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.
Court back in session for Day 4
Court is back in session for Day 4 of the trial, kicking off what is widely expected to be the last day of jury selection.
Former President Trump is in his usual seat at the defense table, along with his lawyers. His aide Steven Cheung and attorney Cliff Robert are sitting in the back row of the courtroom.
"Good morning, Mr. Trump," Judge Merchand said as he entered the courtroom, which, like yesterday, is quite chilly.
"We're still working on the temperature in the courtroom," Merchan told all those assembled.
'I want to be open,' Trump tells reporters
Entering the courthouse this morning, Trump again criticized the limited gag order in the case, telling reporters, "Every time I come out to speak to you, I want to be open because we did absolutely nothing wrong."
It was a continuation of his campaign against Judge Merchan's limited gag order, which prevents him from targeting potential witnesses in the case, as well as jurors, lawyers, court staff, and the families of Merchan and District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
"The gag order has to come off. I should be allowed to speak," he said.
-Kelsey Walsh and Michael Pappano
Alternate jurors expected to be picked today
The temperature is rising in Donald Trump's New York criminal trial -- just not in the courtroom itself.
As the parties worked to select the jury Thursday, prosecutors alleged that the former president had violated the limited gag order in the case seven additional times beyond the three instances they flagged on Monday. The accusation came a day after Judge Juan Merchand scolded the former president for muttering within earshot of the jury.
As for the actual temperature, Trump and his attorneys complained it was too cold.
"I'm sitting here for days now from morning till night in that freezing room," Trump told reporters Thursday during a break in the proceedings.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche asked Judge Merchan is he could turn up the heat in the courtroom "just one degree," but the judge politely declined, saying he feared a one-degree bump in the nearly century-old building could increase the temperature by 30 degrees.
But the parties persevered, seating the jury's 12 members by the end of the day. Today they'll work to seat the jury's six alternates, in the hope of starting opening arguments on Monday.
'I'm supposed to be in North Carolina,' Trump tells reporters
Following court, Trump exited the courtroom where he reiterated to reporters that he spent the day in the courtroom instead of campaigning for president.
"I'm supposed to be in … New Hampshire … I'm supposed to be in Georgia. I'm supposed to be in North Carolina, South Carolina. I'm supposed to be in a lot of different places campaigning, but I've been here all day on a trial that really is a very unfair trial," he said.
The former president went on to claim that legal experts and various media outlets suggest there's no case.
"The case is ridiculous," he said. "It's missing fraud. There is no fraud."
A reporter, referring to a juror who had characterized Trump during questioning as "selfish and self-serving", shouted, "The juror called you selfish. How does that make you feel?" but Trump did not respond and exited the hallway.
-Kelsey Walsh and Michael Pappano
'This story is true,' Pecker recounts being told of Stormy Daniels
"Do you know someone by the same of Stephanie Clifford?"
The question, by assistant district attorney Josh Steinglass, was the jury's introduction during the evidentiary phase of the trial to the woman whose long-denied claim of a sexual tryst with Donald Trump set in motion the alleged falsification of business records.
"Stormy Daniels is, or was, a porn star," former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker replied, using Clifford's stage name.
Pecker was having dinner with his wife on a Saturday night in early October 2016 when he said he received an urgent call from National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard.
"He said that she, she being Stormy Daniels, is trying to sell a story that she had a sexual relationship with Donald Trump, and Dylan can acquire the story for $120,000 from Keith Davidson if we made a decision right now," Pecker recalled.
In a series of text messages the jury saw, Howard told Pecker, "I know denials were made in the past but this story is true."
Pecker replied to Howard, "We can't pay 120k." The company had already paid $30,000 for the Dino Sajudin story and $150,000 for the Karen McDougal story, and Pecker recalled thinking, "I am not a bank."
In the text exchange, Howard responded, "Perhaps I call Michael and advise him and he can take it from there, and handle."
Pecker texted back, "Yes a good idea."
Pecker recalled having "a number of conversations" with Michael Cohen about Stormy Daniels. Cohen wanted Pecker to catch and kill the story.
"I said, 'I am not purchasing this story, I am not going to get involved with a porn star,'" Pecker testified he told Cohen. "He was upset and said the boss would be furious with me."