Former President Trump’s trial in New York entered its 10th day on Thursday, with Keith Davidson on the witness stand.
Davidson is a Los Angeles attorney who represented adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougall. Both men claim to have had sexual contact with Trump about a decade before he was elected president.
President Trump has denied both women’s claims.
Trump, the first former president to face a criminal trial, is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The story centers on a $130,000 payment to Daniels late in the 2016 presidential campaign in an attempt to keep her story from going public.
The money was paid by Michael Cohen, the former president’s then-lawyer and fixer. They were later reimbursed in a series of payments by companies controlled by Trump.
Prosecutors argue that these reimbursements were misclassified as legal fees to hide their actual purpose, and that voters may have otherwise been aware of the women’s allegations, thereby constituting election interference. It is claimed to be equivalent to
The Trump team points out that the hush money payments themselves are not illegal, and insists that the former president did nothing wrong.
The former president has repeatedly claimed that the prosecution, led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D), is a politicized effort aimed at thwarting his hopes in the 2024 election.
Key takeaways from Thursday’s proceedings include:
“What did we do?”
One of the most vivid pieces of evidence Thursday was a 2016 text message that Davidson sent to Dylan Howard, then the top editor of the supermarket tabloid National Enquirer.
“What have we done?” Davidson asked Howard when the results came in on election night.
Howard’s response was, “Oh my god.”
The two had been in contact regarding a possible deal for Daniels and McDougall.
In his testimony Thursday, Davidson called the Election Day email exchange “gallows humor.”
“There was an understanding that our … activities may have supported Donald Trump’s presidential campaign,” Davidson testified.
Legally, that’s important. The crimes Trump is charged with are generally classified as misdemeanors, unless they were committed in furtherance of another crime.
Davidson’s testimony will help prosecutors’ case that the deal was made not only to avoid personal embarrassment for Trump, but also to help him in the 2016 election.
playing card tape
Trump has remained unusually silent in the courtroom itself. But his voice could be heard on a recording Thursday.
That moment came in September 2016 when a recording Cohen had secretly made was played.
In it, lawyers discuss the contract with Mr. McDougal with Mr. Trump. According to the New York Times, the tape also includes a voice in the background that resembles Hope Hicks, a close aide to President Trump.
Trump could be heard asking about the cost of the deal: “$50?” — obviously means $150,000.
There was also a brief exchange between Trump and Cohen over whether to pay by cash or check. Mr. Trump wants to pay in cash, but Mr. Cohen opposes this.
Although the details are brief, the ability to hear Trump discuss the agreement could have important implications for jurors.
A look at Michael Cohen’s disappointment
Mr. Cohen is the most important person in the case, after Mr. Trump and Mr. Daniels.
He is expected to testify for prosecutors and is almost certain to speak harshly about President Trump’s knowledge of the deal and its underlying purpose.
The Trump campaign will likely try to paint Cohen as a completely unreliable witness motivated by hostility to his former boss – for which he famously said in his happier days that he would “take a bullet” for it. That’s a story.
There’s a lot of work to be done on defense.
Cohen was sentenced in December 2018 to three years in prison on eight charges related to tax evasion, filing false statements to federally insured banks, and violating campaign finance laws. Last month, he pleaded guilty to another charge of lying to Congress.
After serving a prison sentence and a period of home confinement, he was released in November 2021.
Before that, while still working for Trump, Cohen expected a great job in his boss’s presidential administration.
It couldn’t be like that.
“Jesus, can you believe I’m not going to Washington?” Cohen asked Davidson in a December 2016 phone call, according to Davidson’s testimony.
President Trump’s lawyer, Emile Bove, suggested that Cohen even harbored hopes of becoming attorney general, a fanciful idea from a 2024 perspective.
This detail could help the Trump campaign paint Cohen as someone who lies out of revenge rather than a truth-telling whistleblower.
Stormy Daniels’ former lawyer comes under pressure
Davidson tried to present himself as a serious lawyer who was only doing what was best for his clients.
But this lofty self-image came under pressure from the Trump campaign during Thursday’s cross-examination.
Mr. Beauvais hinted that Mr. Davidson was only a few legal steps away from committing full-blown extortion on behalf of his clients.
Davidson countered that he always acted within the law.
But references to a sex tape involving wrestler Hulk Hogan, reality TV star Tila Tequila, and Davidson’s clients, who apparently helped publicize the appearance of actress Lindsay Lohan, etc. , some of the sexier elements of the celebrity world are revealed. rehabilitation.
Reporters in the courtroom said Davidson seemed confused by the details.
New groups that may violate gag orders
Even in the relatively early stages of the trial, there continues to be controversy over Trump’s alleged violation of a gag order imposed on him by Judge Juan Machan.
Marchan ruled last week that Trump violated orders in nine of the 10 cases brought by prosecutors. The judge fined Trump $1,000 for each count, but he expressed regret that he could not impose a larger fine.
Machan heard arguments on four more charges Thursday morning but has not yet issued a ruling.
A fundraising email sent Thursday afternoon by the Trump 2024 campaign and the Republican National Committee had the subject line, “You would cut out my tongue if you could.”
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