Former President Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial is now in its third week of proceedings.
Trump is facing 34 criminal counts related to his alleged efforts to conceal $130,000 in hush money paid in 2016 to silence allegations of an extramarital affair with adult film actor Stormy Daniels. Daniels is expected to testify in the trial, as is Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, who previously served jail time for his role in facilitating the payment.
Last week, the jury heard from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, who testified about conversations he had with Cohen regarding the Daniels payment. He also detailed his publication’s efforts to “catch and kill” unflattering stories about Trump, including allegations by former Playboy model Karen McDougal that she had an affair with Trump from 2006 to 2007.
Trump is represented by a team of defense attorneys led by Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the charges against Trump, selected Susan Hoffinger and Joshua Steinglass to lead the prosecution.
Judge Juan Merchan is presiding over the Manhattan trial.
Follow live updates from the trial:
Trump Campaign Wastes No Time Using Gag Order As A Fundraising Tool
“A Democrat judge JUST HELD ME IN CONTEMPT OF COURT!” the email soliciting donations reads. “I was fined $9,000 for 9 gag order violations. THEY WANT TO SILENCE ME! They think they can BLEED ME DRY and SHUT ME UP, but I’ll NEVER stop fighting for YOU.”
The email then casts the gag order as a form of “election interference” before directing people to donate to the Trump National Committee.
More Texts Read For Jurors
Later, Davidson texted Howard: “It’s a story that should be told.”
“I agree,” Howard replied.
The following month, in July, Howard texted asking to speak about Trump, saying that he thought he had “an entree” to pitch the story again. In another message, Davidson wrote to Howard: “Don’t forget about Cohen. Time is of the essence. The girl is being cornered by the estrogen mafia." In court, the attorney called it a “regrettable” phrase.
“That was a term I think [came from] one of Karen’s associates at that first meeting, there were several women who were leaning on Karen to sign a deal with ABC,” he explained. McDougal was rumored to be mulling an appearance on “Dancing with the Stars" because she was trying to reinvigorate her career. When Howard told him to "get me a price on McDougal," Davidson initially came back with a whopping price tag of $1 million.
Davidson claimed that McDougal did not want to tell her story about Trump. Yet the deals he was trying to negotiate for her — a story in tabloid media or an appearance on a reality show — would require her to do so, he said.
McDougal Lawyer Texts National Enquirer Editor-In-Chief: ‘I Have A Blockbuster Trump Story’
“I have a blockbuster Trump story,” one text read. “Talk first thing. I will get you more than anyone for it, you know why.”
“Did he cheat on Melania?” Howard texted back. “Do you know if the affair was during his marriage to Melania?”
“I really cannot say yet. Sorry,” Davidson replied.
“OK. Keep me informed,” Howard texted. He then flew out to meet McDougal and Davidson in person to discuss the allegations; a friend of the model's was also present."
Ms. McDougal alleged that she had had a romantic affair with Donald Trump some years prior," Davidson testified in court, affirming the relationship was allegedly sexual.
Davidson's Connections To Key Figures In The Case
He first came to know Cohen in 2011, after a blog post linked Trump to a client of his, whom he described as “Stephanie Clifford, AKA Stormy Daniels.” He said McDougal was a former client whom he met around 25 years ago when she dated a friend of his. They were reacquainted in June 2016, according to an email between Davidson and McDougal that was shown to the jury. The email also contained a retainer agreement regarding the story of McDougal’s alleged affair with Trump.
Davidson testified earlier that he would sell stories to tabloids, but only “rarely.”
Next up: Attorney Keith Davidson.
From 2016 to 2017, he testified that his firm was “heavily involved with media cases,” which meant lots of nondisclosure agreements.
Going Through Deposition Tapes
Asked in the video deposition what Truth Social is, Trump replied, “It’s a platform that has been opened by me as an alternative to Twitter.”
In another clip, he is asked to confirm that he is married to Melania Trump since 2005. In another, he is asked whether he is familiar with the “Access Hollywood” tape.
Thompson is then dismissed, with no cross-examination.
Next up: attorney Keith Davidson.
Next Up: A Deposition Company Representative
He’s explaining what a deposition is, and how it’s recorded.
Thompson affirmed that his company handled the deposition for one of writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation cases against Trump. He appears to be here simply to swear that Trump’s October 2022 deposition video and transcript are accurate.
Wait, What’s A CSPAN Archivist Doing On The Stand?
“That also means that despite Trump and his team’s constant complaints about the trial’s length, they bear the blame for insisting on testimony like this,” says Rubin. “Even the most aggressive lawyers I know would roll their eyes & agree that whatever CSPAN video is at issue is real.”
Trump Rally Clips Played For Jurors
“Whoever she is, wherever she comes from … the stories are total fiction. They’re 100% made up. They never happened. They never would happen,” Trump was heard saying. He called the stories “lies," “totally invented fiction,” and said, "It's a total setup.” Another video clip was shown from a Trump campaign event in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in which Trump said, “All of these lies will be sued when the election is over.” In a final clip, as president-elect, Trump called Cohen a “very good lawyer.”
Browning is done, with no cross-examination.
Next Witness: Longtime CSPAN Exec Robert Browning
Prosecutors Ask To Include Trump Attacks On Cohen, Daniels
Lawyers Haggle Over Explicit Texts While Jury Takes Morning Recess
One text, sent by Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal’s lawyer to American Media’s chief content officer on July, 1, 2017, reads, “He owes AMI everything & he fucked u. Idiot.” Presumably “he” is Trump, though it’s unclear.
Another text, sent by Stormy Daniels’ publicist Gina Rodriguez to former National Enquirer editor-in-chief Dylan Howard on Oct. 19, 2016, reads, “There is some shady shit going on.”
Trump Held No Campaign Rallies Over Long Weekend
Court is also out on Wednesdays for this trial. Last week, Trump spent Wednesday playing golf at his club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Bank Shuttered Cohen Accounts After Stormy Daniels Payment Went Public
"We choose not to be attached to what we consider to be negative press,” he said. “Once a client is not completely honest with us, we choose not to do business with them going forward,” Farro added.
Farro's testimony has now concluded. Jurors have been dismissed for their morning break.
Eric Trump Is Following Along
Farro: Cohen Was ‘A Challenging Client’
“Ninety percent of the time, it was an urgent matter,” Farro said of his conversations with Cohen. They were infrequent calls, he said, only three or four times per year. He affirmed that his managers chose him to work with Cohen because they thought Farro could handle him. Once information on the hush money transfer became public, he said he was pulled away from Cohen as a client.
Farro Affirms He Didn't Know Funds Were Related To Campaign Or Stormy Daniels
Prosecutors walked him through records showing how Cohen took out a home equity loan and used the funds to transfer a hush money payment to Keith Davidson, an attorney for Stormy Daniels. The implication was that Cohen made the wire look like a real estate transaction.
We're now done with direct examination, and are on to cross examination.
Farro Describes Bank Transfer
Judge Warns Trump He Could Be Jailed For Violating Gag Order
Trump must remove the offending social media posts by 2:15 p.m. today, according to CNN.
According to the order, "THEREFORE, Defendant is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment."
You can read the ruling here.
Another hearing on four more alleged violations will be held Thursday morning.
Judge Permits Trump To Attend Barron's High School Graduation
Another date that Trump requested, June 3, depends on whether the jury is in deliberations by then. If they are, he won't be able to take the day off.
Gary Farro Resumes Witness Testimony
Trump Complains About 'Icebox' Courtroom
"I'm going to go into the icebox now and sit for about eight hours or nine hours," he said. "I’d much rather be in Georgia, I’d much rather be in Florida. I’d much rather be in states that are in play."
Judge Fines Trump For Contempt Of Court
Eric Trump Appears Alongside Dad
This is the first time a member of Trump's family has shown up at the trial.
Trump Arrives At Court
His son, Eric Trump, was spotted joining the motorcade, the network reported.
Trump Details Authoritarian Second Term
Among the sweeping changes Trump would aim to make would be mass detention camps for migrants along the border, a federal government filled with his acolytes and permission for red states to monitor women’s pregnancies. Read the full profile here.