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.


What to know about the hush money case

READ MORE: Here's what you need to know about the historic case.


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6 jurors now seated

Judge Juan Merchan has now seated and sworn in six jurors to sit in judgment of former President Trump, after each side used several peremptory strikes and other prospective jurors were stricken over politically-charged social media posts.

"You are the first six jurors selected for this trial," Merchan said.

Juror No. 1, the foreperson, is a man born in Ireland who works in sales and lives in West Harlem.

Juror No. 2 is an oncology nurse at Memorial Sloan Kettering who lives on the Upper East Side.

Juror No. 3 is an attorney who lives in Chelsea.

Juror No. 4 is an IT consultant who lives on the Lower East Side and is originally from Puerto Rico.

Juror No. 5 is a charter school teacher from Harlem.

Juror No. 6 is a software employee who works for Disney and lives in Chelsea.


First 3 jurors seated

Three jurors from the first batch of 96 prospects have been selected for the jury.

After the defense raised a series of motions to remove jurors for cause, citing their social media posts, Judge Juan Merchan formally approved three jurors:

- an Irish-born salesman;

- an oncology nurse; and

- an attorney who lives in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood.

The selections came after Judge Merchan blocked one other motion from the defense to strike a juror for cause and granted another.

The juror Merchan agreed to remove was an Upper West Side bookseller who recently re-posted an AI video to social media mocking Trump, which included a fake Trump saying, "I'm dumb as f---."

"I thought it would be funny," the juror said.

The government then used three of its ten peremptory strikes and the defense used four.


Judge removes juror whose post said 'lock him up'

After declining to strike a potential juror for her Facebook content, Judge Merchan granted a defense motion to strike another juror for a social media post.

"Good news!!" the post read. "Trump lost his court battle on his unlawful travel ban!!!"

If the post ended there, Judge Merchan said, he would allow him to remain in contention. But the post didn't stop there.

"Get him out and lock him up," the post continued.

Those post shows the prospective juror expressing "the desire that Trump be locked up," Merchan said. "Everyone knows that if Mr. Trump" is found guilty, he could face prison time.

"I don't think I can allow this juror to remain," the judge said, before agreeing to strike the juror.


Judge declines defense's motion to remove juror

Judge Merchan declined to strike for cause the prospective juror who posted what the defense called "hostile" Facebook videos, explaining that he believed the juror when she told the court that she would follow the facts of the case.

"I don't want a juror on this panel who lies to us. I don't want a juror on this panel who misleads us," he said. "And for this reason, I did want to hear from the juror."

Ultimately, Merchan found her assurances to be honest.

"I was able to see her demeanor, I was able to hear her voice," he said. "That juror looked me right in the eye, and when she said she could be fair and impartial, she meant it."

"I find her to be credible," Merchan concluded, before denying the defense motion to remove her from the jury.


'I thought we had an agreement,' Pecker says Trump told him

After court resumed for the afternoon session, David Pecker retook the stand.

The former National Enquirer publisher testified that six months after Donald Trump became president, Trump hosted a "thank-you dinner" for Pecker and some of his business associates.

After taking photos in the Oval Office -- "Jared Kushner was there, Sean Spicer was there" Pecker said -- Trump asked Pecker to walk with him along the colonnade "past the Rose Garden," Pecker recalled. The jury saw a photo of the two men on that walk.

Trump said that on that walk, Trump asked Pecker, "How's Karen doing?" referring to Karen McDougal, who the National Enquirer had paid to catch-and-kill her story claiming a year-long relationship with Trump.

"She's doing well. She's quiet. All's going good," Pecker recalled responding.

Eight months later, in March 2018, Pecker said Trump called him about a television interview McDougal had conducted.

"He said 'Did you see the Anderson Cooper interview with Karen McDougal?' I said yes. He said, 'I thought we had an agreement with Karen that she can't give any interviews or be on any television shows.' So I said yes we have an agreement, but I amended it," said Pecker, who testified earlier that he had done so following the election.

Pecker testified that Trump was very upset. "He couldn't understand why," Pecker said. "He couldn't believe that I did it."

Pecker said Trump also called him after Stormy Daniels appeared on a television interview a short while later.

"He said, 'We have an agreement with Stormy Daniels that she cannot mention my name or do anything like this, and each time she breaches the agreement it's $1 million penalty,'" Pecker said.