The fourth week of witness testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial could be a doozy: Michael Cohen is expected to finally take the stand on Monday.
Information from Eyewitness News, ABC News and the Associated PressThe fourth week of witness testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial could be a doozy: Michael Cohen is expected to finally take the stand on Monday.
Weisselberg, 76, is currently jailed at New York City's Rikers Island complex, serving a five-month sentence for lying under oath in his testimony in the state attorney general's civil fraud investigation of Trump. He pleaded guilty in March and was sentenced last month. His plea agreement does not require his cooperation or testimony in the criminal case.
The reason Mr. Weisselberg is not available as a witness is that the district attorney's office "initiated a perjury prosecution in the lead up to this case," Bove said. Records show Cohen received a phone call about 22 seconds after the recording was cut off, according to Jarmel-Schneider's testimony. Prosecutors seemed to be eliciting the testimony to back up their claim that the recording wasn't edited, but was instead cut short after Cohen received an incoming call.
The texts include a back-and-forth on Oct. 8, 2016, the day after Trump's infamous "Access Hollywood" tape leaked. It's relevant because that's how he got and signed the checks that reimbursed Michael Cohen for his $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. But, Westerhout acknowledged that such letters and packages wouldn't have gone through the normal White House security screenings.The third week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial draws to a close Friday after jurors heard the dramatic, if not downright seamy, account of porn actor Stormy Daniels, while prosecutors gear up for their most crucial witness: Michael Cohen, Trump's former attorney.
After Daniels stepped down from the stand Thursday, Trump's attorneys pressed the judge to amend the gag order that prevents him from talking about witnesses in the case so he could publicly respond to what she told jurors. The judge denied that request too. At times, Westerhout said Trump would sometimes pull aside a check and ask for more information before signing. In those instances, she said she remembered Trump calling the company's then-chief finance chief "Allen Weisselberg or someone else in the Trump Organization to ask for clarification."
After Trump won the 2016 election, Westerhout and others from the RNC began working frequently in Trump Tower to aid the transition. And late that year, she said, her boss asked whether she had any interest in working right outside the Oval Office.Trump book publisher testifies Manochio, a junior bookkeeper at the Trump Organization at the time Donald Trump was president, was responsible for sending unsigned checks for him to sign at the White House for his personal expenses.
"You have no personal knowledge about his involvement in that transaction or what he did or didn't do," Trump lawyer Susan Necheles asked.Upon further questioning, Daniels noted that she didn't negotiate directly with Cohen, either, but that her lawyer at the time, Keith Davidson did. Daniels testified earlier this week that while she wasn't physically menaced, she felt a "power imbalance" as Trump, in his hotel bedroom, stood between her and the door and propositioned her.
Daniels rebuffed the idea that there was a discrepancy: saying that what she meant was that they talked during dinnertime but that she never said they actually got food, to her frustration, as she's "very food-motivated." At another point, Daniels demanded the defense lawyer back up her claim about something she claimed Daniels had said regarding Donald Trump's arrest.
It was a far cry from the visible repulsion he displayed during her initial testimony to prosecutors.Defense attorney Susan Necheles resumed cross-examination of Stormy Daniels on Thursday by pressing her on why she decided to take money to keep silent about her alleged sexual encounter with Donald Trump instead of holding a press conference, as Daniels has said she wanted to do."Because we were running out of time," Daniels said.
Daniels was considerably feistier on cross-examination, a contrast from her peppy, loquacious posture when she was being questioned by the prosecution. Her credibility and motives under attack, Daniels dug in at times in the face of pointed questioning from defense lawyer Susan Necheles. After a prosecutor asked if she was still represented by Avenatti, Daniels said "no," and referenced his legal downfalls - including a conviction for defrauding Daniels."I don't believe we are at the point where a mistrial is warranted," Merchan said.Merchan said the "witness was a little difficult to control" but he said "there were guardrails in place.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche asked that Judge Juan M. Merchan declare a mistrial and, if a new trial is held, that Daniels be barred from testifying.Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger countered that Daniels' testimony about the alleged sexual encounter between the porn actor and the former president goes to Trump's reasons for paying her to stay silent.
Defense lawyer Todd Blanche said Daniels' testimony about the alleged sexual encounter with Trump and her detailed account of a preceding conversation and other meetings with Trump had "nothing to do with this case and is extremely prejudicial." New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday during his regular briefing at City Hall that correction officers have discussed the possibility of having to house Donald Trump at Rikers Island following the latest sanctions brought against him in his hush money trial.
Initially, she did not receive any interest from news outlets. But that changed after the release of the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape in October 2016, a month ahead of the election. She recalled spending about two hours there - highlighted by Trump's fascination with the Discovery Channel's "Shark Week," which was on the television, and little news about her chances of appearing on his show, "The Apprentice."
She found him with NFL quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Daniels said Trump introduced her to the football player but seemed largely preoccupied during her 10-minute visit in the loud space, she told jurors. She added that Trump said he would continue to think about the possibility of her appearing on one of his "Apprentice" shows.
"When I exited, he was up on the bed, like this," Daniels testified, feigning reclining with her knees up in the witness stand. Daniels testified that Trump pitched the allure of a porn star competing on the show - which had yet to spawn its celebrity version - and said it would be a chance for her to show the world that, as a writer and director, she's "more than a dumb bimbo."
Schiller had told her the plan was for her and Trump to go down to one of the hotel's restaurants for dinner. She said she entered a foyer with black and white tile floors, mahogany furnishings and a big floral arrangement. "He was very, very interested in a lot of the business aspects of it, which I thought was very cool," as most people just ask about "the sexy stuff ... the salacious things," Daniels said.
The adult film studio she worked for at the time was sponsoring one of the holes on the golf course. She told the court that she and Trump initially had a "very brief encounter" when his group passed through. She recalled him chatting to her about the adult film industry and her directing prowess, remarking that she must be "the smart one" if she was making films.
In the final weeks of Trump's 2016 Republican presidential campaign, his then-lawyer and personal fixer, Michael Cohen, paid Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about what she says was an awkward and unexpected sexual encounter with Trump at a celebrity golf outing in Lake Tahoe in July 2006.Sally Franklin, an executive at Penguin Random House, was the first witness to take the stand Tuesday in Donald Trump's hush money trial.
Testimony eventually moved on to excerpts from Trump's 2005 "Trump: Think Like a Billionaire," including sections in praise of penny-pinching and keeping a close eye on bills. Within minutes, Trump had removed the post, likely because it risked prosecutors saying it violated the gag order. After being warned this morning by Judge Merchan that any future violations of the limited gag order could result in jail time, the former president continued to criticize the gag order that prevents him from targeting witnesses, jurors and others involved in the case.
Defense attorney Todd Blanche then carried out a brief cross-examination, during which Trump readjusted in his chair to get a better view of Tarasoff. Merchan consented to the plan, as long as defense lawyers get 24 hours' notice before calling Longstreet. She will likely testify again on Thursday or Friday, Steinglass said.
Most of the checks were paid out of Trump's personal account and were signed by him at the White House, Tarasoff testified. Asked by prosecutor Christopher Conroy to describe Allen Weisselberg's management style, she replied, "He had his hands in everything.""I get approved bills, I enter them in the system, and I cut the checks," she said matter-of-factly.Like Michael Cohen, Allen Weisselberg's has been name checked numerous times during Donald Trump's hush money trial but is otherwise absent from the courtroom.
Weisselberg's plea agreement does not require him to testify at the hush money trial, and neither side has indicated it plans to call him as a witness. "I just wanted to relax and stop being accused of misrepresenting assets for the company that I loved working for," he said at the time.The judge in Donald Trump's hush money case found on Monday that Donald Trump had violated his gag order with comments he gave to a program called "Just the News No Noise" on April 22, which is broadcast on Real America's Voice.
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