Trump hush money trial live updates: David Pecker to resume testimony on ‘catch-and-kill’ payouts

Germany is waging a charm offensive inside the Republican Party. Japan is lining up its own Trump whisperer. Mexican government officials are talking to Camp Trump. And Australia is busy making laws to help Trump-proof its US defence ties.

Everywhere, US allies are taking steps to defend or advance their interests in the event former president Donald Trump returns to power in November elections, an even chance based on recent opinion polls in swing states.

They want to avoid the cold slap that Trump’s “America First” policies dealt them last time around, which included trade wars, a shakeup of security alliances, an immigration crackdown and the withdrawal from a global climate accord.

Sadly this is not true as Daniels is yet to appear at Manhattan Criminal Court, although David Pecker is likely to discuss her story on the witness stand today.

Here’s Ellie Abraham of Indy100 with more.

Trump’s legal strategy largely boils down to delaying, by any means necessary, the growing pile of criminal and civil threats against him in courtrooms across the country.

Supreme Court justices have already delivered him a key victory on that score.

The months of debate and delays in his “immunity” case – culminating in the court slow walking one of the most important tests of presidential power in American history – have all but ensured that voters will not see a verdict in a trial to determine if he unlawfully conspired to overturn an election before they cast their ballots in the next one.

“The substance of this case is nothing less than a fork in the road on whether we will continue to have democracy, a constitutional republic, with checks and balances that have characterised the presidency,” according to Norm Eisen, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution who served as co-counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during Trump’s first impeachment.

“Or whether we will embark on the road to autocracy.”

Here’s more from Alex Woodward.

Here’s our latest livestream from Manhattan as day seven gets underway.

Trump’s then-attorney Michael Cohen invited then-National Enquirer publisher David Pecker to Trump Tower on 16 June 2015, when he descended the golden escalators to launch his presidential campaign.

Jurors were shown the email from Cohen to Pecker during Pecker’s testimony on Tuesday.

“No one deserves to be there more than you,” Cohen wrote in the email on 2 June 2015.

Pecker replied 25 minutes later: “Thank you very much for thinking of me and I will be there.”

Two months after that event, Pecker would return to Trump Tower to come up with a secret “catch-and-kill” scheme to pay people off and bury politically damning stories about Trump while promoting stories that would help his election chances.

On Tuesday, jurors were shown the contract drawn up between The National Enquirer’s publishing company and a Trump Tower doorman who wanted to run a false story about then-candidate Trump fathering “an illegitimate girl with a maid,” according to former American Media Inc chief David Pecker.

Pecker testified that he arranged $30,000 in November 2015 to buy the story, then amended the contract to keep the rights to the story in perpetuity, with no plans to release it.

Dino Sajudin was ultimately released from the contract via email on 9 December 2016 – more than a year after the initial agreement and one month after Trump’s election victory.

Pecker testified that he was trying to bury “embarrassing” stories involving Trump to improve his election chances.

New York’s court system is uploading daily transcripts of Donald Trump’s criminal trial “to ensure broad and continuous public access to this extraordinarily high-profile case.”

“With current law restricting the broadcasting of trial proceedings and courtroom space for public spectators very limited, the release of the daily transcripts on the court system’s website is the best way to provide the public a direct view of the proceedings in this historic trial,” Chief Administrative Judge Zayas said in a statement this week.

“This measure is in the interest of the public good and aligns with the court system’s commitment to judicial transparency and its ongoing efforts to enhance public access to, and understanding of, the courts and justice system.”

Transcripts will generally be available within a business day after the hearing.

The Independent will continue to report from the courtroom, sharing updates as they happen.

Good morning from outside criminal court in Manhattan.

Testimony from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker left the court on a cliffhanger on Tuesday, as prosecutors were questioning him about several Trump-related catch-and-kill schemes in chronological order, ending with a story from former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Today, we will likely learn more about his discussions with McDougal to keep allegations of her affair silent, before we move on to the Stormy Daniels transactions.

There also could be an opportunity for defence attorneys to cross examine Pecker, who will be on the stand for a third day when he enters the courthouse on Thursday morning.

Prosecutors have not yet shared their plans for the next witness.

New York Judge Juan Merchan could also announce whether he will hold Trump in contempt and fine him for allegedly violating the trial’s gag order.

I’ll be reporting from inside the courtroom starting at 9.30am ET.

You can watch our latest livestream below.

Wow, he’s really squeezing them in these days isn’t he?

Trump is reportedly visiting the corner of East 48th and Park Avenue, currently a construction site but soon to be the new headquarters of the commercial bank JPMorgan, apparently intending to appeal to the city’s blue collar workers.