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

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.