Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial has resumed at Manhattan Criminal Court with Judge Juan Merchan finding the former president in contempt of court for a tenth time, fining him another $1,000 and warning the next violation of his gag order will result in jail time.
Last week’s session ended with emotional testimony from the former president’s one-time White House communication director Hope Hicks, who recounted her experiences serving his presidential campaign in October 2016 when the notorious Access Hollywood tape emerged and said Mr Trump “knew” Michael Cohen had paid off adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Over the weekend, the GOP 2024 contender returned to Florida to attend the Republican National Committee’s Spring Donor Retreat at the Four Seasons Hotel in Palm Beach, where he hobnobbed with influential conservatives, including many in contention to be his running mate, and delivered a scathing speech saying Joe Biden’s cabinet was running a “Gestapo administration.”
The White House accused Mr Trump of “echoing the appalling rhetoric of fascists, lunching with neo-Nazis, and fanning debunked conspiracy theories”.
The Independent’s Alex Woodward is covering the trial at Manhattan Criminal Court.
Judge Merchan asks, “generally speaking,” whether the prosecution is on schedule.
“Well,” Steinglass says.
Merchan: We’re doing well? Not gonna give me anything more than that?
Steinglass: Are you asking how much time?
“I would say about two more weeks. … This week and next week and then maybe a bit the week after … Very, very rough estimate. I would say two weeks from tomorrow.”
A couple of days were recently knocked off the calendar this month, so they think their time might spill over a bit after next week.
Next week and the week after are three-day trial weeks.
Alex Woodward6 May 2024 21:22
The defence has had the prosecution’s witness list “for months,” lead prosecutor Joshua Steinglass argues, concerning complaints from team Trump that they don’t know who will be up on the witness stand next.
Steinglass doesn’t want to be accused of “sandbagging” them by not telling them what order they would be called in, reiterating that the reason prosecutors haven’t is to protect them from Trump’s public attacks.
Alex Woodward6 May 2024 21:16
Judge Merchan has excused the jury for the day a little early.
The trial will resume tomorrow with a new witness.
Standby for our key takeaway from the day.
Oliver O’Connell6 May 2024 21:07
Only a few questions from Blanche and no follow up from the prosecution.
Ms Tarasoff is off the bench.
Alex Woodward6 May 2024 21:03
Trump was hovering around the defence table with his hand in his pocket, talking to Todd Blanche before they took their seats and the judge came in.
Ms Tarasoff is back on the stand. Going through the second half of 2017’s invoices.
After only a few more questions from the prosecution, it’s over to the defence for cross-examination.
Blanche is now questioning Ms Tarasoff.
Alex Woodward6 May 2024 20:59
Trump returns to courtroom for final session of day
Trump walked into the courtroom at about 3:42 p.m. and gave a fist pump with his right hand.
He did not responded to shouted questions:
- Does this witness have anything to do with the case?
- Did you sign the checks?
Oliver O’Connell6 May 2024 20:46
Trump campaign fundraising off judge’s jail time threat
The latest Trump 2024 campaign fundraising email blast is leaning heavily on the threat of jail time for Donald Trump if he violates his gag order again.
It reads: “Breaking from Trump: Judge just threatened me with jail time.”
“This is all hands on deck,” it continues. “The liberal judge in New York just threatened to THROW ME IN JAIL for violating an unconstitutional ‘gag order’ that should NEVER be in place!”
It goes on to claim “they” want him handcuffed, incarcerated, and “THEY WANT ME SILENCED FOREVER SO THEY CAN WALK ALL OVER YOU!”
“A MASSIVE pushback is needed — right here, right now — to let the whole WORLD know we will NEVER SURRENDER!”
The campaign asks for “ONE MILLION Pro-Trump Patriots to chip in”.
Oliver O’Connell6 May 2024 20:45
On Cohen’s invoice from July 2017, which didn’t have an amount, Tarasoff wrote “PAY SAME AMOUNT PER JEFF + ALLEN”
The court is now taking its afternoon recess.
Alex Woodward6 May 2024 20:36
For posterity we’re looking at the “stop report” from Capital One to confirm that the check was indeed cancelled.
This is getting tedious but jurors are being constantly reminded that Cohen’s payments were listed everywhere – across accounting software, pay stubs and invoices that landed on Trump’s own desk – as a “legal expense” or for his “retainer” for “services rendered.”
Prosecutors have argued that those payments were Trump’s reimbursements to Cohen for paying off Stormy Daniels, not for payments that had anything to do with his work as an attorney, but as work done to boost Trump’s chances of winning by hiding compromising stories from voters.
We also get to see Trump’s massive Sharpie signature on these checks.
Alex Woodward6 May 2024 20:25
The process for each check is described.
Tarasoff gets the email with the invoice, she stamps it for approval, the invoice gets entered into the company software, the check is cut, and it gets sent out for signature.
Cohen’s April payment, which was the first of the remaining payments to be cut from Trump’s personal account, was voided after the check appeared to get lost in the mail. It was cut again in June.
Alex Woodward6 May 2024 20:20
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
