Trump's Trial in NY

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Testimony in Donald Trump’s historic hush money case resumed Tuesday, with prosecutors urging the court to hold the former president in contempt for attacking witnesses and others, and former tabloid impresario David Pecker returning to the stand with details that linked Trump’s circle to a slew of salacious stories.

Earlier, as Trump awaited the hearing over the gag order in the case, his fundraising appeals took on a frantic tone. Deliberations stretched on for more than an hour, but the judge presiding over the case, Juan Merchan, opted to wait and rule later.

It left in limbo Trump’s assertion that he had not willfully violated the order, as his attorney vowed, and any consequences if the judge rules that he did. And Trump continued to rail against the gag order.

Here is what you missed on Day 6 of Trump’s hush money trial:

Witness David Pecker returned to the stand
Pecker, the former CEO of AMI and publisher of the National Enquirer, described giving directions to implement an agreement with Trump to help his 2016 presidential campaign. Pecker said the Enquirer had “embellished” stories about some of Trump’s opponents at Michael Cohen’s request, including a piece about the father of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, being involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy

The publication had “mashed the photos” together of Lee Harvey Oswald and Cruz’s father, Pecker said, conceding that an article Trump cited repeatedly on the campaign trail was a fabrication.

Prosecutors implicate Steve Bannon — and identify Trump’s alleged ‘primary’ crime
Under questioning, Pecker recounted how Trump introduced him to Steve Bannon, a top adviser to Trump’s 2016 campaign. He and Bannon “would work well together,” the publisher said Trump told him.

“I believe that you and Steve would get along really well,” Pecker said Trump told him in October 2016. Asked if Bannon had ever pitched him stories, Pecker said Bannon had suggested how a reporter from the National Enquirer could appear on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show to discuss the articles with Hannity.

Doing so would reach an audience of millions. At the time, Fox News had surged to become the most-watched cable news channel, with Hannity, a high-profile Trump ally, enjoying the biggest ratings boost of any host on the network in October that year — a 65% jump over the previous month, according to Nielsen ratings.

Amid objections from the defense, who said they had no notice that Bannon was being considered a co-conspirator, the prosecution argued that the requests are relevant to the “primary” underlying crime, New York Election Law 17-152.

The law prohibits conspiracies to promote the election of a specific candidate through unlawful means.

Cohen’s involvement
Pecker said he believed Cohen to be a stand-in for Trump because of how involved he had been in Trump’s business operations and that this continued into the campaign.

He detailed that as the negotiations over buying stories grew, he talked to Cohen daily. Trump’s lawyer, Pecker testified, told him to stop using a landline phone and instead begin using a secure messaging app called Signal, which deletes messages after a period of time.

As Trump’s rivals gained ground during the presidential primary, the National Enquirer would publish stories crafted to impugn their credibility.

“‘Family Man’ Marco Rubio’s Love Child Stunner,” read one headline that is among the exhibits in the trial. Another promised to detail “Senator Marco Rubio’s cocaine connection.” Rubio, a Florida Republican, denied those stories at the time and Pecker suggested that they were published without evidence.

Pecker detailed the scheme like so:

“After the Republican debates, and based on the success that some of the other candidates had, I would receive a call from Michael Cohen, and he would direct me and direct Dylan Howard which candidate and which direction we should go,” he said. “That’s how the process happened.”

There were other stories designed to offer Trump a boost, including a piece about Trump’s wife, Melania, and “how she inspired Trump to run.” Another claimed that Barack Obama’s half-brother was “cheering on Donald Trump at debate.”

Conversations with Trump
Pecker explained his relationship “over the years” with Trump, and how he got to know him.

“I would describe Mr. Trump as very knowledgeable. I would describe him very detail-oriented. I would describe him almost micromanaging,” Pecker said, amid a discussion over payments. “Looking at all the aspects of whatever the issue was,” he said.

Pecker later told the courtroom how he and Trump had talked every couple of weeks. On rare occasions, it was Trump’s bodyguard Keith Schiller who would sometimes pass messages to him.

Pecker also testified that he took actions he would not have taken otherwise to protect Trump.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked if Pecker had paid $30,000 for an untrue story as “a way to lock it up.”

Pecker said that, yes, he sought to bury it to avoid “potential embarrassment” to Trump and was prepared to spend a sum far out of the ordinary to do so.

Merchan reserved judgment on the gag order
An attorney for the district attorney’s office argued that Trump “seems to be angling” for incarceration by repeatedly and knowingly violating the gag order. Prosecutors had asked that he be held in contempt for attacking witnesses and others in the case, saying that they aren’t asking that Trump be imprisoned but want him fined for at least 10 violations.

The charge came just hours after Trump warned in a fundraising appeal, which he called a “FAREWELL MESSAGE,” that he “could be thrown in jail.”

Trump has been awaiting the hearing on the gag order since last week and, in the meantime, has continued to jab at witnesses in the case outside the courtroom, on his campaign website and on social media.

One New York Post article Trump shared that was cited by prosecutors referred to Cohen as a “serial perjurer [who] will try to prove an old misdemeanor.” Trump, on the first day of the trial, posted it twice on Truth Social and on his campaign website. He did it again the following day.

“The defendant is having his day in court and he is doing everything he can to try to undermine that process,” said prosecutor Chris Conroy. He said the prosecution would file another order arguing statements Trump made about Cohen on Monday in the courthouse hallway also violated the order.

But Trump’s lawyer insisted the gag order had not been willfully violated. He is facing a “barrage” of attacks from people “who can say whatever they want,” while he cannot respond, said Todd Blanche.

Merchan grew visibly frustrated as Blanche continued to make the case for Trump. “He’s saying there are two systems of justice in this courtroom?” Merchan asked. Blanche responded, “Yes, your honor. That’s what his message is.”

The judge pressed Trump’s attorney to show him the exact post that Trump was responding to. “I’ve asked you eight or nine times,” said Merchan. “You’ve been unable to do that even once.”

Trump, seated at the defense table, kept his eyes closed and appeared disinterested.

Blanche, asked whether the defense had any other arguments to hand up, responded that they are “trying to comply” with the gag order. “President Trump is being very careful,” he said.

Merchan snapped, “You’re losing all credibility with the court.”

.........presenting a defense that emphasizes his alleged humanity

Jurors will now have a three-day weekend to think about what they heard during the first full week of testimony in the historic Donald Trump hush money trial.

David Pecker finally stepped down from the witness stand after more than 10 hours of testimony across four days, where the former American Media Inc. chief described in detail how he helped Donald Trump suppress negative stories and pummel Trump’s rivals in the National Enquirer during the 2016 campaign.

Jurors will now have a three-day weekend to think about what they heard during the first full week of testimony in the historic Donald Trump hush money trial.

David Pecker finally stepped down from the witness stand after more than 10 hours of testimony across four days, where the former American Media Inc. chief described in detail how he helped Donald Trump suppress negative stories and pummel Trump’s rivals in the National Enquirer during the 2016 campaign.

Jury sees paper trail
The hush money case against Trump weaves a colorful narrative with a tabloid publisher suppressing torrid affairs for a businessman-turned-politician and a hush money scheme orchestrated by a now-disbarred lawyer to a porn star.

But Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records – so prosecutors have warned this will in many ways be a routine, document-heavy trial.

Friday afternoon prosecutors called a banker from First Republic Bank as their third witness.

Jurors saw the paper trail for a shell company and corresponding bank account Michael Cohen created in Delaware that was meant to be used to pay AMI for the rights to Karen McDougal’s story - a transaction that never transpired. That account was ultimately never funded, according to the banker’s testimony.

Banker Gary Farro testified to records that show Cohen changed course about two weeks later in October 2016 to instead open an account for another company – Essential Consultants – an entity ultimately used to pay Daniels in the hush money scheme to suppress her story about an alleged affair with Trump. (Trump has denied both alleged affairs.)

Court is dark on Monday. Farro is expected to continue testifying next Tuesday when the trial resumes. He’s expected to walk the jury through the paperwork tied to a home equity line of credit Cohen pulled on his personal property to front the payment to Daniels.

Trump lawyer tries to puncture Pecker’s credibility
Pecker’s four days of testimony offered two competing narratives for the jury: Prosecutors elicited testimony from the AMI chief about how Pecker’s 2015 deal with Trump was unique, helping him be the “eyes and ears” of the campaign and buying up negative stories about Trump for unusually high sums.

In Pecker’s final day on the stand, Trump’s attorneys sought to undercut his testimony with a series of alleged inconsistences, poking holes in discrepancies from prior interviews with federal and state prosecutors and disputing his testimony that AMI admitted it violated campaign finance law.

At several points during cross-examination, Trump attorney Emil Bove asked Pecker whether the testimony he had given was a “mistake.”

Each time, Bove was trying to highlight inconsistencies between what Pecker had testified to prosecutors earlier in the week and what he had told investigators in interviews years earlier about AMI’s $150,000 payment to McDougal for her story alleging an affair with Trump.

In one instance, Bove pointed to FBI notes from a 2018 interview, where agents had written that Pecker testified Trump did not thank him or AMI during a January 6, 2017, meeting at Trump Tower. Pecker had testified earlier in the week that Trump had thanked him for taking care of the McDougal and doorman stories during the campaign.

Pecker disputed the FBI notes but did acknowledge there was inconstancy between his current testimony and the FBI notes.

Prosecutors try to re-establish Pecker’s credibility
Prosecutors responded during redirect to reestablish Pecker’s credibility in his answers, showing how his story was consistent and that AMI did admit to campaign finance violations.

During redirect from assistant district attorney Joshua Steinglass, the prosecutor pointed to another FBI interview from 2018, a week after the one Bove cited. In that interview, Pecker testified that Trump had in fact thanked him during that 2017 Trump Tower meeting. Pecker said that this was consistent with his testimony.

Bove had argued that Pecker’s testimony was mistaken when he said that AMI admitted to campaign finance violations, pushing Pecker to confirm that AMI did not admit to any campaign finance violation. But Steinglass later responded by having Pecker confirm that AMI did acknowledge in the agreement that “the conduct it had admitted in connection with the Karen McDougal payment” had violated federal campaign election law.

The point was a small one in the grand scheme of Pecker’s testimony related to the case, but the fight was really about Pecker’s credibility to a witness.

That’s key to the prosecution’s case because he helps tie together the larger hush money scheme – and will be a corroborator of Cohen’s testimony.

Trump cracks a smile for his longtime assistant
Trump’s longtime assistant Rhona Graff testified for less than an hour

Graff managed Trump’s contacts and calendar for much of her 34 years as his assistant at Trump Tower. The jury saw contact entries in the Trump Org. system for Daniels and McDougal. Graff said she input them for Trump.

Daniels’ contact was saved as “Stormy” in the Trump Org contact file – listed only with a cell phone number. A contact entry for McDougal included a phone number, email address and two addresses.

Graff also testified on direct examination that she saw Daniels at Trump Tower once. On cross examination, Trump attorney Susan Necheles clarified with Graff that Daniels might have been at Trump’s office to discuss “Celebrity Apprentice.”

“I vaguely recall hearing him say that she was one of the people that may be an interesting contestant on the show,” Graff said.

Graff’s testimony about her former boss prompted a smile from an otherwise subdued Trump on Friday.

“I never had the same day twice in all that time,” she said. “It was a very stimulating, exciting, fascinating place to be.”

Defense tries to humanize Trump
Pecker was a longtime friend with Trump dating back to the 1980s, the former AMI chief said on the stand. Pecker spoke warmly of Trump earlier in the week, describing Trump as a “mentor” and saying he had no ill will, even though it had been several years since they had spoken.

As his ending question, Bove asked Pecker if he believed Trump cares about his family. He replied, “Of course I do.”

Graff no longer works for Trump, but she spoke positively about her experience at the Trump Organization and having Trump as a boss. Asked if Trump respected her intelligence, Graff said: “I don’t think I would have been there 34 years if he didn’t.” Trump laughed and smiled at the comment.

The first two witnesses called by the prosecution served as a reminder for Trump that this case will offer a parade of witnesses from his former life before he was elected president in 2016, including former employees at the Trump Organization and former aides in the White House, such as Hope Hicks.

Some, like Graff and Pecker, still have plenty of good things to say about Trump.

Other coming witnesses, like Cohen and Daniels, will have a far more hostile view of the defendant in this case – particularly Cohen, who has been lobbing attacks on social media toward Trump in the weeks leading up to the trial and even after it began.

A Los Angeles-based attorney who represented both Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal explained to jurors how he brokered a pair of deals to keep their alleged affairs with Donald Trump out of print, claiming that he interpreted the "catch-and-kill" schemes as a mechanism to protect Trump from political liabilities, during Tuesday's proceedings in Trump's criminal hush money trial.

Keith Davidson testified Tuesday that interest in Stormy Daniels' claim "reached a crescendo" in late 2016 in the wake of the "Access Hollywood" tape on which Trump was heard bragging about grabbing women. Davidson also said it was his understanding that Trump would be the one to foot the bill for her silence -- not Michael Cohen, who ultimately paid up.

Judge Juan Merchan began the day by holding Trump in criminal contempt and fining the former president $9,000 for repeatedly violating the case's limited gag order. He set a 9:30 a.m. hearing for Thursday to hear arguments about four additional violations by Trump.

Here are the big takeaways from Day 9 of the trial.

Stormy Daniels' deal was all about the election, lawyer claims
Keith Davidson testified that he grew increasingly frustrated with Michael Cohen in the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election, as the onetime Trump fixer repeatedly delayed paying his client, Stormy Daniels, after negotiating a deal for her silence.

"I thought he was trying to kick the can down the road until after the election," Davidson said.

Davidson's testimony cut to the core of the district attorney's case -- tethering Cohen's action, or lack thereof, to Trump's political ambitions.

"What do you expect me to do -- my guy is in five f------ states today," Davidson said Cohen told him at one point. "I am doing everything I can."

Davidson said he believed that "Michael Cohen didn't have the authority to actually spend money," but he thought that Trump would ultimately fund the payment.

"Where did you believe the money to be coming from?" prosecutor Josh Steinglass asked.

"From Donald Trump or some kind of corporate affiliation thereof," Davidson said.

Davidson recounts selling McDougal's story to Enquirer
On June 7, 2016, Davidson sent a text message to Dylan Howard, an editor at the National Enquirer, saying, "I have a blockbuster Trump story."

Howard responded less than a minute later.

"Talk 1st thing," he replied. "I will get you more than ANYONE for it. You Know why..."

Jurors saw dozens of texts the two men subsequently exchanged during negotiations. According to Davidson, McDougal was "teetering between two different deals" at the time, but only the National Enquirer could grant her what she really wanted: to avoid actually having to tell her story.

McDougal wanted to "rejuvenate her career, to make money," Davidson explained. But she also wanted "to avoid telling her story," or become the "Scarlet Letter, the 'other woman.'"

Davidson described how was ultimately able to arrange that deal for McDougal.

Trump held in criminal contempt, ordered to pay $9,000
Before Tuesday's testimony, Judge Juan Merchan issued a ruling holding Trump in criminal contempt for repeatedly violating the case's limited gag order by targeting potential witnesses in the case on social media and elsewhere.

Merchan ordered Trump to pay $1,000 each for nine violations and threatened to jail him if he continues to willfully violate court orders. Trump was also ordered to remove the posts in question -- which he did during the lunch break -- and to pay the fine by the close of business this Friday.

The judge said he was still considering additional contempt motions for subsequent alleged gag order violations.

Jury sees videos of Trump
Jurors were treated to their first glimpse during the trial of Donald Trump offering any substantial comments -- but they were played on a video screen, not in person, and reflected comments he made in 2016 and 2017 about women who came forward with claims of extramarital affairs.

Prosecutors played videos from two campaign events in 2016 and a press conference he gave after becoming president-elect in 2017.

"I have no idea who these women are. I have no idea," Trump said in one of the videos. "The stories are total fiction. They are 100% made up. They never happened. They never would happen."

Attorneys for Donald Trump in his criminal hush money trial on Thursday attempted to frame Keith Davidson, a Los Angeles-based attorney who represented Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, as an unsavory figure who made a career of extorting wealthy celebrities for shady clients.

Jurors also heard the voice of a man whose name has come up repeatedly in these proceedings: Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen. Both parties played audio recordings of phone conversations he surreptitiously recorded, including one in which Cohen said Donald Trump told him: "I hate the fact that we did it," referring to the nondisclosure deal with Stormy Daniels

Meanwhile, Judge Juan Merchan is yet again considering motions to hold Trump in criminal contempt for violating a gag order after prosecutors on Thursday accused him of making public statements about witnesses and the jury that are "corrosive to this proceeding."

Cohen said Trump told him 'I hate' that we paid off Daniels
Michael Cohen developed a practice of recording his phone conversations, and on Thursday, jurors heard some of them -- including one that featured his former boss.

In one recording, introduced into evidence by prosecutors during Keith Davidson's testimony, Cohen could be heard telling Davidson: "I can't even tell you how many times he [Trump] said to me, 'I hate the fact that we did it.'"

Davidson said Cohen was referring to Trump's nondisclosure agreement with Stormy Daniels -- an important piece of evidence that further suggests Trump had awareness of the transaction.

A custodial witness, Douglas Daus, testified about a September 2016 recording of Donald Trump discussing the arranged purchase of Karen McDougal's story. This recording was made public in 2018.

Defense tries to paint Davidson as extortionist
Donald Trump's legal team spent several hours cross-examining Davidson about his record of negotiating settlements with high-profile Hollywood figures -- repeatedly invoking words like "extortion" and "leverage" to undermine his credibility and suggest a pattern of conduct.

Defense attorney Emil Bove and Davidson jousted for hours, each man growing frustrated at times as Bove ticked through a series of clients and negotiations Davidson brokered, including a settlement with Charlie Sheen, an alleged sex tape featuring Tila Tequila, and a TMZ leak about Lindsey Lohan.

"By 2016, you were pretty well-versed in getting right up to the line without committing extortion, right?" Bove asked.

Davidson stubbornly rebuffed those efforts, reluctant to cooperate with Bove's yes-or-no-style questions and eager to filibuster, obfuscate, and claim not to recall basic details from his past.

What have we done?' Davidson asked
What have we done?" Davidson texted National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard on election night 2016 as it became clear that Donald Trump had secured the presidency.

Davidson told the jury this was an attempt at "gallows humor," but added, on a more serious note, that "there was an understanding that our activities may have in some way assisted the presidential campaign of Donald Trump."

Davidson, on the stand, divulged behind-the-scenes details about brokering the hush payments, what happened as details of the arrangements emerged in the press, and his efforts to protect Stormy Daniels from Michael Cohen's "legal threats" as she underwent a change of heart.

In early 2018, as Daniels prepared to appear on Jimmy Kimmel, Davidson said he penned a statement on her behalf in the Marilyn Monroe suite at the iconic Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, denying an affair with Trump.

Hours later, on national television, Daniels suggested the statement was not true, prompting Cohen to make repeated threats to sue.

Judge weighs additional gag order violations
Judge Juan Merchan withheld ruling on four additional contempt motions filed by prosecutors, who accused Trump of violating the court-imposed limited gag order by making public statements about the impartiality of the jury and several witnesses in the case.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche argued that his client was entitled to respond to "repeated attacks on President Trump's campaign for president" -- saying that "part of the campaign takes place outside of this courtroom."

But Merchan pushed back, reminding Blanche that "nobody forced your client" to go talk to cameras outside the courthouse.

Later in the day, Susan Necheles, another attorney for Trump, handed the judge a series of articles "which President Trump would like to post on his Truth [Social account]," Necheles said.

We think they are perfectly fine, but we think there is ambiguity in the gag order," she said, asking the judge to "take a look at them" before Trump posted them.

Merchan did not seem inclined to take up the matter, telling Necheles, "There is no ambiguity in the order."

"I am not going to give an advanced ruling on this," Merchan said. "When in doubt, steer clear."

One of Donald Trump's closest former advisers testified Friday about the "frantic" hours in after his campaign learned about the existence and imminent release of the "Access Hollywood" tape, offering a glimpse into one of the most consequential moments of the 2016 presidential election.

Hope Hicks spent nearly three hours on the witness stand, at one point breaking down in tears. The interlude prompted a short afternoon break before she returned to the stand -- but elicited no visible reaction from Trump.

Testimony resumes on Monday at 9:30 a.m. ET with a new witness, as Trump awaits Judge Juan Merchan's ruling on four additional alleged gag order violations after the judge found the former president guilty of nine.

Hicks details campaign's reaction to 'Access Hollywood' crisis
A month before the 2016 election, when Hope Hicks received an email from a reporter about the imminent release of the "Access Hollywood" tape in which Trump bragged about grabbing women, she "had a good sense that this was going to be a massive story and dominate the news cycle," she testified.

In careful detail, Hicks described how Trump and top campaign officials digested the news and began crafting a response. Her instinct? "Deny, deny, deny."

Were you concerned about the effect it would have on the campaign?" prosecutor Matthew Colangelo asked her.

"Yes," Hicks said. "It was a damaging development."

Asked about Trump's response, she said, "Mr. Trump felt this wasn't good" -- but he didn't think it was "something to get so upset over."

Hicks breaks down on the stand
Toward the end of her direct examination Hicks was asked about the Stormy Daniels hush payment, and she testified that Trump told her in 2018 that Cohen had made the payment on his own.

But Hicks testified she felt that would be out of character for Cohen.

"I didn't know Michael to be an especially charitable person, or selfless person," Hicks said. "(He was) the kind of person who seeks credit."

"It would have been bad to have that story come out before the election," Hicks concluded.

It was at that point, as her cross-examination got underway, that she started to break into tears on the stand. Defense attorney Emil Bove had barely asked a question when Hicks turned to her left, looked down, and dabbed her face with a tissue.

Judge Merchan asked jurors to leave the room and allowed Hicks to step down from the stand. Trump did not visibly react. But during the break, he engaged in conversation with his legal team.

When Hicks returned, some five minutes later, she said, "Sorry about that," and resumed her testimony.

Hicks said Trump was concerned about his family
Much of Hicks' testimony supported points made by the prosecution -- including that Trump feared how allegations of affairs with multiple women might harm his presidential campaign.

But she also suggested that he was concerned about how those news reports might impact his family -- a point that defense attorneys have repeatedly tried to impress upon jurors.

"I don't think he wanted anyone in his family to be hurt or embarrassed by anything that was happening on the campaign," Hicks said. "He wanted them to be proud of them."

And on the eve of the election, when the Wall Street Journal broke the story that National Enquirer parent AMI had paid off former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal to buy her silence about a long-denied affair, Trump, in an effort to protect his wife, made a request of Hicks.

"He wanted me to make sure the newspapers weren't delivered to his residence that morning," she said.