Defense attorney Emil Bove sought to distance former President Trump from the National Enquirer's purchase of negative stories about him and instead suggested David Pecker and Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen may have been freelancing.

Bove asked Pecker about a meeting at Trump Tower in August 2015 where Pecker previously testified he agreed to be the "eyes and ears" of the Trump campaign.

"At that meeting, the concept of catch and kill was not discussed, correct?" Bove asked.

"That's correct," Pecker answered.

The defense also sought to reframe the Enquirer's $30,000 purchase of Trump World Tower doorman Dino Sajudin's false claim that Trump fathered a love child.

Bove suggested Enquirer parent AMI purchased the story not to help the Trump campaign, but because it was an irresistible tabloid scoop.

"Sajudin threatened to go somewhere else?" Bove asked. "Yes," Pecker responded.

"That is why you paid him $30,000?" Bove asked. "It would be too great a loss to AMI to lose the story, if true?"

"Yes," Pecker answered.

"You could not walk away from that possibility?" asked Bove.

"Yes," replied Pecker.

Trump attorney Emil Bove, continuing his cross-examination of former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, returned to a theme he emphasized yesterday: that the National Enquirer's supportive arrangement with Trump was not unique, but rather "standard operating procedure."

Bove is seeking to establish that negative stories about Donald Trump's political opponents in the National Enquirer largely involved "information that was already in the public domain" -- recycled narratives and reporting found in other outlets.

"There wasn't much new content in those stories, was there?" Bove asked Pecker.

"Yes," Pecker said.

"It was a business decision that it was good for the National Enquirer to run those stories," Bove said, adding that, as a business model, it was "quick, efficient, and cost-effective" -- to which Pecker agreed.

Bove cited stories about Bill and Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Ben Carson as examples.

"Good morning, everyone," Judge Juan Merchan said at the start of the proceedings. "Good morning, Mr. Trump."

Trump did not audibly respond. The former president is sitting slightly slouched at the defense table between defense lawyers Emil Bove and Todd Blanche.

Merchan announced that the contempt hearing originally scheduled for next Wednesday -- related to the four new violations of the limited gag order alleged by prosecutors -- has been moved to Thursday at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Defense attorney Emil Bove has resumed his cross-examination of former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker.

Before entering the courtroom for today's proceedings, former President Donald Trump spoke to reporters, repeating his claims that Judge Juan Merchan is a "highly conflicted judge" overseeing a "rigged trial."

Trump also expressed his annoyance about the ongoing cold conditions in the courtroom, on a day where it's a brisk 50 degrees in lower Manhattan.

"So we have another day of court in a freezing courthouse, it's very cold in there," he said. "On purpose, I believe. They don't seem to be able to get the temperature up. It shouldn't be that complicated. But we have a freezing courthouse, and that's fine."

-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh and Mike Pappano

The first six jurors selected to serve in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial represent a diverse cross-section of New York City, according to their biographical information. Here's a brief sketch of each juror, whose identities are being kept private for security reasons.

Juror No. 1 is a middle-aged salesman who immigrated to the United States from Ireland. He lives in West Harlem and said he normally gets his news from the New York Times, Daily Mail, Fox News and MSNBC. In his spare time, he said he enjoys doing "anything outdoorsy."

Juror No. 2 works as an oncology nurse at Memorial Sloan Kettering. She lives with her fiancé and enjoys taking her dog for walks in the park. She said she gets her news from The New York Times, CNN, Google, and Facebook.

Juror 3 is a corporate attorney who moved to New York from Oregon five years ago. He has worked at two major white-shoe law firms in New York. He said he normally gets his news from The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Google. In his spare time, he said he enjoys hiking and running.

Juror No. 4 said he finds the former president to be "fascinating and mysterious." Originally from Puerto Rico, he has lived in the Lower East Side for the last 40 years. He is a self-employed IT consultant who attended one year of college and has been "married for a long time." He normally gets his news from the Daily News, The New York Times, Google.

Juror No. 5 was the only potential juror who raised her hand when lawyers asked if they had ever heard of Trump's other criminal cases. A life-long New Yorker, she currently works as an ELA teacher in a charter school and lives in Harlem. She normally gets her news from Google and TikTok but said that she "doesn't really care for the news."

Juror No. 6 is a software engineer who works for the Walt Disney Company, which is the parent company of ABC News. She grew up in New York City and lives in Chelsea with three roommates. She said she gets her news from The New York Times and TikTok. In her spare time, she said she enjoys plays, restaurants, dancing, and watching TV.