Trump trial: Trump hit with contempt, witnesses detail Stormy Daniels deal
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.
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'We don't win' if people think stories are true, Trump said in 2016
As part of a series of video, jurors were shown a video of an October 2016 Trump rally in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
"They are trying to poison the mind of the American voter. Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign," Trump said in the video.
Lastly, jurors sew a brief video of a press conference by President-elect Trump praising Michael Cohen.
Trump, in one of the videos, appears to acknowledge how damaging the stories could have been to his election prospects.
"If 5% of the people think its true, and maybe 10% of the people, we don't win," Trump says in the speech.
In the courtroom, Trump's demeanor completely changed immediately after the videos were played for the jury. He perked up and frantically whispered with his attorney Todd Blanche, looking displeased.
Browning, the C-SPAN executive, concluded his testimony, and defense lawyers opted not to cross-examine him.
Jurors shown video from 2016 Trump rally
As Robert Browning took the witness stand, Trump was slumped back in his chair, sunken quite low down, with an entirely blank expression on his face. Then his eyes appeared to close.
Browning, a C-SPAN executive is testifying about four videos from 2016: two from Trump campaign events in North Carolina, one from Pennsylvania, and one from a news conference. The executive was called to testify because Trump's defense declined to stipulate that it is, in fact, Trump in the videos
Jurors were first shown a video from a Trump rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, in October 2016.
“I have no idea who these women are. I have no idea,” Trump says in the video regarding allegations of infidelity. “The stories are total fiction. They are 100% made up. They never happened. They never would happen.”
Judge will allow some questioning about intimidation effort
Judge Juan Merchan has ruled from the bench that prosecutors will be permitted to introduce evidence about Trump's alleged "intimidation effort" for a limited purpose.
Prosecutors can use the evidence to offset the defense claim that witnesses are financially benefiting from the trial and explain why some witnesses have changed their story; however, the evidence cannot be used to demonstrate Trump's "consciousness of guilt," as the prosecution had sought.
Merchan also said jurors will have May 24 -- the Friday before Memorial Day -- off, because a juror has to catch a flight at 11 a.m. ET.
Prosecutors then called as their next witness Robert Browning, who has worked as the executive director of the C-SPAN's archives for 30 years.
'Let’s try to keep the break short,' judge tells defense
Jurors have re-entered the courtroom following the mid-morning break.
Trump returned to the courtroom speaking with his defense attorney Todd Blanche as he entered.
Judge Juan Merchan lightly scolded Blanche about running late.
"Let's try to keep the break short," Merchan told Blanche, reminding him that jurors are waiting. "Let's do better."
Banker details Michael Cohen's $130K payment to Stormy Daniels
Michael Cohen's former banker, Gary Farro, returned to the stand, where he was asked by prosecutor Becky Mangold about Cohen's frantic effort to create a bank account for a new company he created called Essential Consultants LLC on October 26, 2016.
Referring to Stormy Daniels, Farro told jurors that Cohen did not disclose the account would be used to send money to an adult film actress, adding that his bank, First Republic, avoided financing the adult-entertainment sector.
Farro said that Cohen added $131,000 to an account for Essential Consultants LLC using a home equity line of credit.
Farro then began walking jurors through a wire transfer authorization form that was filled out on October 27, 2016, using information provided by Michael Cohen.
The form -- which was signed by Cohen -- listed that $130,000 was being wired to Keith Davidson's attorney-client trust account. The money would be held in the account for Davidson's client.
According to the form, the purpose of the wire was a "retainer" payment.
Cohen completed the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels on October 27, 2016, which was 12 days before the presidential election.