Closing summary
Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial entered its third week on Tuesday, here’s a recap of what happened today:
Trump was joined by his son Eric, marking the first time a member of his family has attended his trial. Also in attendance on Tuesday was the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton.
Judge Juan Merchan fined Trump $9,000 for nine violations of a gag order designed to protect trial participants from his abuse, imposing the maximum financial penalty allowed under New York state law. Merchan ordered Trump to remove the offending posts on Truth Social and his campaign website and warned that further violations could result in jail time. The posts were taken down by Tuesday afternoon.
Private banker Gary Farro returned to the stand on Tuesday morning to continue his testimony on the alleged dodgy financial maneuvering used to hide Trump’s dirty laundry from American voters. Last week, Farro said that in 2015 he became the contact for Michael Cohen – then Trump’s attorney – at First Republic Bank, where he says he witnessed Cohen’s financial chicanery to protect Trump.
Keith Davidson, former attorney for both Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, was called to the stand on Tuesday afternoon. Davidson represented both Daniels and McDougal in hush-money negotiations with Cohen, Trump’s then lawyer and fixer. Davidson’s testimony could be crucial in supporting prosecutors’ argument that Trump and his allies paid to stop tabloid stories about the former president’s alleged affairs with Daniels and McDougal before the 2016 election.
Davidson testified that he began representing McDougal in 2016 “to provide advice and counsel … regarding a personal interaction that she had” with Trump. Davidson reached out to Dylan Howard, the editor of the National Enquirer, promising a “blockbuster Trump story”. Howard replied by text message: “I will get you more than ANYONE for it. You know why.”
During negotiations with Howard, Davidson joked that as part of the agreement, “throw in an ambassadorship for me. I’m thinking the Isle of Man.” Asked to explain the joke, Davidson told the jury it was about Trump’s presidential run.
Davidson was questioned by prosecutors about texts in which he was asked whether Trump had cheated on his wife. In those texts, Howard asked Davidson: “Did he cheat on Melania?” “‘I really cannot say yet, sorry,’” Davidson said, reading his text to Howard aloud.
Davidson testified that the leak of Trump’s Access Hollywood tape had “tremendous influence” on the interest in Stormy Daniels’s story. He said that Daniels’s agent, Gina Rodriguez, had reached a deal with Howard for the tabloid to acquire the rights to her story for $120,000, but Howard backed out of the deal.
Howard told Rodriguez to call Cohen and complete the deal directly with him, but she refused to negotiate with him following 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.
Davidson said he used a pair of pseudonyms to disguise the parties involved: Stormy Daniels became Peggy Peterson; Donald Trump became David Dennison.
Davidson testified that the payment to Daniels did not come even after both parties had reached a deal. Cohen made a series of excuses for the delay, Davidson said, noting that he “thought he was trying to kick the can down the round until after the election”.
Davidson was asked if Cohen ever told him whom he was representing in the Daniels negotiations. He said the implication was clear and that Cohen “leaned on his close affiliation with Donald Trump … He let me know it at every opportunity he could that he was working for Donald Trump.”
Multiple other witnesses also took to the stand on Tuesday, including Robert Browning, executive director of the C-SPAN archives who was largely called in a custodial capacity to discuss the facts surrounding media that prosecutors are admitting; and Phillip Thompson, who works for a court reporting company.
Court will resume on Thursday at 9.30am ET with a gag order hearing, after which Davidson is expected to return to the stand.
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Donald Trump, speaking to the media after leaving court this afternoon, railed against the criminal trial, describing it as “nonsense” and a “real disgrace”.
Speaking about the gag order, for which he was fined $9,000 for violating by the judge, Trump said it was “totally unconstitutional”, adding:
I’m the Republican candidate for president of the United States … And I’m sitting in a courthouse all day long listening to this stuff.
The court is adjourned for the day. Court will be back in session on Thursday, starting with a gag order hearing at 9.30am ET.
Donald Trump is leaving the courtroom. He glanced at the audience, which is almost entirely comprised of reporters, as he walked down the aisle, into the hall.
Davidson testifies Dylan Howard appeared to say Trump 'wasn't as wealthy as he stated'
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass then asked Keith Davidson about a text exchange between him and former National Enquirer Dylan Howard about Trump’s purported penny-pinching.
As they continued to chat about the dramatic fallout expected from the then-candidate’s failure to pay Daniels – or give Cohen cash to pay her – Howard said “all because Trump is tight.” Davidson responded “yup”.
“I reckon that the Trump impersonator I hired has more cash,” Howard also wrote. Steinglass asked Davidson what he thought Howard meant by that.
He paused for a moment or two and said Howard appear to suggest “that Trump wasn’t as wealthy as he stated”.
“What’s the relevance of that observation?” Steinglass said.
I think that was a follow up to Dylan’s text where he said Trump was ‘tight’.
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Earlier, Keith Davidson had been asked if he thought Michael Cohen were doing all of this for Donald Trump.
Every single time I talked to Michael Cohen, he leaned on his close affiliation with Donald Trump. I don’t know if it was ever explicitly stated, ‘I am negotiating this matter on behalf of Donald Trump,’ but it was part of his identity – and he’d let you know at every possible opportunity that he could that he was working for Donald Trump.
Trump’s cheapness is also coming into play during today’s court proceedings.
“To what did you attribute the lack of funding of this deal at this point?” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked of the delay in paying off Daniels. “Uh, frugality,” Davidson said.
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Keith Davidson has been talking about the situation between him, Michael Cohen, and Stormy Daniels as October progressed without her receiving payment.
Davidson sent Cohen an email saying that he no longer represented Daniels. He told jurors before the break:
I divested myself and two, I didn’t want to receive a million frustrating phone calls from Michael.
Daniels and [her talent manager, Gina] Rodriguez, Davidson said, “wanted frequent updates and they received frequent updates and the only updates I could give them were the repeated excuses I was hearing.”
I said hey, [the] deal’s over, I said to both Cohen and my client – I’m out, go in peace.
Davidson testifies he thought Cohen was 'trying to kick the can down the road until after the election'
Keith Davidson was asked why he thought Michael Cohen was coming up with excuses for not paying for the Stormy Daniels story.
Davidson said:
I thought he was trying to kick the can down the road until after the election.
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Cohen said 'I'll just do it myself' after delay over Stormy Daniels payment, testifies Davidson
Keith Davidson said that although the Stormy Daniels deal had been finalized by early October, they were waiting for Michael Cohen to send over the money.
On 17 October, 2017, Davidson told Cohen in an email:
We spoke on Friday October 14 and you said that funds would be wired today. No funds have been received as of sending this email. My client informs me that she intends to cancel the contract if no funds are received by 5pm pacific time today.
Cohen came up with excuse after excuse. Davidson recalled Cohen complaining:
He stated that the computer systems were quote ‘all fucked up’ …. The Secret Service is in here, they’ve got so many goddamn firewalls.
Cohen said at some point, “my guy’s in five fucking states today … there’s nothing I can do, I’m doing everything I can.” It wasn’t enough and eventually, Cohen said:
God damn it, I’ll just do it myself.
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Davidson testifies that Trump was code-named 'David Dennison' in Stormy Daniels deal paperwork
Keith Davidson is describing the steps that he and Michael Cohen took to hide the names of Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump names on paperwork surrounding the $130,000 payout to keep her quiet.
There was an agreement between him and Cohen where both sides would be referred to pseudonymously in the settlement document.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked: “What was Stormy Daniels’s pseudonym?” Davidson said it was “Peggy Peterson.” And Donald Trump’s? “I think it was David Dennison.”
The rationale, he said, was that Daniels was the plaintiff, hence the Ps, and Trump was the defendant, hence the Ds.
“Is David Dennison a real person?”Steinglass asked.
“He was on my high-school hockey team,” Davidson admitted, prompting chuckles in court. “He’s very upset.”
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Davidson says he believed he was dealing with Trump during Stormy Daniels deal
Keith Davidson is explaining how he got involved with the Stormy Daniels deal.
Former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard and AMI wanted to wash their hands of the Daniels story.
Davidson recalled:
Gina [Rodriguez, Daniels’ talent manager] approached me and said ‘we had this deal, it’s going to be the easiest deal you’ve ever done in your life … all you need to do is paper it and talk to that asshole, [Michael] Cohen.
This prompted laughter in the courtroom.
Steinglass asked: Did Davidson know that he was dealing with Donald Trump when he was dealing with Cohen? Davidson answered:
Yes, I never thought otherwise.
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Davidson testifies that Access Hollywood tape release had 'tremendous influence' on interest in Stormy Daniels story
Keith Davidson said that after Karen McDougal, former National Enquirer Dylan Howard came to him.
Stormy Daniels’s manager at the time, Gina Rodriguez, had come to him with Daniels’s account. Howard wasn’t taking it all that seriously. That changed.
“What impact, if any, did the release of the Access Hollywood tape have on interest in Stormy Daniels’s story, so far as you were aware?” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked.
“So far as I’m aware, it had tremendous influence,” Davidson said.
Before the Access Hollywood tape, there was very little if any interest … that Gina was trying to sell the Stormy Daniels-Donald Trump story. It wasn’t until the Access Hollywood [tape] that interest sort of reached a crescendo.
After the tape surfaced, Davidson and Howard texted about Trump’s chances. “Trump is fucked,” Davidson said in an 8 October text.
“Waive the white flag. It’s over people!” Howard responded in another text that Davidson read aloud.
Davidson then showed Howard that the Daniels’s story killed in 2011 was out there – re-posted on TheDirty.com
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Keith Davidson said that he rang Michael Cohen. Before he could get a word in edgewise, he said:
I was met with a hostile barrage of insults and insinuations and allegations.
“What was the gist of what he was accusing you of?” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked. “I don’t think he was accusing us of anything, he was just screaming,” Davidson said.
He was upset that the story on thedirty.com had published and he believed that Stormy Daniels was the source, that she was behind the story.
”What did you tell him?” Davidson answered:
Finally, after he finished, I explained to him that I was calling because my client Stormy Daniels did not want the story published and I wanted to see if he had done anything to contact the dirty to get that story taken down.
Cohen hadn’t done anything. Davidson said he would send a cease-and-desist to see whether the blog would remove the post. He did, and the post was taken down.
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Davidson begins testifying about Stormy Daniels deal
Keith Davidson is describing his first interaction with Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen. Davidson said:
There was a blogpost or a story posted on the website that stated that Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump had some sort of a physical or romantic interaction.
Daniels’s manager at the time, Gina Rodriguez, who knew Davidson, reached out. Cohen had been calling her following the blogpost’s publication.
Gina called me up to tell me that ‘some jerk called me and was very very aggressive and threatened to sue me and I would like you to call this jerk back.’
“I hate to ask you this but who was that jerk?” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked. Davidson said:
Uh, Michael Cohen.
Updated
“Mr Davidson, do you know someone named Stormy Daniels?”
”Yes,” Keith Davidson answered.
“In what context?”
Davidson said:
Stormy Daniels was a client of mine.
Updated
Keith Davidson said that he called Michael Cohen when the deal finally closed with Karen McDougal in early August 2016.
Davidson said he told Cohen that the deal wouldn’t have been brokered without Howard’s help.
“You called Michael Cohen as a professional courtesy because the deal involving his client had closed?” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked.
Davidson said yes.
“What client was that?”
Davidson replied: “Donald Trump.”
“Did you recognize the extent to which the deal could benefit Mr Cohen’s client, Mr Trump?”
“Yes,” Davidson said.
“What was Michael Cohen’s reaction when you told him this?”
Davidson said: “He was pleased.”
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In one exchange, Keith Davidson voiced his relief that a long-frustrating deal had finally ended.
“Ok we are paying,” Dylan Howard messaged Davidson on 5 August 2016, adding: “Glad it all sorted.”
Davidson responded: “Fucken Jesus.”
Asked about his verbiage, Davidson said:
It was just a frustrating deal for all those involved and it was just a lot of sort of heavy lifting.
Updated
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is continuing to question Keith Davidson about his conversation with former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard about the alleged payoff to Karen McDougal.
Jurors are seeing copies of these text messages; Steinglass is going through the missives, asking Davidson to read many aloud, and pressing him to explain what he meant in some of the notes.
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The court has resumed and Keith Davidson, former attorney for both Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, has returned to the stand.
“Good afternoon, Mr Howard – sorry, that’s the second time, Mr Davidson,” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said in resuming his questioning.
Donald Trump has returned to the courtroom. He was holding his phone.
His son Eric is back in the front row behind the defense table, as is Trump’s campaign chief, Susie Wiles, next to Eric.
Keith Davidson’s testimony will resume momentarily.
Updated
Interim summary
Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial is due to resume after a lunch break at 2.15pm ET, when Keith Davidson, former attorney for both Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, is expected to return to the stand.
Here’s a recap of what has happened so far today:
Davidson testified that he met Karen McDougal 25 years ago and began representing the former Playboy model in 2016 “to provide advice and counsel … regarding a personal interaction that she had” with Donald Trump. Davidson and McDougal were also in conversations with ABC News about telling her story, he testified.
Davidson reached out to Dylan Howard, the editor in chief of the National Enquirer, promising a “blockbuster Trump story”. Howard replied by text message: “I will get you more than ANYONE for it. You know why.”
During negotiations with Howard, Davidson joked that as part of the agreement, “throw in an ambassadorship for me. I’m thinking the Isle of Man.” Asked to explain the joke, Davidson said it was about Trump’s presidential run.
The judge, Juan Merchan, ruled that Trump had violated a gag order designed to protect trial participants from his abuse, fining him $9,000 – the maximum financial penalty allowed under New York state law.
Merchan also ordered Trump to remove the offending posts on Truth Social and his campaign website and warned that further violations could result in jail time. Those posts have now been taken down.
Multiple other witnesses also took to the stand on Tuesday, including Michael Cohen’s former banker Gary Farro, who last week described financial maneuvering related to the ex-president’s alleged catch-and-kill scheme; Robert Browning, executive director of the C-SPAN archives; and Phillip Thompson, who works for a court reporting company.
Updated
Social media posts that judge ordered Trump to remove taken down
Donald Trump has removed the social media posts that judge Juan Merchan ruled violated the gag order.
All of the Truth Social and campaign website posts that the judge ordered Trump to remove have now been taken down.
Updated
Donald Trump’s campaign moved swiftly to fundraise off this morning’s ruling that he violated the court’s gag order.
“Democrat judge just ruled against me,” reads the subject line of an email from the Trump campaign following Judge Juan Merchan’s ruling. The email continues:
A Democrat judge JUST HELD ME IN CONTEMPT OF COURT!
“THEY WANT TO SILENCE ME!” the email says, asking supporters to “STAND WITH TRUMP” by contributing money.
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Donald Trump was photographed blowing out his cheeks as he returned to the courtroom following a short break in the trial on Tuesday.
Updated
The court is taking a break, and will resume at 2.15pm ET.
Keith Davidson is expected to continue testifying after lunch.
On 28 July 2016, Dylan Howard said in a text:
We are going to lay it on thick for her.
At this time, Keith Davidson said, he responded:
Good, throw in an ambassadorship for me. I’m thinking Isle of Mann.
”What did you mean by that?” the prosecution asked. Davidson said:
Uh, it was sort of in jest. But I was, that was just a joke.
“Why was that a joke, why was that funny?” Steinglass pressed.
Well, I don’t think, I don’t even think the Isle of Mann is a country and I don’t, I know they don’t have an ambassador. But I think it was a reference to Mr Trump’s candidacy.
Steinglass asked him to explain more. Davidson said:
That somehow, if Karen [McDougal] did this deal with AMI, that somehow it would help Mr Trump’s candidacy.
Updated
The conversations between Keith Davidson and former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard continued in late July, with Howard texting Davidson and saying:
Get me a price on [Karen] McDougal. All in. Consulting gig perhaps as a fitness expert thrown into mix.
Davidson responded, reading the text aloud in court:
How about 1m now and 75k a year for the next 2 years as a fitness correspondent for ami [American Media Inc] and ur related pubs..
“I’ll take it to them, but thinking it’s more hundreds than millions,” Howard said.
”How did you respond to that?” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked.
“800 now and 100 per year for two years for a total of 1m.”
Howard said, “Leave w/me,” Davidson said.
“How did you take that?”
Davidson said:
That we we really weren’t in the same ballpark.
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On 22 July, Keith Davidson reached out to former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard once again, writing:
Don’t forget about Cohen. Time is of the essence. The girl is being cornered by the estrogen mafia.
“Who is Cohen in this email?” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked. Davidson said Michael Cohen.
“And what did you mean that time is of the essence?”
Davidson said:
I think at the time Karen [McDougal] was sort of teetering, she was about to enter into a deal with ABC.
“What did you mean by the girl is being cornered by the estrogen mafia?”
Davidson said:
It’s a very unfortunate, regrettable text I sent. That phrase is not one that I used or came up with. That term, I think, [was] by one of Karen’s associates at that first meeting and there was several women who were leaning on Karen to sign the deal with ABC.
“So taken as a whole, is this text another effort to spur Dylan Howard into action?”
Davidson responded in the affirmative.
Updated
Davidson tells court how McDougal told National Enquirer editor about alleged Trump affair
Keith Davidson just testified about a meeting with him, Karen McDougal and former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard.
The point of this meeting was for McDougal to tell her story – so that Howard could hear her account and apprise his bosses – in the event they wanted to do something with it.
Davidson said of the meeting:
Ms McDougal alleged that she had a romantic affair with Donald Trump some years prior.
“When you said romantic, does that include sexual?” Steinglass said.
“That’s what she expressed,” Davidson responded.
How long did it go on?
Davidson said:
I can’t recall specifically, it was several weeks to months, if not more, I can’t recall specifically.
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Court hears about text messages between former National Enquirer editor and Davidson: 'Did he cheat on Melania'
In later texts, former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard asked Keith Davidson, “Did he cheat on Melania?” and “Do you know if the affair was during his marriage to Melania?”
“And how did you respond to this text?” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked Davidson.
“I really cannot say yet, sorry,” Davidson said, reading his text to Howard aloud.
Steinglass asked whether it was because he didn’t know, or whether it was because he wasn’t in a position to tell Howard. Davidson said:
It’s because it was the latter – I was not prepared to discuss the details at this point.
“How did M. Howard respond?” Steinglass asked.
“OK, keep me informed,” Davidson replied.
Updated
Davidson testifies he reached out to former National Enquirer editor about 'blockbuster Trump story'
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is now showing text exchanges that Keith Davidson sent to former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard about Karen McDougal.
“I have a blockbuster Trump story,” Davidson said in a 7 June 2016 message to Howard that was shown to jurors.
“What did you mean by that?” Steinglass asked.
Davidson said:
It was sort of an entree or teaser to Dylan to let him know that I had perhaps an opportunity for him.
“What was the opportunity about which you were contacting him?”
Davidson said:
It was regarding the interaction between Karen McDougal and Donald Trump.
“What did Mr Howard say, if anything, in response?”
Howard responded in a text shown to jurors, read by Davidson:
Talk 1st thing. I will get you more than ANYONE for it. You know why …
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Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass then brought up a copy of the retainer agreement agreed between Keith Davidson and Karen McDougal.
Under scope of services, it said:
Client is hiring Attorney to represent Client in the matter of Client’s claims against Donald Trump and or assisting Client in negotiating a confidentiality agreement and/or life rights related to interactions with Donald Trump and/or negotiating assignment of exclusive press opportunities regarding same.
This was dated June 2016. Steinglass asked Davidson to put this in simple terms.
I was to provide legal services to Karen McDougal and provide advice and counsel to her surrounding a personal interaction she had, allegedly had, with Donald Trump.
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Davidson tells court Karen McDougal was his client
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked Keith Davidson: “Do you know somebody named Karen McDougal?”Davison said “I do."
“In what context?” Davidson said that “she was a client of mine” and that “I met her probably 25 years ago, she was dating a friend of mine.
Steinglass then asked: “And in the summer of 2016, did you represent her” and if so, in what capacity.
I represented her in order to provide advice and counsel about what her rights and obligations would be with a certain interaction she had.
“With whom?” Steinglass pressed. “Donald Trump.”
Updated
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is asking Keith Davidson about his relationships with various players in the case.
He testified about knowing former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard for years, and knowing former tabloid honcho David Pecker.
“Are you familiar with someone named Michael Cohen?” asked. Davidson said yes and that Cohen had been Trump’s lawyer.
“How did you come to meet Michael Cohen?” Steinglass asked.
Davidson said:
In approximately 2011, there was an article that was published in a blog that involved my client and Donald Trump, and I had the occasion to have a conversation with Michael Cohen related to that blog posting.
“Who was your client at the time that led you to interact with Michael Cohen on behalf of Donald Trump?”
Davidson replied:
Stefanie Clifford, otherwise known as Stormy Daniels.
Updated
Stormy Daniels' former lawyer Keith Davidson called to the stand
Keith Davidson is called to the witness stand next.
Davidson is Stormy Daniels’s and Playboy model Karen McDougal’s attorney. Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is questioning him.
Steinglass asks: “During the period of 2015 through 2017, did you have a particular specialty?”
“At that time, my practice was heavily involved with media cases,” says Davidson.
As part of your work on media cases, did you frequently work on non-disclosure agreements?
“Yes.”
Updated
The prosecution just played an excerpt of the deposition video in which E Jean Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, asked Donald Trump: “What is Truth Social?”
“It’s a platform that’s been opened by me as an alternative [to] Twitter,” Trump replied.
Asked if @Therealdonaldtrump was his handle, he said he thought so.
Prosecutor Rebecca Mangold then showed another excerpt from the video deposition.
“And your current wife is Melania Trump?” Kaplan asked Trump in the deposition. Trump answered in the affirmative.
“And you married her in 2005?” “Yes,” he said.
“And you’re still married to her now?” “Yes.”
Phillip Thompson is off the stand, as defense has no questions.
Prosecutor Rebecca Mangold is now asking Phillip Thompson about Trump’s deposition transcript in E Jean Carroll’s lawsuit against him.
She’s asking whether the company produced both an exact copy of the transcript, and video of the deposition, to the district attorney’s office.
Mangold is now showing the jury the cover page for the deposition of Donald J Trump in the E Jean Carroll case in October 2022.
Updated
Prosecutors show clip of Trump saying he has 'no idea who these women are'
Prosecutors played some of the videos that C-SPAN produced while Dr Robert Browning was still on the stand.
In some of the videos that ran before the election, Trump denied allegations of inappropriate conduct with women, saying in one 14 October 2016 rally from Greensboro, North Carolina:
As you have seen right now, I have been viciously attacked with lies and smears ... I have no idea who these women are, I have no idea, no idea ...
At another event on 22 October 2016 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Trump can be heard on video saying:
They’re trying to poison the mind of the American public. Every one of those woman lied when they came forward … total fabrication, the events never happened, never. All of these lies will be sued after the election is over.
Updated
Phillip Thompson takes the stand
Robert Browning is off the stand.
The prosecution calls its fifth witness: Phillip Thompson, a custodian of records testifying for Esquire Deposition Service.
Updated
Prosecutor Rebecca Mangold is asking Robert Browning whether C-SPAN had been subpoenaed to provide prosecutors of video of events with Donald Trump.
She asked whether he complied. “Yes, we did.”
Mangold is now playing some of the videos that C-SPAN produced and in effect asking Browning to confirm whether they’re portions of videos produced by the network.
Updated
“Are you nervous?” prosecutor Rebecca Mangold asks Robert Browning.
“A little bit,” he says, offering a friendly smile.
“I manage the collection of video that’s all aired on the network,” he later said of his work.
He’s basically being called in a custodial capacity, discussing facts surrounding media that prosecutors are admitting.
Updated
C-SPAN archivist Robert Browning takes the stand
The prosecution’s next witness is on the stand: Dr Robert Browning.
Browning says he is the executive director of C-SPAN archives and has worked there for 37 years.
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The jury has returned. Judge Juan Merchan is going over scheduling matters.
He informs them that they will not be working the Friday before Memorial Day, as one of the jurors had let a court officer know they had a flight; right before the jury entered the courtroom, Merchan had addressed this and neither side objected. He also told them that there would be no court on 17 May.
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The Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, is inside the Manhattan courthouse today to show his support for Donald Trump.
Posting to X this morning, Paxton wrote:
With President Trump in NYC to sit through this sham of a trial. This trial is a travesty of justice. I stand with Trump.
With President Trump in NYC to sit through this sham of a trial. This trial is a travesty of justice. I stand with Trump.
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) April 30, 2024
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The New York judge presiding in Donald Trump’s criminal trial fined the former president $9,000 on Tuesday for violating a gag order designed to protect trial participants from his abuse.
Juan Merchan found Trump in contempt of the gag order in nine out of 10 instances identified by prosecutors, in which Trump assailed the credibility of his former lawyer Michael Cohen and the adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Merchan also warned Trump that he could be subject to jail time if he continued to violate the gag order. He wrote:
The Court will not tolerate continued willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment.
The judge imposed the maximum $1,000 fine for each of the nine violations, but Trump may be subject to more penalties this week after Merchan scheduled another contempt hearing on Thursday for additional alleged violations.
Updated
Donald Trump’s being held in contempt could well cause more issues for him at the trial.
As both sides are discussing housekeeping matters, the prosecution said that it wants to question Trump about this if he takes the stand.
The people wish to give supplemental Sandoval notice that if the defendant testifies in this trial, the people will seek to cross-examine him on those findings.
Gary Farro has completed his testimony and is off the stand.
The court is taking a short break.
Prosecutor Rebecca Mangold conducted a brief redirect of Gary Farro. She asked why Michael Cohen’s accounts were closed by First Republican in 2017.
“When we saw negative press, we chose to close the accounts that we could,” Farro said, explaining that First Republic couldn’t close the mortgage account but could shutter “the bank ones”.
And what is the negative press you’re referring to here?”
“Stormy Daniels, when it came out.”
On a brief re-cross, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche tried to discredit Farro for Cohen’s questionable transaction. If Cohen had gotten away with misrepresenting his intent, was it possible “there wasn’t appropriate due diligence?” Blanche asked.
“I don’t know if that’s a fair statement,” Farro said. Once a transaction goes from one lawyer to another, as it did in Cohen’s case, Farro said he “can’t be expected to know” what happens after that.
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Trump lawyer Todd Blanche doubled down on his nothing-to-see-here approach at the end of his cross.
“In October of 2016, nothing about the way this account was opened, funded, or the wire was sent out at the time, raised any red flags for you, correct?” Blanche asked of Cohen’s Essential Consulting account opening. Gary Farro said:
Not based upon any answers to the questions I had.
“You never had any communications with him about Donald Trump, did you?”
“I did not,” Farro said.
“And you’ve never spoken with Donald Trump, have you?”
“I have not.”
Updated
Wasn’t it true that when Farro was assigned to Cohen, it was because managers knew “you were firm with clients” – capable of talking them down? Trump lawyer Todd Blanche asked. Gary Farro said yes.
“And that you don’t accept any nonsense from clients?” Blanche pressed.
Farro said:
Not that I don’t accept any nonsense … I try to rationalize with clients that things aren’t as urgent as they seem.
Blanche asked whether Farro thought it was fair to describe Cohen as “an aggressive guy, a fast speaker”. Farro said: “I would.”
Blanche’s intent here is to try chipping away at prosecutors’ contention that Trump’s camp worried that the campaign would fall into a tailspin if additional damaging information surfaced.
By suggesting that Cohen was always worried and harried and hurried, Blanche is trying to undermine any claim that they took urgent steps to sweep Stormy Daniels’ account under the rug.
Updated
Right now, Gary Farro is being cross-examined by defense lawyer Todd Blanche.
The attorney is trying to downplay Michael Cohen’s urgency after the Access Hollywood tape, suggesting that the ex-Trump lawyer was always neurotic – not hurried because of his efforts to sway the election for Trump.
Blanche asked Farro about direct testimony where he said “everything was urgent” with Cohen. Was that accurate? Farro said:
Ninety percent of the time, it was an urgent matter, yes.
Updated
Gary Farro offered similar answers when it came to questions about media wire transfers.
“Did any of the wire transfer paperwork indicate that money was being transferred for a payment to an adult film star?” prosecutor Rebecca Mangold asked. “It did not,” Farro replied.
Under additional questioning, he said: “There would definitely be enhanced due diligence on that” because it related to the adult industry, delaying or even derailing the wire.
With something like that, we might have considered that a reputational risk and might not have accepted the wire.
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The prosecution’s direct testimony of Gary Farro has ended, with the prosecution drilling down that Michael Cohen’s paperwork requesting a wire transfer from this account, to Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, misrepresented the true purpose of his transaction.
Farro said the way Cohen had requested the loan and transfer seemed to be in keeping with a real estate transaction.
This is an important point, as Farro said transfers for things that weren’t routine business – involving politics or media or the adult industry, for example – had additional checks involved.
Did any of the wire transfer paperwork indicate that money was being transferred on behalf of a candidate?
Farro said no, and that “we would have additional due diligence”.
Would that have delayed the transaction? the prosecutor asked. “It certainly would.”
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Private banker Gary Farro, who is on the stand for a second day, last week described financial maneuvering related to Donald Trump’s alleged catch-and-kill scheme.
In 2015, Farro became then Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s contact at First Republic Bank. His testimony lifted the veil on Cohen’s financial chicanery to protect his then boss.
Prosecutors allege that Trump, Cohen and tabloid honcho David Pecker plotted in the summer of 2015 to bury stories that could harm Trump’s GOP presidential bid. Cohen, who allegedly shuttled a $130,000 hush-money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels, sought to open accounts in October 2016 for two new LLCs.
Cohen plunked his own money into one of the LLCs, Essential Consultants, which wired money to Daniels’ lawyer, so she would not go public with her claim about an alleged extramarital liaison with Trump.
Cohen allegedly set up LLCs to facilitate hush-money payments without the candidate’s fingerprints, as Trump’s campaign feared that additional accounts of boorish behavior could sink his chances in the general election, prosecutors have said.
Prosecutor Rebecca Mangold asked Gary Farro “why did it take five or six hours to open the account”. Farro replied:
Michael Cohen isn’t our only client, we do have other things that take precedence.
Moving things around and opening an account in a single day, he said, was “very quick”.
While Farro’s testimony is granular, it speaks to how prosecutors are trying to establish Donald Trump’s motive.
They have contended that Trump’s campaign was panicking after the Access Hollywood tape – in which he bragged about groping women – emerged on 7 October 2016.
Jurors are now seeing, through documents and testimony, that Cohen was working quickly in the days that followed, allegedly to silence Stormy Daniels.
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Gary Farro was asked about Essential Consultants’ incorporation documents in Delaware, which showed that Michael Cohen had set up the LLC on 17 October, 2016.
Farro was also shown email correspondence related to creation of a bank account for essential consultants. Cohen reached out on 26 October 2016 wanting to open a bank account for Essential Consultants.
Cohen’s demeanor in requesting the account was pressing, Farro testified. “Michael Cohen, everything is urgent with Michael Cohen,” Farro said, prompting laughter in the courtroom.
Right now, prosecutor Rebecca Mangold is continuing to question banker Gary Farro about documents associated with Michael Cohen’s LLC, Essential Consultants, for which he opened a bank account.
Remember: prosecutors said that Cohen used Essential Consultants to funnel money to Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, to bury her account for an extramarital sexual encounter with Donald Trump.
Farro, who had been Cohen’s private banker at First Republic bank, is being asked about documents related to the formation of Essential Consultants; this is providing a timeline for jurors about Cohen’s financial maneuvers related to the alleged hush-money payoff.
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Banker Gary Farro returns to the stand
Gary Farro, the prosecution’s third witness, has returned to the stand.
Farro works at Flagstar Bank as a private client adviser and was previously at First Republic, which was used by Donald Trump’s former fixer and lawyer Michael Cohen.
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Judge finds Trump in contempt for violating his gag order, fines him $9,000
Judge Juan Merchan says that Donald Trump is fined $9,000 for violating prohibitions on commenting on witnesses.
Prosecutors had accused the former president of violating his gag order multiple times, asking the judge to fine him $1,000 per violation.
Under the gag order, Trump cannot make, or direct others to make, public statements about trial witnesses concerning their roles in the investigation and at trial, prosecutors other than the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, and members of the court staff or the district attorney’s staff.
Trump is free to criticize Merchan himself, though it will probably not help Trump win the favor over the judge, who will decide on Trump’s sentence if the jury finds him guilty.
Before the trial, Merchan extended the gag order to cover his family and Bragg’s family after Trump posted about Merchan’s daughter, who worked for a company that helped Democratic candidates with digital campaigns.
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Judge Juan Merchan says he won’t hold the trial on 17 May so that Donald Trump can attend his son Barron’s high school graduation.
“I don’t think the May 17 date is a problem,” Merchan said.
Judge Juan Merchan has taken the bench and court is now in session.
Donald Trump has arrived in the courtroom for his New York criminal trial with his lawyers.
Before we get started today, he has a quick word with his campaign chief, Susie Wiles, who is in the front row of seats behind the defense table, standing next to Eric Trump.
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Eric Trump joins his father in the courtroom
Donald Trump has walked into the courtroom; he’s wearing a dense blue suit, red tie, white shirt and what appears to be an American flag pin on his lapel.
Eric Trump is here, in the front row. His father had been standing and chatting with him for a few moments.
This is the first time a member of Trump’s family will be attending this trial.
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Last week was mainly about testimony from major witness and Trump ally David Pecker.
Prosecutors had a few main goals with Pecker, who is the former CEO of American Media Inc (AMI) and CEO and publisher of the National Enquirer.
They wanted to:
Show that Pecker and Trump engaged in an illegal conspiracy to influence the 2016 election.
Establish AMI’s “catch-and-kill” pattern of purchasing negative stories about Trump to keep them under wraps.
Show how close the former Trump attorney Michael Cohen was with Trump.
Tee things up for future testimony about the falsified payments scheme that Trump allegedly used to repay Cohen for the hush-money payment to keep adult film star Stormy Daniels from telling the public about her alleged affair with Trump right before the 2016 election.
Mission accomplished, for the most part: Pecker gave them pretty much all of the above.
Read the Guardian’s Trump on Trial newsletter for more details about Pecker’s days on the stand:
But if Farro’s testimony is concerning to Trump’s team, it’s little compared to what might come later in the week should the court get to hear from Donald Trump’s former Mr Fixit himself – Michael Cohen.
Cohen, a disbarred lawyer who served as Trump’s personal attorney for 12 years until 2018, has turned on his boss and is one of district attorney Alvin Bragg’s key witnesses.
The whole case, in fact, could turn on Cohen’s testimony about payments to two women: the adult film star Stormy Daniels and the former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal. It all comes down to how those payments were made, and whether they were disguised – as prosecutors claim – to violate accounting and political campaign laws.
Another disbarred lawyer named Michael – Avenatti – will feature in Cohen’s testimony, because he represented Daniels and McDougal in the transactions.
(Avenatti himself is serving five years in prison for stealing $297,000 from Daniels.)
(Oh, and obstructing the IRS.)
(And defrauding Nike of $20m.)
Here’s a little more from our own Ed Helmore on the Two Disgraced Lawyer Michaels:
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Trump hush-money trial enters third week with testimony from banker who worked with Cohen
And we’re back: Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial enters its third week today, after a fallow day yesterday.
Expected today? A possible ruling on whether Trump owes at least $10,000 for violating his gag order, and more testimony from the private banker Gary Farro about dodgy financial maneuvering to hide Trump’s dirty laundry from American voters.
Farro already told the court last week that in 2015 he became the contact for Michael Cohen – then Trump’s attorney – at First Republic Bank, where he says he witnessed Cohen’s financial chicanery to protect Trump.
Prosecutors say Trump, Cohen and tabloid honcho David Pecker plotted in the summer of 2015 to bury any negative stories that could harm Trump’s run for president.
The next year, with crucially less than a month to go before the election, came the release of the infamous Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump bragged about groping women.
And a day after that – 8 October 2016 – prosecutors say Cohen learned that Stormy Daniels, the pornographic film star, was alleging an affair with Trump.
Prosecutors say Trump’s campaign feared that any additional accounts of boorish behavior could sink his chances in the general election – so, they say, Cohen set up LLCs to facilitate hush-money payments without the candidate’s fingerprints.
As evidence, they say Cohen sought to open accounts for two new companies in October of 2016. Into one of them – Essential Consultants – he plunked his own money. This was the account that wired $130,000 to Daniels’ lawyer, so she would not go public with her story.
We’ll learn more today: court is expected to resume at 9am ET.
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