#Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection w/a #HushMoney payment made to a porn star to influence the 2016 election. The case could be in the jury’s hands as early as Wed.
#Steinglass now talks# about the 2nd of 3 hush-money deals, which involved #KarenMcDougal & was arranged by The #NationalEnquirer. He says that #Pecker & #DylanHoward of The Enquirer & #KeithDavidson, McDougal's lawyer, spoke in code. But you don’t have to be a codebreaker, he says, to understand what they were talking about
Steinglass also notes that the trio was communicating w/ #MichaelCohen, who testified that he had been charged w/keeping #Trump apprised of their progress
“#StormyDaniels was a walking, talking reminder that Trump was not just words" at a time when Trump was trying to distinguish between his words & both Clintons’ actions, #Steinglass said.
#GaryFarro says that he was thought of as someone who was good at working w/ “individuals who may be a little challenging,” though he says he didn’t find #MichaelCohen “difficult.” He also comments on Cohen’s apparent excitement to be working for #Trump.
Cohen set up the account in Oct 2016 & funded it from his home equity line of credit. About 2 wks before the 2016 election, he wired the payment to #KeithDavidson, a lawyer for #StormyDaniels.
Prosecution shows voluminous records of phone calls between #MichaelCohen & #HopeHicks after the article about #KarenMcDougal came out. If anything, these records make Hicks look as if she underplayed the amount that she was speaking to Cohen & his involvement in the campaign.
Next is one of Cohen's calls to #KeithDavidson in documentary evidence, (the lawyer for McDougal & #StormyDaniels) after the story about McDougal being paid off was published.
#Trump shakes his head & smirks when #MichaelCohen says he didn't mention Trump when setting up the bank account because he wanted to "protect him" from the transaction.
(#HopeHicks testified Trump told her essentially the same thing)
Prosecutors show an email Cohen sent #StormyDaniels’s lawyer, #KeithDavidson, showing that he had acquired the necessary funds.
Cohen says that he laid out the Daniels deal for Trump because "everything required Mr. Trump's sign-off."
Testimony started w/a bang last week as David #Pecker, the fmr publisher of The #NationalEnquirer, said that he had entered into a secret plot w/ #Trump & #MichaelCohen to #CatchAndKill negative stories about Trump as he ran for president in 2016. #GaryFarro, the 3rd to testify, started off w/dry details about banking transactions. But #Farro is leading us to the #HushMoney payment
“Throw in an ambassadorship for me. I’m thinking Isle of Man.”
Davidson said the text was a joke that referenced #Trump's campaign. Pressed further by the prosecutor, Joshua Steinglass, he added that he understood that getting McDougal a deal would help Trump’s candidacy.
Joshua Steinglass, the prosecutor, asks #KeithDavidson if he was given immunity from prosecution in this case. Davidson says, despite not having wanted to be here, that he did not seek immunity. This is a way for prosecutors to show that he is not simply cooperating to avoid prosecution himself.
Prosecutors call #KeithDavidson, who negotiated 2 deals before the 2016 election that paid women from Trump’s past in exchange for their silence about sexual or romantic relationships w/him. He was a lawyer to #StormyDaniels during the #HushMoney transaction. He also represented #KarenMcDougal, a former Playboy model who was paid $150k by The #NationalEnquirer’s parent company for the rights to her story about a 10-month affair w/ #Trump starting in 2006.
Joshua Steinglass asks #KeithDavidson if he knows 2 key witnesses: #DavidPecker, who the jurors already have heard from, & #MichaelCohen, who they’ve heard a lot about. Steinglass is tying Davidson into the case, helping the courtroom understand where he’s situated. Davidson just said that he represented #StormyDaniels as her lawyer — Daniels, whose name has been dangled in front of jurors several times, is of course another key player & potential witness.
Prosecutors are walking #KeithDavidson through his text messages w/ #DylanHoward, who was editor of The #NationalEnquirer, in which Davidson tells Howard: “I have blockbuster #Trump story.” In his reply, Howard asked, "did he cheat" on Melania.
In texts between #DylanHoward, the editor of The #NationalEnquirer, & #KeithDavidson, Davidson tells Howard, that #KarenMcDougal’s story “should be told” & Howard responds “I agree.” The NE, as the jurors know, had no intention of telling the story — instead it sought to bury it. So not only does this evidence remind us of David Pecker’s testimony last week, it also helps prosecutors double down on the idea that The NE was involved in a secret plot to help #Trump.
#KeithDavidson stressed that #KarenMcDougal did not want to go public in telling her story, & he said that the competing deal w/ABC would have forced her to tell it.
Her goals were to rejuvenate her career, make money, & avoid becoming “the scarlet letter,”.
“Was AMI attractive because she would not actually have to tell her story?” Steinglass asked.
Davidson said, “That was one of her stated goals.”
#KeithDavidson says that when he talked to #MichaelCohen, he was met w/a “hostile barrage” of “insults,” “insinuations” & “allegations” & that went on for quite a while.
#Trump’s lead defense lawyer, Todd #Blanche, is delighted as Davidson describes Michael Cohen screaming expletives at him. Blanche laughs & smiles at Trump, who is seated next to him. Blanche has been very focused on destroying Cohen’s credibility with the jury.
#Necheles has hardly asked about the actual case — whether there was a #conspiracy to cover up a #HushMoney payment made before an election, & if business records were falsified in the process. Instead she has focused on whether Daniels embellished her story about being threatened in Vegas by someone connected to #Trump.
Necheles repeats the accusation: “That’s what you did, right?”
Daniels almost yells: “False!”
The defense has been building to this since Emil #Bove, accused Daniels’s lawyer, #KeithDavidson, of being a serial extorter of celebrities on behalf of other clients.
#StormyDaniels laid out the specifics of the #HushMoney deal. She said that if she were to violate the agreement, it would cost her a $1M every time she did so.
Daniels said she was not paid on time, & she wasn’t sure why. “He just kept making excuses,” she said. At first she said that the “he” in question was #MichaelCohen. But then she clarified that it was #Trump who delayed the payment — specifically, Trump speaking to Cohen, who was speaking to her then-lawyer #KeithDavidson.
Cross-examination of #MichaelCohen resumes, an opportunity for the defense to poke holes in his testimony & perhaps trip up or provoke the state’s key witness. The questioning of Cohen, #Trump’s fmr fixer, is the beginning of the end of Trump’s #criminal trial, which began April 15 & might conclude before Memorial Day weekend at this pace.
#Blanche asks #MichaelCohen if he wanted a job in the #Trump WhiteHouse. Cohen testified to the House in 2019 that he didn’t want one. But other witnesses, like #KeithDavidson, #StormyDaniels's fmr lawyer, testified that Cohen was interested & sad he was being left behind.
Blanche: “You really wanted to work in the White House, correct?”
Cohen:“No sir.”
Blanche says that Cohen specifically wanted to be WH chief of staff, & Cohen again denies it.
#Trump has a huge posse today, including #KashPatel; #GerryKassar, a #conservative party leader in NY; #BernieKerik, fmr NYPD commissioner who was imprisoned for tax fraud & false statements; #AlanDershowitz, lawyer who defended Trump during his first impeachment, & #BorisEpshteyn, legal adviser who was #indicted in AZ for attempts to keep Trump in power after the 2020 election.
Prosecutors play the recording of #MichaelCohen talking to #KeithDavidson, who was #StormyDaniels's lawyer, but are playing more of it than before. It corroborates much of what Cohen’s testimony about the #HushMoney payment, including that he cared about #Trump & that he would not “play pennywise, pound foolish” w/his then-boss.
The prosecution asks that the defense be precluded from asking #StormyDaniels whether she was arrested. Justice #Merchan agrees w/the prosecutors, saying that “anybody can be arrested” & that it “doesn’t prove anything.”
The people call Stormy Daniels back to the stand
#Trump atty #Necheles begins questioning by saying that in 2011, Daniels denied having had sex w/Trump.
#StormyDaniels is pushing back on #Necheles, asking for evidence when the lawyer claims that Daniels had called her lawyer weak-willed.
Daniels: “Show me where I said that,” - forcing the defense to produce exhibits to back up allegations.
Necheles pulls up the transcript & audio & Daniels’s voice is not on the tape; it is #MichaelCohen & #KeithDavidson, her lawyer at the time - so Daniels is correct, not the #Trump atty.
#Trump has his posse again. Today it’s more #Republican elected officials. Today, Trump will be joined by the #House speaker, #MikeJohnson, as well as #NorthDakota’s governor, #DougBurgum, a contender to be Trump's running mate. Also present will be Representatives #ByronDonalds & #CoryMills of Florida, & #VivekRamaswamy, who was one of Trump's primary rivals this year. Both Donalds & Ramaswamy are longshot hopefuls to be Trump's running mate.
Prosecutor #Hoffinger brings up the joint defense agreement #MichaelCohen was part of, which meant the atty defending him was aligned w/Trump. She makes sure Cohen tells the jurors it was an advantage for #Trump, as well as for Cohen.
Cohen testifies about the#StormyDaniels statement in which she denied having had a “sexual &/or romantic affair” w/Trump. Her lawyer, #KeithDavidson, testified this statement was technically true, bc they didn’t have a full affair.
These texts from Cohen to #KeithDavidson, Daniels's lawyer show Cohen’s relentless work on #Trump’s behalf.
Cohen is asked about the complaint letter he received from the #FEC about his payment to #StormyDaniels, which was filed by a good-government group after WSJ published an article revealing the payment. He says his response to the FEC wasn’t false, but misleading.
charges are falsifying business records to hide #HushMoney payments in lead up to 2016 election to #influence electorate
just one Trump supporter at the courthouse draped in a Trump flag.
#StormyDaniels's lawyer, #KeithDavidson, to return to stand. He negotiated the hush-money payment at the center of the case, & is expected to lay out details of the deal.
Defense wants to portray #MichaelCohen as having a vendetta against #Trump grounded in personal disappointment w/nothing to do any alleged illegal conduct by Trump.
#Bove recalls to #KeithDavidson he said Cohen could be “aggressive,” then said, “And you can be aggressive too, can’t you?”
Davidson: “I suppose”
Bove: “What does the word ‘extortion’ mean to you?”
Defense wants to make Davidson look like a scumbag who extorted the Trump campaign. Davidson is pissed.
Davidson describes his text as “gallows humor,” but explains that “there was an understanding” that their “activities may have in some way assisted the presidential campaign of Donald Trump.”