Daniels' sometimes graphic testimony over two days riveted jurors and drew upset from defense attorneys who decried it on Thursday as prejudicial and overly gratuitous. The prosecution defended its questioning and Daniels' details of the alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump and ultimately, the judge denied the requests for a mistrial — chiding the defense for not objecting more during testimony.
Trump has denied the two ever had sex.
Prosecutors are ramping up for star witness
The trial is in its 15th day. Prosecutors say Trump and two of his associates orchestrated a scheme to influence the 2016 election by purchasing and then burying stories that might damage his campaign.
Trump is accused of falsifying internal business records to cover up the hush money payments by recording them as legal expenses. He has pleaded not guilty.
The case is the first-ever criminal trial of a former
Currently:
— Trump is limited in what he can say about his court case. His
— Here's what happened on Thursday:
— Hush money, catch and kill and more: Terms to know in Trump trial
— Key players: Who’s who at Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial
— The hush money case is just one of Trump’s legal cases. See the others here
Here's the latest:
JURORS SEE TWEETS FROM TRUMP ABOUT MICHAEL COHEN
Through new testimony from
The former president then began bashing him on the social platform, now known as X, after Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign-finance violations and other crimes, and said Trump had directed him to arrange the hush money for porn actor
Trump was never charged with any crime related to that federal investigation.
PARALEGAL FROM
MANHATTAN DA'S OFFICE RETURNS TO STAND
She followed two telecommunications employees who took the stand to authenticate phone records.
JUDGE SIDES WITH TRUMP'S LAWYERS OVER KING INTERVIEW
As court in
In the interview, Trump discussed his familiarity with campaign finance laws. Merchan said the tape was “too attenuated” to the events at hand and would require jurors to make inferences about how Trump’s views then related to the events involved in the case that happened decades later.
LAWYERS AR
GUE OVER VIDEO CLIP OF 1999 LARRY KING INTERVIEW
While jurors were excused for a morning break,
Prosecutors are seeking to play a clip of an interview Trump gave to late
Trump’s lawyers argued that the clip is “not relevant with regard to President Trump’s state of mind in 2016,” the time of the
Merchan said he would rule after the break.
FATIGUE MAY BE SETTING IN AMONG JURORS
Fatigue appeared to be setting in among some jurors in
The records witnesses testimony is important to the prosecution's case, which ultimately hinges on the issue of record-keeping. But it is also deeply technical, requiring the witness to explain how data is stored and define a string of lengthy acronyms.
VERIZON EMPLOYEE NEXT ON THE STAND
TRUMP BUSIES HIMSELF WITH PAPERS AS AT&T WITNESS TESTIFIES
As the
At one point he showed some of the documents to his lawyer
Before entering the courtroom earlier in the day, Trump had read aloud from printouts of opinion pieces criticizing the hush money trial, but noted he had to “edit” in real time due to the gag order restricting what he can say.
“I’ll be going over them with you later,” he told reporters. It wasn’t clear if the papers at the defense table were the same ones.
AT&T EMPLOYEE CALLED TO THE STAND
Dixon will be authenticating some records.
WESTERHOUT: TRUMP WAS UPSET BY 2018 WSJ STORY
“My understanding was that he knew it would be hurtful to his family,” she testified on Friday, though she later acknowledged not recalling him saying so specifically.
The answer, elicited by Trump lawyer
TRUMP OFTEN SIGNED CHECKS WITHOUT LOOKING AT THEM, FORMER AIDE SAYS
Guided by Donald Trump’s defense attorney,
“Commissions, proclamations, executive orders, memos, letters,” Westerhout recalled. She said that she sometimes saw Trump put his signature to checks without reviewing them.
Still, Trump avoided using automated means of signing paperwork.
“He felt that if someone was getting his signature, they deserved his real signature, right?” Necheles asked, before a prosecution objection cut off Westerhout’s answer.
WESTERHOUT DETAILS PROCESS THROUGH WHICH TRUMP RECEIVED PERSONAL MAIL
A dry but important part of Madeleine Westerhout’s testimony concerned the process by which
It’s relevant because that’s how he got and signed the checks that reimbursed
Westerhout's testimony and others have established that his company’s staff sent the materials to an aide — at first his longtime bodyguard
Under questioning from Trump lawyer
Under additional redirect questioning by prosecutor
But, Westerhout acknowledged that such letters and packages wouldn’t have gone through the normal
FORMER WHITE HOUSE AIDE APPEARS TO SHIFT STORY ABOUT TRUMP'S INTERACTIONS WITH WEISSELBERG
As defense lawyer
Questioned by Necheles, she acknowledged she had no specific recollection of Trump speaking with Weisselberg at all during his first year in office and only a vague recollection that they’d ever spoken about a check.
“But you’re not even sure if it’s true?” Necheles asked. Westerhout said it was hard to recall because Trump “spoke to so many people.”
DAY BEGINS WITH ANOTHER BENCH CONFERENCE
Friday's court proceedings in
As the rest of his lawyers chatted with prosecutors and the judge at the bench,
Blanche was in Trump’s ear, whispering to him as he covers his mouth with his hand.
TRUMP ARRIVES AT COURT, WITNESS TESTIMONY RESUMES
JUDGE REJECTS S
UBPOENA REQUEST FROM TRUMP'S TEAM
The judge presiding over
Prosecutors in Bragg’s office asked Merchan to reject the subpoena of Pomerantz and the judge agreed, writing in an order that the defense requests are either overly broad and part of a “fishing expedition” or seek information that is irrelevant to the case.
TRUMP'S GOP ALLIES ARE SHOWING UP TO TALK ABOUT HIS COURT CASE
Former President
The Republicans’ courtroom presence can help Trump connect with constituents while he’s stuck in court and feeling the pressure of a gag order placed on him by the judge. Both Scott and Paxton have been through legal troubles of their own, and have railed against what they call politically motivated prosecutions — a message that echoes Trump’s own.
It's also a chance for Trump’s friends to publicly demonstrate their loyalty.
TRUMP AND THE OXFORD COMMA
On Thursday,
“My recollection was that there were certain words that he liked to capitalize. Words like country, and he liked to use exclamation points … It’s my understanding that he liked to use the Oxford comma.”
Trump used Twitter as a primary form of communication throughout his
THE CASE DOESN'T RISE OR FALL ON DANIELS' ACCOUNT, IT HINGES ON BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS
Donald Trump’s defense attorney on Thursday accused
As the jury looked on, the two women traded barbs over what Necheles said were inconsistencies in Daniels’ description of the encounter with Trump in a hotel room. He denies the whole story.
But despite all the talk over what may have happened in that hotel room, despite the discomfiting testimony by the adult film actor that she consented to sex in part because of a “power imbalance,” the case against Trump doesn’t rise or fall on whether her account is true or even believable. It’s a trial about money changing hands — business transactions — and whether those payments were made to illegally influence the 2016 election.
MCDOUGAL MAY NOT TAKE THE STAND
According to a defense attorney in
Trump lawyer
Trump has denied the affair took place.
GAG ORDER PROVES TO BE ONGOING THORN FOR TRUMP
The gag order that bars
On Wednesday, Trump's lawyers asked
While the court did not take immediate action, it did set deadlines for court filings in the next two weeks. If the court refuses to lift the gag order, his lawyers want permission to take their appeal to the state’s high court, called the
A day later, defense attorneys tried to get Judge
“He needs an opportunity to respond to the American people and the reasons for the gag order as it relates to
Prosecutor
Merchan rejected the request, saying his primary concern was not with Daniels or a witness who has already testified but “with protecting the integrity of these proceedings as a whole.”
TRUMP TO RETURN TO COURT FRIDAY MORNING
Porn actor
Prosecutors are building up to testimony from star witness
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