Update - 5:00 pm Eastern:
Following the break, attorney Keith Davidson returned to the stand. He was asked about another text exchange with AMI executive Dylan Howard.
The jury is now being shown another string of text messages between Davidson and Dylan Howard after the deal to pay Stormy Daniels seemed to crumble.
Davidson texted, "I can’t believe Cohen let this go. It’s going to be a sh*t show."
Howard replied, "I bet. All because Trump is tight."Davidson explained to the jury when Howard said Trump is tight he meant that Trump "was frugal."
Davidson said he believed "they had this deal sort of on a silver platter and it was just there for the taking."
He said the only reason the deal didn't close was "because they didn’t want to spend the money."
Trump's team made a number of objections to prosecutor Josh Steinglass's questioning of Davidson, many of which were sustained by Judge Merchan. Although Davidson testified that it was his understanding that Trump was the beneficiary of the arrangement regarding Daniels and that in his experience, the beneficiary typically funds such deals, Merchan sustained the defense's objection to that speculation and ordered it stricken from the record.
Davidson testified regarding further attempts to resurrect the deal. Davidson sent Michael Cohen wiring instructions on October 26, 2016.
While describing his impressions of Cohen, Davidson made this humorous observation:
Before breaking for the day, Keith Davidson described Michael Cohen like the dog who yells "Squirrel!"
Steinglass asks how was Cohen's demeanor during this time on the phone. "He was highly excitable, sort of a pants-on-fire kind of guy," Davidson said.
Court has now ended for the day and the jury has been excused until 10:00 am Eastern on Thursday. (There's no court on Wednesday, and a hearing regarding the additional four gag order alleged violations is set for Thursday morning before the trial/testimony resumes.)
Update - 4:00 pm Eastern:
Keith Davidson continues to testify. He notes that interest in Stormy Daniels' story ratcheted up following the "Access Hollywood" tape incident. Per Davidson, Daniels' manager, Gina Rodriguez and AMI had reached an agreement on the story, but then AMI balked. Davidson had to be persuaded to deal with then-Trump attorney Michael Cohen.
Davidson testified to a text exchange between him and Howard following the release of the "Access Hollywood" tape.
Warning: Language
In response to the release of the "Access Hollywood" tape, Keith Davidson texted Dylan Howard, "Trump is f**ked," Davidson is explaining in court.
“Wave the white flag. It’s over people!” Howard responded to Davidson's text, according to Davidson.
Davidson explained how Cohen stepped into AMI's shoes on the Daniels deal once AMI backed out. The agreed-upon amount went from $120,000 to $130,000.
Per Davidson, Trump was given the code name "David Dennison" in the agreement with Daniels.
Prosecutor: Is David Denison a real person?
— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) April 30, 2024
Davidson: Yes. He was on my high school hockey team.
Prosecutor: How does he feel about you now?
Davidson: He's very angry about it
Davidson testified to a delay in the transfer of funds, for which Cohen began making excuses. He attempted to cancel the agreement and told Cohen he was off the case.
Keith Davidson says he wrote in an email to Michael Cohen on October 17: “Please be advised that my client deems her settlement agreement canceled and void ab initio," which means from the start.
"Please further be advised that I no longer represent her in this or any matter," Davidson added in the email.
Davidson says he let Cohen know he was off the case. "I didn’t want to receive a million frustrating phone calls from Michael," he says.
Davidson believed Cohen was attempting to delay things until after the election.
The court took a short break. Outside the courtroom, Trump decried the court's ruling re: the gag order.
Update - 3:00 pm Eastern:
Following Judge Juan Merchan's issuance of a ruling finding that former President Donald Trump violated the court's gag order regarding nine different social media and website posts, the posts in question appear to have been removed.
Attorney Keith Davidson has retaken the stand and testified regarding additional negotiations/text messages between himself and AMI executive Dylan Howard over the agreement regarding Karen McDougal. At one point, AMI's general counsel suggested Davidson call Trump's then-attorney, Michael Cohen, but Davidson was reluctant to as his prior interaction with Cohen had been unpleasant.
Davidson says he didn't want to talk to Cohen because of his last conversation with Cohen in 2011 around the blog post. He said it was "not pleasant or constructive. I didn’t particularly like dealing with him and that’s why I was trying like hell to avoid talking to him."
The deal was eventually reached, though Trump himself was not named a party to it. Davidson received 45 percent of the $150,000 paid.
Davidson posited two explanations for AMI's purchase of the McDougal story:
The first was they were trying to build up her brand and that story would not help it. The second was more of an "unspoken understanding," Davidson said.
"I think one explanation that was given was that they were trying to build Karen into a brand and didn’t want to diminish her reputation. And second was more of an unspoken understanding that there was a close affiliation between David Pecker and Donald Trump and that AMI would not run this story or any story related to Karen and Donald Trump because it would tend to hurt Donald Trump."
Stormy Daniels' interest in pitching her story was brought to Davidson's attention by Howard in 2016. Howard indicated Daniels' manager, Gina Rodriguez, had reached out on it.
Update - 2:00 pm Eastern:
While on the stand, former Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal attorney Keith Davidson described negotiations with AMI executive Dylan Howard regarding the rights to McDougal's story. He believed a deal with AMI would benefit Trump's candidacy. McDougal was weighing a potential deal with AMI or ABC News.
Davidson: Well, I don't think that the Isle of Man is even a country. So no ambassador there. It was a reference to Donald Trump, that if this help him and he won, there would be jobs
— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) April 30, 2024
Prosecutor: What did Dylan Howard write?
Davidson: She'll get more than from ABC
The court took a lunch break and will resume at 2:15 pm Eastern.
Update - 1:00 pm Eastern:
Witness Phillip Thompson was called to authenticate the October 2022 deposition of Trump from the E. Jean Carroll defamation case. Clips from the video deposition were then played for the jury, including testimony by Trump regarding his Truth Social platform and confirming it was him speaking on the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape. Thompson was not cross-examined by the defense.
The prosecution has called Keith Davidson to the stand. Davidson was the former attorney for both Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. Josh Steinglass is conducting Davidson's direct examination for the prosecution. According to Davidson, his firm was "heavily involved with media cases" in the 2015-2017 time period and that those cases frequently involved non-disclosure agreements.
Davidson characterized his relationship with AMI executive Dylan Howard as professional acquaintances and friends. He had very little contact with former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker. Per Davidson, his first contact with former Trump attorney Michael Cohen was in 2011 over a blog post.
Davidson first met McDougal 25 years ago when she was dating a friend of his. He represented her in 2016. He reached out to Dylan Howard in June 2016 to tease a "blockbuster" Trump story. He is testifying regarding a text exchange between him and Howard, in which Howard was asking if Trump cheated on his wife, Melania. Davidson initially responded, "I really can't say yet. Sorry." Davidson explained this was because he wasn't ready to discuss the details.
According to Davidson:
"Ms. McDougal alleged she had a romantic affair with Donald Trump some years prior," Davidson says.
Asked if the relationship was sexual in nature, Davidson says, "That's what she expressed."
Davidson arranged for a June 2016 meeting between McDougal and Howard with an eye toward selling McDougal's story to the AMI (the National Enquirer's parent company). Initially, AMI declined due to a lack of documentary evidence, but they agreed to keep in touch.
Davidson testified he was also in talks with ABC News regarding McDougal's story. He intended to use that as leverage on AMI — to create a sense of urgency. Per Davidson, McDougal did not really want to tell her story, but wanted to rejuvenate her career.
Prosecutor: How did Dylan Howard reply?
— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) April 30, 2024
Davidson: That they would have an offer for us by Monday. They he said, Get me an offer, all in, perhaps a fitness component. She wanted to rejuvenate her career. She wanted to avoid the scarlet letter, being the other woman
Update - 12:00 pm Eastern:
After the jury was excused for the break, a discussion was held regarding the prosecution's desire to introduce certain evidence, including texts from Daniels' former publicist to AMI exec Dylan Howard. Judge Merchan has now denied that request, finding the texts are more prejudicial than probative.
Further, the prosecution indicates that if Trump takes the stand, they want to be able to cross-examine him regarding the posts which are the subject of the gag order to show "consciousness of guilt." Judge Merchan has reserved his ruling on the matter. Additionally, they want to introduce Trump's prior positive comments regarding Cohen and Daniels. Judge Merchan has agreed to allow the prior positive comments to come in for two purposes:
- to rebut claims that they have benefited financially from attacking Trump
- and why they denied certain facts
Judge Merchan has also indicated that court will not be in session on May 24, the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is in court with Trump this morning, in addition to Trump's son, Eric.
The prosecution has now called C-SPAN executive director Dr. Robert Browning to the stand to lay the foundation for certain evidence, including recordings of Trump.
Prosecutors are now entering clips into evidence as Robert Browning, executive director of C-SPAN archives, sits at the witness stand.
These three clips were played to the jury:
- A video recording dated October 14, 2016: “Presidential candidate Donald Trump in Greensboro, NC”
- A clip from video October 22, 2016: “Presidential candidate Donald Trump remarks in Gettysburg, PA”
- A clip from January 11, 2017: a news conference with president-elect Trump.
"As you have seen, right now I’m being viciously attacked with lies and smears. It’s a phony deal. I have no idea who these women are," Trump says in the first clip they're playing from October 2016.
This was in response to stories of women alleging sexual assault after the "Access Hollywood" tape was released in October 2016.
"These are all horrible lies, fabricated," Trump said in the other video taken in Pennsylvania.
"Michael Cohen is a very talented lawyer. He’s a good lawyer in my firm," was said in the third clip.
Browning was not cross-examined by the defense. The prosecution has now called witness Phillip Thompson to the stand on behalf of Esquire Deposition Solutions to explain how depositions are recorded and transcribed.
Update - 11:00 am Eastern:
Finance executive Gary Farro continues to testify. He confirmed that shortly after opening the account, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen transferred $131,000 into it from a home equity line of credit. The following morning, Cohen filled out a wire transfer authorization for $130,000 from the Essential Consultants account to attorney Keith Davidson's trust account.
The prosecution has concluded their direct examination of Farro, and he is now being cross-examined by Trump attorney Todd Blanche. Farro testified he met with the Manhattan DA's office twice in the months leading up to the trial as well as with prosecutors in DC in 2018. His employer (Flagstar) is paying for his attorney(s).
Per Farro, dealing with Cohen most always involved an "urgent" matter.
Trump's lawyer Blanche: You said Mr. Cohen was difficult?
— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) April 30, 2024
Farro: Yes... His desire that everything be done quickly. I try to rationalize with clients that things may not be so urgent.
Blanche: As of March 23, 2023, was Cohen still your client?
Farro: No.
Farro was removed from Cohen's account once the payment to Stormy Daniels became public. He testified he did not do business with Trump, and never spoke with him, and would have asked questions had he known Cohen's transactions were part of a deal involving Trump. Farro agrees that Cohen indicated he was not acting as an agent for anyone else when he opened the account.
Farro learned that Cohen had left the Trump Organization after an email bounced back in March 2017. Farro testified he did not consider Cohen a "politically exposed person" when he was acting as Trump's personal attorney.
Banks keep a closer eye on account activity for clients they designate as politically exposed persons, Farro says.
The cross-examination of Farro has concluded, and the court is taking a short break.
Update - 10:00 am Eastern:
Eric Trump is in attendance with his father at the trial today. Additionally, there's a larger-than-usual group of Trump supporters outside the courthouse Tuesday morning.
Judge Juan Merchan has now ruled that Trump may attend his son Barron's high school graduation on May 17 in light of the fact that the trial is moving along at a decent pace.
However, he's also found Trump in violation of the gag order and issued a $1,000 fine for each instance (all but one of the 10 posited by the prosecution).
Justice Merchan: Mr. Trump is fined $1000 for each: 2-3, and 4-10. Please bring in the witness, then the jury.
— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) April 30, 2024
[Jury enters]
As expected, witness Gary Farro has retaken the stand and is being questioned by the prosecution. Documents regarding the bank account opened by Cohen indicate it was for a consulting business.
Per Farro, there was no indication the bank account was related to a political campaign/candidate. That would have garnered added scrutiny.
Last day of April, first day of Week 3 of the Manhattan criminal trial of former President Donald Trump for allegedly falsifying business records in relation to payments made to his former attorney, Michael Cohen, after Cohen paid $130,000 to Stormy Daniels to secure a non-disclosure agreement from her ahead of the 2016 election.
When last we left the courtroom drama, finance executive Gary Farro was on the stand being questioned by prosecutor Rebecca Mangold over banking arrangements he made for Cohen. Presumably, he will retake the stand when things get underway Tuesday morning.
Court is set to get underway at 9:30 am Eastern. Stay tuned here as we bring you live updates of the day's developments in the case.
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