How Hustler’s Larry Flynt Offered Stormy Daniels $1 Million to Get Out of ‘Hush Money’ Deal: Key Takeaways from Day 10 of Trump’s Trial
On an extraordinary tenth day of Donald Trump’s successful hush money trial, there were many revelations.
Trump sat stoically at the suspect’s table as witness Keith Davidson was questioned by prosecutors and the former president’s lawyers.
Davidson is an attorney representing Stormy Daniels, the porn star who claims she had an affair with Trump and received a $130,000 payment to buy her silence.
His testimony revealed a flood of information. Here are the key takeaways:
Former US President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom of the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, US, May 2, 2024
Larry Flynt offered to buy Stormy Daniels’ story for $1 million
Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt offered to pay Stormy Daniels $1 million and cover her legal costs to free her from the deal with Donald Trump, court heard.
The former president’s attorney, Emil Bove, asked Davidson whether Flynt intervened to cut her out of the settlement agreement. Davidson said yes.
It could have been because Flynt wanted to purchase the story for his publication.
Flynt died in 2021. In 1983, he was sued by televangelist Jerry Falwell for defamation and invasion of privacy over a Hustler article.
The case went to the Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of Flynt’s rights under the First Amendment.
The events were retold in the Hollywood film The People vs. Larry Flynt.
Adult film actress/director Stormy Daniels attends a book signing for her book “Full Disclosure” at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2019 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on January 26, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada
The late porn magnate Larry Flynt addresses the news media in 2007
Other celebrities, including Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen, play a role in the lawsuit
After Davidson testified that he arranged the $130,000 payment with Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen, he was asked about other celebrities.
Emil Bove, Trump’s attorney, asked about Davidson’s alleged attempts to solicit money from Hulk Hogan in exchange for a sex tape involving the former professional wrestler.
He also asked Davidson about attempts to exchange embarrassing information for money from celebrities, including actor Charlie Sheen and reality TV star Tila Tequila.
“You were pretty good at going to extremes without committing extortion, right?” Bove asked.
Lindsay Lohan attends Clarins New Product Launch Party at Private Residence on March 15, 2024 in Los Angeles, California
Actor Charlie Sheen during a panel discussion at the NFT LA conference in Los Angeles, California, USA, on Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Trump’s lawyers want to prove that he was extorted
Donald Trump’s defense team is trying to prove that Stormy Daniels’ attorney, Keith Davidson, has “extorted” multiple celebrities.
The former president’s legal team painted Davidson as a serial extortionist.
In tense testimony, they accused him of targeting Trump before the 2016 election with Stormy Daniels’ story about a sexual relationship.
Davidson spent hours on the stand describing how he received the $130,000 payment for Daniels from Michael Cohen.
He then described the torturous back and forth with Cohen when the story did become public.
In a hostile line of questioning, Trump’s lawyer Emil Bove drew up a list of celebrities, including Lindsay Lohan and Tila Tequila, and suggested Davidson was trying to shake them for stories.
Davidson rejected the idea and insisted that every deal he made was above board.
Lawyer Keith Davidson, who represented former Playboy model Karen McDougal, is being cross-examined by defense attorney Emil Bove during former US President Donald Trump’s criminal trial before Judge Juan Merchan, on charges that he falsified company records to hide money that is paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels. 2016, in Manhattan State Court in New York City, USA May 2, 2024 in this courtroom sketch
People around Trump thought he would lose
Key players in the hush-money deal thought Trump was going to lose the 2016 election β then were stunned by the role they played in his victory
βIf he loses this election, and he’s going to lose, we all lose all power,β Davidson confirmed he told Cohen.
The tabloid director also recalled Thursday his “gallows humor” response to Trump’s 2016 election victory and the realization that his covert efforts may have contributed to the victory.
‘What have we done?’ attorney Davidson texted then-National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard after the tabloids buried stories of extramarital sexual encounters to prevent them from surfacing in the final days of the closely contested presidential race.
βOh my God,β Howard said in response.
βThere was an understanding that our efforts could have somehow β notice that β our activities could have somehow supported Donald Trump’s presidential campaign,β Davidson told jurors.
Davidson’s testimony was intended to directly link the hush money payments to Trump’s presidential ambitions and strengthen prosecutors’ argument that the case is about interference in the 2016 election and not just about sex and money.
Donald Trump’s aides bring at least 12 boxes of pizza to the court for lunch
Trump’s team delivers pizza to the courthouse
Trump reportedly said, “I hate that we did it” about the Stormy Daniels deal
The court heard that Trump would have regretted the hush money payment by Stormy Daniels.
In a key moment of Keith Davidson’s testimony, Michael Cohen suggested that Trump expressed remorse.
The confession came in a fragment of a secretly recorded telephone conversation in which Cohen spoke.
Cohen was heard saying, βI’m sitting there saying to myself, ‘What about me? What about me”.
“I can’t even tell you how many times he said to me, ‘I hate that we did it,’ and my comment to him was, ‘but every person we’ve talked to tells you it was the right move ‘ .’
The court heard that ‘He’ referred to Trump.
It was the Manhattan district attorney’s attempt to personally implicate the former president in the deal.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former ‘fixer’, was angry at not getting a job in his administration, the court heard
Michael Cohen is said to be angry after not getting a job in the White House
Michael Cohen was furious β and even suicidal β after not getting a job in the Trump White House after landing the Stormy Daniels deal
Stormy Daniels’ attorney feared Michael Cohen would “commit suicide” when he was denied a job in the Trump administration after the 2016 election, the hush money lawsuit revealed Thursday.
Keith Davidson told the court he was “concerned” about Cohen’s well-being during a phone call in which the self-described “fixer” revealed he was not chosen as Trump’s attorney general or chief of staff.
βCan you believe I’m not going to Washington after everything I did for that damn guy?β Cohen told Davidson.
‘I can’t believe I’m not going to Washington. I’ve saved that guy so many times, you don’t even know it.’
Cohen was referring to the hush-money deal he made with Davidson to initially expose Daniels to allegations of an affair with Trump.
Davidson described the tortured process he endured, with Cohen going ballistic every time Daniels appeared on TV.
Trump communications aide Margo Martin heads to court for day 10 of the trial
Judge irritated by Trump lawyer’s arguments about the gag order
Judge Juan Merchan hinted that he will not tolerate Trump’s apology for violating the gag order in the hush money case.
The former president turned to one of his top legal assistants during a contempt hearing Thursday morning and shook his head as his attorney struggled to get his point across to an increasingly irritated judge.
The former president was charged with four more violations of a gag order.
Attorney Todd Blanche tried to argue that the restrictions prevented his client from striking back against political opponents or responding to media reports about witnesses such as National Enquirer publisher David Pecker.
Prosecutors allege Trump violated a gag order four times last week, calling his former lawyer Michael Cohen a “liar” and former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, another witness, a “nice guy” in interviews.
He also questioned the fairness of the jury, while continuing to say the prosecution is political.
On Tuesday, he was fined $9,000 for nine other violations of an order designed to protect the jury, the court and witnesses.
Thursday’s hearing was at times awkward as Merchan indicated he is likely to find Trump violating the order again.