Stormy Daniels' former attorney testified on Day 9 of Trump's hush money trial.
Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York City, where he is facing felony charges related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. It marks the first time in history that a former U.S. president has been tried on criminal charges.
Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
Donald Trump reentered the courtroom after the lunch break, with his son Eric Trump following a few steps behind.
Trump campaign adviser Susie Wiles and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are seated, along with Eric Trump, in the first row of the gallery behind Trump's defense table.
Judge Merchan took his seat on the bench and asked for Keith Davidson to be brought back to the witness stand so his testimony could resume.
Former President Trump has begun to remove the social media posts cited by Judge Juan Merchan in today's gag order ruling.
The judge this morning fined Trump a total of $9,000 for nine violations of the case's limited gag order, which prevents Trump from targeting potential witnesses and others involved in the case.
Trump was ordered to remove the posts in question and to pay the fine by the close of business this Friday.
Keith Davidson, the former attorney for Karen McDougal, testified that McDougal -- who said in 2016 that years earlier had had an affair with Trump -- did not actually want to tell her story publicly.
That's partially what made a deal with the National Enquirer so "attractive"-- because she would not have to, Davidson said.
"She did not want to tell her story," Davidson testified.
"Get me a price on McDougal All in. Consulting gig perhaps as a fitness expert thrown into the mix," National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard texted Davidson on July 23, 2016, in messages that were shown to the jury.
"How about 1m now. And 75K per year for next 2 years as a fitness correspondent for AMI & ur related pubs," Davidson texted.
"I'll take it to them but thinking it's more hundreds than millions," Howard responded.
"We are going to lay it on thick for her," Howard subsequently texted on July 28, 2016.
"Good. Throw in an ambassadorship for me. I am thinking Isle of Man," Davidson responded.
"That was just a joke," Davidson testified about the Isle of Man reference, saying that killing the story "would help Donald Trump's candidacy."
The attorney reiterated on the stand that the "allure of the AMI deal" was that McDougal would get paid yet she would not have to speak publicly about the alleged affair.
The proceedings then broke for lunch. Trump made no comments to reporters as he left the courtroom.
Keith Davidson, the former attorney for Karen McDougal, testified about the meeting he arranged between McDougal and National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard.
"Ms. McDougal alleged that she had had a romantic affair with Donald Trump some years prior," Davidson said, referring to what McDougal shared during the meeting.
Asked on the stand whether the affair was sexual, Davidson replied: "That's what she expressed."
Howard told them he wanted to "return to New York and run it up on the flag pole" before making a decision about whether to purchase McDougal's story.
"It's a story that should be told," Davidson texted Howard on June 27, 2017, regarding the alleged affair.
"I agree," Howard responded.
Jurors then saw text messages from about a month after the Howard-McDougal meeting.
"Let's talk ... tomorrow. I think this is the entree for me to go back to them," Howard texted Davidson.
"Better to be quick," replied Davidson, who said on the stand that he was trying to play the National Enquirer against another media outlet to create a "sense of urgency."
"You were trying to convey that there was some urgency and Dylan Howard should act quickly?" prosecutor Josh Steinglass asked Davidson.
"That's fair," Davidson said.
