Former President Donald Trump’s “hush money” trial continues in New York on May 10.
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Trump Says ‘Amazing’ That Cohen Has No Gag Order
Leaving the courtroom, President Trump said the gag order situation was a “disgrace.”
“[What] the judge did was amazing, actually was amazing. Everybody can say whatever they want. They can say whatever they want. I’m not allowed to say anything about anybody,” he said.
He did not answer whether he would testify next week.
Defense Asks for Gag Order on Michael Cohen
Mr. Blanche asked the judge to impose a gag order on Mr. Cohen, arguing there was precedent for such an order. He argued that though Mr. Cohen made a statement that he would cease his attacks on social media, he in fact has not.
Mr. Steinglass said prosecutors have “repeatedly instructed all the witnesses in this case to refrain from public statements.”
“The fact is, we have no control over what they do,” Mr. Steinglass said. “The fact of the matter is, these witnesses are not subject to a gag order and we have no remedy if they engage in these activities.”
Justice Merchan asked prosecutors to tell Mr. Cohen that the judge has asked him to refrain from making public comments about the case.
When Mr. Cohen testified last fall in a civil case against President Trump, the judge had also ordered him to refrain from speaking about his testimony to anyone and from making media statements during the trial.
Attorneys Argue Over Weisselberg Evidence, Lack of Testimony
Defense attorney Emil Bove told the judge that “Mr. Weisselberg’s absence from this trial is a very complicated issue.”
He said the government was using a hearsay claim.
“They’re saying he conspired with Mr. Cohen. He is, in that way, I submit, an uncalled government witness,” Mr. Bove said. “We think that it’s unduly prejudicial, and it’s not particularly relevant. This would look differently if we had sought to offer hearsay, but that’s not what we’re doing.”
“We think it’s unduly prejudicial and confusing in light of the fact that Mr. Weisselberg is in prison now and not available to anyone,” Mr. Bove said. “We’re not able to elicit testimony that would potentially impeach some evidence that’s been offered.”
Mr. Conroy said that the government was seeking to explain from their perspective why Mr. Weisselberg is not testifying at trial through the admission of his severance agreement, which includes a confidentially and non-disparagement agreement.
“What we argue is that Mr. Weisselberg’s interest right now, among other things, there are three payments due to Mr. Weiseelberg during this calendar year,” Mr. Conroy said.
“What we’re trying to do is explain his absence, and I think this agreement offers a real explanation for why he is not in this trial,” Mr. Conroy said.
“We disagree with that,” Mr. Bove said. “The reason Mr. Weisselberg is not a witness to either side is because the DA’s office issued a perjury citation … it’s a much more complicated situation.”
Prosecutors Say 2 More Witnesses
Prosecutors said in court they expect to call two more witnesses.
“I think it’s entirely possible that we will rest at the end of next week,” said prosecuting attorney Joshua Steinglass.
Prosecuting attorney Christopher Conroy asked to submit Mr. Weisselberg’s severance agreement into evidence.
“If your honor finds it admissible, we will not need to call a witness,” he said.
Defense attorney Emil Bove told the judge that “Mr. Weisselberg’s absence from this trial is a very complicated issue.”
He said the government was using a hearsay claim.
“They’re saying he conspired with Mr. Cohen. He is, in that way, I submit, an uncalled government witness,” Mr. Bove said. “We think that it’s unduly prejudicial, and it’s not particularly relevant. This would look differently if we had sought to offer hearsay, but that’s not what we’re doing.”
“We think it’s unduly prejudicial and confusing in light of the fact that Mr. Weisselberg is in prison now and not available to anyone,” Mr. Bove said. “We’re not able to elicit testimony that would potentially impeach some evidence that’s been offered.”
Mr. Conroy said that the government was seeking to explain from their perspective why Mr. Weisselberg is not testifying at trial through the admission of his severance agreement, which includes a confidentially and non-disparagement agreement.
“What we argue is that Mr. Weisselberg’s interest right now, among other things, there are three payments due to Mr. Weiseelberg during this calendar year,” Mr. Conroy said.
Defense Asks Paralegal About Call Deletions From Summary Charts
Defense attorney Emil Bove asked if putting together the call summary charts was “at time, arguable tedious work?”
“Honesty, I kind of enjoyed it,” Mr. Jarmel-Schneider said.
Mr. Jarmel-Schneider confirmed there were also calls that were deleted from the summary charts.
“You were here during the cross examination of Keith Davidson, right?” Mr. Bove asked.
“I was,” Mr. Jarmel-Schneider said.
“Then a subsequent decision was made to delete whole records of summary charts from 2018?” Mr. Bove asked.
“No, I don’t think that’s correct,” Mr. Jarmel-Schneider said.
Mr. Bove said “this week, a significant number of calls were removed.”
“I don’t know if it was ‘significant,’ but some calls were removed,” Mr. Jarmel-Schneider said.
“About three pages of calls were taken off. You remember deleting several pages from #344, correct?” Mr. Bove asked.
“Yes,” Mr. Jarmel-Schneider said.
Prosecutors elicited testimony to clarify that the calls deleted from the chart were still entered into evidence.
DA Paralegal Testifies
David Jarmel-Schneider took the witness stand next. He has worked in the district attorney’s office for almost two years, as a paralegal assigned to this case.
He reviewed call logs, contact lists, calendar invites, and other metadata and compiled a summary report on contact information for the case.
“We wanted to give the jury a sense of how we figured out which phone numbers were associated with which people,” he said.
He confirmed that recordings extracted from Mr. Cohen’s phone, which prosecutors sought to enter into evidence. Defense attorneys objected, and the parties conferred with the judge. The judge allowed the recordings into evidence.
Mr. Jarmel-Schneider testified about a summary chart of the business records associated with each count of the indictment. There were 11 invoices, he said, and they correspond to counts 1, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, and 32. There were also vouchers corresponding to counts 2, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 24, 27, 30, and 33. Checks corresponded to counts 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, and 34.
Defense Argues Texts Not Admissible as Fact
Defense attorney Todd Blanche questioned Ms. Longstreet, who confirmed that she has not been tasked with doing additional social media review since she testified last Friday. She confirmed she has been in court every day during trial, and recalled Mr. Pecker’s testimony.
“So when for example Ms. Rodriguez talks about messages from the Daily Mail, and the timing of those offers, you have knowledge of the truthfulness of those messages?” Mr. Blanche asked.
“No,” Ms. Longstreet said.
She confirmed she had no personal knowledge about the messages sent by and to Mr. Howard.
Texts Reveal Stormy Daniels Story Negotiation
Two months later, Ms. Rodriguez texted Mr. Howard about the story again.
“Stormy Daniels and Trump with her is up on the Dirty and Fox News has been calling. Stormy has not called or spoken. Are you interested?” Ms. Rodriguez texted on Oct. 8, 2016.
“She will confirm on record?” Mr. Howard asked. “Yes,” Ms. Rodriguez texted.
He asked for the pitch via email, so he could “show it to my CEO,” David Pecker. Mr. Howard texted, “He will likely pay.”
Mr. Howard also asked for a price, and Ms. Rodriguez texted back “$250K.”
“You have that bid?” Mr. Howard texted.
“Yes working on it,” Ms. Rodriguez texted. “GMA wants her too.”
“Daily Mail too,” she texted on Oct. 9, 2016.
“Well I would buy it but I ain’t got 250K. Oh well. GMA can’t pay her – they can license pix etc,” Mr. Howard responded.
He offered, “I can get 100” to which Ms. Rodriguez responded “Lol”.
“Okay. What about 150K?” Ms. Rodriguez texted.
“110,” Mr. Howard texted.
“125k,” Ms. Rodriguez texted.
“Lol,” Mr. Howard texted back. “120”.
“Sold,” Ms. Rodriguez wrote. The chain was timestamped at Oct. 9, 2016, but it would have been late evening of Oct. 8, 2016, in New York time.
Mr. Howard texted back, “I’m at dinner, I will email contract when back at hotel or first thing AM.”
“Okay,” Ms. Rodriguez texted back. “Daily Mail is offering 200.”
“I haven’t told them anything except what I put in email yesterday,” Ms. Rodriguez texted. “They signed NDA and sent over. I haven’t responded.”
“Never heard from you and Stormy leaves tomorrow to go back home. DM wants it too,” Ms. Rodriguez texted.
“Okay I’ll call in a few hours,” was Mr. Howard’s next text to Ms. Rodriguez.
Ms. Rodriguez next texted back, “We’re not doing the Trump deal.”
“Keith gave me a heads up. What happened.” Mr. Howard texted.
“They didn’t pay when they said they would…. Daily Mail wants it bad.” Ms. Rodriguez texted.
On Oct. 19, 2016, after the original payment date was missed, Ms. Rodriguez texted Mr. Howard, “Spoke to Keith last night and we’re all good.”
“Okay,” Mr. Howard texted.
On Oct. 25, 2016, Ms. Rodriguez texted, “On phone with KD and Stormy.”
Mr. Howard texted back that he had “blew a gasket with his people” and also “message made and heard.”
Mr. Howard said he had to apologize to his CEO, and explain to him that he was going to lead the call today “and I’m going to tell them how it’s going to be.”
Mr. Pecker previously testified that he had set up a call between Mr. Howard and Mr. Cohen, and Mr. Howard tried to mediate issues between Mr. Cohen and Mr. Davidson after Mr. Cohen failed to pay.
“They didn’t pay and she doesn’t believe it and she’s doing her press comps in the morning. She hired another attorney,” Ms. Rodriguez texted Mr. Howard on Oct. 25, 2016.
“Okay. What deadline does she have?” Mr. Howard texted.
“This morning”, Ms. Rodriguez texted.
On Oct. 26, 2016, Mr. Howard texted “Good news I hear”.
Stormy Daniels Manager Texts Shown in Court
Prosecutors showed text exchanges between Dylan Howard, chief content officer at American Media Inc., and Gina Rodriguez, Ms. Clifford’s manager and Mr. Howard’s source.
On April 7, 2016, Ms. Rodriguez sent, “But stormy daniels was his mistress.” Mr. Howard wrote back, “I bet she was.”
On June 28, 2016, they exchanged several more texts.
Ms. Rodriguez wrote “Stormy Daniels” and “I have her.”
Mr. Howard wrote back, “Is she ready to talk?” and “I thought she denounced it previously.”
Ms. Rodriguez wrote back, “She said she would do it under two conditions” and “She never did” and “She doesn’t want to go on record about it but will tell the story through a source. She wants 100K.”
Mr. Howard asked, “Once or ongoing relationship?”
Ms. Rodriguez replied, “A couple of times” and “She met him at a celebrity golf tournament. She was there with Wicked Pictures.”
Mr. Howard responded he would get back to her and Ms. Rodriguez followed up with more texts on the same day and also a month later.
“What happened with the stormy daniels interview on trump?” Ms. Rodriguez texted on July 23, 2016. “She is asking.”
DA Employee Who Reviewed Trump Social Media Testifies
Prosecutors called Georgia Longstreet back to the witness stand. Ms. Longstreet had reviewed social media posts in relation to the case, flagging and archiving posts.
She testified that she also worked in a paralegal capacity on the case, reviewing other records.
She had reviewed and archived posts from the @realdonaldtrump Twitter, now X, account.
Prosecutors showed a post criticizing a New York Times reporter and defending Michael Cohen as a “fine person with a wonderful family” on April 21, 2018.
Mr. Cohen entered a guilty plea on Aug. 1, 2018.
On Aug. 22, 2018, President Trump tweeted, “If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!”
He also made other posts that day that touched on Mr. Cohen’s guilty plea, including accusing Mr. Cohen of making up stories.
On May 3, 2018, he had tweeted a series of three posts about the allegations in the current case.
“Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA. These agreements are … very common among celebrities and people of wealth. In this case it is in full force and effect and will be used in Arbitration for damages against Ms. Clifford (Daniels). The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair … despite already having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair. Prior to its violation by Ms. Clifford and her attorney, this was a private agreement. Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll in this transaction.”
Judge Sides With Defense, Won’t Allow 1999 Trump Interview in Evidence
Justice Merchan granted the defense’s request to exclude an interview President Trump had given in 1999 that the prosecution wanted to use to establish that he had knowledge of campaign finance laws.
Verizon Analyst Testifies
Jenny Tomalin, senior analyst with Verzion, took the witness stand.
She affirmed phone records prosecutors entered into evidence were captured between 2015 and 2018 from Verizon subscribers.
Ms. Tomalin confirmed phone records shown were for an account belonging to Keith Davidson.
The court took a break.
AT&T Analyst Testifies
Daniel Dixon, lead compliance analyst with AT&T, took the witness stand.
“I assist with compliance legal demands, and I help law enforcement obtaining our records,” he said.
Prosecutors showed records related to a phone belonging to Mr. Cohen. Mr. Dixon affirmed that their records can log when calls and texts took place, excluding texts sent through encrypted apps, as well as data usage.
Mr. Dixon confirmed for the defense that information may not be linked to a specific device, as sim cards can be moved from one device to another, and phone numbers can also be transitioned between carriers.
He also confirmed that the carrier cannot tell who spoke based on these logs.
Prosecutors Hone In on How Trump Received Checks Central to Criminal Charges
Prosecuting attorney Rebecca Mangold asked, “was the method of sending checks through Fedex to somebody’s personal address an end-run around the White House security protocols?”
“Not to my understanding, it was just a way to get him things faster,” Ms. Westerhout said.
Ms. Westerhout confirmed she met President Trump in November, after the election, and had no firsthand knowledge of his reaction to the release of the Access Hollywood tape.
Westerhout Says Trump Did Not Review Every Check Signed
Ms. Westerhout told attorneys yesterday that President Trump preferred to sign things personally rather than using an automated signature.
“You would leave items for President Trump on his desk; if he had time and you gave them to him, he would sign items. There was proclamations that he was signing?” Ms. Nechcles asked.
“Yes, commissions, proclamations, memos, letters,” Ms. Westerhout said, confirming it could be hundreds a day.
“Would you see him sign things without reviewing them?” Ms. Necheles asked.
“Sometimes,” Ms. Westerhout said.
“Would you see him sign checks without reviewing them?” Ms. Necheles asked.
“Yes,” Ms. Westerhout said.
Defense Seeks to Add Context to Trump Receiving Personal Documents in White House
Prosecutors had asked Ms. Westerhout several questions about the way President Trump received Trump Organization checks, including how they went directly to him and how he would personally sign them.
Ms. Westerhout confirmed for the defense that a P.O. box had been set up for President Trump to receive personal items, but it turned out to be a very slow method because of the security involved. She confirmed that the president felt it disrespectful not to returns call promptly, and that was how his bodyguard Keith Schiller came to receive the checks that President Trump was to sign for The Trump Organization.
“President Trump was upset that he was not getting personal documents and letters from friends of his, right?” Ms. Necheles said.
“That’s right,” Ms. Westerhout said.
“And he also started to receive things for Melania Trump, and Keith Schiller would bring these items to you and you would give them to President Trump,” Ms. Necheles said. “That’s what this whole testimony about Fedex packages about, right? It was a way for things to be sent to you and you could get them promptly to President Trump.”
“That’s right,” Ms. Westerhout said.
“It wasn’t a new workaround that you all came up with,” Ms. Necheles said.
Westerhout Returns to Witness Stand
Madeleine Westerhout, former Director of Oval Office Operations, returned to the witness stand for questioning by the defense.
Defense attorney Susan Necheles showed the contact list President Trump’s executive assistant Rhona Graff had prepared for Ms. Westerhout. Yesterday, prosecutors pointed out that David Pecker and Michael Cohen were on a shortlist of contacts that would be patched through to the president.
“There were many people on the list President Trump never called,” Ms. Necheles said.
“That’s correct,” Ms. Westerhout said.
Ms. Westerhout also confirmed that President Trump sent newspaper clippings to people he knew often, such as a photo of him boarding Air Force One the first time.
Prosecutors had yesterday admitted into evidence an exchange between Ms. Westerhout and Ms. Graff about sending former Trump Organization CFO a newspaper clipping. Ms. Westerhout testified Friday it was common practice for the president and she had no specific recollection of Mr. Weisselberg and President Trump speaking in 2017.
Trump: ‘If I Mention the Wrong Word, They’ll Take Me Out to Jail’
President Trump shared several op-eds by legal commentators before heading into court on Friday morning, first sharing that he was holding a rally on Saturday.
“Everything you’ve been watching has nothing to do with the case, they know that,” President Trump said. He quoted one expert who opined that such testimony has “backfired spectacularly.”
“Why did they bring this case right before the election? You know, and so did I,” he added, before reading another op-ed that said the district attorney should be prosecuting violent crime instead. “They are cheating.”
“Story after story, these are all stories that just came out,” he said. “I’ll be going over them with you later.”
“Certain words I’m not allowed to read,” he said. “If I put one wrong word in there they’re going to put me in jail.”
“I’m trying to edit this very quickly in front of you, because if I mention the wrong word, they’ll take me out to jail someplace,” he said. “That’s the way it is with this judge because he wants to show how tough he is.”
“If this country allows them to get away with this gag order and the way this case is being handled … what they did yesterday was so incredible,” he said. “The whole world is watching.”
Judge Rejects Mark Pomerantz Subpoena
Friday morning, Justice Merchan issued a decision rejecting the defense’s subpoena to Mark Pomerantz. Prosecutors had moved to quash, and the judge granted that motion.
Mr. Pomerantz had written a book detailing his investigation into President Trump during his time at the district attorney’s office. He had resigned before an indictment was returned, publicly criticizing Mr. Bragg for not bringing charges. Allies of President Trump, including House Republicans who recently opened an investigation, have pointed to Mr. Pomerantz’s book account as evidence that the case is politically motivated.
Justice Merchan said subpoena had been overly broad.
Trial This Week: What to Know
Former President Donald Trump’s trial has been eventful this week, with two rejected motions for mistrial and emotional testimonies on the witness stand.
Stephanie Clifford, better known by her stage name Stormy Daniels, testified over two days, providing unsolicited details on the witness stand. Attorneys on both sides and the judge found her to be a “difficult-to-control” witness, who often did not answer questions directly and added commentary unrelated to the questions asked.
Her testimony about her alleged sexual encounter with Donald Trump in 2006 was colored with descriptions of how fearful she felt and a power imbalance between them. Defense attorneys moved for a mistrial after her first day of testimony, arguing that her statements were “extremely prejudicial” and would influence the jury on issues far beyond the scope of the business record charges that the case is about.
The judge denied the motion and after Ms. Clifford’s second day of testimony, attorneys moved to narrow the gag order on President Trump, allowing him to publicly respond to Ms. Clifford’s new allegations about a non-consensual encounter.
Justice Merchan denied that motion, as well as a second motion for mistrial raised by the defense.
Prosecutors sought to establish Ms. Clifford as a credible witness telling a truthful story, while the defense aimed to portray her as an opportunist who had altered her story over the years, pointing to inconsistencies in details that Ms. Clifford defended as technically accurate.
On Thursday, a second witness broke down in tears on the stand. Former Trump aide Madeleine Westerhout began crying when asked to recount how she lost her White House job in 2019 and continued her testimony while crying. Prosecutors elicited testimony that other key figures in the case, Michael Cohen and David Pecker, were in touch with President Trump while he was in office. Defense attorneys elicited testimony that she observed a loving relationship between President Trump and Melania Trump, noting how much he valued her opinion.
Attorneys also revealed on Thursday that Karen McDougal will no longer testify. Much of the earlier trial testimony covered a contract Ms. McDougal had signed, which prosecutors have established as a precursor to the Clifford agreement that serves as the basis for the criminal charges.
From The Epoch Times
