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.
Jury 'just lost' one member, says judge
"We just lost what would have probably been a very good juror on this case," Judge Merchan said about Juror No. 2, who was subsequently excused without objection from both parties.
That brings the total number of seated jurors down to six, instead of seven.
Juror No. 2 said she "definitely has concerns now" regarding about what has been reported about her publicly. She said she received questions about her identity after colleagues and family said she may have been identified.
Judge Merchan admonished the press for revealing too much information about the jurors, and asked the press to "please refrain" from writing about jurors' physical appearance. He also said there was "no need" to mention one of the jurors had an Irish accent.
"It has become a problem," Marchan said.
Merchan then said he would be redacting some information from the public, including questions 3a and 3b from the jury questionnaire.
Juror tells court she has 'concerns' about serving
Court is off to a rocky start this morning after Judge Merchan said the court received a call from already-seated Juror No. 2, who conveyed that "after sleeping on it overnight, she had concerns" about serving on the case.
Marchan said he called that juror back this morning. She is now answering questions.
"I don't believe at this point that I can be fair and unbiased," the juror said.
Court is back in session
Court is back in session this morning for Day 3 of jury selection. Former President Trump is in the courtroom in his usual seat between Todd Blanche and Emil Bove.
Two members of Trump's campaign, Jason Miller and Steven Chueng, are also in the courtroom on the last bench in the back of the room.
Trump sat conferring with his attorneys as he waited for Judge Marchan to take the bench.
"Good morning Mr. Trump," the judge said as he gaveled in in proceedings.
Jury selection to resume
Jury selection resumes today in former President Trump's criminal hush money case when a new batch of 96 prospective jurors tackles the seven-page questionnaire that begins the whittling-down process.
Seven jurors were seated and sworn in on Tuesday. They were told to be prepared to return to court as soon as Monday when opening statements could begin.
Among the seated jurors is a school teacher, an oncology nurse and a grandfather born in Puerto Rico who said he found Trump "fascinating and mysterious."
The court needs five additional jurors and six alternates.
On Tuesday, each side used six of its 10 peremptory strikes, which eliminate a prospective juror from the pool for almost any reason. The judge may give each side additional peremptory challenges for seating alternate jurors.
Pecker reiterates that he didn't want Stormy Daniels' story
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified on cross-examination that the publication's limited involvement in Stormy Daniels' hush money payment was unrelated to the August 2015 Trump Tower meeting where Pecker vowed to serve as the "eyes and ears" of Trump's presidential campaign.
Pecker's testimony on cross-examination about the Daniels story appeared consistent with his testimony yesterday about his strong desire not to be involved in the Stormy Daniels payment.
Pecker said yesterday that he did not want to be involved in the story due to concerns about reputational harm to the National Enquirer and a lack of reimbursement for the other payments he had made to suppress previous Trump stories.
"I said, we already paid $30,000 to the doorman, we paid $150,000 to Karen McDougal, and I am not a bank. I am not paying out any further disbursements among us," Pecker testified yesterday. Pecker said he instructed National Enquirer Chief Content Officer Dylan Howard to flag the Stormy Daniels story to Michael Cohen, who made the payment to Daniels himself.
Asked about Daniels' payment on cross-examination, Pecker said that the National Enquirer's limited involvement was unrelated to their vow to Trump.
"You did not consider the Stormy Daniels story to be part of any agreement you had in August 2015?" defense attorney Emil Bove asked.
"That is correct," Pecker said.
"You wanted nothing to do with it?" Bove said.
"That's correct," Pecker said.
Pecker added that he did not "authorize" Howard to continue communicating with Stormy Daniels' lawyer Keith Davidson about the payment.
When Howard raised concerns to Pecker that Davidson had not yet been paid by Michael Cohen, Pecker said he was angry that Howard continued to communicate with Davidson about the story. In addition to the nature of the story -- which Pecker said could endanger the National Enquirer's relationship with its distributors -- Pecker said Cohen's delay in paying Daniels' lawyer could result in reputational harm to the National Enquirer.
"Frankly, you were not happy to be hearing that?" Bove asked about Cohen's delayed payment.
"Yes," Pecker said.
"The main concern was Howard's reputation?" Bove asked.
"Yes," Pecker said.