Trump was found guilty on all 34 felony counts in his hush money trial.
Former President Donald Trump has been found guilty on all 34 felony counts 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 convicted 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.
At the conclusion of the readback, Judge Merchan asked the jury if he had satisfied both their requests.
"Yes sir," the jury foreman said.
The jury then left the courtroom to return to their deliberations.
"You are excused," Merchan said to the parties before leaving the bench and heading to his robing room.
Trump and his entourage departed the courtroom to head to the waiting area.
Turning to Michael Cohen's testimony, the jury reheard his testimony, under questioning from prosecutors, that Pecker -- during the 2015 Trump Tower meeting -- vowed to keep an eye out for "anything negative about Mr. Trump" and flag them to Cohen.
Q: Could you tell the jury, please, what was discussed and what was agreed to at that meeting?
A: What was discussed was the power of the National Enquirer in terms of being located at the cash register of so many supermarkets and bodegas; that if we can place positive stories about Mr. Trump, that would be beneficial; that if we could place negative stories about some of the other candidates, that would also be beneficial.
Q: Was there anything else that Mr. Pecker said he could also do for Mr. Trump's candidacy?
A: Yeah.
Q: What, in substance, did he say?
A: What he said was that he could keep an eye out for anything negative about Mr. Trump, and that he would be able to help us to know in advance what was coming out and try to stop it from coming out.
Q: And who did he say he would get in touch with if his -- he was able to identify those types of stories?
A: The answer was: Me. Mr. Trump also. Knowing my relationship with David, "The two of you should work together. And anything negative that comes , you let Michael know, and we'll handle it."
The jury heard a portion of David Pecker's testimony, under cross-examination by defense attorneys, when he clarified that the idea of specifically catching and killing stories was not discussed at the 2015 Trump Tower meeting.
Q: At that meeting, the concept of "catch and kill" was not discussed; correct?
A: That's correct.
Q: And there was no discussion of a financial dimension to any agreement at that meeting; correct?
A: Yes. That's correct.
Pecker also testified that he did not consider that the Stormy Daniels catch and kill stemmed from the Trump Tower agreement in August 2015.
Q: And you did not consider the Stormy Daniels story to be a part of any Agreement that you had in August 2015; correct?
A: That's correct.
The jury heard an exchange between David Pecker and defense attorney Emil Bove where Bove highlighted that Pecker originally thought the Trump Tower meeting took place in the first week of August 2015. Pecker testified that the meeting actually happened in the middle of August.
Bove used the moment as an opportunity to highlight "gaps" in Pecker's memory and emphasize how long ago the meeting took place.
Q: And you changed your testimony here; right?
A: Yes, when I discovered that it was in the middle -- that it was the middle of August.
Q: And when you say that you "discovered," what you mean is that somebody told you that, notwithstanding what you testified about in the Grand Jury, President Trump was actually not in New York City during the first week of August; correct?
A: I -- I don't recall anyone telling me about that, that Mr. Trump was away in the first week of August.
Q: And then you changed your testimony, this week, on that issue; right?
A: Yes, that's correct.
Q: Why did you change your testimony?
A: I thought that -- I didn't know the exact date. I thought -- I know it was in the first half of August, so I thought it was the middle of August, that's what I recollected. That's why I corrected my -- the dates, yes.
A: I didn't believe that the exact date was --
Q: I understand. And I don't mean to put you on the spot. What I'm getting at, though, is that these things happened a long time ago; right?
A: Yes.
Q: And even when you're doing your best, and I'm sure you are right now, it's hard to remember exactly what happened when; right?
A: Yes.
Q: And when you are remembering about conversations that you had, it's hard to remember what people said almost ten years ago; correct?
A: You -- Ahhhh, yes.
Q: And so there are some instances where your mind sort of fills in gaps; right?
A: To the best of my knowledge.
Q: And you do your best to explain what happened in a way that makes sense; correct?
A: To what I remember.
Q: Yeah, to what you remember. And you fill in some details to keep things in sequence; right, and to make them sound logical?
A: I try to make them -- to what I remember. And to be truthful.
Q: I understand. But there are some gaps; correct?
A: Yes.
