[GENTLE MUSIC]
President Trump is inside a New York courtroom
for opening statements.
REPORTER: For the first time in history,
a jury heard testimony in a criminal case
against a former American president.
REPORTER: Prosecutors accused the former president
of a criminal conspiracy and a cover
up to influence the election.
REPORTER: It's not only unprecedented.
It is so extraordinary on so many levels.
NARRATOR: Over the course of five weeks,
Donald Trump stood trial in New York City--
REPORTER: Donald Trump walking into the Manhattan--
NARRATOR: --facing 34 felony charges related
to a 2016 hush money payment made to adult
film actress Stormy Daniels.
This is a trial that should never happen.
It should have been thrown out a long time ago.
NARRATOR: Hush money payments in themselves aren't illegal,
but the former president is accused of falsifying business
records to hide his reimbursement of the payments
to his former attorney, Michael Cohen,
in hopes of hiding damaging information from voters days
ahead of the 2016 election.
Trump argues the alleged reimbursement payments
were legitimate legal expenses pursuant to a retainer
agreement.
Testimony began in the Manhattan court on April 22, 2024.
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker,
the first witness in the historic criminal hush money
trial against former President Trump.
REPORTER: Calling him an alleged co-conspirator
in the plot to silence Stormy Daniels and others.
NARRATOR: The former media executive
testified that in a 2015 meeting with Trump and Cohen,
Pecker agreed to be the eyes and ears of the Trump campaign
and would notify Trump's team of any salacious
or negative stories about Trump so the stories could
be bought and then killed, a practice known as catch
and kill.
Pecker said that, in the end, his company,
American Media Inc., made two payments to help the Trump
campaign, including a $150,000 payment to Karen McDougal
for the exclusive rights to her story of an affair with Trump,
which Trump has denied.
On April 26, the prosecution called
their second witness, Rhona Graff, Donald Trump's
longtime executive assistant.
Graff was asked if she created a contact for Stormy Daniels
in the Trump organization's computer system.
She replied, "I believe I did."
When asked if she had ever seen Daniels at Trump Tower,
she said she had a vague recollection of seeing
her in the reception area.
On day nine of the trial, Judge Juan Merchan
ruled that Trump had violated the limited gag order
he was under, which prohibited him from making public comments
about jurors, lawyers other than Manhattan DA
Alvin Bragg, potential witnesses, court
staff, and their families.
REPORTER: --continues to test the judge in his criminal trial.
Trump now having to pay $9,000 in fines
for violating that gag order.
NARRATOR: At the end of the second week of testimony,
former advisor to President Trump, Hope Hicks,
took the stand.
Notably, Hicks testified that Donald Trump
told her Cohen made the hush payment to Stormy Daniels
on his own.
But Hicks noted, that would have been out of character for Cohen.
After testifying that Trump told her
he preferred the news of the hush money
payment come out after the election,
Hicks broke down on the stand.
When court resumed on May 6, Judge Juan Merchan again held
Trump in criminal contempt on a 10th count of violating the gag
order, the judge threatening jail
time if the former president continued
to flout the court's ruling.
From the paper trail and now to the porn star.
NARRATOR: All eyes were on Stormy
Daniels as she testified in court on the 13th day of trial.
Daniels recounted her first time meeting Donald Trump
and detailed her alleged sexual encounter with him, often at
the objection of his attorneys.
Trump denies the encounter.
Daniels testified that the $130,000 payment for her story
was delayed, which she attributed
to Donald Trump delaying payment until after the election.
Over Daniels' two days of testimony,
the defense motioned for a mistrial twice.
The judge denied both motions.
Former White House aide Madeleine Westerhout
became emotional speaking of her time working in the White House.
Westerhout was asked if Trump would sign
checks without reviewing them.
She answered yes, but earlier noted that Trump typically read
things before signing them.
And on May 13, prosecutors called
their star witness, former attorney
to Donald Trump, Michael Cohen.
REPORTER: Michael Cohen, as we've talked about a lot,
will be a central witness here.
Of course, he does have some credibility issues.
NARRATOR: Cohen testified over four days,
claiming that Donald Trump directed him to pay off Stormy
Daniels, that Cohen should front the money and be paid back,
and said it was Trump who encouraged Cohen
to delay the deal past the election, a critical element
for prosecutors.
Cohen says he required approval from Trump on the payment
and that Trump signed off on the reimbursement scheme just days
ahead of his inauguration, referencing an October 24
call where Cohen says he spoke to Trump
about finalizing the plan.
The defense challenged that, claiming the October 24 call
was about a prank caller who had been harassing Cohen.
On Monday, May 20, the prosecution rested their case,
and the defense called Michael Cohen's one-time legal adviser,
Robert Costello.
Costello testified that Cohen told him
numerous times that Trump knew nothing of the payment
to Stormy Daniels.
In all, the jury heard 16 days of testimony from 22 witnesses
and saw nearly 300 exhibits in the criminal trial
of Donald Trump.
After summations, the jury will decide if the prosecution
has proven their case.
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