Closing summary
Testimony in Donald Trump’s hush-money criminal trial has wrapped for the day. Court is expected resume on Monday morning, and the prosecution has said they expect to call two more witnesses. Here’s what happened today:
Donald Trump arrived at the courtroom with apparent frustration, after sitting through two days of testimony from the adult film actor Stormy Daniels. The former president’s demeanor in the hallway suggested that his mood had soured since Daniels provided embarrassing details about their alleged sexual encounter.
Here’s a recap Daniels’ testimony on Tuesday of an alleged sexual liaison with Trump some 20 years ago as well as how Trump’s lawyers sought to discredit and undermine her testimony on Thursday.
Judge Juan Merchan denied a Trump team subpoena seeking records from Mark Pomerantz, a former Manhattan prosecutor who worked on the hush-money case until resigning in frustration.
The defense resumed cross-examination on Friday morning of Madeleine Westerhout, Trump’s former executive assistant and director of Oval Office operations in the White House.
Westerhout testified that Trump was “very upset” about the Wall Street Journal’s 2018 story about the hush money deal with Daniels.
Several custodial witnesses – who testified about phone records and Trump’s social media posts – followed Westerhout’s testimony on Friday.
The jury was once again shown text messages between Daniels’ manager Gina Rodriguez and then-National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard about Daniels’ claim that she had had sex with Trump.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s consigliere-turned-key prosecution witness, is expected to take the stand on Monday.
Trump’s attorneys requested judge Merchan implement a gag order for Cohen, who has posted about Trump on social media in recent weeks. In response, Merchan told prosecutors to inform Cohen “that the judge is asking him to refrain from making any more statements” about the case or about Trump.
Court has adjourned for the day and will resume on Monday morning, when Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen may take the witness stand.
Donald Trump, carrying papers, is walking out of the courtroom. He whispered something and did some sort of gesture greeting to Fox News host Jeanine Pirro in the gallery.
Updated
