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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Davidson says Cohen was 'pleased' with McDougal deal
As Karen McDougal's attorney Keith Davidson continued his testimony, jurors were shown the final contract between McDougal and AMI that prohibited her from talking about past relationships with a "then-married man."
"Karen had ... granted her limited life rights related to the subject matter -- any affairs with any then-married man -- to AMI," Davidson testified, telling jurors that Donald Trump was the "then-married man" referenced in the contract.
Asked by prosecutor Joshua Steinglass the reasons he believed AMI would spend $150,000 on a story they didn't plan to publish, Davidson said, "I think there were two. I think one explanation that was given was that they were trying to build Karen into a brand," and didn't want to compromise her reputation, he said.
"The second was more of an unspoken understanding that there was a close affiliation between (publisher) David Pecker and Donald Trump, and that AMI would not run this story ... because it would tend to hurt Donald Trump."
"You mean, hurt Donald Trump's campaign?" Steinglass asked.
"Yes," Davidson said.
Davidson previously testified that when the deal was finalized, he called Michael Cohen.
"I called him and let him know as a professional courtesy that the deal involving his client closed," Davidson said.
"What client is that?" Steinglass asked.
"Donald Trump," Davidson said.
Steinglass asked Davidson how Cohen received the news.
"He was pleased," Davidson said.
Appeals court denies Trump's bid to have judge recused
An appellate court has denied former President Trump's bid to have Judge Juan Merchan recused from his hush money trial.
Trump's application sought a stay of the proceedings and Merchan's recusal.
Both were denied without explanation by the appellate judge.
Trump removes all 9 social posts cited by judge
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.
Texts detail AMI's negotiations for McDougal's story
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.
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.