CNN
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Judge Juan Machan on Tuesday handed down Donald Trump’s first punishment for violating a judge’s gag order in a New York hush money trial, fined him $9,000 for nine violations.
The judge also warned the former president in a written order that continued violations could result in jail time, a striking reminder of the historic and surreal nature of the trial. It was something that made me do it.
As the trial itself began on Tuesday, jurors heard from Keith Davidson, the lawyer who negotiated hush money for Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougall. He detailed his ordeal with then-President Trump’s fixer, Michael Cohen, in the final days of the 2016 campaign. He promised Daniels money to keep quiet.
Davidson testified in October 2016, after the Access Hollywood tape was released, that tabloid editors believed Daniels’ story would be the “final nail in the coffin” for Trump’s presidential aspirations. Instead, Davidson negotiated a $130,000 hush-money deal with Cohen on behalf of Daniels, and she did not speak publicly before the 2016 election.
Here are the highlights from day 9 of the Trump hush money trial:
President Trump fined, more fines to come later this week
Before the jury was called Tuesday morning, Marchand fined the former president $9,000 for multiple violations of the judge’s gag order, which prohibits public discussion of witnesses and jurors in the case. .
Marchand charged Trump with nine violations after the former president filed a motion for contempt of prosecutors for social media posts and public comments about Cohen, Daniels and the composition of the jury. fined $1,000 each (the maximum amount allowed by law).
This would not be Trump’s last run-in with Marchand’s gag order either. Last week, the district attorney cited four more comments by Trump that allegedly violated the executive order. Marchan has scheduled a hearing on those violations for Thursday.
The comments cited by prosecutors pointed to Trump’s continued comments about witnesses, including that he thought AMI Director David Pecker was a “nice guy.” . Prosecutors argued that this comment was a message to other witnesses on the stand to “be gentle.”
In his order, the judge warned that President Trump could be jailed if he continues to intentionally violate the gag order. Marchand could face 30 days in jail for insulting Trump.
“Courts will not tolerate continued willful violations of legal orders and will impose prison sentences if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances,” Marchand wrote.
Stormi’s lawyer takes stand
Davidson, a Los Angeles-based attorney, represented McDougal and Daniels in 2016 when they were shopping for stories about their romantic relationships with Trump.
He detailed a conversation he had with American Media Inc.’s then-chief content officer Dylan Howard when he signed a $150,000 deal with AMI for McDougall’s article, and he recalled Davidson’s memory. I was helped by a detailed text exchange that helped me recall. He then signed Daniels and Cohen directly to $130,000 contracts after AMI pulled out.
Davidson said Daniels’ manager, Gina Rodriguez, approached him and asked him to sign a contract. “This is going to be the easiest transaction I’ve ever made in my life,” Davidson said, then paused and let out a little laugh.
Rodriguez said negotiations have already taken place. “All you have to do is talk to that motherfucker Cohen,” Davidson recalled.
Mr. Davidson explained to the jury the contract he had written with Mr. Cohen and the excuses given by Mr. Cohen for not making the initial payment.
Davidson testified about Cohen’s excuses for failing to raise money, saying, “I thought he was trying to hold out until after the election,” and that at one point he told Cohen he was not going to sign a contract. He reportedly told her that it was broken.
Mr. Davidson’s testimony also brought some bright moments. In the deal, Daniels used pseudonyms: Peggy Peterson because she was the plaintiff, and David Dennison because Trump was the defendant.
Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass asked if Dennison was a real person. “Yes, he was on my high school hockey team,” Davidson said.
“What does he think of you now?” Steinglass asked.
“He’s very upset,” Davidson said, trying to hold back a laugh.
Daniels’ attorney also had some choice words for Cohen. Asked about Mr. Cohen’s demeanor during the payment negotiations, Mr. Davidson said, “He was a very excited, kind of guy with his pants on fire.”
Davidson added that Cohen looked like a cartoon dog yelling “Squirrel!”
Gary Faro, Mr. Cohen’s former banker, returned Tuesday morning to explain to the jury Mr. Cohen’s banking activities related to payments to Mr. Daniels.
Mr. Cohen opened a shell company account and used it to transfer money to Mr. Daniels’ attorney in less than 24 hours, records show.
On October 27, 2016, Cohen pressured the bank to facilitate a $131,000 advance on a home equity line of credit tied to personal property he shared with his wife. It was approved, and the funds were transferred to a new Essential Consultants LLC account that Cohen opened, telling bankers at the time that it was for an urgent real estate transaction.
The next morning, Cohen transferred $130,000 to the account through Daniels’ attorney.
Mr. Faro testified that When he dealt with Cohen, 90% of the time it was an “urgent matter.”
The banker also said that after news of hush money payments to Daniel became public, First Republic Bank closed all of Cohen’s accounts, leaving only Cohen’s existing mortgage with the financial institution. He also said.
Prosecutors entered several video clips into evidence Tuesday morning using an archivist.
Three C-SPAN clips of President Trump speaking at public events were played to jurors in open court. Two videos from October 2016 campaign events show then-candidate Trump lashing out at allegations from women who publicly accused him of sexual assault after the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape earlier that month. He appeared to be in denial.
“As you can see, I’m being bombarded with lies and slander right now. It’s a sham deal. I have no idea who these women are,” Trump said in one video.
In the Jan. 11, 2017 clip, President-elect Trump said:, “Michael Cohen is a very talented lawyer. He is an excellent lawyer in my firm.”
Why defense lawyers think Judge Marchand didn’t jail Trump with gag order
Portions of Trump’s October 2022 deposition taken for the E. Jean Carroll defamation lawsuit were also admitted into evidence and played in court.
Prosecutors also played a clip from a deposition in which Trump described Truth Social as a platform he created as an alternative to Twitter. In another video, Trump answers a question confirming that he has been married to Melania Trump since 2005.
Jurors also saw Trump identify himself as the speaker. “access hollywood” Tape during deposition – however, video clips related to questioning were not played. “access hollywood” Both the tape and the tape itself. (A judge previously ruled that only audio transcripts are admissible as evidence. – It’s not a video footage. )
Trump had several spectators behind him in court Tuesday, beyond the usual daily presence of aides.
His son Eric Trump also attended the trial, becoming the first member of the former president’s family to appear in court. Susie Wiles, a senior campaign adviser to President Trump, was seated next to the former president’s son.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and David McIntosh, co-founder of conservative political groups such as the Club for Growth, also appeared in court for part of Tuesday’s court session.
Tuesday’s appearance could mark the beginning of a new kind of pilgrimage for Trump’s allies. Instead of visiting Trump at Mar-a-Lago, they’re coming to New York to watch the presumptive Republican nominee go to trial.
Trump also had some family-friendly news. Before the trial began, Trump’s lawyers had asked for May 17 leave so he could attend his son Barron’s graduation. The judge said he didn’t know yet whether that would be possible, but on Tuesday Marchan said things had moved quickly enough that there would be no courtroom that day so Trump could attend graduation. He said he was.
Trump had previously attacked the judge for preventing him from attending Barron’s graduation ceremony, only for the judge to say he would hold off on making a decision on the request.
