Trump hush-money trial to hear further testimony from Stormy Daniels’ lawyer – live | Donald Trump trials
The Guardian’s David Smith was on the campaign trail with Trump and reports that the former president is going through his familiar litany of lies and complaints.
David has the following letter:
At a remote rural airport in Michigan, a huge plane landed as music from the Tom Cruise movie Top Gun blared from the speakers. The late afternoon sunlight glinted off the five giant gold letters on the side of the plane – “TRUMP” – and its Rolls Royce engines. A red-clad crowd roared as the plane taxied to a stop behind a blue “TRUMP” chair.
A door opened and men with dark glasses and dark suits of what Donald Trump what they would call “central casting” made their way down the stairs. “Trump! Trump!” chanted the crowd, raising hundreds of camera phones in eager anticipation. Great Balls of Fire, Macho Man and YMCA blasted. Finally, the former and would-be president emerged, clapping and waving his fists to cheers and cheers and Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA.
How different a warm hug is from Trump’s recent experience as a criminal defendant in a cold, dirty New York courtroom. In those days, threatened with prison, he looks old, vulnerable and small. Back on the campaign trail, it’s all about hyper-masculine energy and grandeur—big plane, big crowds, big promises and big lies.
During his brief break from the court, Trump returned to his campaign on Wednesday — and used the campaign suspension to repeat his attacks on the trial judge as “crooked.”
AP writes:
Trump’s remarks at events in the battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan were closely watched after he was fined $9,000 for making public statements about people connected to the criminal case.
“There is no crime. I have a crooked judge. He’s a completely controversial judge,” Trump said while speaking to supporters at an event in Waukesha, Wisconsin, again claiming that this and other cases against him are being pursued by the White House to undermine his campaign.
Later at a rally in Freeland, Michigan, he said he was forced to spend days in a “kangaroo courtroom” and claimed without evidence that the district attorney was following orders from the Biden administration.
Hugo Lowell
Donald Trump confronted the details of how Stormy Daniels’ former lawyer, the adult film actor, secured $130,000 in secret money at the heart of his New York criminal trial after he was found in criminal contempt of a restraining order of witnesses.
Defense attorney Keith Davidson’s direct examination is expected to continue Thursday when the trial resumes. Here are the key takeaways from day nine of People of the State of new York vs. Donald J. Trump:
Trump’s trial to hear additional testimony from Stormi Daniels’ attorney Keith Davidson
Donald Trump’s trial will resume today after the case took a break on Wednesday – and jurors are due to hear again from the lawyer who negotiated deals on behalf of two women who allegedly had affairs with the former president of USA.
Keith Davidson has already given colorful testimony about how the payment deals for Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels were made in 2016. Prosecutors are using his testimony to help jurors understand the mechanics of Trump’s efforts to pay women and convince jurors that it was done to benefit his campaign.
The judge in the case, Juan Murchan, will also hold a hearing on four other cases alleging Trump violated an order barring him from attacking a number of people connected to the trial. Murchan has already fined Trump $9,000 for nine violations of the order.
Here’s a quick recap of what happened in court on Tuesday:
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Davidson testifies that it begins to represent McDougal in 2016 “to provide advice and counsel … regarding her personal interaction” with Trump. Davidson reached out to Dylan Howard, the editor of the National Enquirer, promising a “blockbuster story about Trump.” Howard texted back, “I’ll take you more than ANYONE for that. You know why.”
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Davidson was questioned by prosecutors about texts asking him if Trump had cheated on his wife. In those texts, Howard asked Davidson, “Did he cheat on Melania?” “I really can’t say yet, sorry,” Davidson said, reading her text aloud to Howard.
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Davidson testified that Trump’s leak of the Access Hollywood tape had a “huge impact” on interest in Stormy Daniels’ story. He said Daniels’ agent, Gina Rodriguez, had reached a deal with Howard for the tabloid to acquire the rights to her story for $120,000, but Howard reneged on the deal.
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Howard told Rodriguez to call Cohen and close the deal directly with him, but she refused to negotiate with him after a previous interaction, after which she described Cohen as a “jerk” and “very, very aggressive.” Rodriguez asked Davidson to step in and negotiate the deal with Cohen, he testified.
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Davidson said he used a pair of aliases: Stormy Daniels became Peggy Peterson; Donald Trump has become David Dennison.
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Davidson testified that Daniels’ payment did not come even after the two sides reached a deal. Cohen gave a number of excuses for the delay, Davidson said, noting that he “thinks he’s trying to kick the can until the end of the election.”
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Davidson was asked if Cohen ever told him who he was representing in the negotiations with Daniels. He said the subtext was clear and that Cohen “relied on his close relationship with Donald Trump … He let me know at every opportunity that he was working for Donald Trump.”
Court is expected to resume at 9:30 a.m. ET. We’ll bring you the latest updates from the Manhattan court as we get them.
