After Judge Juan Merchan completed his instructions to the jury, he had one final order for Donald Trump, his legal team and the prosecutors.
“I ask all of you to please be here,” he said Wednesday before heading to his dressing room. “You can’t leave the building.”
It is another moment of humiliation for the man who was leader of the free world for four years and may become leader of the free world again after the November elections.
He stopped traffic with his motorcade and closed Air Force One’s airspace. But for the past five weeks, Trump has had to follow rules set by a judge and enforced by bailiffs in a New York courtroom.
He must be in place before the judge calls the court to order, and must stand when the jury enters and leaves the room.
Former President Donald Trump speaks to the press as the jury began its deliberations on Wednesday. For once, Trump has little control over his days as he awaits a verdict
Now he must wait for hours every day in one of the conference rooms of the fading courthouse until the jury’s seven men and five women complete their deliberations.
He is stuck every day on the 15th floor of a crumbling courthouse, where his aides have complained about the state of the toilets and where an “asbestos abatement” warning is posted next to the elevators.
It’s a very ordinary setting for a real estate mogul who made his money in glittering Manhattan towers and whose last name became a byword for luxury.
The jury deliberated for four and a half hours Wednesday before being sent home by Judge Juan Merchan.
Prior to that, they requested a slew of testimony from a key Trump Tower meeting, where prosecutors allege a “capture and kill” plan was devised to bury negative stories, and from tabloid king David Pecker, the publisher at the time of the National investigator.
The jury’s request sounded in the form of a buzzer in courtroom 1530, prompting bailiffs to rush to alert the judge, defense and prosecution.
Trump returned to the courtroom, where he talked to his lawyers, and heard the judge read the jurors’ note asking for four testimonies.
Among other things, Pecker talks about a telephone conversation he had with Trump and his decision not to make a deal for the story of Playboy model Karen McDougal.
In his testimony, Pecker said Trump told him, “I don’t believe stories.”
Judge Juan Merchan gave his instructions to the jury and they began their deliberations late Wednesday morning. They deliberated for 4.5 hours before being sent home
David Pecker was the first witness called by the prosecution. The former publisher of the National Enquirer said he offered to be the “eyes and ears” of the Trump campaign
Twelve jurors will decide Donald Trump’s fate after six weeks of testimony
“And he said, ‘Every time you do something like that, it always comes out.’
“So I said… so I said, ‘I still believe we should take this story off the market.’
“And he said, ‘Let me think about it and then I’ll have Michael Cohen call you back in a few days.’
Trump denies 34 counts of falsifying company records to conceal a $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election.
The accuser alleges he hatched a plot to buy negative stories, using his fixer Cohen and friend Pecker to track down and sign up women to prevent them from being made public.
Pecker’s description of the phone call, made during an investor meeting, could be damaging to Trump’s defense because it suggests Trump was mulling over a deal and using Cohen to relay decisions and instructions.
It could also strengthen prosecutors’ claim that Trump had never previously been interested in buying negative stories but was willing to consider doing so once the election approached.
Don Jr. joined his father in the courtroom Wednesday as deliberations began
Natalie Harp (left) and Karoline Leavitt leave the courthouse as deliberations begin
Trump supporters stood in large numbers outside the courthouse on Wednesday
Trump supporters and their opponents spar outside the criminal court where former President Donald Trump is on trial
The defense, on the other hand, has argued that Trump simply wanted to protect his family and did not think to hide damaging information from voters.
Pecker ultimately backed out of a $150,000 deal to transfer McDougal’s life rights to a shell company set up by Cohen after consulting with lawyers. He said Cohen told him that “the boss” would be “very angry” with him.
And jurors also wanted to hear testimony from both Cohen and Pecker about a 2015 meeting at Trump Tower, when Pecker said he agreed to be the “eyes and ears” of the newly launched presidential campaign.
That meeting is the starting point of the prosecution’s case and provides a natural point for jurors to focus their attention.
Shortly after their first request was read by the judge, the buzzer sounded again. This time the jury asked again to hear his jury instructions.
Trump has changed his tires daily. On Wednesday it was a gold-flecked number
When he arrives at the court, he walks along the railing that determines where he can address the cameras
It reminded us where the power now lies in this case: with the seven men and five women of the jury.
The judge has told them to put aside their feelings about Trump and wait as long as necessary to reach a unanimous verdict.
“You are the arbiters of the facts and you are responsible for deciding whether the suspect is guilty or not guilty,” Merchan told them in their final instructions.
At times, Trump looked like a caged animal in court. He has looked into the public gallery, looked at reporters, and was caught by the judge uttering obscenities early in the proceedings.
Other times he tries to wield power almost in plain sight, slumped in his chair, eyes closed in a show of sleep or contempt for the court around him.
He has changed his tie daily in another attempt to control what he can do. Once a week it’s the usual red ties, with a navy blue suit and white shirt, but on Wednesday it was gold, with a polka dot pattern, while solid blue, patterned blue, orange and butter yellow were all also present.
And then there are the press appearances on the 15th floor in front of the cameras, where he can say whatever he wants (as long as he doesn’t violate a gag order that prevents him from talking about witnesses).
“Mother Teresa could not ignore these accusations,” he said at lunch on Wednesday.
“These charges are falsified. The whole country is a mess, between the borders and bogus elections, and you have a trial like this where the judge is so conflicted he can’t breathe.”
But even then, while he performs his free attacks, he is not as free as he seems. Balustrades determine exactly where he can stand while addressing the cameras.