Hush-money trial to resume after Hope Hicks’ testimony on mood inside Trump’s 2016 campaign – live | Donald Trump trials
[ad_1]
The hush-hush trial will be reopened following Trump’s 2016 campaign testimony by Hope Hicks.
Good morning,
The criminal trial of Donald Trump because of his tacit payment to an adult movie star Stormy Daniels enters its fourth week later today, with proceedings set to begin around 9 a.m. in New York.
Several witnesses took the stand last week, including Trump’s former campaign communications director Hope Hicks. During her testimony — which was tearful at times — Hicks revealed the front-and-center role Trump played in the media strategy of his 2016 presidential campaign.
In addition to revealing she was “very concerned” about an email from a Washington Post reporter about the scandal Access to Hollywood Hicks testified that Trump told her that Michael Cohen had paid Daniels to “protect him from false accusation” out of “the goodness of his own heart.”
She added that she didn’t know Cohen as “a particularly charitable person or a selfless person.”
Keith Davidsonan attorney who negotiated payments on behalf of Daniels and a former Playboy model Karen McDougallalso testified in court last week.
However, Davidson appeared to complicate the narrative prosecutors wanted to tell by saying he did not consider the payment “hush money” but rather “consideration for a civil settlement“. Davidson’s testimony is likely to play a role in the defense’s case, as the district attorney alleges that Trump falsified business records by falsely stating that his reimbursements to Cohen for the deal were “legal expenses.”
Stay tuned as we bring you the latest updates.
Key events
Donald Trump arrived in court in Lower Manhattan for the first day of the fourth week of his trial.
The case is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. We’ll bring you developments from the courtroom as they unfold.
Last week, Juan Murchan has rejected Donald Trump’s claims that he is unable to testify.
Speaking to reporters last week, Trump, who has been repeatedly fined for violating gag orders, said: “I am not allowed to testify. I guess I’m banned. I cannot testify.”
In court, the judge rejected Trump’s claims, saying, “I want to emphasize, Mr. Trump, that you have an absolute right to testify at trial … The gag order does not prevent you from testifying in any way.”
Since the trial began, Trump has repeatedly gone after Murchan, as well as Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, accusing them online of staging a “fraudulent” trial and a “witch hunt” against him.
For full details click here:
Here are some images from the Manhattan courthouse that made the news last week:
Who are the key players in the Trump trial?
As the trial enters its fourth week, here’s a reminder of the key players from the Guardian’s Sam Levine:
-
Donald Trumpdefendant: The defendant in the case is the Republican presidential candidate. Prosecutors say he arranged a $130,000 payment to the adult movie star Stormy Daniels when she threatened to go public with allegations of an affair in the run-up to the 2016 election and then colluded with others to cover up the payment.
-
David Packer, key witness: Packer was a key Trump ally who was CEO of American Media Inc (AMI), publisher of the National Enquirer. Packer helped Trump by buying the rights to potentially damaging stories and then never publishing them, a practice known as “catch and kill.”
-
Stormy Daniels, key witness: Daniels, an adult film star, says she met Trump in 2006 at a celebrity golf tournament. Daniels was 27 at the time and Trump 60, and Daniels has always said the sex was consensual. Just before the 2016 election, Daniels said she was approached Michael CohenTrump’s lawyer at the time, and offered $130,000 not to reveal the alleged affair.
-
Michael Cohen, key witness: Cohen was once Trump’s lawyer and one of the former president’s most loyal aides and staffers. He facilitated Daniels’ payment by funneling $130,000 to her through a shell company called Essential Consultants LLC. Trump later arranged to pay him back the $35,000 in monthly payments.
For other key figures click here:
Keith Davidson’s testimony regarding the categorization of the deal struck with Stormy Daniels was not the only complicating factor for prosecutors.
During Hope Hicks’ testimony, the former Trump campaign communications director testified that Trump’s biggest concern about the hush money payments was his wife Melania’s reaction.
“He was concerned about how it would be viewed by his wife,” Hicks said.
Hugo Lowell of The Guardian reports:
“Trump’s team suggested in opening statements that the main reason the catch-and-kill scheme to buy Daniels’ story happened was because Trump found it inconvenient for him and Melania — an alternative explanation for the case to prosecutors that it was to influence the election.”
For the full breakdown, click here:
The hush-hush trial will be reopened following Trump’s 2016 campaign testimony by Hope Hicks.
Good morning,
The criminal trial of Donald Trump because of his tacit payment to an adult movie star Stormy Daniels enters its fourth week later today, with proceedings set to begin around 9 a.m. in New York.
Several witnesses took the stand last week, including Trump’s former campaign communications director Hope Hicks. During her testimony — which was tearful at times — Hicks revealed the front-and-center role Trump played in the media strategy of his 2016 presidential campaign.
In addition to revealing she was “very concerned” about an email from a Washington Post reporter about the scandal Access to Hollywood Hicks testified that Trump told her that Michael Cohen had paid Daniels to “protect him from false accusation” out of “the goodness of his own heart.”
She added that she didn’t know Cohen as “a particularly charitable person or a selfless person.”
Keith Davidsonan attorney who negotiated payments on behalf of Daniels and a former Playboy model Karen McDougallalso testified in court last week.
However, Davidson appeared to complicate the narrative prosecutors wanted to tell by saying he did not consider the payment “hush money” but rather “consideration for a civil settlement“. Davidson’s testimony is likely to play a role in the defense’s case, as the district attorney alleges that Trump falsified business records by falsely stating that his reimbursements to Cohen for the deal were “legal expenses.”
Stay tuned as we bring you the latest updates.
[ad_2]
