Donald Trump was confronted with the details of how the former lawyer for Stormy Daniels, the adult film actor, secured the $130,000 in hush money at the heart of his criminal trial in New York, after being found to be in criminal contempt of a gag order prohibiting attacks on witnesses.
The direct examination of the lawyer, Keith Davidson, is expected to continue on 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:
Access Hollywood tape spurred Trump interest
Prosecutors elicited key testimony from Keith Davidson, the entertainment lawyer for Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, that the infamous Access Hollywood tape spurred Trump to pursue the “catch-and-kill” rights to the Daniels story about an alleged affair with Trump.
Davidson testified that before the tape broke, there was little interest in acquiring the rights to the story. It wasn’t until afterward that interest from Trump’s lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen intensified, Davidson said.
The exchange was notable as prosecutors lay the groundwork for their allegation that Trump authorized the hush-money scheme to buy Daniels’ silence in order to suppress any negative headlines before the 2016 election.
Cohen tried to delay payment until after the election
Davidson also testified that Cohen missed multiple deadlines to wire the $130,000 hush-money payment – comprising $120,000 as the hush money itself, plus a $10,000 fee for Davidson – throughout mid-October 2016.
Emails submitted into evidence by prosecutors showed that Davidson had repeatedly sent Cohen the instructions to make a bank transfer, after Cohen gave him excuse after excuse about why the money had not been transferred.
Asked why he thought Cohen had delayed making the payment, Davidson said: “I thought he was trying to kick the can down the road until after the election” – suggesting Cohen’s interest in the story was only to protect Trump before the 2016 election.
Trump warned he could face jail
The presiding judge, Juan Merchan, fined Trump $9,000 for nine violations of a gag order designed to protect trial participants from the former president’s abuse, imposing the maximum financial penalty allowed under New York state judiciary law.
Merchan ruled that Trump had violated the order in nine out of 10 instances alleged by prosecutors. Merchan ordered Trump to remove the offending posts on his Truth Social platform and his campaign website and warned that further violations could result in jail time.
“Defendant is hereby warned that 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,” Merchan wrote in an eight-page order.
Trump may find himself subject to further penalties as soon as Thursday, when the judge is scheduled to hear arguments from Manhattan district attorney prosecutors that Trump violated the gag order several more times since they submitted their initial list of 10.
But the judge also admonished Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen – the main target of Trump’s attacks, along with Stormy Daniels – and wrote that he might be exempted from the gag order if he continued to deliberately aggravate Trump on social media.
