Trump trial: Hope Hicks faces her ex-boss on 'Access Hollywood' tape, Daniels payment

Trump's former top aide was the top witness on Day 11 of his hush money trial.

Last Updated: May 3, 2024, 4:29 PM EDT

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.

Apr 22, 5:51 am

What to know about the hush money case

May 02, 2024, 4:01 PM EDT

Expert says Cohen had 40K phone contacts, 10 pages for Trump

Expert witness Douglas Daus walked jurors through what he found on Cohen's phones after he extracted the data -- including an astounding 39,745 contacts.

Most phones have a few hundred contacts, Daus said.

On one of Cohen's phones, he had 10 pages of contacts for Donald Trump alone, according to Daus.

On Cohen's second phone, he had 385 contacts, which is average, according to Daus.

Daus then displayed for the jury text messages between Cohen and former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks.

Former President Donald Trump whispers to his attorney Todd Blanche during his criminal trial in Manhattan state court in New York City, on May 2, 2024 in this courtroom sketch.
Jane Rosenberg via Reuters

"Call me," Cohen texted Hicks on November 4, 2016.

Jurors then saw a photo of Cohen in the White House briefing room which was contained on his phone. Cohen is standing behind the podium in the photo.

Jurors also saw a calendar entry on Cohen's phone called "Meeting with POTUS" on February 8, 2017.

Daus identified that Cohen's phone contained three encrypted messaging apps: WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal.

Less than an hour after jurors listened to some of Cohen's recordings of his phone calls with Keith Davidson, Daus showed the jurors the location of some of those recordings on Cohen's phone.

May 02, 2024, 3:40 PM EDT

DA calls expert who extracted Cohen's cellphone data

Prosecutors have called their next witness: Douglas Daus, who works for the lab that processes devices for the Manhattan district attorney's office.

Daus works as an analyst in the unit of the Manhattan DA's office that handles intake and processing of electronic devices, such as a cell phone seized pursuant to a search warrant. Daus said the unit creates "extractions" of the devices, which are copies of the devices called a Cellebrite or GreyKey report.

The extraction contain "anything that is normally on a phone," according to Daus, including text messages, contacts, call history, and software.

The extraction also includes metadata, which provides a deeper record of when, where, and how a device was used.

For the Trump case, Daus conducted an analysis of two of Michael Cohen's phones -- an iPhone 6S and iPhone 7.

Daus said Cohen consented to the analysis of the devices.

May 02, 2024, 3:34 PM EDT

On call, Cohen said Trump 'hated' that they did Daniels agreement

During defense attorney Emil Bove's re-cross examination of Stormy Daniels' former attorney Keith Davidson, jurors heard Michael Cohen on a recorded 2018 phone call telling Davidson, "And I can't even tell you how many times he said to me, 'I hate the fact that we did it.' And my comment to him was, 'But every person that you've spoken to told you it was the right move.'"

Davidson said that Cohen was referring to Trump and Stormy Daniels' nondisclosure agreement.

Trump, in the courtroom, leaned forward in his chair as he read the transcript of the recordings displayed on the screen on counsel table.

Bove concluded his re-cross by getting Davidson to say again that he never met Donald Trump.

May 02, 2024, 3:23 PM EDT

Jurors hear portion of 2018 call between Davidson, Cohen

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass led off the re-direct examination of Stormy Daniels' former attorney Keith Davidson by asking Davidson about the recorded phone call with Cohen in April 2018.

At the time, attorney Michael Avenatti had taken over as Daniels' lawyer and was suing Davidson, he said.

Steinglass sought to get Davidson to add context to incendiary-sounding remarks during his phone call with Cohen.

"You were not telling Michael Cohen that Stormy Daniels was talking about the election and how she's going to lose her leverage after the election?" Steinglass asked.

"Correct," Davidson said.

Lawyer Keith Davidson, who represented former Playboy model Karen McDougal, is questioned during former President Donald Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan state court in New York City, May 2, 2024 in this courtroom sketch.
Jane Rosenberg via Reuters

Jurors then heard a portion of a recorded call.

"What would you do if you were me," Cohen said on the call.

"I can't even imagine," Davidson replied.

"Would you write a book? Would you break away from the entire Trump ... doctrine, you know? Would you go completely rouge? Would you join with (Steve) Bannon? Any thoughts? Because it's not just me that's being affected -- it's my entire family. Nobody is thinking about Michael," Cohen said.

Steinglass then completed his redirect.

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