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.
All nine of former President Trump's social media posts cited by Judge Juan Merchan in his contempt of court ruling this morning have been removed.
The judge ruled that the nine posts violated the limited gag order prohibiting Trump from targeting potential witnesses and others involved in the case.
The nine posts were deleted during the court's lunch break.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass resumed his direct examination of Karen McDougal's former attorney Keith Davidson regarding his text messages with National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard as the two were negotiating how much the publication would pay McDougal for the exclusive rights to her story alleging she'd had an affair with Donald Trump.
“I can't believe they are asking me to go back for another 25 but they are. He deal is accepted at 150k. Can u do that?” Davidson wrote on August 2, 2016.
“He just called me. F--- it. Not my money. I'll ask,” Howard responded.
Davidson told the jury that Enquirer parent AMI initially provided a contract that did not match the terms originally discussed with Howard.
“Cameron's agreement wasn't really even close to what we were expecting. Please review the red-line I just sent. Need to handle this quickly,” Davidson wrote to Howard on Aug. 5, 2016.
Davidson testified that he initially avoided interacting with Michael Cohen while negotiating the deal with AMI due to a negative interaction he had with Cohen in 2011.
“My interaction with him was not pleasant or constructive and I didn’t particularly like dealing with him, and that is why I was trying like hell to avoid talking to him,” Davidson testified regarding Cohen.
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.
