4 takeaways from day 10 of Trump’s secret trial

Donald Trump’s lawyers in his hush-hush criminal trial Thursday attempted to portray Keith Davidson, a Los Angeles-based lawyer who represented Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, as an unsavory character who made a career of extorting wealthy celebrities for clients shady.

Jurors also heard the voice of a man whose name came up several times during these debates: Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen. Both sides released audio recordings of telephone conversations he surreptitiously recorded, including one in which Cohen said Donald Trump told him, “I hate the fact that we did it,” referring to the non-disclosure agreement with Stormy Daniels.

Meanwhile, Judge Juan Merchan is once again considering motions to convict Trump of criminal contempt for violating a silence order after prosecutors accused him Thursday of making public statements about witnesses and the jury which are “corrosive to this procedure”.

Trump is on trial for allegedly falsifying business records to hide reimbursement for a secret payment Cohen made to Daniels to improve his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election. The former president has denied any wrongdoing .

Here are the key takeaways from day 10 of the proceedings.

Cohen said Trump told him ‘I hate’ that we paid Daniels

Michael Cohen developed a practice of recording his phone conversations and on Thursday jurors heard some of them, including one featuring his former boss.

In a recording introduced into evidence by prosecutors during Keith Davidson’s testimony, Cohen could be heard telling Davidson: “I can’t even tell you how many times he (Trump) said to me, ‘I hate the fact that we did it.’ ‘”

Davidson said Cohen was referring to Trump’s nondisclosure agreement with Stormy Daniels — an important piece of evidence that further suggests Trump knew about the transaction.

A prosecution witness, Douglas Daus, testified about a September 2016 recording of Donald Trump discussing the staged buy of Karen McDougal’s story. This recording was made public in 2018.

Defense tries to present Davidson as an extortionist

Donald Trump’s legal team spent several hours cross-examining Davidson about his track record of negotiating deals with high-profile Hollywood figures, repeatedly invoking words like “extortion” and “leverage.” to undermine its credibility and suggest a pattern of conduct.

Defense attorney Emil Bove and Davidson jousted for hours, with each man becoming frustrated at times as Bove ran through a series of clients and negotiations brokered by Davidson, including a settlement with Charlie Sheen, an alleged sex tape featuring star Tila Tequila and a TMZ leak about Lindsey. Lohan.

“In 2016, you were pretty good at going through with it without committing extortion, right?” » asked Bové.

Davidson stubbornly rebuffed these efforts, reluctant to cooperate with Bove’s yes-or-no questions and eager to obstruct, obfuscate, and pretend not to remember basic details of his past.

‘What have we done?’ Davidson asked.

“What have we done?” Davidson texted National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard on election night in 2016, as it became clear that Donald Trump had secured the presidency.

Davidson told the jury that this was an attempt at “gallows humor”, but added, on a more serious note, that “it was understood that our activities could have, in some way or on the other, to help Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

Davidson, on the stand, divulged behind-the-scenes details about negotiating the secret payments, what happened when details of the arrangements were revealed in the press, and his efforts to protect Stormy Daniels from Michael’s “legal threats.” Cohen as she underwent a change. of heart.

In early 2018, as Daniels prepared to appear on Jimmy Kimmel, Davidson said he wrote a statement on her behalf in the Marilyn Monroe suite at the iconic Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, denying any affair with Trump.

Hours later, on national television, Daniels suggested that statement was not true, prompting Cohen to repeatedly threaten legal action.

Judge assesses additional violations of silence order

Judge Juan Merchan did not rule on four other contempt motions filed by prosecutors, who accused Trump of violating the court’s limited silence order by making public statements about the impartiality of the jury and several witnesses in the case.

Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, argued that his client had the right to respond to “repeated attacks on President Trump’s presidential campaign,” saying that “part of the campaign is taking place outside of this room.” ‘hearing’.

But Merchan retorted, reminding Blanche that “no one forced your client” to go speak to the cameras outside the courthouse.

Later in the day, Susan Necheles, another Trump lawyer, gave the judge a series of articles “that President Trump would like to post on his Truth (social) account,” Necheles said.

“We think they’re perfectly fine, but we think there’s ambiguity in the silence order,” she said, asking the judge to “look at them” before Trump releases them.

Merchan seemed disinclined to address the issue, telling Necheles, “There is no ambiguity in the order.”

“I’m not going to make an advance ruling on this,” Merchan said. “When in doubt, stay away.”