Porn star’s lawyer takes the stand in Trump trial
The lawyer who represented a porn star to secure the hushmoney payment that is at the heart of the criminal case against Donald Trump laid out for jurors Tuesday how the deal came about, saying her account of a sexual tryst with Trump was suddenly of intense interest after the emergence of the “Access Hollywood” tape, on which Trump bragged about groping women.
The testimony from the lawyer, Keith Davidson, was the first detailed account jurors have heard of the payment that led to the first criminal trial of an American president: $130,000 to the porn star, Stormy Daniels. Davidson’s time on the stand began with him recounting a deal to buy the silence of a Playboy model, Karen McDougal, who was shopping a story of a 10-month affair with Trump. He negotiated a $150,000 agreement with The National Enquirer on her behalf that prosecutors have described as part of a conspiracy involving Trump, his former fixer, Michael Cohen, and the tabloid’s longtime publisher, David Pecker, to protect Trump’s candidacy.
Prosecutors say that conspiracy also led to the payment to Daniels, which Cohen made after negotiations with Davidson.
Davidson told the jury he used pseudonyms for Daniels and Trump in the written deal he drew up, and that Trump’s pseudonym, as has been reported, was David Dennison. Joshua Steinglass, the prosecutor, asked Davidson if David Dennison was a real person and Davidson responded that he was, and that they were hockey teammates. “How’s he feel about you now?” Steinglass asked. “He’s very upset,” Davidson responded to general laughter.
Davidson also talked about how no one wanted to call him about the Stormy Daniels story. “The moral of the story is that no one wanted to talk to Cohen,” he said.
Before Davidson took the stand, prosecutors showed jurors videos of Trump repeatedly saying women who had come forward with accounts of abusive behavior were trying to harm his campaign. “They’re all false, totally invented, fiction,” he said in one clip.
The case centers on business records. Prosecutors have charged Trump with 34 felony counts, saying he falsified records kept by his company, the Trump Organization, to conceal his reimbursement of Cohen for the payment he made to Daniels shortly before the 2016 election. Trump, who is again the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has pleaded not guilty and denied having sex with Daniels. If convicted, he could face probation or up to four years in prison.
Last week, the first trial week that featured testimony, was dominated by David Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer, who spent four days on the stand. Pecker, a longtime associate of the former president, detailed his efforts to safeguard Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. He spoke at length about a “catch-and-kill” scheme that he devised with Trump and Cohen, in which he purchased the rights to unsavory stories he had no intention of running to prevent them from gaining publicity.
Judge Says Trump Can Attend Son’s High School Graduation in Florida
In better news for Trump, Judge Juan Merchan said he can attend the high school graduation of his youngest son, Barron, in Florida on May 17.
For weeks, Trump had loudly complained outside the courtroom about the prospect of missing the ceremony, and had criticized the judge for not immediately giving him permission to attend.