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.
'I want to be open,' Trump tells reporters
Entering the courthouse this morning, Trump again criticized the limited gag order in the case, telling reporters, "Every time I come out to speak to you, I want to be open because we did absolutely nothing wrong."
It was a continuation of his campaign against Judge Merchan's limited gag order, which prevents him from targeting potential witnesses in the case, as well as jurors, lawyers, court staff, and the families of Merchan and District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
"The gag order has to come off. I should be allowed to speak," he said.
-Kelsey Walsh and Michael Pappano
Alternate jurors expected to be picked today
The temperature is rising in Donald Trump's New York criminal trial -- just not in the courtroom itself.
As the parties worked to select the jury Thursday, prosecutors alleged that the former president had violated the limited gag order in the case seven additional times beyond the three instances they flagged on Monday. The accusation came a day after Judge Juan Merchand scolded the former president for muttering within earshot of the jury.
As for the actual temperature, Trump and his attorneys complained it was too cold.
"I'm sitting here for days now from morning till night in that freezing room," Trump told reporters Thursday during a break in the proceedings.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche asked Judge Merchan is he could turn up the heat in the courtroom "just one degree," but the judge politely declined, saying he feared a one-degree bump in the nearly century-old building could increase the temperature by 30 degrees.
But the parties persevered, seating the jury's 12 members by the end of the day. Today they'll work to seat the jury's six alternates, in the hope of starting opening arguments on Monday.
'I'm supposed to be in North Carolina,' Trump tells reporters
Following court, Trump exited the courtroom where he reiterated to reporters that he spent the day in the courtroom instead of campaigning for president.
"I'm supposed to be in … New Hampshire … I'm supposed to be in Georgia. I'm supposed to be in North Carolina, South Carolina. I'm supposed to be in a lot of different places campaigning, but I've been here all day on a trial that really is a very unfair trial," he said.
The former president went on to claim that legal experts and various media outlets suggest there's no case.
"The case is ridiculous," he said. "It's missing fraud. There is no fraud."
A reporter, referring to a juror who had characterized Trump during questioning as "selfish and self-serving", shouted, "The juror called you selfish. How does that make you feel?" but Trump did not respond and exited the hallway.
-Kelsey Walsh and Michael Pappano
Court recessed for the day
Judge Juan Merchan has recessed court for the day.
Proceedings will resume tomorrow with plans to choose the remaining alternates for the jury.
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.