Trump trial: Trump hit with contempt, witnesses detail Stormy Daniels deal

When court resumed following the afternoon break, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass continued his direct examination of Stormy Daniels' attorney Keith Davidson.

Davidson testified that while Michael Cohen did not directly say he was negotiating the hush money deal on behalf of Donald Trump, it was implied throughout their negotiations.

"He leaned on his close affiliation with Donald Trump," Davidson said, adding that for Cohen, working for Trump was "part of his identity."

As a result, Davidson suggested he assumed that Donald Trump would ultimately fund the $130,000 payment to Daniels.

"It was my understanding that Mr. Trump was the beneficiary of this contract," Davidson said. He added that the beneficiary of a contract normally pays the contract -- but Judge Merchan struck that portion of his testimony.

Steinglass then attempted to get a clear answer to confirm that Davidson believed Trump would ultimately be responsible for Daniels' payment, but defense lawyer Emil Bove successfully interrupted the testimony through multiple objections and sidebars.

Davidson testified that in October 2016, National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard joked to Davidson about Trump's frugality, which Davidson said he believed was getting in the way of Daniels' contract being completed.

"I reckon that trump impersonator I hired has more cash," Howard said in a text to Davidson that was displayed for the jury.

Stormy Daniels' attorney Keith Davidson testified that he began to think Michael Cohen was beginning to come up with excuses not to send the $130,000 payment owed to Daniels for her silence regarding an alleged rendezvous with Trump.

Jurors saw an email from Cohen where he blamed the delay on the Yom Kippur holiday.

"There were other excuses," Davidson said.

On October 17, 2016, Davidson threatened to cancel the contract with Daniels after he said Cohen made a "barrage of excuses" and failed to meet the funding deadline for the contract.

"The things he was saying didn't make sense from one conversation to the next," Davidson said.

Davidson listed the excuses including, "the computer systems were all f----- up," there was increased security due to the Secret Service, and he had lost the wire instructions.

"This is a very bad situation," Davidson recounted telling Cohen. "It is making me look bad, and I don't really believe a word that you are saying."

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

Davidson testified his interpretation was that Cohen did not have the direct authorization to send the money.

"Where did you believe the money to be coming from?" prosecutor Josh Steinglass asked. "From Donald Trump or some kind of corporate entity," Davidson said.

On October 17, 2016, Davidson said he emailed Cohen to cancel the Daniels agreement and tell him that he no longer represented her.

"This is the straw that broke the camel's back," Davidson said following all the excuses from Cohen. "I said, 'Hey, this deal is over.'"

"I am out. Go in peace," Davidson summarized his email to Cohen.

"I believed Cohen was not being truthful," Davidson said. "I thought he was trying to kick the can down the road until after the election."

Cohen finally budged and said he would send the money himself, according to Davidson.

"God damn it, I will just do it myself," Cohen eventually said, according to Davidson.

Court subsequently recessed for a short afternoon break. Trump did not speak with reporters as he left the courtroom.

Stormy Daniels' attorney Keith Davidson testified that he used the pseudonym "David Dennison" to reference Donald Trump in the contract that paid Daniels for her silence regarding an alleged rendezvous with Trump.

"Who came up with those pseudonyms?" prosecutor Josh Steinglass asked Davidson.

"I did," replied Davidson, who said that the real David Dennison was on his "high school hockey team."

"How does he feel about you now?" Steinglass asked about the real David Dennison.

"He is very upset," Davidson said, prompting some smiles from the jury and laughter from the gallery.

Stormy Daniels' attorney Keith Davidson testified that National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard reached out to him in June 2016 to let him know that Stormy Daniels' agent Gina Rodriguez was attempting to shop around the Daniels' story.

"Gina is trying to hawk Stormy again," Howard texted Davidson in messages shown to the jury.

"Lol - she's trying to sell the story to you?" Davidson replied.

"Yep," wrote Howard.

Davidson testified that the release of the "Access Hollywood" tape, in which Trump was heard bragging about grabbing women, reinvigorated interest in Daniels' story.

"As far as I am aware, it had a tremendous influence," Davidson said. Before the 'Access Hollywood' tape, there was very little if any interest. It wasn't until 'Access Hollywood' that interest reached a crescendo."

"Trump is f-----," Davidson write in an Oct. 8, 2016, text message to Howard that was displayed for the jury.

"The Dirty post was bad, but it could get a lot worse," Davidson said.

According to Davidson, Howard and Rodriguez worked out a deal for AMI to buy Stormy Daniels' story for $120,000, but AMI backed out at the last moment. Howard suggested that Rodriguez reach out to Cohen to broker the deal, but she refused. Rodriguez instead asked Davidson to contact Cohen directly.

"Michael Cohen stepped into AMI's shoes" after "AMI washed their hands of the deal," Davidson said.

Davidson said he padded the Stormy Daniels' deal so he could get paid at the request of Gina Rodriguez.

"It is going to be the easiest deal you've ever done in your entire life," Davidson said to describe Rodriguez's request. Her only ask, according to Davidson, was that he would need to "talk to that a------ Cohen."

"It was the original [$120,000], plus $10,000," Davidson said about the $130,000 payment made by Cohen.