Trump trial: Emotional Hope Hicks faces her former boss on 'Access Hollywood' tape, Stormy Daniels payment
Trump's former top aide was the top witness on Day 11 of his hush money trial.
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 in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
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Defense asks again about integrity of Cohen's phone data
Douglas Daus told defense attorney Emil Bove that the recording on Michael Cohen's phone of of a 2016 conversation with Donald Trump lacks any metadata to suggest it was ever modified. Bove asked Judge Merchan to strike the response from the record, but the judge denied the request.
Bove then continued to ask Daus about about reliability of the evidence extracted from Cohen's phones.
At one point, Bove suggested that jurors would have to take "Michael Cohen's word for it" regarding the integrity of the evidence after Daus was unable to answer a series of questions with confidence. Daus' said his role was limited to extracting the data from phone, so he couldn't answer questions about the context of the investigation.
Bove suggested for a second time that, in order to fully trust the integrity of the phone, "We would have to take Michael Cohen's word for it."
"It would seem so," Daus said.
Bove subsequently ended his cross-examination of Daus.
Defense questions recording of Trump-Cohen conversation
Defense attorney Emil Bove Bove continued his attempts from yesterday to cast doubt on the integrity of the secret recording that Michael Cohen made of a conversation with Donald Trump on September 6, 2016, in which the two appeared to discusses the hush money payment to Karen McDougal.
Bove highlighted that Cohen conducted a factory reset of his phone on October 15, 2016.
"That sequencing ... raises some questions about that file right?" Bove asked.
"You have to then look at where that file came from," Daus responded.
"It raises some questions that require further analysis?" Bove asked.
"That is fair," Daus said.
It's unclear if the factory reset materially impacted the recording in any way since Cohen had backed up his device, Daus said.
Bove also repeated a line of questions from yesterday about the abrupt end to the recording of the Cohen-Trump conversation.
"You don't know how long the conservation continued?" Bove asked.
"No I don't," Daus said.
Yesterday, Daus suggested that Cohen's phone received a call that may have prompted the recording to end, but Bove suggested today that the extraction lacked any metadata to suggest an incoming call was received.
Defense questions chain of custody for Cohen's phone
Defense attorney Emil Bove has resumed his cross-examination of custodial witness Doug Daus, who conducted the extraction of Michael Cohen's two iPhones for the Manhattan's DA's office.
Bove appears to be continuing a line of questioning to raise suspicions about the chain of custody related to the phones.
He asked Daus about a four-day gap between the Manhattan DA receiving the phone and delivering it to the unit that processes the phone's contents. Bove also asked about only one witness signing the receipt form for the phone.
Bove also asked Daus about a "self-destruct timer" that Cohen used for one of his encrypted messaging apps. Daus confirmed that Cohen used the setting for some chats on one his three encrypted messaging applications.
Merchan reiterates jury won't be shown 'Access Hollywood' tape
Before the jury was led into the courtroom, Judge Merchan addressed whether an image of Donald Trump and Billy Bush that appeared in a Washington Post article about the "Access Hollywood" tape should be allowed into evidence.
The judge reiterated his ruling not to have the "Access Hollywood" tape played for the jury, though he repeated his earlier determination that prosecutors could show jurors a transcript of the remarks, which included Trump boasting about grabbing women.
"I don't want those words to be associated with Mr. Trump's face or voice," Merchan said.
Judge tells Trump he has 'absolute right to testify'
Judge Juan Merchan began the day's proceedings by clearing up a "misunderstanding" about the case's limited gag order's impact on Trump's ability to testify.
It comes after Trump, speaking after court yesterday, told reporters, "I'm not allowed to testify because this judge who's totally conflicted has put me under an unconstitutional gag order," referring to the limited gag order that keeps him from directing prohibited comments at witnesses, jury members, and attorneys in the case.
"I want to stress, Mr. Trump, that you have an absolute right to testify at trial," Merchan said from the bench while looking directly at the former president. "That is a constitutional right that cannot be denied ... it is a fundamental right that cannot be infringed upon."
"The order on extrajudicial statements does not prevent you from testifying in any way, it does not prohibit you from taking the stand and it does not prohibit or minimize what you could say from the witness stand," Merchan said.
The judge told Trump and his lawyers that the order only prohibits extrajudicial statements -- not statements made during the actual proceeding.
"It does not apply to statements made from the witness stand," Merchan said, directing Trump to speak to his lawyers if he has any further questions.
Trump clearly nodded along as Merchan spoke to him.