Trump trial: Stormy Daniels tells (almost) all about alleged sexual encounter with Trump
Donald Trump watched Stormy Daniels testify on Day 13 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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What to know about the hush money case
READ MORE: Here's what you need to know about the historic case.
Prosecutors arrive in courtroom
Prosecutors for the Manhattan district attorney's office have arrived in the courtroom.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg is not present at this point.
Trump arrives at courthouse
Former President Donald Trump has arrived at the lower Manhattan courthouse ahead of today's proceedings.
Court is scheduled to get underway at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Stormy Daniels to take the stand today, sources say
Stormy Daniels, one of the state's star witnesses, is scheduled to take the stand today, according to sources.
The decision to call Daniels as a witness allows the jury to directly hear from the woman at the center of Trump's criminal trial.
Prosecutors argue that Trump -- still reeling from the release of the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape in October 2016 -- orchestrated a last-minute $130,000 hush money payment through his then-lawyer Michael Cohen in exchange for Daniels' silence about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump, which the former president has denied took place.
When Trump repaid Cohen in 2017, prosecutors allege Trump falsified business records to hide the hush money payment from voters.
While the alleged criminal conduct centers on the falsification of business records, Daniels' alleged encounter with Trump and negotiations through her former lawyer Keith Davidson are likely to be discussed during her testimony.
Trump posts about next witness, then deletes post
In a post to his social media platform this morning, former President Trump wrote, "I have just recently been told who the witness is today. This is unprecedented, no time for lawyers to prepare."
He then deleted the post a short time later.
Prosecutors at the start of the trial asked for and received permission from Judge Juan Merchan to not reveal the identity of witnesses in the case until just before they're scheduled to appear, in order to avoid them being targeted by remarks from Trump, who is under a limited gag order not to make statements about witnesses, jurors and others involved in the case.
"The defendant has been violating the order restricting extrajudicial speech, and we don't want to have the next witnesses' names out there," prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said yesterday about Trump, who was fined an additional $1,000 by the judge for violating the limited gag order for a tenth time.
Trump enters courtroom
Trump has entered the courtroom, carrying a stack of papers in his hand.
The former president is joined for the second time by his son Eric Trump, who is sitting in the front row of the gallery next to Trump lawyer Alina Habba, who is in court for the first time.
Prosecutors have also filed into the courtroom.