The Latest | Third week of witness testimony in Trump’s hush money trial is set to kick off
NEW YORK — Witness testimony in Donald Trump’s hush money trial will resume Monday morning, paving the way for an even deeper dive into the events and people involved in what prosecutors have said was a scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election through negative stories about to buy and bury. the candidate.
The trial enters its twelfth day.
Former Trump adviser Hope Hicks took the stand last week, detailing how Trump’s campaign was rocked after the leak of a video in which he bragged about grabbing women without their consent.
Keith Davidson, who represented porn actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in hush-money negotiations, also took the stand. Davidson spent hours describing his role in securing payouts for Daniels and McDougal in exchange for their silence about past sexual encounters they said they had with Trump.
Trump also faced a second contempt hearing on whether he violated his silence order again in four more future violations. Judge Juan M. Merchan has not yet ruled on that sanction request. Trump was fined $9,000 earlier this week for violating the gag order.
Overall, prosecutors are setting the stage for crucial testimony from Cohen, who paid Daniels $130,000 for her silence before going to prison over the hush money scheme.
Trump is accused of falsifying internal company records to cover up hush money payments — including the payment to Daniels — and instead recording them as legal fees.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying company records.
The case is the first-ever criminal trial of a former US president and the first of four prosecutions against Trump to reach a jury.
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Here’s the latest:
Witness testimony in the criminal trial against Donald Trump enters its third week on Monday and it remains to be seen who will take the stand next.
However, in recent weeks, jurors have heard from a wide variety of people.
After a weeklong jury selection process that began in mid-April, jurors heard for the first time from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, who, among other things, explained his promise to be the “eyes and ears” of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Keith Davidson, an attorney who represented porn actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in hush-money negotiations, also took the stand. And jurors heard from others, such as a forensic analyst who examined Michael Cohen’s phones and a paralegal at the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
And former White House press secretary and ex-Trump adviser Hope Hicks painted a vivid picture of the chaos that unfolded after the “Access Hollywood” tape was leaked and the Wall Street Journal published a story about McDougal’s hush-money deal.
The defense questioned Hicks for about 20 minutes before court adjourned last Friday.
Although an ensemble of different people have testified in Donald Trump’s hush money case over the past two weeks, one crucial witness has often been heard but not yet seen: Michael Cohen.
Jurors began hearing Cohen’s words on audio recordings last week as prosecutors sought to directly tie Trump to payments to silence women with damaging claims about him before the 2016 election.
Jurors heard one potentially crucial piece of evidence in particular: a recording of Trump and Cohen, and then his lawyer, discussing a plan to pay off an ex-Playboy model who claimed to have an affair with Trump. The former president denies the affair.
They also heard several witnesses talk about their interactions with Cohen — some pleasant and some much less so.
It is unclear when the prosecution’s key witness will appear.
Donald Trump is expected to return to court in Manhattan as his hush money trial enters its twelfth day.
During last week’s proceedings, a frenzy of witnesses took the stand, including former Trump adviser Hope Hicks and Keith Davidson, a lawyer who represented porn actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in hush-money negotiations with Cohen and the National Enquirer .
This week, Trump was also fined $9,000 by Judge Juan M. Merchan for violating a gag order that bars the former president from speaking publicly about key witnesses, jurors and others in the case. A second contempt hearing was held Thursday on four more potential violations, but Merchan made no immediate decision.