Trump trial: 1st week of testimony ends with testimony from Michael Cohen's former banker
Banker Gary Farro testified in Donald Trump's hush money trial in New York.
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 to hide the reimbursement of a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
Top headlines:
- Banker says he set up LLC, which Cohen used to pay Daniels
- 'Thank you for handling' McDougal, Pecker says Trump told him
- 'This story is true,' Pecker recounts being told of Stormy Daniels
- Pecker describes $150,000 negotiations for McDougal's story
- Secret Service has plans if Trump is confined for contempt: Sources
What to know about the hush money case
READ MORE: Here's what you need to know about the historic case.
Several prospective alternates have read 'The Art of the Deal'
After a prospective alternate said he has a minority stake in a company that produces Michael Cohen's "Mea Culpa" podcast, Trump leaned forward and turned toward the man at the mention of his former attorney's name.
The man also said he had volunteered for a Democratic get-out-the-vote effort during Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign.
Several of the prospective alternates said they had read Trump's "Art of the Deal," including a management consultant who likes to be outdoors when he's not working.
A retired teacher made the requisite pledges, saying, "I will solely make my decision solely based on the evidence in the courtroom. There is no reason why I can't be a fair and impartial juror."
"I believe that everyone should obey the law," he said.
A woman with an MBA in information systems who likes to "cook, bake, watch hockey" inquired about the court's schedule for Passover. Told the court was planning to break early this coming Monday and Tuesday, she said that would give her plenty of time to travel to her seders in New Jersey.
A contract specialist for a fintech company said she likes to take her two boys to Knicks games and Rubik's Cube speed competitions.
Another prospective alternate skipped the questionnaire and told the judge she could not be impartial.
"After thinking about this yesterday after hearing the questions, I don't think I can be impartial," the woman said before Judge Merchan excused her without objection.
'I don't think I can be impartial,' says woman who's excused
Asked to share her responses to the jury questionnaire, one prospective alternate said she wanted to "jump ahead" to Question 34, which asks whether any strong opinions of Trump would interfere with the ability to be fair.
"The last day, after some introspection, I don't think I can be impartial," the woman said. "I had every intention when I first started, but I think after the questions posed to prospective jurors and asking the questions to myself, I don't think I can be impartial."
Judge Merchan excused her without objection from the attorneys.
A prospective alternate who works for the New York City Law Department said in response to a question that she had read Trump's "Art of the Deal." Trump, who appeared to have his eyes closed, opened them right away at that response and looked at the woman.
The woman also said she had been sexually assaulted "a couple of times on the train."
Trump also appeared to have been chewing on something. He has been conferring with defense attorney Emil Bove throughout the more mundane parts of the questionnaire responses.
A chef for a "large hospitality group" said he follows the White House account on Instagram, "so when Mr. Trump was president, obviously I was receiving updates." Trump turned his head to look at the man after he had been slumped over the defense table looking down.
Prospective alternates begin tackling questionnaire
Members of the remaining pool of jurors are reading aloud their answers to the jury questionnaire in order for the parties to pick the final alternates needed for the trial -- but even before the first prospective alternate began, she said, "I have really bad anxiety" about people possibly finding out who she is.
"I might not be able to be completely fair and that concerns me," the woman said. "More and more people in my life know I'm here without me even telling them, just by putting the pieces together."
She was immediately excused by Judge Merchan without objection from the lawyers.
There are 22 prospective alternates in the jury box that will respond to the questionnaire before the lawyers question them individually. The court must seat five additional alternate jurors after one was seated on Thursday.
Court back in session for Day 4
Court is back in session for Day 4 of the trial, kicking off what is widely expected to be the last day of jury selection.
Former President Trump is in his usual seat at the defense table, along with his lawyers. His aide Steven Cheung and attorney Cliff Robert are sitting in the back row of the courtroom.
"Good morning, Mr. Trump," Judge Merchand said as he entered the courtroom, which, like yesterday, is quite chilly.
"We're still working on the temperature in the courtroom," Merchan told all those assembled.
Defense suggests AMI's cooperation was financially motivated
When the National Enquirer's parent company AMI signed a non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in New York in September 2018, AMI was negotiating to sell the Enquirer and two other tabloids to Hudson News Group for $100 million, former publisher David Pecker testified under cross-examination.
Defense attorney Emil Bove suggested the pending sale put Pecker under pressure to resolve a federal campaign finance investigation over its payment to quash stories damaging to Donald Trump's presidential ambitions.
"You knew to finalize that deal, to consummate it, you had to clear out the investigations?" Bove asked.
"Yes," Pecker responded. "From a timing standpoint it would have added stress to the transaction."
On Thursday Pecker testified he had been "very worried" about the investigation. He had received a letter from the Federal Election Commission and said he called up Michael Cohen. "I said 'I'm very worried,'" he testified.
Pecker said Cohen responded, "Why are you worried? Jeff Sessions is the Attorney General and Donald Trump has him in his pocket."
The defense appears to be suggesting AMI cooperated with federal campaign finance investigations not because the company had done anything wrong related to the 2016 Trump campaign, but out of financial considerations in order to preserve the $100 million deal with Hudson News, which was finalized in April 2019.