Closing summary
Hope Hicks, Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign press secretary, took the stand as a key prosecution witness on Friday in testimony that described Trump campaign staffers’ panic when a recording emerged in which Trump bragged about groping women and the former president’s complete control over the campaign.
Here’s a recap of what happened today:
Hicks placed Trump squarely at the center of his campaign media strategy, telling jurors “we were all just following his lead”. Trump “deserves the credit for the different messages that the campaign focused on in terms of the agenda that he put forth,” she told the court.
Her testimony marked a turning point for prosecutors, as she is the first Trump staffer with intimate knowledge of Trump’s campaign to testify about his alleged misconduct.
Hicks said she was “very concerned” about the contents of an email from a Washington Post reporter about the Access Hollywood tape. “It was a damaging development,” Hicks said. “[The] consensus among us that this was damaging – this was a crisis.”
Hicks was also asked Friday about a media inquiry from the Wall Street Journal, which was running a story in early November 2016 about AMI’s purchase of Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougals’ stories – and failure to run them. Hicks said that she thought she’d spoken with Trump after getting this inquiry.
Hicks said Trump told her to deny that he had a sexual relationship with Daniels. “He wanted to make sure that there was a denial of any kind of relationship,” said Hicks.
Hicks said Trump was worried about the WSJ story and its impact, including about Melania Trump catching word of the coverage. “He wanted me to make sure that the newspapers were [not] delivered to their residence that morning,” Hicks told jurors.
Hicks said Trump told her that Michael Cohen had paid off Daniels to “protect him from a false allegation” out of the “kindness of his own heart”. But, she said, “I didn’t know Michael to be an especially charitable person or selfless person.”
Hicks broke into tears Friday while testifying. The former Trump press secretary cut a skittish figure in the judge’s courtroom, and was clearly uncomfortable and had a quavering voice as she introduced herself to jurors.
Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, argued that prosecutors should not be able to bring up the fact that Judge Juan Merchan held him in contempt.
The judge sided with Blanche, saying that if jurors heard the same court – the same judge – had done so, “I think it would just be so prejudicial, so I agree.”
Court officially done now. Donald Trump is standing, now he’s leaving the courtroom. His eyes lingered on parts of the gallery, but I don’t think you can definitively say that he stared at any one person.
Jurors have exited.
With the jurors gone, Judge Juan Merchan is wrapping up more issues from the Sandoval hearing that hadn’t been flushed out; that is, what Donald Trump can or cannot be asked should he take the stand.
Hicks says Trump 'really respects' what Melania Trump has to say
Trump lawyer Emil Bove asked Hope Hicks about how the Karen McDougal story would impact his relationship with his wife.
Trump “really values Mrs Trump’s opinion,” Hicks said. When she does weigh in, it’s “very meaningful to him, he really respects what she has to say.”
She added that Trump did not want anyone in his family to be “hurt or embarrassed” by anything that was happening during the campaign.
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Hicks excused and leaves courtroom
Trump lawyer Emil Bove’s cross has ended. Prosecution has nothing further.
Hope Hicks is stepping down from the stand.
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Hope Hicks described Michael Cohen’s role in Trump’s 2016 campaign as “he would try to insert himself at certain moments” but that he did not have an official capacity.
She said Cohen would call himself a “fixer” or “Mr Fix it”, adding it was only because he first broke it.
Hope Hicks is back on the stand after she became emotional as the defense began cross examination. Trump attorney Emil Bove continues.
Hope Hicks testified that Donald Trump told her he had spoken with Michael Cohen the morning after he gave a statement to the New York Times that he had made the hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels without Trump’s consent.
“Michael [Cohen] had paid this woman to protect him from a false allegation and Michael felt like it was his job to protect him and he did it out of the kindness of his own heart,” Hicks recalled Trump saying.
Hicks said she believed it was “out of character” for Cohen, adding that she “did not know Michael to be an especially charitable person or selfless person”.
Court takes break after Hicks begins to cry
Hope Hicks broke into tears as the defense team began cross examination.
The court is now taking a short break after the judge asked Hicks whether she could use a break. “Uhm, yes please,” she’d said.
When Hicks walked out of the courtroom, a wrinkled piece of tissue could be seen balled up in her hand.
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While Hope Hicks cut a nervous figure as she took the witness stand Friday, the former top Trump aide seemed to appreciate the absurdity of this situation.
The prosecutor asked Hicks about text messages she exchanged with Michael Cohen after the Wall Street Journal published an article describing how AMI bought stories about Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, and then opted out of publishing them; this report ran on 4 November 2016.
When she read Cohen’s missive about the article, where he called it “poorly written and I dot see it getting much play,” Hicks chuckled. “A little irony there,” she said, again laughing softly. “ I said I agree with that.”
Hicks: Trump was worried about WSJ article's impact on Melania
Hope Hicks testified that Donald Trump was worried about the Wall Street Journal article that dealt with AMI’s purchase of stories about Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, and the decision not to publish them.
She said that Trump was concerned about the article being published -- including how it would affect his wife, Melania. Hicks said:
He wanted me to make sure that the newspapers were [not] delivered to their residence that morning.
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Hicks tells court she was in contact with Cohen over WSJ story
Hope Hicks testifies that she was in contact with Michael Cohen after the Wall Street Journal story was published.
The jury is shown a series of text messages between Hicks and Cohen discussing the aftermath of the WSJ article, including one in which Cohen says “no one believes it and if necessary, I have a statement by Storm[y Daniels] denying everything and contradicting the other porn stars statement,” adding:
I wouldn’t use it now or even discuss with him as no one is talking about this or cares!
“Agree,” Hicks replied.
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Hope Hicks is then asked about her response to the story about the American Media deal with Stormy Daniels, in which she said at the time that it was “absolutely, unequivocally untrue” that Daniels had a relationship with Donald Trump.
Hicks testifies that what she told the Wall Street Journal “was what was told to me”.
Hope Hicks is being asked about her response to the Wall Street Journal story about the American Media deal with the former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Hicks’ response to the WSJ story, printed in the article, was that “we have no knowledge of this” and that McDougal’s claim of affair with Donald Trump was “totally untrue”.
Hicks testifies that she cannot definitively remember whether Trump told her to say that “we have no knowledge of this” in response to the WSJ request for comment.
Before lunch, Hope Hicks had said that she thought she’d spoken with Donald Trump after receiving the inquiry from the Wall Street Journal, but it was a “very fuzzy,” recollection.
She’d said of Trump’s response:
He wanted to know the context and he wanted to make sure there was a denial of any kind of relationship.
She expressed confusion as to why he wanted to do that.
I felt the point of the story that National Enquirer paid a woman for her story and never published it.
Court is in session and prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is back at the lectern.
They’re once again talking about the early November 2016 email she received from a Wall Street Journal reporter who was working on a story about American Media Inc.’s purchase of Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels’ stories despite their not publishing these accounts.
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And we’re almost back. Donald Trump has walked into court folowing the lunch break. He’s chatting with one of his attorneys, Emil Bove. Trump’s hair doesn’t much move when he’s speaking.
Hope Hicks has walked into the courtroom and returned to her seat at the stand. A court officer placed a cup of water in front of her. She just took a sip.
The court resumes after a lunch break.
Hope Hicks, Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign press secretary, is back on the stand.
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Donald Trump took to Truth Social during lunch break to fire off another fiery tweet about the trial.
Writing in all caps, Trump, who has had multiple gag orders issued to him by judge Juan Merchan, said:
“THIS ISN’T A TRIAL, IT’S A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN, A WITCH HUNT, JUST LIKE THE HIGHLY CONFLICTED AND BIASED JUDGE, JUAN MERCHAN, WANTED IT TO BE.
I’M SURE HIS POLITICAL FRIENDS AND ALLIES, AND CROOKED JOE BIDEN, IN PARTICULAR, WILL BE THRILLED THAT THEY ARE GETTING AWAY WITH THIS CORRUPT, “ANCIENT,” AND HIGHLY POLITICAL ATTACK ON HIS 2024 PRESIDENTIAL OPPONENT.”
The day so far
The court is now on lunch break. Here is where things stand:
Judge Juan Merchan addressed the court about Donald Trump’s false claim the he was not allowed to testify. Merchan said, “The order prohibiting extra-judicial statements does not prevent you from testifying in any way.”
Prosecutors played a video statement Trump made in response to the Access Hollywood tape. In the video, Trump said he “never said I’m a perfect person, nor pretended to be someone that I’m not.” He added: “I’ve said and done things I regret.”
The prosecution also called Hope Hicks as one of its witnesses today. Trump did not smile once during Hicks’ testimony, even when she said in complimentary terms that he was a hard worker and doing lots of things at once.
Hicks said she reported to Trump directly in her role as press secretary during his campaign. Asked how often she would speak to Trump during the campaign, Hicks said she spoke with Trump every day by telephone and in person.
Hicks’ testimony put Trump at the center of news about him – specifically, how he worked actively to control the narrative around him. This speaks to how Trump would have knowledge of any hush money plot that involved a media strategy.
Hicks said Donald Trump was upset after the Access Hollywood tape was released. Hicks said she was “a little stunned” herself. “It was definitely concerning,” she said.
Prosecutors elicited from Hicks just how bad the Trump 2016 campaign viewed the Access Hollywood tape, as they tee up their case that after that story broke, the campaign needed to suppress any further negative stories about Trump and women. “It was a damaging development,” Hicks said, adding, “This was a crisis.”
Hicks testified that the first time she heard of the former Playboy model, Karen McDougal, was when she received an email from the Wall Street Journal in 4 November 2016 seeking comment for a story. She said she received the email on Trump’s plane as they were landing in Ohio for a campaign rally.
Hicks also testified that she reached out to Michael Cohen and National Enquirer publisher David Pecker after receiving the WSJ email requesting comment about a story it planned to publish about American Media buying the rights to a story of Karen McDougal of an affair she had with Donald Trump when he was married to Melania. Hicks said Cohen “feigned that he didn’t know what I was talking about” and that “there was a reason why I called David [Pecker] next.”
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Hope Hicks testifies that she reached out to Michael Cohen and National Enquirer publisher David Pecker after receiving the Wall Street Journal email requesting comment about a story it planned to publish about American Media buying the rights to a story of Karen McDougal of an affair she had with Donald Trump when he was married to Melania.
Hicks says Cohen “feigned that he didn’t know what I was talking about” and that “there was a reason why I called David [Pecker] next”.
She says Pecker explained that McDougal “was paid for magazine articles and fitness columns and that it was all very legitimate and that was what the contract for”.
The prosecution asked Hope Hicks about the days following the Access Hollywood tape’s release.
Hicks explained, on direct, that he was asked about the comments a few days later, during the second presidential debate.
He reiterated that this was locked room talk – just talk – words, not actions.
The words-not-actions mantra is incredibly important for prosecutors. If Trump thought his best chances for surviving the Access Hollywood scandal was to claim that it was just talk – and that he wasn’t an actual boor – then he had to cover up allegations of misconduct.
And, after the debate, when reports of Trump’s alleged misconduct surface, the campaign was in panic-mode – providing a motive for Cohen’s purchase of Daniels’ story.
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Hicks: Karen McDougal first mentioned to her after Wall Street Journal email November 2016
Hope Hicks testifies that the first time she heard of the former Playboy model, Karen McDougal, was when she received an email from the Wall Street Journal in 4 November 2016 seeking comment for a story.
She says she received the email on Trump’s plane as they were landing in Ohio for a campaign rally.
Hicks says she first heard of Stormy Daniels a year prior, when Trump’s security staff were discussing a celebrity gold tournament “and her name came up.”
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Hope Hicks said Donald Trump “definitely” considered Twitter as an important part of his campaign.
She testifies that the only people authorized to post on Trump’s Twitter account were Trump and a staffer, who was only allowed to post things that Trump personally approved.
Hope Hicks says she spoke to Michael Cohen on Saturday 8 October. She says she called Cohen to ask him to “take down a rumor I had heard with a contact” she had in the media.
What was that rumor? the prosecution asked. Hicks replied:
That there might be another tape that might be problematic for the campaign.
She explained:
I didn’t want anyone to be blindsided.
She asked Cohen to call this friend of his and ask about the existence of a tape, and then report back as to whether there was a tape and what was on it.
There was no such tape, regardless, but he sort of chased that down for me.
Hope Hicks said the immediate media response to the Access Hollywood tape was “intense”. She says:
We were anticipating a category four hurricane making landfall … No one remembered where it made landfall. It was Trump all the time.
Hope Hicks testifies that she thinks Donald Trump felt like the Access Hollywood tape was “fairly standard stuff from two guys just chatting”.
Trump believed it was “not something to get upset over” and it was “just two guys talking privately”, Hicks says.
'This was a crisis': Hicks describes fallout of Access Hollywood tape
Prosecutors elicited from Hope Hicks just how bad the Trump 2016 campaign viewed the Access Hollywood tape, as they tee up their case that after that story broke, the campaign needed to suppress any further negative stories about Trump and women.
“It was a damaging development,” Hicks said.
This was a crisis.
Asked whether Hicks considered if it would be bad with female voters, she replied: In that moment, no. But maybe a couple of hours later, or the next day.
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Hicks says she was 'stunned' by Access Hollywood tape
Hope Hicks says Donald Trump was upset after the Access Hollywood tape was released.
Hicks says she was “a little stunned” herself. “It was definitely concerning,” she said:
I had a good sense that it was going to be a massive story and make the news cycle for the next several days at least.
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Hope Hicks is testifying about her and the campaign’s reaction after the Access Hollywood tape was released.
She says members of the campaign team were prepping for debate when she received the Washington Post email seeking comment in response to the tape. Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, Jared Kushner and Jason Miller were among them.
Trump saw “something was afoot” and asked the group what they were discussing, at which point she shared the Washington Post email with him. She said:
We weren’t sure how to respond yet, everyone was still absorbing the shock.
'URGENT WashPost query': Hicks describes Access Hollywood tape reaction
Hope Hicks is being questioned about the Access Hollywood tape and the jury is being shown the transcript from the tape.
Asked what her first reaction was to receiving an email from a Washington Post reporter about the tape, she says she was “very concerned” about the contents of the email, and the lack of time to respond.
She says she forwarded the email with the subject line: “URGENT WashPost query” to others in the campaign.
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Hope Hicks is now recalling times when she heard Donald Trump on the phone with David Pecker – a tabloid honcho whom prosecutors said plotted with Trump and Michael Cohen to bury stories that could damage his campaign.
Once, after the National Enquirer published a piece on then-Republican rival Ben Carson’s medical malpractice, she overheard Trump “congratulating him on the great reporting.”
Sometimes he would say things like this is Pulitzer worthy.
Hope Hicks testifies that Donald Trump would call David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, to praise him for “great reporting”.
“This is Pullitzer-worthy,” Hicks said Trump would say of the Enquirer.
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Hicks testimony describes Trump at center of news about him to control narrative
Hope Hicks’ testimony is putting Donald Trump at the center of news about him – specifically, how he worked actively to control the narrative around him.
This speaks to how Trump would have knowledge of any hush money plot that involved a media strategy.
Prosecutors are trying to show that Trump was involved, and in control, of media during his campaign.
“How frequently did you speak with Mr. Trump as part of your role as press secretary?” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo asked. “Every day.”
“Did you speak by telephone?” “Yes.”
“In person?” “Yes.”
Colangelo asked whether Trump was involved? “He was very involved,” Hicks said.
“Who overall was responsible for branding strategy?” Colangelo pressed. “I would say that Mr. Trump was responsible.”
He knew what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it – we were all just following his lead.
He deserves the credit for the different messages that the campaign focused on in terms of the agenda that he put forth.
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'We were all just following his lead': Hicks says Trump 'very involved' in campaign and media responses
Hope Hicks says she reported to Donald Trump directly in her role as press secretary during his campaign.
Asked how often she would speak to Trump during the campaign, Hicks says she spoke with Trump every day by telephone and in person.
The prosecution asked how involved Trump was involved in the media responses during his campaign. Hicks replies: “Very involved”. Asked how involved he was in the overall messaging during the campaign, Trump said:
Mr Trump was responsible for it. He knew what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it and we were all just following his lead. He deserves the credit.
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Asked about Michael Cohen’s role at the Trump Organization, Hope Hicks says she does not know “specifically” about what Cohen did but that he was “involved in some licenses deals” for some hotel projects and the Miss Universe pageant.
“Are you familiar with someone named Michael Cohen,” the prosecution asks.
Hope Hicks replies: Yes.
Hope Hicks says when she first began working with Donald Trump, she would meet with him once a week. Later, she would speak with him every day.
She described Trump as a “very hard worker” and “multitasker, doing many things at once”.
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Trump's stern demeanor during Hicks testimony a stark contrast to Pecker
Donald Trump has not smiled once since Hope Hicks took the stand, even when she said in complimentary terms that he was a hard worker and doing lots of things at once.
Trump is looking directly at Hicks as she testifies.
That is somewhat different from when Trump smiled or softened his expression when David Pecker was complimentary of him. It appears the significance of Hicks testimony, given her former proximity to his inner circle, is looming large for him.
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Donald Trump tracked former aide Hope Hicks with his eyes as she walked past him and took the stand.
Trump is looking upwards towards her, with an engaged look on his face.”I’m really nervous,” Hicks says in a quivering voice after Judge Merchan asks her to lean into the mic.
Hicks says she last spoke to Trump in 2022
Hope Hicks says she last had communication with Donald Trump in summer/fall 2022.
She says she joined the Trump Organization a few years after she finished college. She worked with the Trump family on hospitality initiatives and says she was “enjoying it so much” that when was offered a position at the Trump Organization, she “jumped at the opportunity”.
Shortly after she joined the Trump Organization, Trump said he would be exploring a run for president.
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A dour-looking Hope Hicks walked to the witness stand. She sported a black suit, and Donald Trump appeared to look at her as she passed into the well.
My name is Hope Charlotte Hicks, and my last name is spelled H-i-c-k-s.
Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is doing the questioning. She struggles momentarily with the mic and says:
I’m really nervous.
Hope Hicks called to the stand
The prosecution has called Hope Hicks as its next witness.
Hicks previously served as Donald Trump’s communications director and was a key adviser during his 2016 campaign and in the White House.
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The jury were also shown a series of social media posts by Donald Trump, including:
Nothing ever happened with any of these women. Totally made up nonsense to steal the election. Nobody has more respect for women than me!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 15, 2016
Polls close, but can you believe I lost large numbers of women voters based on made up events THAT NEVER HAPPENED. Media rigging election!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2016
Can't believe these totally phoney stories, 100% made up by women (many already proven false) and pushed big time by press, have impact!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2016
Prosecutors play video statement Trump made in response to Access Hollywood tape
The jury have just been shown a video statement Donald Trump made after the release of the Access Hollywood tape.
In the video, Trump said he “never said I’m a perfect person, nor pretended to be someone that I’m not”. He added:
I’ve said and done things I regret, and the words released today on this more than a decade-old video are one of them. Anyone who knows me knows these words don’t reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong and I apologize.
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The court has returned after a short break.
During the break, Donald Trump conferred for a few minutes with his lawyers about a potential agreement with prosecutors about what evidence can be shown to jurors, AP reported.
There is a very good reason both sides were wrangling over the reliability of data from Cohen’s cell phones – his mobile had a recording in which he discussed setting up a company to make payments at the center of this case.
After cross-examination, the prosecution asked Douglas Daus: “Did you see any evidence of tampering or manipulation of any of the exhibits put into evidence yesterday?” Daus said “I did not.”
On re-cross, Trump lawyer Emil Bove noted that the recording cut off, purportedly due to Cohen receiving a call. “You don’t know what happened in the conversation after that?” Bove said. “I don’t, I just know about the file.” And why wasn’t there a log of that call on the phone, Bove pressed.
The prosecution questioned Daus yet again after re-cross, asking: “Mr Daus, if I made a phone call seven years go in my pocket, would you expect to see a log on my phone?” “I would not,” Daus said.
The reason that the recording is so important, other than the content, is that it is not a good look for Trump, for lack of a better, less xennial phrasing. And, while it’s been publicized before, this is potentially the first time jurors will hear Trump’s own voice discussing an alleged hush money repayment scheme. The full transcript is telling.
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Paralegal for district attorney's office takes the stand
The prosecution has called its next witness: Georgia Longstreet, a paralegal at the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
Longstreet said that she’s received “anywhere between 5 and 10,000” social media posts in relation to the case, and saved around 1500, “give or take.”
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Hope Hicks could testify as soon as today, reports say
Hope Hicks, Donald Trump’s former communications director, could testify as soon as today, AP is reporting, citing sources.
Hicks, a former key ally to the former president, served as Trump’s 2016 campaign press secretary and spoke with him by phone during a frenzied effort to keep his alleged affairs out of the press in the final weeks before the election.
Hicks later held various roles in his White House.
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Douglas Daus has completed his testimony and is off the stand after a brief re-direct and re-cross.
On re-direct, the prosecution is trying to show that Douglas Daus doesn’t have a stake in the outcome, nor can he make any assumptions about Michael Cohen’s behavior with his devices.
“I take it your not a friend of Michael Cohen?” Prosecutor Chris Conroy asked. “I’m not,” Daus said.
“So you don’t hang around with him on a daily basis?” Daus said he didn’t.
Was it unusual for a phone to be used? Daus said that it was not.
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Trump lawyer Emil Bove has just completed cross-examination of digital evidence expert Douglas Daus.
During his cross-examination of Daus, Bove repeatedly pointed to things that had happened to Cohen’s phone that was part of evidence – It had been turned on and off at times? There had been a factory reset? Recordings were made? Was this the ideal way that such evidence should be handled?
Bove said:
We’re just going to have to take Michael Cohen’s word for it, aren’t we?”
“Yes,” Daus replied.
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Douglas Daus, who works in the office of district attorney Alvin Bragg, was used to introduce data extracted from Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen’s phones, such as contacts, recordings and text messages.
The prosecution on Thursday played a recording that Cohen took in conversation with Donald Trump discussing a hush-money payment. Cohen was recorded saying:
I need to open up a company for the transfer...regarding our friend David... I’m going to do that right away, and I’ve spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up.
Digital evidence expert Douglas Daus back on the stand
Douglas Daus, a digital evidence expert in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, has returned to the witness stand.
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Donald Trump appeared this morning to back down from his earlier false claim that a court-imposed gag order prevented him from being able to testify in the case.
Before heading into court on Friday, Trump was asked if the gag order stopped him from testifying. He replied:
The gag order is not to testify. The gag order stops me from talking about people and responding when they say things about me.
Judge Juan Merchan was referring to a claim Donald Trump made while addressing the media yesterday outside of court.
Speaking to reporters after court adjourned for the day on Thursday, the former president said:
I’m not allowed to testify. I’m under a gag order. I guess, right?
He added:
I’m not allowed to testify, because this judge, who’s totally conflicted, has me under an unconstitutional gag order.
Donald Trump: “I’m not allowed to testify because of an unconstitutional gag order.”@ddale8: “He kept saying he’s not allowed to testify. That is just a lie. He is absolutely permitted to testify in his own defense.” pic.twitter.com/P1M1LGwgNC
— Republican Voters Against Trump (@AccountableGOP) May 2, 2024
Trump has 'absolute right' to testify at his trial, says judge
Judge Juan Merchan is now addressing the court about Donald Trump’s false claim the he wasn’t allowed to testify.
The judge says it had come to his attention that “there maybe a misunderstanding” over whether the gag order impacts Trump’s right to testify at trial. Merchan says:
I want to stress Mr Trump that you have an absolute right to testify at trial.
He continues:
That is a constitutional right that will not be denied or abnegated in any way ... It is a fundamental right that cannot be infringed upon ... the order prohibiting extra-judicial statements does not prevent you from testifying in any way.
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Donald Trump back in court
Donald Trump has entered the courtroom, trailed by Todd Blanche and Secret Service agents.
His walk could be described as brisk this morning.
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Donald Trump’s motorcade has departed Trump Tower and is on its way to the Manhattan criminal court.
Prosecutors on Thursday also played an audio recording of a phone conversation between Donald Trump and Michael Cohen from September 2016 discussing the plan to keep Karen McDougal quiet.
“I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend David,” Cohen tells Trump on the tape that Cohen secretly made, seemingly referring to National Enquirer boss David Pecker.
That recording has been out in the public since 2018, but the jury heard it for the first time Thursday. The tape appears to make clear Trump knew about the hush-money plot.
Prosecutors also played multiple recordings Cohen had made of phone calls with Keith Davidson in 2018. Cohen secretly made these recordings.
Cohen lamented his relationship with Trump in the calls. In a key exchange, he said:
I can’t even tell you how many times he said to me, you know, I hate the fact that we did it.
Davidson said he understood as a reference to paying Stormy Daniels.
Prosecutors urged judge to hold Trump in contempt over more gag order violations
Prior to Keith Davidson’s testimony, prosecutors on Thursday asked judge Juan Merchan to punish Donald Trump for still more alleged gag order violations; the four alleged instances involve two comments about Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen, one about the jury, and one about the former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker.
The hearing on Thursday morning came two days after the jurist fined Trump $9,000 for other gag order violations. Merchan has barred Trump from attacking witnesses or jurors in the case.
“The order was issued because of the defendant’s persistent and escalating rhetoric aimed at participants in this hearing,” said the prosecutor, Christopher Conroy, of Trump. Conroy said that prosecutors were not seeking jail at this time, to avoid delaying the proceedings, but are seeking fines.
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche complained that Trump has an unfair disadvantage because of the gag order. He argued that his client is running for president, after all, and Joe Biden is able to say whatever he wants about the case. Blanche said:
Judge, last weekend, President Trump’s rival, President Biden, said in a public forum – he talked about this trial, and he talked about a witness that’s going to be in this trial. He mocked President Trump. He said Donald has had a few tough days lately, you might call it stormy weather.
“President Trump can’t respond like he wants to because of this gag order,” Blanche said, adding:
Stormy weather was an obvious reference to Stormy Daniels.
Merchan seemed unmoved by the argument. “They’re not defendants in this case,” he said, noting that non-defendants such as Biden are not bound by his gag order. Merchan did not yet decide on prosecutors’ request.
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Keith Davidson, a lawyer who negotiated payments on behalf of Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, testified for most of Thursday in Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan, shedding more light into how the deal came together and efforts to keep Daniels quiet as media began reporting on the deal in 2018.
Here are a few key takeaways from the Trump hush money trial on Thursday.
Updated
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer who is now a star witness for the prosecution against his old boss, has not taken the stand yet in this criminal trial in Manhattan. But he’s been a big virtual presence in court.
Under cross-examination on Thursday, Trump attorney Emil Bove tried using Keith Davidson’s account of Michael Cohen to create cracks in the expected star witness’ testimony.
Bove asked about Cohen’s behavior in late 2016. Cohen thought he might have become Trump’s chief-of-staff, only to find himself out of the picture, Davidson recalled. He said:
I thought he was gonna kill himself.
Bove also grilled Davidson on his legal dealings related to other former A- and B-listers, such as Hulk Hogan, Charlie Sheen and Tila Tequila, a Playboy model-turned-born again Christian who has allegedly flirted with alt-right ideologies.
In an obvious effort to make Davidson look déclassé, Bove also asked whether Hustler publisher Larry Flynt had offered to indemnify Daniels if she came forward about Trump.
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‘What have we done?’: Lawyer who negotiated Stormy Daniels deal seemed shocked Trump won
As Donald Trump’s presidential victory became clearer on election night in 2016, Keith Davidson – who brokered hush-money payments for Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal to bury Trump’s alleged sexual liaisons – seemed shocked that his efforts had worked, texting Dylan Howard, then the editor of the National Enquirer:
What have we done?
Davidson described the phrasing as “gallows humor” about the fact that “our activities may have in some way assisted the presidential campaign of Donald Trump”. Howard responded to the text message with: “Oh my god.”
In addition to being a firsthand account of the purported payoff scheme, Davidson’s time on the stand served to corroborate expected testimony of Michael Cohen, who turned from Trump consigliere to star prosecution witness.
Trump’s lawyers have already signaled they will aggressively attack Cohen’s credibility when he testifies, painting him as a liar with an axe to grind. The prosecution’s questioning of Davidson on Thursday seemed to be a preemptive strike against this defense strategy. Indeed, Davidson’s comments aired problems with Cohen’s credibility before Trump’s lawyers could parade them in front of jurors.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass, for example, asked Davidson whether he’d kept communicating with Cohen after the election. Davidson recalled one particularly animated 2016 phone call.
Jesus Christ, can you fucking believe I’m not going to Washington? After everything I’ve done for that fucking guy, I can’t believe I’m not going to Washington.
“I’ve saved that guy’s ass so many times, you don’t even know,” Davidson further recalled of Cohen’s call.
He said I never even got paid. That fucking guy is not even paying me the $130,000 back.
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Trump hush-money trial continues with witness testimony
Good morning on the final day of the third week of Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial.
On Thursday, Keith Davidson, the attorney who brokered hush-money payments for both adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, returned to the stand as a witness for the prosecution. Davidson was grilled on communications with Dylan Howard, then the editor of the National Enquirer, and Michael Cohen, Trump’s then fixer.
Davidson testified that as Trump’s presidential victory became clearer on election night in 2016, he texted Howard, asking: “What have we done?” “Oh my god,” Howard replied, with Davidson walking jurors through the texts as they were displayed in court. Davidson told the jury that his phrasing amounted to “gallows humor”. When pressed to explain, Davidson said he meant:
Our activities may have in some way assisted the presidential campaign of Donald Trump.
Prosecutors allege that Cohen paid off Daniels to keep her quiet, and coordinated a payment to McDougal through the National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc, to help Trump’s chances in the election. Trump is on trial in New York for falsification of business records over allegedly listing repayments to Cohen as legal expenses in company documents.
Court is scheduled to begin at 9.30am ET, with forensic analyst Douglas Daus expected to return to the witness stand after a brief appearance yesterday.
We’re at the courthouse again today. Stay with us.
Trump’s criminal hush-money trial: what to know
A guide to Trump’s hush-money trial – so far
The key takeaways from Davidson’s testimony on Thursday,
The jurors: who is on the Trump trial jury?
The key arguments prosecutors will use against Trump
From Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels: the key players
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