| 04:25:48 PM
The jury is sent home early for the day and won’t return until Monday morning.
Trump counsel Emil Bove appears to confirm that they do plan to put on a defense case after the government rests sometime next week.
Bove is walking Justice Merchan through some terminology they expect to elicit from an election law expert.
Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass objects, saying the defense is trying to get expert testimony about the interpretation of federal campaign finance law into the trial, which the judge has already precluded.
Bove counters that because of the way prosecutors have structured their case, the jury needs to be able to judge whether any of the payments at issue qualify as campaign contributions.
Justice Merchan indicates that he’s inclined to stick to his original ruling that precludes Trump’s expert from offering interpretations of campaign finance laws, but can give information on the background and nature of the Federal Election Commission and general definitions and terms that relate to this case. However, the judge says he’ll consider the matter over the weekend.
Blanche says he’ll probably conclude his cross-examination of Cohen on Monday. Unless Trump testifies, it sounds like the expert may be the only defense witness in this trial.
We’ll be back on Monday with more live coverage.