The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
Jury sees key pieces of evidence in Trump trial
The witness list in Donald Trump’s criminal trial is getting long, and the evidence list is even longer.
The former president is on trial for 34 counts of falsifying business records to disguise hush money payments issued by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, which prosecutors say constituted an illegal campaign contribution. Due to “unparalleled public interest,” officials decided to post transcripts and evidence online, offering insight into what the jury is seeing and hearing.
Videos of Trump
Who introduced the evidence: Prosecution, which is trying to show Trump personally authorized the payments to influence the election and covered up the payments in his records.
Associated witnesses: Robert Browning, an executive director of CSPAN’s archives, and former Trump aide Hope Hicks
Testimony: Prosecutors introduced videos of Trump at rallies and a news conference. In one, Trump said women lied when they came forward. In another, he complimented Cohen on being a good lawyer. Hicks confirmed that Trump was concerned that reports about his conduct with women could hurt his standing with voters.
Transcript excerpt: “I have no idea who these women are ... phony accusers come out less than a month before one of the most important elections in the history of our country,” Trump said in videos.
Secretly recorded phone call between Cohen and Trump
Who introduced the evidence: Prosecution, which hopes the jury will believe it demonstrates Cohen and Trump discussing hush money payments
Associated witness: Computer forensic analyst Douglas Daus
Testimony: Prosecutors appeared to suggest the “David” mentioned in the recording refers to David Pecker, former head of the National Enquirer’s parent company, who testified to his involvement in the hush money deals. Daus said he hadn’t found evidence of tampering.
Transcript excerpt: “I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend, David,” Cohen said. “So, what do we got to pay for this? One-fifty?” Trump asked.
Secretly recorded phone call between Cohen and Davidson
Who introduced the evidence: Defense
Associated witness: Keith Davidson, the lawyer who represented Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal in their hush money deals
Testimony: Trump lawyer Emil Bove questioned Davidson on previous deals that may have raised extortion concerns. He appeared to use the same line of questioning in regard to Daniels, suggesting the 2016 election was used as leverage.
Transcript excerpt: “Hypothetically speaking ... sometimes people get settler’s remorse,” Davidson said on the call, which he testified was probably about Daniels.
Contributing: Aysha Bagchi, USA TODAY