NonilexDr. Robert Browning is the next witness. He is a Purdue professor focusing on #Congress & the #media, he is also the head of #CSPAN archives. He says he was compelled to testify.
Robert Browning explained that C-SPAN is a “public television network that telecasts events in their entirety.”
Browning is a custodial witness, or records custodian - witnesses certify the truth of records presented. In this trial, the defense did not agree on certain facts that the prosecution sought to stipulate were true. So, the prosecutors need these sorts of witnesses to help the jury understand the basic truth of the episodes they want to talk about at trial.
Prosecutors played #CSPAN clips, starting w/one from an Oct 2016 #Trump campaign rally in NC, where he talks about 2 women who said Trump sexually assaulted them. “I have no idea who these women are,” Trump said at the time. “These are lies being pushed by the media & the Clinton campaign to try & keep their grip on our country. They’re all false, totally invented, fiction.”
Trump seems to be watching himself as the C-SPAN clip plays on the monitor in front of him.
Next is video of a campaign event #Trump did in PA, in Oct 2016. He blasts media outlets & says, “Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign.” He later vows to sue, saying "the events never happened, never."
Merchan precluded prosecution from introducing direct evidence that many women, near the end of the 2016 campaign, accused Trump of #SexualAssault. They are getting some of that evidence into the trial w/these videos of Trump attacking the women on the campaign trail.
The third video shows #Trump at a news conference in 2017 during the presidential transition, saying, “#MichaelCohen is a very talented lawyer, he’s a good lawyer.”
Defense had no questions.
We've moved on to a new witness, someone named Phillip Thompson who works at a company supplying court reporters, interpreters that transcribed Trump's deposition in #EJeanCarroll trial. He was subpoenaed.
Rebecca Mangold, one of the prosecutors, had Phillip Thompson walk through the validity of the transcript of Trump’s deposition in one of the #EJeanCarroll cases. We are now seeing video clips of #Trump in that deposition verifying that Truth Social is his social media site & what his handle is.
Asked to describe Truth Social, Trump answers, “It’s a platform that’s been opened by me as an alternative to Twitter.”
Prosecutors call #KeithDavidson, who negotiated 2 deals before the 2016 election that paid women from Trump’s past in exchange for their silence about sexual or romantic relationships w/him. He was a lawyer to #StormyDaniels during the #HushMoney transaction. He also represented #KarenMcDougal, a former Playboy model who was paid $150k by The #NationalEnquirer’s parent company for the rights to her story about a 10-month affair w/ #Trump starting in 2006.
Joshua Steinglass, the prosecutor, asks #KeithDavidson if he was given immunity from prosecution in this case. Davidson says, despite not having wanted to be here, that he did not seek immunity. This is a way for prosecutors to show that he is not simply cooperating to avoid prosecution himself.
Joshua Steinglass asks #KeithDavidson if he knows 2 key witnesses: #DavidPecker, who the jurors already have heard from, & #MichaelCohen, who they’ve heard a lot about. Steinglass is tying Davidson into the case, helping the courtroom understand where he’s situated. Davidson just said that he represented #StormyDaniels as her lawyer — Daniels, whose name has been dangled in front of jurors several times, is of course another key player & potential witness.
#Trump has been sitting w/his eyes closed for significant portions of testimony this morning. It is unclear how the jurors, who have to sit through this same testimony, will feel about a defendant closing their eyes so much.
Davidson is testifying about his agreement w/ #KarenMcDougal, a fmr Playboy model.
Davidson’s contract w/McDougal consisted of an agreement to either make a claim against #Trump, negotiate a confidentiality agreement w/ Trump, sell her life rights as related to her story of an affair w/ Trump, promote herself in an “exclusive” press opportunity, or some or all of the above.
Prosecutors are walking #KeithDavidson through his text messages w/ #DylanHoward, who was editor of The #NationalEnquirer, in which Davidson tells Howard: “I have blockbuster #Trump story.” In his reply, Howard asked, "did he cheat" on Melania.
The text messages are damning. Jurors already know the basics of #KarenMcDougal’s account of an affair w/ #Trump. But now they are seeing it corroborated in texts, right after they were reminded Trump was married to Melania at the time.
Prosecutors are stitching their case together w/lots of different types of evidence.
In texts between #DylanHoward, the editor of The #NationalEnquirer, & #KeithDavidson, Davidson tells Howard, that #KarenMcDougal’s story “should be told” & Howard responds “I agree.” The NE, as the jurors know, had no intention of telling the story — instead it sought to bury it. So not only does this evidence remind us of David Pecker’s testimony last week, it also helps prosecutors double down on the idea that The NE was involved in a secret plot to help #Trump.
Howard to Davison, "Talk 1st thing, I will get you more than ANYONE for it. You know why..."
Davidson said he didn't know if he had a "clear understanding at the time" of Howard's text.
"But I knew that Dylan’s boss #DavidPecker & Mr. #Trump were longtime friends & had a former business relationship," Davison continued.
"Mr. Pecker published Trump magazine, & at the time, AMI had announced, …that they had endorsed Mr. Trump’s candidacy," Davidson continued.
#KeithDavidson stressed that #KarenMcDougal did not want to go public in telling her story, & he said that the competing deal w/ABC would have forced her to tell it.
Her goals were to rejuvenate her career, make money, & avoid becoming “the scarlet letter,”.
“Was AMI attractive because she would not actually have to tell her story?” Steinglass asked.
Davidson said, “That was one of her stated goals.”
During his testimony, #KeithDavidson had to explain another text he sent to #DylanHoward where, in reference to the deal The #NationalEnquirer was making w/the fmr #KarenMcDougal, Davidson wrote:
“Throw in an ambassadorship for me. I’m thinking Isle of Man.”
Davidson said the text was a joke that referenced #Trump's campaign. Pressed further by the prosecutor, Joshua Steinglass, he added that he understood that getting McDougal a deal would help Trump’s candidacy.
The #TrumpCampaign has removed 2 posts from its campaign website that Justice Merchan determined were violations of a gag order preventing #Trump from attacking potential #witnesses. Both posts involved #MichaelCohen.
It appears that the 7 social media posts that were also found to be violations of the #GagOrder have been deleted as well. Justice #Merchan ordered the posts' removal by this afternoon.
#TrumpTrial #law #criminal #WitnessIntimidation #MobTactics #NodFarter
#Trump apparently fell asleep multiple times this morning during testimony — occasionally appearing to stir & then falling back to sleep.
Trump's eyes were closed for extended periods & his head at times jerked in a way consistent w/ sleeping.
Today’s testimony & the texts being shared provide a look at the sleazy negotiations that were occurring behind the scenes in early Aug 2016, while #Trump was the #Republican nominee & only a few months #out from being elected. Publicly, at this time, Trump was consolidating a skeptical #GOP establishment behind his candidacy. Privately, his fixer, #MichaelCohen, was discussing the finer points of a #HushMoney w/ #KarenMcDougal & the owner of The #NationalEnquirer.
#Trump posted on Truth Social mins before returning to court & >1 hr after other posts — which Judge Merchan ordered to be deleted in accordance w/his #GagOrder — were taken down.
"This Judge has taken away my Constitutional Right to FREE SPEECH. I am the only Presidential Candidate in History to be GAGGED. This whole 'Trial' is RIGGED, and by taking away my FREEDOM OF SPEECH, THIS HIGHLY CONFLICTED JUDGE IS RIGGING THE PRESIDENTIAL OF 2024 ELECTION. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!!" the post cont.
🙄
“Mr. Davidson, do you know someone named Stormy Daniels?” Joshua Steinglass, the prosecutor, asks.
We have had several brief mentions of #StormyDaniels, Davidson’s client, for whom he helped negotiate the #HushMoney deal at the heart of the case. Hopefully, this our real introduction to her, & to the $130k pay off.
3 witnesses, have said some not nice things about #MichaelCohen. Joshua Steinglass, the prosecutor, isn’t steering away from it. Davidson referred to a “jerk” w/o using his name & Steinglass asked, “Who was that jerk?” Prosecutors were expecting to elicit this testimony & Steinglass playing into it signals that they’re comfortable w/it.
#KeithDavidson says that when he talked to #MichaelCohen, he was met w/a “hostile barrage” of “insults,” “insinuations” & “allegations” & that went on for quite a while.
#Trump’s lead defense lawyer, Todd #Blanche, is delighted as Davidson describes Michael Cohen screaming expletives at him. Blanche laughs & smiles at Trump, who is seated next to him. Blanche has been very focused on destroying Cohen’s credibility with the jury.
Keith Davidson, speaking about the deal reached w/ #StormyDaniels, brings up The #AccessHollywood tape on which #Trump described assaulting women. Davidson calls the remarks “troublesome” —& then he says they had “tremendous influence” in raising interest in Daniels’s story.
Davidson links the Access Hollywood tape directly to the Trump campaign’s heightened desire to purchase Daniels’s story. It wasn’t until the tape came out, Davidson testifies, that “interest reached a crescendo.”
#TrumpTrial
Davidson links the Access Hollywood tape directly to the Trump campaign’s heightened desire to purchase Daniels’s story. It wasn’t until the tape came out, Davidson testifies, that “interest reached a crescendo.”
#TrumpTrial
After the #AccessHollywood tape became public, Davidson texted Dylan Howard, the editor of The #NationalEnquirer, that #Trump's campaign was doomed. Howard responded: “Wave the white flag. It’s over people!”
The tape put immense pressure on the Trump campaign, which was floundering after its release. Thus #MichaelCohen was pressured to pay hush money for the #StormyDaniels story. Davidson is testifying that things were bad for Trump but —if the Daniels story were public— could get worse.
Davidson, asked what Cohen’s interest in the #StormyDaniels story was, says, “I believe that #MichaelCohen was the personal attorney or general counsel for Donald #Trump and that this story involved his client, that that was his interest in the story.”
Keith Davidson, who was #StormyDaniels’s lawyer, just explained that he used pseudonyms for Daniels & #Trump in the written deal he drew up, and that Trump’s pseudonym, as has been reported, was David Dennison. Joshua Steinglass, the prosecutor, asks Davidson if David Dennison was a real person & Davidson responds that he was, & that they were hockey teammates. “How’s he feel about you now?” Steinglass asks. “He’s very upset,” Davidson responds to general laughter.
Davidson is now being asked about the settlement agreement w/ #StormyDaniels. A lot of evidence is mounting that cuts against the idea #Trump would have been unaware of all this.
Davidson goes over the details of the #HushMoney deal reached w/Daniels.
Emails & text messages are repeatedly being brought up as corroborating evidence. For decades, Trump didn’t want his lawyers taking notes & didn’t use email or text himself.
Davidson testified that when the deal between Dylan Howard, the fmr #NationalEnquirer editor-in-chief, & Gina Rodriguez, #StormyDaniels' manager, fell through, Davidson was pressured into negotiating w/ #MichaelCohen.
“Gina approached me. She said, ‘Hey, we have this deal & it’s going to be the easiest deal you’ve ever done in your entire life, & it’s already been negotiated. All you need to do is pay for it & talk to that a------,'” referring to Cohen.
Keith Davidson said when he took over negotiating the deal on #StormyDaniels' behalf — working w/ #MichaelCohen after the National Enquirer backed out — that he "needed to pad the deal" by making the total larger.
"We needed to pad the deal. To compensate me now, because I was added to the deal. And Stormy & Gina weren’t going to take a discount for adding me," he testified.
NEW
Appeals court denies #Trump's request for a trial #delay
Days after the trial has begun, an appeal's court has denied Trump's request that the trial be delayed. Trump sought a delay because Judge #Merchan didn’t recuse himself, because he couldn't invoke a presidential immunity defense & because the judge made his team file motions w/ a delay to allow for redactions.
#Trump #TrumpTrial #criminal #law #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
By Oct 17, 2016, Davidson emailed #MichaelCohen at his TrumpOrg address w/the subject line: “PP v. DD: Important.”
In the email Davidson said, “My client informs me that she intends to cancel the settlement agreement if no funds are received by the close of business today.”
Davidson testified Cohen gave him a series of excuses about not paying in a phone conversation. "The conversations didn’t leave me w/a comfort level” that the settlement would be funded.
Excuses included Secret Service setting up firewalls in their email, computers being “all f----- up,” & Cohen’s inability to reach #Trump who Cohen said was in “4 or 5 different states today”.
Prosecution pushed Davison whether he "ever believed #MichaelCohen was going to be the ultimate source of the funds.” Davidson responded, "Never. Never prior to funding."
Davidson testified he believed the money would be coming from "Donald Trump or some corporate affiliation thereof."
Before a short afternoon break, Keith Davidson provides one last telling quote about #MichaelCohen’s finagling of the #StormyDaniels story: “I thought he was trying to kick the can down the road until after the election,” Davidson says. This drives home, again, prosecutors’ stated motivation for the #HushMoney payment: to silence Stormy & smooth #Trump’s road to the White House.
Joshua Steinglass, the prosecutor, is seeking to introduce something. But Emil Bove, a defense lawyer, keeps objecting & succeeding in his objections, w/the judge repeating “sustained”
While much of the language the defense objected to is gone from the record, the jury heard it nonetheless. Steinglass is trying to establish that #Trump was the beneficiary of the contract & would likely be paying.
Keith Davidson says that he understood the reason the deal may have been held up because of “frugality.” “Whose frugality?” Steinglass asked, prompting another objection & yet another sidebar.
Davidson is reading his texts w/ #DylanHoward aloud. One of them joked about hiring a #Trump impersonator who had more money than Trump. Pressed on what that meant, Davidson says he took it to mean that Trump was not as wealthy as he claimed.
More text messages between Keith Davidson & Dylan Howard reflected Davidson's belief that if #StormyDaniels' story got out, "it would be a tornado."
The texts also corroborated Davidson's testimony that he walked away not only from #MichaelCohen but also from representing Gina Rodriguez, Daniels' manager, & Daniels herself. Davidson said he expected "there would be tremendous media activity around this story."
#Trump #TrumpTrial #criminal #law #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
Right before court adjourned, Justice #Merchan reminded the court that #Trump was held in #contempt & fined $9k. First up Thurs is a hearing on 4 more violations of Trump's #GagOrder & should only take 30 mins when court resumes. After that hearing, Davidson is expected to pick up in his testimony where he left off: On the verge of completing the #HushMoney deal that silenced the story of his client #StormyDaniels.
Outside the courtroom, #Trump again called the #GagOrder unconstitutional & repeated his claims that Justice #Merchan was biased.
Even as he complains the gag order keeps him from commenting on the trial, a post on his social media account, published while he was in the courtroom, called the trial a “witch hunt” & complained it was “hours of sitting down & listening to nothing except EXONERATION AND LIES.” (What trial is he watching? Must have been a dream)
My Head’s Exploding 🤯 💥@Nonilex Welllll, dreams possibly as I hear he HAS been sleeping in court. 🤷🏻♂️