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Testimony started w/a bang last week as David , the fmr publisher of The , said that he had entered into a secret plot w/ & to negative stories about Trump as he ran for president in 2016.
, the 3rd to testify, started off w/dry details about banking transactions. But is leading us to the payment


nytimes.com/live/2024/04/30/ny

The New York Times · Trump Trial's 3rd Week to Begin With More Testimony: Live UpdatesBy Ben Protess

Judge begins immediately by saying that he has reached a ruling on whether violated the . We don’t know what it is yet.

Judge says can have May 17 to attend the high school graduation of his youngest son, Barron. Trump had complained about not immediately being given permission. “I don’t think the May 17 date is a problem,” the judge says.

The judge says the people have met their burden of proof on some violations & fines $2,000 to begin with. There are more fines coming.

Justice Juan M. cruised over that quickly, but what just happened should not be overlooked. has been found in & fined what seems to be at least $5,000. The way it was presented was very hard to follow so we’ll confirm the number as soon as we can.

Merchan, issued his ruling as the began its third week, saying that ’s statements, including on social media, had violated the . Prosecutors had asked that Trump be held in , citing 10 public statements that they said posed a “” to the trial.

The judge, Juan M. , fined him $9,000, punishing the former president for repeatedly violating a that bars him from attacking witnesses, prosecutors & jurors.

Merchan determined that had broken the by making several public statements on social media & on his campaign website in which he attacked & the .

Already, prosecutors have alerted to the judge to 4 new potential violations. Those were not covered by Justice ’s order & will be discussed at another hearing, which will be held on Thurs morning.

In addition to fining after finding him in , Justice Merchan ordered him to remove the offending Truth Social posts today.

Justice wrote that he was “keenly aware of, and protective of, Defendant’s First Amendment rights.” But nonetheless, he wrote that he would not tolerate continued violations of his orders and that if necessary & appropriate, he would “impose an incarceratory sentence.” In plain language, he is warning that he will send him to if necessary.

Justice explicitly called ’s claim that reposts don’t count as violations of the “counterintuitive and absurd.”

Justice Merchan rejected the defense’s claims that Trump had merely reposted the messages from others and that he had largely been acting in response to political attacks from two potential witnesses in the case: & .

is testifying about LLCs & know-your-client forms. The prosecutor questioning him has asked him to spell out what LLCs are. Know-your-client forms are used by banks to verify who a client is.

“Everything was urgent w/ ,” Gary Farro testifies about Cohen’s interest in opening his acct quickly. Cohen used the account to make the hush-money payment to .

He says Cohen did not make it clear that it would be used to pay a porn star.

First Republic did not do business w/the porn industry, as Farro testified last week. If the paperwork submitted had made allusions to its actual purpose, “there would be a determination made by the 2nd & 3rd line of defense” at the bank. The payment would have been flagged by bank auditors, as “it is an industry that we do not work with,” said Farro.

An email was shown from a FirstRepublic banker to , flagged as “high importance,” confirming his request to transfer $131k from his home equity line of credit acct to the Essential Consultants LLC acct.

Farro’s testimony is a reminder that moving money around always leaves an electronic footprint. There are wire transfers & paperwork inside the bank. It doesn’t always stop a fraud from happening but is helpful after the fact.

Mangold, one of the prosecutors, walked the banker Gary Farro through a wire transfer that occurred immediately after Essential Consultants LLC was created. The documents displayed show that on Oct. 27, 2016, & the LLC wired $130k to Keith Davidson, ’ lawyer at the time. Cohen wrote that the purpose of the wire transfer was for a “retainer.”

's lawyer Todd , will conduct cross. It’s Blanche’s 1st this trial.

It’s also the 1st time we’ve seen Blanche since the hearing last week in which he sought to argue that Trump had not violated the judge’s . Blanche lost that hearing.

Gary Farro was asked by Blanche about speaking with “the people,” (the prosecutors) Trump shook his head pointedly when Farro talked about meeting w/ prosecutors he had in DC ahead of his testimony.

is trying to cast some doubt on ’s testimony & use him to criticize . He asks Farro to say again that Cohen was a “difficult client.” Farro agrees that he was.

Blanche is also trying to separate Cohen's actions from 's, arguing that the account was never established as related to Trump. Basically it’s defense's entire argument: that Cohen was acting on his own.

Farro is reportedly a bit irritated w/ , 's lawyer. Blanche suggests that Farro opened up a shell corporation, & Farro bites back: “I don’t open up shell corporations. I open up LLC accounts.” Blanche is directing jurors' focus to what did -- that is, effectively start a shell corporation that was used to pay . It’s a way to attack Cohen through Farro, making the former fixer sound deceptive & potentially criminal.

After briefly consulting w/ his defense team & leaning down to whisper to , Todd asked directly if he ever had any communications w/ about Trump & if he ever spoke w/Trump himself. Farro said no.

Blanche has finished his cross-examination of Gary Farro, & Rebecca Mangold, a prosecutor, has returned for re-direct questioning.

During the break, the lawyers have continued to discuss the case with the judge. Now, a prosecutor, Matthew Colangelo, rises & says that if testifies, the prosecution would seek to cross-examine him about the judge’s ruling on the . This issue will be argued at length sometime later — & possibly not even today — but Colangelo raises it now.

The campaign is already fund-raising off Justice ’s ruling, sending an email to supporters claiming, in all caps, that a “liberal judge just silenced me.”

The judge returned to the bench but took some extra time to return to the courtroom, which is unusual in this case. Now Trump is back & has warned Todd , his lawyer: “Let’s try to keep the breaks short.”

Trump is joined by his son Eric again, although Susie Wiles & Dan Scavino, two of his aides, have not re-entered the courtroom.

The next witness is being called, & it’s not someone we’re familiar with. He is identified as Dr. Robert Browning.

Some laughter in the courtroom as Dr. Browning says he’s a “little bit” nervous about testifying for the first time.

Dr. Robert Browning is the next witness. He is a Purdue professor focusing on & the , he is also the head of archives. He says he was compelled to testify.

Robert Browning explained that C-SPAN is a “public television network that telecasts events in their entirety.”

Browning is a custodial witness, or records custodian - witnesses certify the truth of records presented. In this trial, the defense did not agree on certain facts that the prosecution sought to stipulate were true. So, the prosecutors need these sorts of witnesses to help the jury understand the basic truth of the episodes they want to talk about at trial.

Prosecutors played clips, starting w/one from an Oct 2016 campaign rally in NC, where he talks about 2 women who said Trump sexually assaulted them. “I have no idea who these women are,” Trump said at the time. “These are lies being pushed by the media & the Clinton campaign to try & keep their grip on our country. They’re all false, totally invented, fiction.”

Trump seems to be watching himself as the C-SPAN clip plays on the monitor in front of him.

Next is video of a campaign event did in PA, in Oct 2016. He blasts media outlets & says, “Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign.” He later vows to sue, saying "the events never happened, never."

Merchan precluded prosecution from introducing direct evidence that many women, near the end of the 2016 campaign, accused Trump of . They are getting some of that evidence into the trial w/these videos of Trump attacking the women on the campaign trail.

Nonilex

The third video shows at a news conference in 2017 during the presidential transition, saying, “ is a very talented lawyer, he’s a good lawyer.”

Defense had no questions.

We've moved on to a new witness, someone named Phillip Thompson who works at a company supplying court reporters, interpreters that transcribed Trump's deposition in trial. He was subpoenaed.

Rebecca Mangold, one of the prosecutors, had Phillip Thompson walk through the validity of the transcript of Trump’s deposition in one of the cases. We are now seeing video clips of in that deposition verifying that Truth Social is his social media site & what his handle is.

Asked to describe Truth Social, Trump answers, “It’s a platform that’s been opened by me as an alternative to Twitter.”

Prosecutors are now playing video, & having Thompson verify the corresponding transcript, of describing when he married his wife Melania (it was 2005).

And now is the portion of the deposition in which Trump was asked by ’s lawyer if he was familiar w/ the infamous "” tape. Trump confirmed in the deposition that it was him speaking on that video.

Phillip Thompson is done.

Prosecutors call , who negotiated 2 deals before the 2016 election that paid women from Trump’s past in exchange for their silence about sexual or romantic relationships w/him. He was a lawyer to during the transaction. He also represented , a former Playboy model who was paid $150k by The ’s parent company for the rights to her story about a 10-month affair w/ starting in 2006.

Joshua Steinglass, the prosecutor, asks if he was given immunity from prosecution in this case. Davidson says, despite not having wanted to be here, that he did not seek immunity. This is a way for prosecutors to show that he is not simply cooperating to avoid prosecution himself.

Joshua Steinglass asks if he knows 2 key witnesses: , who the jurors already have heard from, & , who they’ve heard a lot about. Steinglass is tying Davidson into the case, helping the courtroom understand where he’s situated. Davidson just said that he represented as her lawyer — Daniels, whose name has been dangled in front of jurors several times, is of course another key player & potential witness.

has been sitting w/his eyes closed for significant portions of testimony this morning. It is unclear how the jurors, who have to sit through this same testimony, will feel about a defendant closing their eyes so much.

Davidson is testifying about his agreement w/ , a fmr Playboy model.
Davidson’s contract w/McDougal consisted of an agreement to either make a claim against , negotiate a confidentiality agreement w/ Trump, sell her life rights as related to her story of an affair w/ Trump, promote herself in an “exclusive” press opportunity, or some or all of the above.

Prosecutors are walking through his text messages w/ , who was editor of The , in which Davidson tells Howard: “I have blockbuster story.” In his reply, Howard asked, "did he cheat" on Melania.

The text messages are damning. Jurors already know the basics of ’s account of an affair w/ . But now they are seeing it corroborated in texts, right after they were reminded Trump was married to Melania at the time.

Prosecutors are stitching their case together w/lots of different types of evidence.

In texts between , the editor of The , & , Davidson tells Howard, that ’s story “should be told” & Howard responds “I agree.” The NE, as the jurors know, had no intention of telling the story — instead it sought to bury it. So not only does this evidence remind us of David Pecker’s testimony last week, it also helps prosecutors double down on the idea that The NE was involved in a secret plot to help .

Howard to Davison, "Talk 1st thing, I will get you more than ANYONE for it. You know why..."

Davidson said he didn't know if he had a "clear understanding at the time" of Howard's text.

"But I knew that Dylan’s boss & Mr. were longtime friends & had a former business relationship," Davison continued.

"Mr. Pecker published Trump magazine, & at the time, AMI had announced, …that they had endorsed Mr. Trump’s candidacy," Davidson continued.

stressed that did not want to go public in telling her story, & he said that the competing deal w/ABC would have forced her to tell it.

Her goals were to rejuvenate her career, make money, & avoid becoming “the scarlet letter,”.

“Was AMI attractive because she would not actually have to tell her story?” Steinglass asked.

Davidson said, “That was one of her stated goals.”

During his testimony, had to explain another text he sent to where, in reference to the deal The was making w/the fmr , Davidson wrote:

“Throw in an ambassadorship for me. I’m thinking Isle of Man.”

Davidson said the text was a joke that referenced 's campaign. Pressed further by the prosecutor, Joshua Steinglass, he added that he understood that getting McDougal a deal would help Trump’s candidacy.

The has removed 2 posts from its campaign website that Justice Merchan determined were violations of a gag order preventing from attacking potential . Both posts involved .

It appears that the 7 social media posts that were also found to be violations of the have been deleted as well. Justice ordered the posts' removal by this afternoon.

apparently fell asleep multiple times this morning during testimony — occasionally appearing to stir & then falling back to sleep.

Trump's eyes were closed for extended periods & his head at times jerked in a way consistent w/ sleeping.

Today’s testimony & the texts being shared provide a look at the sleazy negotiations that were occurring behind the scenes in early Aug 2016, while was the nominee & only a few months from being elected. Publicly, at this time, Trump was consolidating a skeptical establishment behind his candidacy. Privately, his fixer, , was discussing the finer points of a w/ & the owner of The .

posted on Truth Social mins before returning to court & >1 hr after other posts — which Judge Merchan ordered to be deleted in accordance w/his — were taken down.

"This Judge has taken away my Constitutional Right to FREE SPEECH. I am the only Presidential Candidate in History to be GAGGED. This whole 'Trial' is RIGGED, and by taking away my FREEDOM OF SPEECH, THIS HIGHLY CONFLICTED JUDGE IS RIGGING THE PRESIDENTIAL OF 2024 ELECTION. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!!" the post cont.

🙄

“Mr. Davidson, do you know someone named Stormy Daniels?” Joshua Steinglass, the prosecutor, asks.

We have had several brief mentions of , Davidson’s client, for whom he helped negotiate the deal at the heart of the case. Hopefully, this our real introduction to her, & to the $130k pay off.

3 witnesses, have said some not nice things about . Joshua Steinglass, the prosecutor, isn’t steering away from it. Davidson referred to a “jerk” w/o using his name & Steinglass asked, “Who was that jerk?” Prosecutors were expecting to elicit this testimony & Steinglass playing into it signals that they’re comfortable w/it.

says that when he talked to , he was met w/a “hostile barrage” of “insults,” “insinuations” & “allegations” & that went on for quite a while.

’s lead defense lawyer, Todd , is delighted as Davidson describes Michael Cohen screaming expletives at him. Blanche laughs & smiles at Trump, who is seated next to him. Blanche has been very focused on destroying Cohen’s credibility with the jury.

Keith Davidson, speaking about the deal reached w/ , brings up The tape on which described assaulting women. Davidson calls the remarks “troublesome” —& then he says they had “tremendous influence” in raising interest in Daniels’s story.
Davidson links the Access Hollywood tape directly to the Trump campaign’s heightened desire to purchase Daniels’s story. It wasn’t until the tape came out, Davidson testifies, that “interest reached a crescendo.”

@Nonilex I don't understand how this doesn't release Melania from her pre-nups.

@Nonilex Are they still up on archive.is? They should have been saved for history's sake.

@Nonilex This shows he thinks he's going to lose the election.

@Nonilex how can he claim infringement of his freedom of speech packaged in an email to millions of supporters?
How can he claim he's being silenced when he never shuts up?

@Nonilex It seems like they’re going to use Cohen primarily just to confirm financial details that they have established elsewhere. Presumably they’re not relying on his character or likeability.

@Nonilex the irony is that she didn’t have to tell her story at all. She was basically blackmailing to boost her career.

@Nonilex HMM…I WONDER IF THEY ARE NOTICING HIS DEMEANOR. SOMEONE ON MSNBC SAID A SYMPATHETIC JUROR MIGHT SAY, IF HE’S NOT CONCERNED THEN THE TESTIMONY MIGHT NOT BE TRUE. I DON’T KNOW HOW THAT IS POSSIBLE, BUT I ALSO DON’T KNOW HOW HE HAS SO MANY CULT FOLLOWERS. GO FIGURE.

@Nonilex I remember hearing once that a person who has been caught that’s actually been criming will fall asleep in an interrogation room because they can finally rest.

Maybe that’s ridiculous, but it feels plausible.

@Nonilex Trump has to be one of the dumbest motherfuckers ever to live