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.
Trump en route to courthouse
Former President Trump is en route to the courthouse in lower Manhattan for this morning's proceedings.
The former president left for the the courthouse from Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan.
Court may start with hearing on Trump testifying
Court this morning may start with a hearing over what prosecutors can ask Trump during cross-examination should he take the stand later in the trial.
The judge would hear arguments from both the people and the defense. The proceedings would then move into jury selection later in the morning.
Prosecutors have indicated they would want to cross-examine Trump on approximately "thirteen different court determinations," including the recent civil finding that he sexually abused columnist E. Jean Carroll, the criminal conviction of the Trump Organization last year, the finding that he committed a decade of business fraud, and the dissolution of his charity, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The hearing -- known as a Sandoval hearing -- is standard practice before jury selection and typically occurs when a defendant signals a willingness to testify.
In a filing last month, Trump's lawyers requested a Sandoval hearing to limit the scope of Trump's potential cross examination, if he opted to testify.
ABC News' Katherine Faulders contributed to this report.
Jury selection set to begin
Former President Trump will leave his Trump Tower apartment in Midtown Manhattan this morning and travel down to lower Manhattan for the first day of jury selection in his criminal hush money trial.
The proceedings come after Trump unsuccessfully tried three times last week to delay the start of the trial through the filing of appeals.
As a defendant in a criminal case, the former president will be required to be in court for the entire trial, which is expected to take six to eight weeks.
'The boss will be angry' if the deal is off, Pecker says he was told
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker described one of the most heated moments so far during the catch-and-kill arrangement between him, Donald Trump and Trump's then-attorney Michael Cohen.
When Cohen approached Pecker with a plan to reimburse the National Enquirer for buying the exclusive rights to Karen McDougal's story, the two men drew up paperwork in which Cohen would repay the Enquirer's parent company, AMI, through a shell company he created, Pecker said.
But Pecker testified that he had a change of heart after consulting with his general counsel.
"I called Michael Cohen and I said to him that the agreement we signed -- the deal was off. I am not going forward, it is a bad idea," Pecker testified. "I want you to rip up the agreement."
"He was very, very, angry. Very upset, screaming basically at me. And I said, I'm not going forward with this agreement, rip it up," Pecker said.
Pecker said Michael Cohen then brought up "the boss."
"And Michael Cohen said, the boss is going to be very angry with you. And I said, I'm sorry, I am not going forward. The deal is off," Pecker recounted. "And he said, I can't believe it. I'm a lawyer, I'm your friend. I don't understand why you're not going forward. I said I am not going forward. Period."
Pecker previously described at length that he was aware that the National Enquirer's payment to Karen McDougal in order to catch and kill her story for the benefit of Trump's campaign would amount to an illegal campaign contribution -- softening his tone when he testified to this.