Jurors 'can absolutely see' Trump 'dozing peacefully' at trial: courtroom reporters

14 May 2024

Former President Donald Trump reportedly can't keep his eyes open during his criminal trial proceedings in Manhattan, even with his former personal attorney taking the witness stand to testify against him.

That's according to several reporters who were present in Judge Juan Merchan's courtroom on Tuesday, who say they witnessed the 45th president of the United States nodding off during the testimony that could determine his fate. New York Post reporter Ben Kochman tweeted Tuesday afternoon that he personally saw Trump "slouched at the defense table yet again with his eyes closed, this time for more than 15 minutes."

"Whether he's sleeping or this is some sort of silent protest is hard to say," Kochman wrote. "But jurors -- who have been awake the whole time-- can absolutely see this."

Kochman wasn't the only journalist to witness the former president asleep during Cohen's testimony. New York Times reporter Jonathan Swan observed that even though Trump's lawyers seemed "on edge" while Cohen testified about his role in paying off women who claimed to have had extramarital affairs with his former client, Trump was "very much not on edge."

"His eyes are closed and he appears to be dozing peacefully," Swan reported.

The septuagenarian ex-president has consistently been unable to keep his eyes open during his trial, even though the proceedings don't usually start until 10 AM Eastern Time. MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin reported in April that Trump's lawyers have tried several tactics to keep their client alert during his trial, like making sure he has "a stack of papers with him at all times now to go through" and having an attorney by his side during sidebars so Trump isn't left alone to doze off.

"Neither of those things seem to have protected Trump from his own exhaustion," Rubin said. "More than not, when I looked up to see how Trump was receiving the testimony, Trump was not receiving it all, because his eyes were closed."

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's prosecutors have said that Cohen will be their last witness of the trial before resting their case. Defense attorneys are spending Tuesday afternoon cross-examining Cohen in an attempt to attack his credibility before the jury. The ex-president's former lawyer and fixer has been testifying about his role in helping Trump allegedly facilitate hush money payments to adult film star and director Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal ahead of the 2016 election.

The defense has not indicated whether they would call the former president to the stand to testify in his own defense, even though Trump has said he would. The only expert witness Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles have said they may call to the stand — who is reportedly an expert in federal election law — has said he wouldn't be available until Monday, and it remains unclear if he will ultimately testify.

Trump is facing 34 felony counts of alleged falsification of business records. Bragg has argued those crimes were committed in order to advance the reality TV star and business mogul's presidential ambitions in 2016, and characterized the hush money payments as illegal campaign expenditures.

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