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By Natalie Venegas
Weekend Reporter
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Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial, made a "smart move" on Monday, according to legal analyst Joyce Vance, as he announced closing arguments in the case will take place next week.
Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, became the first former president in U.S. history to stand trial in a criminal case last month. Following an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office, Trump was indicted in March 2023 on charges of falsifying business records relating to hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels by his then-lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen during his 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels had alleged she had an affair with Trump in 2006, which he has denied. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges and said the case against him is politically motivated.
On Monday, Merchan said it appears that the trial proceedings will wrap up this week, but expects closing arguments will be next Tuesday, the day after the Memorial Day weekend. Previously, closing arguments were anticipated as early as tomorrow.
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"Judge Merchan says closing argument will take place next Tuesday, after the holiday weekend. Smart move that avoids breaking up the arguments from the jury deliberations," Vance, a former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama during the Obama administration, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday morning.
Newsweek has reached out to Trump's spokesperson and Bragg's office via email for comment.
In response to Vance, conservative lawyer and Trump critic George Conway wrote on X, "Makes sense."
Ahead of Merchan's announcement, Trump, who addressed reporters before walking into the courtroom on Monday morning, seemingly noted the holiday weekend as he referred to a "very big gap between days."
"It looks like we're gonna have a very big gap between days and it's going to be determined right now in court, but we're here about an hour early today," the former president said. "I'm not allowed to have anything to do with politics because I'm sitting in a very freezing cold courtroom for the last four weeks. It's very unfair. They have no case, they have no crime."
This comes as the trial continues with witness testimony as Cohen, a Trump critic, will take the stand for a fourth day. He is prosecutors' 20th and final witness.
Meanwhile, it's still unknown if Trump will take the stand. Speculation over whether he will testify in the trial has ramped up as the former president previously said he "would have no problem testifying" in the case because he "didn't do anything wrong."
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