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.
Pecker describes $150,000 negotiations for McDougal's story
With Donald Trump following along from the defense table, head cocked slightly to the side, David Pecker described the negotiations conducted with Karen McDougal to purchase the exclusive rights to her story about an alleged year-long relationship with Trump.
Pecker said that Trump's attorney Michael Cohen authorized negotiations to begin, then during those negotiations, "Michael was very agitated," constantly asking "Why is this taking so long?"
"To purchase the lifetime rights to Karen McDougal was going to cost $150,000. Plus Karen wanted to restart her career. She wanted to write for the celebrity magazines. She wanted to be on the cover of the life and fitness titles. She had a major problem when her breast implants were removed and she wanted to write about that," Pecker testified.
Pecker said he asked Cohen, "Who is going to reimburse me for this?" He said Cohen responded "Don't worry about it, I'm your friend the boss will take care of it.'"
When prosecutor Josh Steinglass asked Pecker who "the boss" was, Pecker answered "The boss would have been Donald Trump"
Prosecutors then displayed for the jury the contract with McDougal, dated August 5, 2016. It awarded AMI, the Enquirer's parent company, the rights to her story of a relationship she had "with any then-married man." Pecker said "she was referring to Donald Trump."
Pecker testified he needed to "validate" the amount of money AMI was going to pay, so the contract included other provisions, like having McDougal write monthly columns on aging and fitness.
"With respect to campaign laws, I wanted to have the contract be a record that stipulates the services she was going to perform for American Media had a basis for it, the $150,000," Pecker said.
"Was it your primary purpose to buy the life rights?" Steinglass asked. "Yes it was," Pecker responded.
"Were the other provisions to disguise the true nature of this contract?" Steinglass asked. "Yes," Pecker replied, letting out a sigh.
Cohen said Trump would pay to buy McDougal story, Pecker says
In June of 2016, as the National Enquirer evaluated the merits of Karen McDougal's claim of a year-long affair with Trump, Trump's attorney Michael Cohen instructed Pecker to purchase her story -- and suggested that Trump would compensate the company for the cost, according to Pecker.
Pecker recalled from the stand a conversation he had with Cohen, in which Cohen told him, "You should go ahead and buy this story."
"So I said to him … 'Who's going to pay for it?'' Pecker testified, saying Cohen replied, "'Don't worry, I'm your friend, the boss will take care of it.'"
Pecker said he interpreted that to mean that if the National Enquirer purchased the story, Trump or the Trump Organization would reimburse him.
Picking up on his testimony from Tuesday, Pecker said that when he spoke with Trump about McDougal's story, he recalled that Trump called McDougal "a nice girl" and asked Pecker what he should do about it.
"I think you should buy this story and take it off the market," Pecker said, explaining that he "believed the story was true. I think that it would be embarrassing to himself and also to his campaign."
During her negotiations with the National Enquirer, McDougal represented that "she didn't want to be the next Monica Lewinsky," Pecker said.
Pecker resumes testimony about Karen McDougal
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker has resumed his testimony.
The veteran tabloid executive is fielding questions from prosecutors about how his publication handled its initial interactions with Karen McDougal, who approached the National Enquirer with allegations that she had had a year-long sexual relationship with Donald Trump.
When one of his reporters met with McDougal, the reporter found that her allegations "could be true, but she didn't have any corroborating evidence," Pecker said.
Prosecutors say Trump violated gag order 4 more times
Prosecutors have asked Judge Juan Merchan to hold Donald Trump in contempt for four additional violations of the court's limited gag order over the last three days.
"He is doing what the order tells him not to do," prosecutor Christopher Conroy said about Trump's recent remarks about witnesses and the jury.
Conroy outlined the four alleged violations, including Trump's hallway statements about Cohen on Monday, an interview Trump did on Monday where he made comments about the political composition of the jury pool, Trump's interview with Philadelphia ABC station WPVI where he attacked Cohen, and Trump's remarks this morning at a construction site where he commented on David Pecker's testimony.
"This is a message to Pecker -- be nice. It is a message to others. I have a platform and I will talk about you," Conroy said. "It is a message to everyone involved in this proceeding and this court."
Conroy did not specify what penalty Merchan should impose. In total, prosecutors have asked to hold Trump in 14 counts of criminal contempt.
Farro says Cohen became his banking client in 2015
Gary Farro, formerly a senior managing director at First Republic Bank, testified that he first met Michael Cohen when Cohen became a banking client of his in 2015, after one of Farro's colleagues left the bank.
Asked why Cohen was assigned to him, Farro cited his "ability to handle individuals who might be a little challenging."
"Frankly, I didn't find him that difficult," Farro remarked.
First Republic Bank had a branch across the street from Trump Tower, where Cohen worked. Farro said Cohen frequently visited the bank and eagerly told him that he worked for Trump.
"He was a lawyer or is a lawyer. I am not sure," Farro said about Cohen, who was disbarred in 2019.
Prosecutors are now walking through First Republic Bank's policies for retaining documents. Prosecutors plan to use Farro as a custodial witness to authenticate records that will be used as evidence.