Donald Trump left his criminal trial with a smile on Friday after a judge ordered the prosecutor to keep their star witness Michael Cohen under control.
The former president nodded as Judge Juan Merchan urged the Manhattan district attorney to order the lawyer at the center of the case to stop talking about it.
The good news for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee came at the end of a grueling week in court, where he had to hear six hours of testimony from Stormy Daniels.
The porn star detailed her salacious and sometimes lurid claims about the night they allegedly had sex in a hotel room in 2006 — an account Trump has denied.
She wrapped up her appearance on the stand on Thursday afternoon, with a much more subdued affair on Friday with witnesses providing less dramatic but still crucial evidence.
Donald Trump speaks with his lawyer Todd Blanche on Friday, May 10, after the court closes the week
A sketch of Donald Trump in a Manhattan courtroom on May 10
Michael Cohen is expected to begin testifying in the hush money case on Monday. The judge told prosecutors to order Cohen to stop making statements about the case on Friday
Madeleine Westerhout, Trump’s former executive assistant in the White House, began Friday by telling the court how he would receive mail and sign checks in the Oval Office.
Then, two employees from cell phone carriers AT&T and Verizon took the stand as witnesses so the prosecutor could introduce evidence.
Finally, a pair of paralegals from the Manhattan district attorney testified about phone conversations and social media posts.
The drama came as the jury was excused and the court prepared to wrap up the week.
A sketch of Donald Trump walking along as paralegal Georgia Longstreet testified Friday
Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche urged the court to give a nod to Cohen, who has posted TikTok videos and appeared on podcasts during the trial.
“Cohen continues to speak about this trial and President Trump. On Wednesday he was still talking extensively on TikTok,” Blanche said.
“He’s wearing a white T-shirt with a picture of President Trump behind bars.”
“Now that we still have a week left in the trial, (we ask that) he be prohibited from speaking as President Trump does.”
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass insisted they have no control over what witnesses say, but claimed they have “repeatedly” asked witnesses not to talk about it.
But Merchan insisted that prosecutors pass a message to Cohen.
“I would like to instruct the people to let Mr. Cohen know that the judge is asking him not to make any more statements about this case.”
A sketch of Judge Juan Merchan presiding over Trump’s hush money trial
Michael Cohen is one of two witnesses prosecutors say they will call before dropping their case. Cohen is a central figure in carrying out the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors said Friday they could wrap up their case by the end of next week
Cohen is expected to be called to the witness stand starting Monday for testimony that could last several days and is crucial to the prosecution’s case.
He served as Trump’s personal lawyer and paid Stormy Daniels the $130,000 to keep quiet about the alleged affair just before the 2016 election.
Prosecutors allege that Trump then falsified business records in an attempt to cover up the payment to the porn star when he reimbursed Cohen for the payment.
Checks and invoices filed in court show that Trump signed multiple checks totaling $420,000 to Cohen, including nine checks sent to Washington for signature while he was president.
Donald Trump leaves the courtroom in Manhattan on Friday, May 10
Moments later, the judge told prosecutors to ban their key witness from speaking about the case. Trump left the courtroom where he rejected his own gag order that prevented him from pursuing witnesses.
‘Everyone can say what he wants, he complained. “But I’m not allowed to say anything about anyone.”
The gag order specifically prohibits him from speaking about witnesses and court personnel. It does not apply to the judge or his political opponent from 2024.
On Thursday, his lawyers tried to change the silence order to allow Trump to respond to Stormy Daniels after her scandalous testimony was completed, but the judge denied the request.
He pointed out that Trump has a track record of attacks and said he was concerned not only about Daniels’, but also about other witnesses who had yet to testify in the case.
Stormy Daniels with her lawyer after testifying in the hush money case about her alleged affair with Donald Trump and the payment for not speaking out
Trump lawyer Susan Necheles questions Stormy Daniels on May 9
Cohen is one of two witnesses prosecutors said they would call before resting their case.
They told the judge Friday that this could happen late next week.
It is also unclear whether Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, will be forced to testify even if it is outside the presence of the jury.
Before arguing with Cohen on Friday, Trump’s lawyer objected to the prosecution presenting Weisselberg’s severance agreement as evidence.
Weisselberg is serving a five-month prison sentence at Rikers Island for perjury.
Allen Weisselberg is serving five months in prison at Rikers Island after lying under oath in Donald Trump’s civil fraud case. He is the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization. On Friday, Judge Merchan questioned why he was not required to testify in the hush money case
Prosecutors want to file the agreement because it contains provisions that Weisselberg discredits the Trump Organization or its employees.
Prosecutor Chris Conroy argued that would help explain why he is not testifying.
During the back and forth, it was revealed that neither the prosecution nor the defense coerced Weisselberg’s testimony in the case.
Attorney Emil Bove told the judge that if either party tried to call him, he would likely invoke his Fifth Amendment rights.
Merchan suggested Weisselberg could be called in to take the stand under oath, but without the jury present to see if he would testify.
He said he would like to know that Weisselberg will not testify even if forced to do so, and has not made a decision on whether the severance agreement can be introduced into evidence before court adjourns for the day.