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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- 'This story is true,' Pecker recounts being told of Stormy 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.
Jury selection resumes after break
Former President Trump is back at the defense table as court resumes after the lunch break.
While on break, Trump shared on his social media platform a newspaper opinion piece calling his former attorney Michael Cohen a "serial perjurer" and a "legal thug."
The former president, who is under a limited gag order prohibiting him from targeting witnesses in the case, did not add any comment of his own.
'Feelings are not facts,' prospective juror says
Defense attorney Todd Blanche finished questioning the first group of potential jurors, including asking them to think about their social media usage and whether it affects their opinion of Trump.
Blanche asked a man born in Mexico who became a U.S. citizen when Trump was president if that would color his jury experience.
"I think the media and the opinions of my Facebook friends are inconsequential to this trial," the man said. "Feelings are not facts."
A woman who had said she had been living in a WiFi-free lake house for much of February and March said she didn't know much about the case, but she knew about Trump's policies. She said she had "very little agreement policy-wise" with Trump, but told Blanche she "didn't sleep last night" because she was thinking so hard about fairness and impartiality.
"You want your client to have a fair shake. I will do my level-headed best to make sure that happens," she said.
This part of the day clearly interested Trump. He turned his body in the direction of the jury box, shifting his gaze from his lawyer to the people who may sit in judgment of him.
Judge Juan Merchan subsequently recessed the court for a lunch break.
Prospective jurors asked how they see Trump
What do you make of Trump?
In answering that question from attorneys, prospective jurors are painting a portrait of the man seated at the defendant's table -- complete with his complexities and his merits.
"President Trump speaks his mind," said one juror, a young black woman who teaches at a charter school. "And I'd rather that than someone who's in office who you don't know what they're thinking."
"He walks into a room, and he sets people off -- one way or another," the juror said. "I find that really interesting. Really -- this one guy can do all of this. 'Wow' -- that's what I think."
Trump smirked when another prospective juror said, "He stirs the pot."
"He speaks his mind," she said. "You can't judge him because he speaks his mind."
'I find him fascinating,' prospective juror says of Trump
Trump attorney Todd Blanche sought to "test" jury candidates on their assurances that his client would "get a fair shake" as he began his questioning of the first group of prospective jurors.
"This isn't a baseball game," Blanche said, referring to a sports reference Assistant District Attorney Josh Steinglass had made during his questioning of jurors. "This is extraordinarily serious."
Blanche pressed jurors on their opinion of Trump, asking each of them whether they harbored any views about him in any capacity -- political or otherwise.
"If we were sitting in a bar, I'd be able to tell you," said the bookseller from the Upper West Side. But in the courtroom, he continued, that opinion has "absolutely no bearing on the case."
"I walk in here, and he's a defendant," he said. "That's all he is."
When another juror indicated that her awareness of Trump comes in part through the lens of her gender -- "I'm a female," she said -- Blanche asked her to elaborate.
"I know that there have been opinions on how he doesn't treat females correctly, stuff like that," she said. "I honestly don't know the story. So I don't have a view on it."
Another juror, an older male, drew laughter from courtroom when he said Trump "makes things interesting."
"I find him fascinating. He walks into a room, and he sets people off," the juror said. "I find that really interesting."
"Um, all right," Blanche said. "Thank you."
Judge sets hearing on holding Trump in contempt
Judge Merchan has set a hearing on prosecutors' request to hold Trump in contempt for allegedly violating the judge's limited gag order.
After initially setting the hearing for Wednesday, April 24, he rescheduled it for Tuesday, April 23 at 9:30 a.m. ET.
The judge gave Trump's attorneys until April 19 to file their written response.
Prosecutor Christopher Conroy also asked that a copy of the order be served on Trump, and papers were then handed to Trump and defense attorney Todd Blanche at the defense table.