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
- 'Thank you for handling' McDougal, Pecker says Trump told him
- 'This story is true,' Pecker recounts being told of Stormy Daniels
- Pecker describes $150,000 negotiations for McDougal's story
- 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.
Handful of jury prospects remain from initial group of 96
Four of the six remaining prospective jurors from the initial batch of 96 have ticked through their jury questionnaire, after which two were excused, leaving two still in the running to be selected.
A fifth prospect, a retired New York Police Department photographer, was going through his questionnaire.
A prospective juror who is a real estate developer advanced to the next round. He said he read "The Art of the Deal" a "long time ago" and alerted the court to tangential relationships with the former president.
"There are people that I know that know the president," he said. "It wouldn't in any way influence my thinking ... but I just wanted to state for the record that that's out there."
Among prospective jurors who were excused in the latest round was a North Carolina-born civil litigator and a doctor who asked to be excused to care for her patients. A history teacher at an all-girls' school was excused after she said her opinions about Trump might interfere with her ability to serve impartially.
Judge swears in 2nd group of 96 prospective jurors
With six seats filled on the jury that will determine the outcome of Donald Trump's first criminal trial, a new group of 96 New Yorkers was ushered into the courtroom and sworn in as prospective jurors.
Many of them craned their necks to get a look at the defendant.
"Ma'am, ma'am, put your cellphone away," a court security officer told one woman who tried to pull out her phone after spotting Trump.
One man and woman were seen whispering feverishly to one another.
After members of the group were sworn in, Judge Merchan told them he was sending them home for the day.
"I know that you've been sitting around all day, waiting for something to happen, and I want you to know that that wasn't lost on us," Merchan said, telling them the proceedings would start right away when they return Thursday morning following Wednesday's day off.
Before the new panel was brought in, the judge asked Trump's defense team to confirm that the social media posts it's been digging up are all are public. Trump attorney Todd Blanche confirmed they were.
Judge suggests arguments could begin early next week
After selecting and swearing in the first six jurors, Judge Juan Merchan asked them to return on Monday unless they hear otherwise from the court -- suggesting that opening statements could happen as soon as early next week.
The judge, however, cautioned that seating the remaining jurors may not happen by then.
"We don't know exactly how long that will last," Merchan said.
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.
Pecker describes $150,000 negotiations for McDougal's story
With Donald Trump following along from the defense table, head cocked slightly to the side, David Pecker described the negotiations conducted with Karen McDougal to purchase the exclusive rights to her story about an alleged year-long relationship with Trump.
Pecker said that Trump's attorney Michael Cohen authorized negotiations to begin, then during those negotiations, "Michael was very agitated," constantly asking "Why is this taking so long?"
"To purchase the lifetime rights to Karen McDougal was going to cost $150,000. Plus Karen wanted to restart her career. She wanted to write for the celebrity magazines. She wanted to be on the cover of the life and fitness titles. She had a major problem when her breast implants were removed and she wanted to write about that," Pecker testified.
Pecker said he asked Cohen, "Who is going to reimburse me for this?" He said Cohen responded "Don't worry about it, I'm your friend the boss will take care of it.'"
When prosecutor Josh Steinglass asked Pecker who "the boss" was, Pecker answered "The boss would have been Donald Trump"
Prosecutors then displayed for the jury the contract with McDougal, dated August 5, 2016. It awarded AMI, the Enquirer's parent company, the rights to her story of a relationship she had "with any then-married man." Pecker said "she was referring to Donald Trump."
Pecker testified he needed to "validate" the amount of money AMI was going to pay, so the contract included other provisions, like having McDougal write monthly columns on aging and fitness.
"With respect to campaign laws, I wanted to have the contract be a record that stipulates the services she was going to perform for American Media had a basis for it, the $150,000," Pecker said.
"Was it your primary purpose to buy the life rights?" Steinglass asked. "Yes it was," Pecker responded.
"Were the other provisions to disguise the true nature of this contract?" Steinglass asked. "Yes," Pecker replied, letting out a sigh.