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
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- 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.
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.
Judge scolds Trump for 'muttering' at prospective juror
As jury selection resumed for the afternoon session, Judge Juan Merchan scolded former President Trump over his audible "muttering" while a prospective juror was speaking.
"Your client was audibly muttering something," the judge told Trump's attorneys. "He was speaking in the direction of the juror. I will not tolerate that. I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom. I want to make that crystal clear. Take a minute and speak to your client."
The interaction occurred after Trump's defense attorney sought to immediately strike potential jurors for cause based on social media posts that he said contradicted their assertions of fairness.
"There's a number of the jurors that we have social media posts for very much contrary to the answers that they gave," defense attorney Todd Blanche said.
Blanche pointed to a woman who he said has a "series of extraordinarily hostile Facebook posts."
One of the posts read, "So I've been in the middle of the ocean for the last few weeks. What's going on?"
Another post included a video of people celebrating near Manhattan's 96th Street and the words, "Full-on dance party at 96 Street."
Judge Merchan seemed baffled. "Show me the bias," the judge said. "I'm trying to understand. How does this call into question what the juror said when that juror was answering questions?"
Blanche insisted the post, a day after the 2020 election, was a celebration of Trump's loss.
"This is ridiculous," prosecutor Josh Steinglass said.
The judge determined "there are enough questions here" to allow the defense to question the woman about her posts.
"I think I went to the car to alternate-side parking or something like that and there were people dancing in the street," the woman said, adding that it reminded her of the pandemic-era cheer for health workers.
"I understand that bias exists," the woman said. "The job of the juror is to understand the facts of the trial."
When the woman left the room, that's when the judge scolded Trump.
Judge hears arguments over evidence
Judge Merchan heard arguments about whether evidence involving the Trump campaign's interactions with the National Enquirer and Trump's alleged affair with former Playboy model Karen McDougal should be allowed at trial. The former president has denied all allegations of the affair.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche argued that the topics are a "sideshow" that threatened to "do nothing but confuse the jury about the actual crime charged."
Of the McDougal claims, Blanche called them "literally just salacious with no value."
Merchan ultimately sided with prosecutors on both, saying it would help prosecutors present a "narrative" and "lay the proper foundation" for their case.
The materials are "not illegal or improper," Merchan said. "I will allow it."
Merchan did instruct prosecutors not to make references to the fact that Trump's wife Melania was pregnant at the time of the alleged affair with McDougal.