that Cohen's entire testimony in the case should not be considered because of his "history of lying under oath."
Judge asks if Cohen can 'fool 12 New Yorkers'
As is routine, the court is now hearing arguments from the defense that the case should be dismissed because the prosecution failed to prove a crime.
Judge Merchan responded to Trump's lawyer Blanche saying that because Cohen has lied in the past, his entire testimony should be tossed out: “Do you think that he’s going to fool 12 New Yorkers?”
Robert Costello calls Michael Cohen a 'drama queen'
Costello went on to describe Cohen as a "drama queen" while answering questions about meeting Cohen following the FBI's raid of his home, office and hotel room.
Costello testified that when it happened, Cohen was "suicidal that day and very manic."
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked Costello if he thought Cohen was a drama queen for his response. Costello answered that he didn't know Cohen at that time, and thought "he was putting on quite a show."
Defense makes motion to dismiss
The defense has made a motion to dismiss the case — saying the prosecution has failed to prove business records were falsified.
It is common for defense teams to make a motion to dismiss after the prosecution has finished completing their case.