Testimony in Donald Trump’s hush-money trial concludes for the week after Stormy Daniels testified

Plus, read more coverage:

• Tracking who has testified and what they said
• A look at the key players in the trial
• Read all of our coverage of the investigations Trump is facing

By the Associated Press

After the jury left for the day, Judge Merchan took up an issue related to the ex-Trump Organization CFO’s absence from the trial, where he’s been mentioned as a key figure in orchestrating reimbursement payments to ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.

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.

Prosecutors weren’t planning to call Weisselberg, but Merchan encouraged them to at least try to get him to court before seeking to introduce evidence in an attempt to explain his absence.

“Right now it seems to me we’re trying to jump the gun. We’re trying to explain why he’s not here without making any effort to get him here,” Merchan said.

Prosecutors sought permission Friday to show jurors Weisselberg’s severance agreement with the Trump Organization, under which he’ll receive $2 million but is barred from voluntarily cooperating with law enforcement or testifying against the company. They previously showed handwritten notes Weisselberg took regarding the payments to Cohen.

Trump lawyer Emil Bove noted, “Mr. Weisselberg’s absence from this trial is a very complicated issue” and may require a jury instruction about uncalled witnesses.

The reason Mr. Weisselberg is not available as a witness is that the DA’s office “initiated a perjury prosecution in the leadup to this case,” Bove said.

Prosecutors argued that subpoenaing Weisselberg to testify would probably be a waste of time because he remains loyal to Trump and would likely invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

“If counsel prefers, we’d be willing to stipulate that Weisselberg is in jail for perjury,” Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy responded.

“I think that would be one way to resolve it,” Merchan said before expressing his desire for prosecutors to first see if they could summon Weisselberg to court.

By the Associated Press

The individuals could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

By Alyssa Vega, Globe Staff

The court has ended for the day following the testimony of a paralegal from the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

By the Associated Press

Just before court let out on Friday, Judge Merchan told prosecutors they should inform Michael Cohen “that the judge is asking him to refrain from making any more statements” about the case or about Trump.

The directive came after Trump’s attorneys requested Merchan implement a separate gag order for Cohen, who has continued to post about Trump on social media in recent weeks.

“It’s becoming a problem every single day that President Trump is not allowed to respond to this witness but this witness is allowed to continue to talk,” defense attorney Todd Blanche said.

Prosecutors said they had already requested Cohen and other witnesses not talk about the case but had no direct means of controlling their behavior.

By the Associated Press

With jurors gone for the day, the judge has turned to scheduling matters. Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said they expect to call only two more witnesses. “It’s entirely possible,” Steinglass added, that the prosecution will rest by the end of the next week.

The trial will meet for three days next week — Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Wednesday is the trial’s usual day off and Friday court will break so Trump can attend his son Barron’s high school graduation.

By the Associated Press

In a moment that enlivened a rather staid day of testimony, Trump attorney Emil Bove asked Jarmel-Schneider about the “tedious” work of going painstakingly through lengthy phone data and other records and preparing charts from them.

“Actually, I kind of enjoyed it,” the paralegal said matter-of-factly, to chuckles from the courtroom audience.

“Respect,” Bove replied.

By the Associated Press

Paralegal Jarmel-Schneider’s testimony involves a key recording that was played in court earlier in the trial, which appears to show Trump and Cohen discussing the payments made to Karen McDougal to bury her story of an alleged affair. Trump’s attorneys have suggested Cohen doctored the recording, citing the fact that it cuts off abruptly.

Records show Cohen received a phone call about 22 seconds after the recording was cut off, according to Jarmel-Schneider’s testimony. Prosecutors seem to be eliciting the testimony to back up their claim that the recording wasn’t edited, but was cut short after Cohen received an incoming call.

By the Associated Press

Amid the testimony about charts and records, Trump continues to scrutinize some papers on the table in front of him, as he has for much of the courtroom day.

By the Associated Press

As a second witness from the Manhattan district attorney’s office begins his testimony, the head of that office, Alvin Bragg, is watching from the front row. Bragg has attended the trial only occasionally so far. He was not in the room during the dramatic testimony by Stormy Daniels earlier this week.

Since announcing the indictment against Trump last year, Bragg has tried to keep a relatively low profile while facing verbal attacks from Trump, who has accused Bragg of bringing the case for political reasons.

By the Associated Press

Jarmel-Schneider is another paralegal from the prosecutors’ office. He has worked with phone records in the case, including data from Cohen’s phone.

By the Associated Press

Longstreet also read into the record text messages chronicling months of discussions in 2016 between Daniels’ manager Gina Rodriguez and then-National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard about Daniels’ claim that she had once had sex with Trump.

The texts include a back-and-forth on Oct. 8, 2016, the day after Trump’s infamous “Access Hollywood” tape leaked. Rodriguez tells Howard she’s aware of an offer of $250,000 for Daniels’ story and that other news outlets are interested in interviewing her. The next day, text messages show, Rodriguez and Howard haggled over a price for the National Enquirer to acquire the rights to Daniels’ story, finally settling on $120,000.

Rather than the tabloid making the deal, Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen ended up paying Daniels $130,000 — a higher price to add compensation for a lawyer who negotiated on her behalf. The text messages add another dimension to the negotiations that were previously discussed in testimony by former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker and others.

By the Associated Press

Through Longstreet, prosecutors have introduced jurors to tweets showing that Trump initially praised Cohen after the then-lawyer came under federal investigation, then began bashing him after Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, along with other crimes, and said Trump had directed him to arrange the hush money for Daniels. Trump was never charged with any crime related to that federal investigation.

By the Associated Press

Longstreet is a paralegal at the Manhattan district attorney’s office who previously testified about procuring social media posts and other publicly available evidence.

By the Associated Press

Prosecutors have only a couple of more witnesses to call and their combined testimonies are only expected to take about an hour. There may be some legal arguments afterward, but the day will likely be done at the lunch break.

By the Associated Press

As court resumed, Merchan sided with defense lawyers in excluding a 1999 CNN interview in which Trump discussed his familiarity with campaign finance laws. Merchan said the tape was “too attenuated” to the events at hand and would require jurors to make inferences about how Trump’s views then related to the events involved in the case that happened decades later.

By the Associated Press

Trump and his attorneys have returned to the court room after the morning break.

By the Associated Press

While jurors were excused for a morning break, Trump and the lawyers stayed in the courtroom and briefly argued about a video clip from an old interview that the former president’s lawyers want excluded from the case.

Prosecutors are seeking to play a clip of an interview Trump gave to the late CNN host Larry King in 1999 in which he discussed his familiarity with campaign finance laws. Part of their case involves allegations that the hush money payments may have violated such laws.

Trump’s lawyers argue that the clip is “not relevant with regard to President Trump’s state of mind in 2016,” the time of the $130,000 payment to Daniels, in part because campaign finance laws had changed by then.

Merchan said he would rule after a morning break.

By the Associated Press

He tapped Fox News host Jeanine Pirro on the shoulder as he passed her in her seat along the aisle and did not respond to questions in the hallway outside the courtroom.

By the Associated Press

These testimonies will be important to the prosecution’s case, which ultimately hinges on the issue of recordkeeping. But it is also deeply technical, requiring the witness to explain how data is stored and define a string of lengthy acronyms.

In recent minutes, one juror has stifled a yawn. Another stretched out his arms. Others shift their gaze around the room or stare up at the ceiling.

By the Associated Press

The court stops for a morning break.

By the Associated Press

AT&T records witness Daniel Dixon is done testifying. Continuing the theme, Verizon worker Jennie Tomalin is up now to authenticate various phone records.

By the Associated Press

As the AT&T witness testifies, Trump is leaning over and reading various documents, taking notes and piling them up in front of him as he goes. At one point, he showed some of the documents to his lawyer Todd Blanche, sitting next to his left. They appeared to be a printout of a news article.

Before entering the courtroom, Trump read aloud from printed-out opinion pieces criticizing the trial, noting that he had to “edit” in real time due to the gag order restricting what he could say. “I’ll be going over them with you later,” he told reporters. It wasn’t clear if these were the same papers.

By the Associated Press

Under subsequent questioning by prosecutor Becky Mangold, Westerhout denied that Trump’s roundabout mail arrangement was an “end run around the White House security protocols,” but rather a way to “get things to him fast.” But, Westerhout acknowledged that such letters and packages wouldn’t have gone through the normal White House security screenings.

Westerhout’s testimony then concluded.

By the Associated Press

Dixon, an AT&T employee, will be authenticating some records.

By the Associated Press

“My understanding was that he knew it would be hurtful to his family,” Westerhout said regarding the paper’s 2018 story about the hush money deal with Stormy Daniels, though she acknowledged not recalling him saying so specifically.

The answer, elicited by Trump lawyer Susan Necheles, goes to the defense’s argument that Daniels was paid to stay silent in order to protect Trump’s family, not his campaign.

By the Associated Press

Guided by Trump’s defense attorney, Westerhout is painting the former president as a frequent multitasker who spent large chunks of his days signing documents, sometimes without even looking at them.

“Commissions, proclamations, executive orders, memos, letters,” Westerhout recalled. She said that she sometimes saw Trump put his signature to checks without reviewing them.

Still, Trump avoided using automated means of signing paperwork. “He felt that if someone was getting his signature, they deserved his real signature, right?” Necheles asked, before a prosecution objection cut off Westerhout’s answer.

By the Associated Press

A dry but important part of Westerhout’s testimony has concerned the process by which Trump got personal mail while in the White House. It’s relevant because that’s how he received and signed the checks that reimbursed Cohen for his $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels.

Westerhout’s testimony and others have established that Trump’s company staff sent the materials to the homes of aides — at first, his longtime bodyguard Keith Schiller. Then the items would be brought to the White House, where Westerhout would give them to Trump and subsequently send the checks back. Under questioning from Trump lawyer Necheles, Westerhout testified Friday that the packages were sent to aides directly because it took items a long time to percolate through the White House mail system.

By the Associated Press

On cross-examination, Westerhout appeared to alter a claim she made Thursday that she remembered Trump calling his company’s then-CFO Allen Weisselberg with questions about certain checks he had to sign for his personal expenses.

Questioned by Trump lawyer Susan Necheles, the former White House secretary acknowledged she had no specific recollection of Trump speaking with Weisselberg at all during his first year in office and only a vague recollection that they’d ever spoken about a check. “But you’re not even sure if it’s true?” Necheles asked. Westerhout said it was hard to recall because Trump “spoke to so many people.”

By the Associated Press

Defense lawyer Susan Necheles has resumed her cross-examination of Westerhout, asking about matters including Trump’s penchant for sending newspaper clippings to relatives and friends.

Among them was a New York Times front page that included a photo of the first time Trump boarded Air Force One. “He was proud” of that, Westerhout testified as the former president appeared to move closer to the screen in front of him to look at an image of the clipping.

By the Associated Press

Westerhout is a former Trump White House aide.

By the Associated Press

The last few days have seen a marked increase in these private discussions, which are out of earshot of reporters and involve attorneys from both sides and the judge.

As the rest of his lawyers chat with prosecutors and the judge at the bench, Trump sits with attorney Todd Blanche at the defense table. Earlier in the trial, Trump sat alone at the defense table when lawyers and the judge converged for bench conferences.

Blanche is in Trump’s ear, whispering to him as he covers his mouth with his hand. Blanche then leans in, head down, to hear Trump’s response. And back and forth they go.

By the Associated Press

Before heading into the courtroom, Trump read from a printed opinion piece critical of the case and once again railed against the judge.

By the Associated Press

The judge presiding over the trial, Juan M. Merchan, on Friday quashed a Trump team subpoena seeking records from Mark Pomerantz, a former Manhattan prosecutor who authored a book last year detailing tensions with District Attorney Alvin Bragg over whether to seek Trump’s indictment.

Prosecutors in Bragg’s office asked Merchan to reject the subpoena of Pomerantz and the judge agreed, writing in an order that the defense requests are either overly broad and part of a “fishing expedition” or seek information that is irrelevant to the case.

By the Associated Press

The former president is in his motorcade, headed for the courthouse.

By the Associated Press

Trump is limited in what he can publicly say as he fights charges that he made payments to a porn actor to illegally influence the 2016 election. But he’s getting help from some GOP allies who are glad to show up and talk.

Senator Rick Scott of Florida was the latest surrogate to accompany Trump, joining him Thursday for the 14th day of his hush money trial in New York. Last week, it was Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton who joined the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

By the Associated Press

Donald Trump’s defense attorney Susan Necheles on Thursday accused Stormy Daniels of slowly altering the details of an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump, trying to persuade jurors that a key prosecution witness in the former president’s hush money trial cannot be believed.

As the jury looked on, the two women traded barbs over what Necheles said were inconsistencies in Daniels’ description of the encounter with Trump in a hotel room. He denies the whole story.

But despite all the talk over what may have happened in that hotel room, despite the discomfiting testimony by the adult film actor that she consented to sex in part because of a “power imbalance,” the case against Trump doesn’t rise or fall on whether her account is true or even believable. It’s a trial about money changing hands — business transactions — and whether those payments were made to illegally influence the 2016 election.

By the Associated Press

Stormy Daniels’ testimony this week was followed by that of a Trump Organization bookkeeper who was formerly an assistant to the company’s ex-finance chief Allen Weisselberg, a HarperCollins publishing executive and Trump’s former personal secretary.

Here’s a closer look at who they are:

• Rebecca Manochio: Manochio was a junior bookkeeper at the Trump Organization during the time Trump was president and was responsible for sending unsigned checks for him to sign at the White House for his personal expenses.
• Tracey Menzies: Menzies is a senior vice president with HarperCollins Publishers. It published a 2007 book by Trump and entrepreneur Bill Zanker.
• Madeleine Westerhout: Westerhout was the personal secretary to Trump from 2017 to 2019, and detailed Trump’s work habits, many of them already previously known, in her testimony.

By the Associated Press

Speaking briefly to reporters outside the courtroom, Trump railed against Judge Merchan, who had just denied his lawyers’ requests to modify the gag order so he could respond to Stormy Daniels’ testimony, and to declare a mistrial based on what she said.

“This judge, what he did, and what his ruling was, is a disgrace,” Trump said.

By the Associated Press

Merchan, echoing his denial Tuesday of the defense’s initial mistrial motion, said Trump’s lawyers had ample opportunities to object to questions that elicited what they say were damaging details about the alleged sexual encounter.

“There were many times, not once or twice, but many times when Ms. Necheles could’ve objected but didn’t,” the judge said.

In particular, the judge said, the defense should’ve objected to prosecutor Susan Hoffinger’s question about whether Trump used a condom, which led to Daniels’ response that he hadn’t.

“I agree. That should never have come out. That question should never have been asked and that answer should never have been given,” Merchan said. “For the life of me, I don’t know why Ms. Necheles didn’t object.”

Merchan also rebuffed the defense’s claim that Daniels’ testimony so differed from her previous accounts of the alleged events as to warrant a mistrial. “I disagree with your narrative that there’s any new account here,” the judge said.

By the Associated Press

Merchan denied the defense’s renewed mistrial motion. He said after the initial mistrial motion, he reviewed his prior rulings governing Daniels’ testimony and the transcript from her first day of testimony on Tuesday. Merchan said he “came away satisfied” that no one had violated his guidelines.

Merchan said Trump’s lawyers opened to door to detailed testimony about the alleged sexual encounter when they asserted in their opening statement that no sex had occurred, telling them: “Your denial puts the jury in the position of choosing who they believe.”

“The more specificity Ms. Daniels can provide about the encounter, the more the jury can weigh about whether the encounter did occur and if so, whether they choose to credit Ms. Daniels’ story,” Merchan said.

By the Associated Press

Steinglass argued that the “messy details” given by Daniels were “Trump’s motive to silence this woman before she could tell her story.”

“This is not irrelevant. Mr. Trump was aware of those details and the fact that the testimony is prejudicial and messy according to Mr. Blanche, that is why Mr. Trump tried so hard to prevent the American people from hearing about this,” he said.

However embarrassing Daniels’ testimony may have been to Trump, the prosecutor said it could’ve been worse.

Steinglass said there were other “salacious details” that Daniels could have presented as corroborating evidence, which were deliberately omitted “because we did not have the desire to embarrass the defendant.”

The prosecutor offered to share those with the judge privately, saying he did not want to put them on the record.

By the Associated Press

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass countered said the claim that Daniels changed her story “is extraordinarily untrue,” though there may be details “said in one forum and not another.” And, he said, the defense lawyers’ claim that they couldn’t foresee what prosecutors would ask and what Daniels would answer “is just nonsense.”

Steinglass said prosecutors have always contended that the details of the encounter — a two-hour conversation Daniels said she had with Trump in his hotel suite — corroborate her account that they had sex and, therefore, adds to Trump’s motivation to silence her.

“If they want to offer testimony that the sex never happened, that’s their prerogative,” Steinglass said.

Steinglass argued the defense was trying to discredit Daniels’ allegations while precluding prosecutors from corroborating the details of the claim.

“They’re basically trying to have their cake and eat it too,” he said.

By the Associated Press

Blanche is also alleging that prosecutors elicited a level of detail from Daniels that went far beyond what was set by the judge before the start of the trial, specifically when it came to the visceral reaction she said she had when allegedly seeing Trump sitting on the bed of his hotel suite stripped down to his boxers and T-shirt. Daniels testified that she felt like the room was spinning, blood rushing from her hands and feet, and feeling like she’d blacked out.

Blanche said he was concerned that Daniels’ testimony went far afield of rules established to protect Trump from being prejudiced by tawdry details and didn’t match the account that was offered up to Cohen when he decided to pay her $130,000 for the rights to her story.

“That is a power description. That is an extremely prejudicial statement by a witness and there’s no evidence that was said to AMI or Mr. Cohen, no evidence it had anything to do with the motive to enter into that NDA,” Blanche said.

“That is so prejudicial and so incredible for a jury to hear,” Blanche added, blaming prosecutors for asking questions that elicited intimate details of the alleged sexual encounter, including asking Daniels about whether Trump had used a condom.

“It’s a dog whistle for rape,” Blanche concluded.

Even as she described the power dynamic, Daniels told attorneys that the sex was consensual.

By the Associated Press

In renewing their bid for a mistrial, Trump’s lawyers are leaning on what they say are discrepancies between Daniels’ testimony and her previous tellings of the alleged sexual encounter, which Trump denies ever happened.

Under defense questioning earlier, Daniels insisted that while some reports on what she said had been incomplete, she hadn’t changed her story or made it up.

By the Associated Press

“My concern is not just with protecting Ms. Daniels or a witness who has already testified. My concern is with protecting the integrity of these proceedings as a whole,” Judge Merchan said in denying the defenses’ request to change the order.

As the judge described Trump’s “very threatening attacks” on potential witnesses, the former president sat forward in his chair, hands clasped in front of him. Once the order was read, Trump leaned back, appearing to exhale.

By the Associated Press

Prosecutor Christopher Conroy responded that the gag order shouldn’t be altered to allow comments about Daniels because those remarks could have a chilling effect on other witnesses — and said he’s spoken with one who was worried about the consequences of taking the stand.

Trump, Conroy said, goes after “anyone he deems worthy of his venom. He does it selfishly with no concern for the safety of the people he’s attacking.”

Conroy said he’d had a conversation Wednesday night with a witness whose role was simply to authenticate some records and who was worried about the consequences of testifying.

“Modifying this gag order now would signal to future witnesses that they could be at risk,” Conroy argued.

By the Associated Press

Blanche asked Merchan to alter the gag order so that Trump “be allowed to respond publicly to what happened in court over the last day and a half” with Daniels’ testimony.

The defense lawyer is concerned that Trump is being harmed by unchecked reporting on various claims she made about him on the witness stand.

“He needs an opportunity to respond to the American people and the reasons for the gag order as it relates to Ms. Daniels is over. She’s no longer a witness,” Blanche said.

Blanche contends that “this isn’t just the same story that has been going around for the last couple years. It’s much different.”

By the Associated Press

Earlier, prosecutor Becky Mangold attempted to show Trump’s attention to detail, even as he was dealing with myriad world events, by highlighting messages he wrote in Sharpie marker on an invoice to the Trump Organization regarding his membership dues at a prestigious New York golf club.

Trump’s executive assistant at the company had forwarded the invoice to the White House with a handwritten message of her own, asking if he wanted to pay the bill or suspend his membership at Winged Foot Golf Club in suburban Westchester County, since he wouldn’t be able to get much use out of it while president.

The club has hosted seven major championships, including the 2020 U.S. Open.

“Dear Mr. President, If Winged Foot will allow me to suspend your membership for 4 or 8 years, or you want me to look into it, or do you want to continue paying Annual Dues and the food minimum?” Trump’s executive assistant Rhona Graff wrote on the $6,974.01 bill.

Trump wrote next to Graff’s note: “PAY,” and below that: “ASAP OK,” followed by a shorter version of his signature.

By the Associated Press

Westerhout’s testimony will continue on Friday. The judge is now sending the jury home so that he can attend to several issues the defense plans to raise, including renewing its motion for a mistrial following Stormy Daniels’ testimony.

By the Associated Press

Westerhout wiped tears from her eyes and asked for a moment as prosecutors turned to her exit from the White House. She said she was fired after divulging private details about the job during a dinner with reporters that she believed was “off the record.”

“I am very regretful of my youthful indiscretion,” she said. Trump at the time said she was dismissed for saying things about his children.

As she spoke in court, Trump shook his head twice from the defense table.

Westerhout went on to publish a book, “Off the Record,” about her time in the White House in order “to share with the American people the man that I got to know,” she testified.

“I don’t think he’s treated fairly and I wanted to tell that story” she added.

By the Associated Press

“I just found their relationship really special. He cares a lot about her opinion,” the former aide said. “He was my boss, but she was definitely the one in charge.”

She recounted the two laughing when Melania Trump dropped by the Oval Office, checking in to see when he would be ready for dinner and Donald Trump sometimes asking Westerhout to call his wife to let her know he’d be late, “just like any other marriage.”

From Westerhout’s vantage point, nothing seemed to change after The Wall Street Journal published a 2018 story disclosing Stormy Daniels’ hush money deal.

In court, Trump looked on attentively as his former assistant gave this testimony.

By the Associated Press

In her capacity as Trump’s executive assistant, Westerhout sometimes made decisions on behalf of the then-president without consulting him directly. In one example, she said she was contacted by Rhona Graff about purchasing a picture frame for a photo of Trump’s mother that he wanted to display in the Oval Office.

But when Graff went to Tiffany & Co. to pick one out, she found that they were “on the pricey side” — about $650, minus a 15% discount, according to her email. Westerhaut said she made the “executive decision” that the frame should be purchased without consulting Trump.

“Sorry sir,” she said from the witness stand, turning to look toward Trump.

By the Associated Press

Earlier, Trump Organization executive assistant Rebecca Manochio testified about her practice of sending batches of unsigned checks to the White House via FedEx for Trump to sign from his personal account.

Westerhout provided the White House perspective on that arrangement, recounting how Trump would receive packages about twice a month — some containing one check and others with a stack about a half-inch thick. The checks were often attached to invoices stating what the payment was for.

After signing the checks, Westerhout said Trump would give them back to her and she’d sent them back to the Trump Organization using a prelabeled FedEx envelope.

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 then-CFO “Allen Weisselberg or someone else in the Trump Organization to ask for clarification.”

Manochio had testified earlier that, to her knowledge, Trump didn’t speak to Weisselberg once he became president.

By the Associated Press

Jurors got a look at a redacted contact list that Trump’s assistant at his company sent to Westerhout, representing people he spoke to frequently or might want to.

It’s a who’s who of big names, including former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, billionaire investor Nelson Peltz, tennis player Serena Williams, casino mogul Steve Wynn, football legends Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, and “The Apprentice” producer Mark Burnett.

Their contact details are redacted.

Closer to home, the list included the names of some of Trump’s family members, as well as trial figures David Pecker, Michael Cohen and Allen Weisselberg.

Another name on the list, Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro, was in attendance at the trial earlier Thursday, watching Stormy Daniels’ testimony from an overflow room down the hall.

By the Associated Press

Westerhout offered insight into the process of crafting Trump’s tweets while he was president. Other than Trump, she said, then-deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino was the only person authorized to post to Trump’s personal Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump.

Westerhout said she was unaware of Scavino posting any tweets without Trump’s knowledge, testifying, “It’s my recollection that the president did like to see the tweets that went out.”

Workshopping Trump’s tweets sometimes involved Scavino dictating a draft to Westerhout, which she said she would type up and print for Trump, who would then make edits. The marked-up version would then be sent back to Scavino, and so on.

“My recollection was that there were certain words that he liked to capitalize. Words like country, and he liked to use exclamation points … It’s my understanding that he liked to use the Oxford comma.” The Oxford — or serial — comma is situated just before the final item in a list.

Trump used Twitter as a primary form of communication throughout his White House years: pushing policies, announcing major developments and attacking foes. He was suspended from Twitter, now known as X, after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. He has since used his Truth Social platform as his primary posting vehicle despite being restored to the platform in November 2022 by new platform owner Elon Musk.

By the Associated Press

Westerhout detailed Trump’s work habits, many of them already previously known. She recalled his penchant for marking up hard copies of documents with a Sharpie or “Pentel felt-tip pen,” along with his preference for conducting meetings in person or over the phone.

Asked whether he used a computer or had an email account, Westerhout replied, “Not to my knowledge.”

Trump did most of his work in a side room off the Oval Office, known as the dining room, she said, out of a “desire to keep the Resolute Desk kind of very pristine and keep that more for meetings.”

By the Associated Press

Before going to the White House, Westerhout worked for the RNC. She was there when Trump’s infamous “Access Hollywood” tape was made public weeks before the 2016 election. She recalled the tape “rattling RNC leadership” and that “there were conversations about how it would be possible to replace him as the candidate if it came to that.”

By the Associated Press

Westerhout was the personal secretary to Trump from 2017 to 2019 and the former director of Oval Office Operations for the Trump White House from February to August 2019.

By the Associated Press

Prosecutor Becky Mangold is having Menzies read some sections of “Think Big” specifically attributed to Trump. They discuss how he values “loyalty above everything else,” punished a “disloyal” person by going “out of my way to make her life miserable” and espoused as a motto: “Always get even. When somebody screws you, screw them back in spades.”

By the Associated Press

Menzies is a senior vice president with HarperCollins Publishers. It published “Think Big: Make It Happen in Business and Life,” a 2007 book by Trump and entrepreneur Bill Zanker.

By the Associated Press

Manochio is finished after about four minutes of cross-examination by Trump lawyer Susan Necheles. Manochio was a junior bookkeeper at the Trump Organization during the time Trump was president and was responsible for sending unsigned checks for him to sign at the White House for his personal expenses.

Manochio confirmed previous testimony that Trump was the only person authorized to sign checks for his personal account and that he was not involved in signing any checks for his business because those assets had been put into a revocable trust while he was president. His son Donald Trump Jr. and then-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg had the authority to sign checks for the business.

Manochio testified that Trump and Weisselberg would speak at least once a day before Trump embarked on his run for president. After Trump started campaigning and was more frequently out of the office, the frequency of their contacts decreased, Manochio said. And, to her knowledge, she testified, Trump and Weisselberg didn’t speak at all after Trump became president.

By the Associated Press

Merchan is back on the bench and the witness, Trump Organization executive assistant Rebecca Manochio, is back on the stand. The jury is now filing in.

By the Associated Press

He did not speak to reporters in the hallway as they shouted questions as he entered, but upon entering the courtroom he stood at the defense table, turned to the gallery and pointed to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins who’s sitting in the first row of the gallery immediately behind Trump’s entourage.

By the Associated Press

As he left, he did not answer shouted questions from reporters in the courthouse hallway. Court resumes at 2:15 p.m. ET.

By the Associated Press

Before breaking for lunch, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche told Merchan that the defense plans to renew its call for a mistrial based on Daniels’ testimony. Blanche also said they will seek to prevent former Playboy model Karen McDougal from testifying and that they will make further arguments pertaining to the gag order.

Merchan said he would send the jury home at 4 p.m. and subsequently take up the defense’s arguments.

By the Associated Press

It will resume at 2:15 p.m. with the defense questioning the witness, Trump Organization executive assistant Rebecca Manochio. Judge Juan M. Merchan told jurors that he’s been told by the lawyers the trial is “on schedule and perhaps even a little ahead of schedule.”

By the Associated Press

Manochio is a Trump Organization bookkeeper who was formerly an assistant to former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg. She’s testifying about the nuts and bolts of check-paying procedures within the company.

By the Associated Press

She has completed her testimony, given over the course of two days in Trump’s criminal trial.

As Daniels walked off the stand and out of the courtroom, Trump turned his gaze away from her, appearing to look at a screen in front of him.

By the Associated Press

After Trump lawyer Necheles asked Daniels whether she’d fabricated her alleged sexual encounter with Trump, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked: “Have you been telling lies about Mr. Trump or the truth about Mr. Trump?”

“The truth,” said Daniels, who also said that although she has made money since her story emerged, she also has had to spend a lot to hire security, move homes and take other precautions, and she still owes Trump hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorneys fees.

“On balance, has publicly telling the truth about Mr. Trump been a net positive or net negative in your life?” Hoffinger asked.

“Negative,” Daniels replied quietly.

By the Associated Press

Hoffinger called attention to some of the threats and hateful comments that Daniels has received online from Trump supporters — a few of which prompted replies from her that were previously highlighted by the defense.

One of the messages referred to her as an “aging harlot,” another as a “degenerate prostitute,” suggesting she would be followed in the street. “These are tame, actually,” Daniels said.

By the Associated Press

Trump lawyer Susan Necheles finished her cross-examination of Daniels just before noon. Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is now questioning Daniels during what’s known as redirect examination.

By the Associated Press

Daniels testified that she never spoke with Trump about the $130,000 hush money payment she received from Cohen and had no knowledge of whether Trump was aware of or involved in the transaction.

“You have no personal knowledge about his involvement in that transaction or what he did or didn’t do?” Trump lawyer Susan Necheles asked.

“Not directly, no,” Daniels responded.

Upon further questioning, Daniels noted that she didn’t negotiate directly with Cohen, either, but that her lawyer at the time, Keith Davidson did.

Necheles used the questions in the final moments of her cross-examination to underscore that Daniels had no knowledge of any of the allegations underlying Trump’s charges in the case, that he falsified his company’s records to hide the true nature of reimbursement payments to Cohen.

Daniels said that she knew the charges involved business records, but when asked if she knew anything about Trump’s business records, she acknowledged: “I know nothing about his business records. No. Why would I?”

By the Associated Press

She resumed questioning by asking Daniels if she agreed that Trump was the “biggest celebrity” at the golf tournament where they initially met and if she recalled that people were following him around.

Trump was among the players in a field that included Ray Romano and Maury Povich, as well as football legends Jerry Rice, John Elway, and an early career Aaron Rodgers.

“He did very well at that golf tournament, right?” Necheles suggested.

Daniels shrugged, replying: “I don’t remember.”

By the Associated Press

There were no audible reactions from the gallery — mostly reporters with one row of public observers — when testimony got particularly tense. If anything, the drama is unfolding somewhat like a Broadway show. Necheles and Daniels are playing off each other. Trump is watching intently. Jurors are riveted. The rest of the audience is watching wide-eyed but respectful of the court’s decorum.

By the Associated Press

The jury is now being summoned to the courtroom so she can resume testifying. Daniels has avoided looking at Trump as she’s entered and exited the courtroom, though she did glance over at him from the witness stand while speaking earlier about seeing him sitting on the bed in his hotel suite in 2006.

By the Associated Press

The cross-examination of Stormy Daniels is expected to continue.

By the Associated Press

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.

As for whether she felt compelled to have sex with him, she reiterated Thursday that he didn’t drug her or physically threaten her. But, she said, “My own insecurities, in that moment, kept me from saying no.”

Trump denies any sexual encounter happened.

Several times, Necheles accused Daniels of altering the details of her story over time, saying at one point: “Your story has completely changed.”

Daniels insisted it has not. “You’re trying to make me say that it changed, but it hasn’t changed at all.”

By the Associated Press

Trump pointed to someone in the gallery as he exited. He did not respond to shouted questions from reporters as he walked through the hallway outside the courtroom.

By the Associated Press

Trump’s defense attorney is highlighting Daniels’ career in adult films to suggest that her story about being shocked and frightened by Trump’s alleged sexual advances is not believable.

“You’ve acted and had sex in over 200 porn movies, right?” asked Necheles. “And there are naked men and women having sex, including yourself, in those movies?”

Necheles continued: “But according to you, seeing a man sitting on a bed in a T-shirt and boxers was so upsetting that you got lightheaded, the blood left your hands and feet and you felt like you were going to faint.”

Daniels replied that the experience with Trump was different from porn for a number of reasons — including the fact that Trump was more than twice her age, larger than her and that she was not expecting to find him undressed when she emerged from the bathroom.

“I came out of a bathroom seeing an older man that I wasn’t expecting to be there,” she said.

By the Associated Press

Necheles contends Daniels’ 2011 interview with “In Touch Weekly” was a “completely different story.” Daniels responded that it was an “abbreviated version” of events and that the article was edited for length.

In the interview, which was shelved and later printed in 2018, Daniels said, “When I came out, he was sitting on the bed and he was like, ‘Come here.’ And I was like, ‘Ugh, here we go.’ And we started kissing.’”

“They left out a lot of stuff because they couldn’t fact-check it. I do remember them telling me that,” Daniels testified.

By the Associated Press

Defense lawyer Susan Necheles is trying to show that details from Daniels’ story of meeting Trump in 2006 have changed over time, pointing to a 2011 interview in which she said the two talked “before, during and after” dinner in his hotel room, though she testified earlier this week that they never got any food.

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.”

“I’ve maintained that in every interview — that we never actually ate,” she said during an extended exchange on the dinner details, and explained: “Having dinner, at least from where I’m from, doesn’t necessarily mean you have to put food in your mouth. You’re going to someone’s house for dinner, it’s dinnertime.”

“The details of your story keep changing, right?” Necheles asked at one point.

“No,” Daniels said.

By the Associated Press

Many jurors are viewing the back and forth between Necheles and Daniels the way they might watch a tennis match, swiveling their heads between the lawyers’ lectern and the witness box with each question and answer. Some jurors scribble notes, others lean back in their chairs.

By the Associated Press

In one of the trial’s odder moments, Daniels was pressed about her experience dealing with a ghost — which may have just been a marsupial.

Asked by Necheles about her claim that she lived in a New Orleans home that was “haunted and the spirits attacked you,” Daniels launched into an explanation of her possible encounter.

“The house had some very unexplained activity. We brought in experts, people to measure the electromagnetic fields, religious experts, scientists,” she said. “A lot of the activity was completely debunked as a giant possum that was under the house.”

The line of questioning appeared aimed at undermining Daniels’ credibility while giving Necheles a chance to highlight that Daniels is working on a paranormal investigation show called Spooky Babes.

By the Associated Press

Necheles pressed Daniels on her social media marketing of merchandise tied to her public persona as a Trump antagonist.

Asked about an “in celebration of new indictments” promotion from last year that offered a gift for new orders, Necheles asked whether the performer wasn’t using the circumstances to flog products.

“Not unlike Mr. Trump,” Daniels calmly retorted.

Necheles then suggested Daniels was “bragging” by offering a “Stormy Saint of Indictments” candle.

“No, I’m not bragging. I think it’s funny that a store made that for me to sell,” Daniels said.

And no, she corrected Necheles, she’s not making $40 per candle, but rather about $7.

By the Associated Press

Several times, Daniels has taken issue with Trump lawyer Susan Necheles’ questioning.

Amid questioning over the financial arrangements for her documentary, Daniels accused Necheles of “trying to trick me into saying something that’s not entirely true.”

At another point, Daniels demanded the defense lawyer back up her claim about something she claimed Daniels had said regarding Trump’s arrest.

“Show me where I said I’d be instrumental in putting President Trump in jail,” the witness said, steady and unflustered.

After Necheles showed Daniels a social media post she’d made that did not reflect those precise words, Daniels replied: “I don’t see the ‘instrumental’ or ‘jail.’ You’re putting words in my mouth.”

By the Associated Press

The former president has spent much of the first hour of testimony leaning back in his seat and staring straight ahead, nodding at times as his attorney calls jurors’ attention to social media posts by Daniels insulting him. It’s a far cry from the visible repulsion he displayed during her initial testimony to prosecutors.

By the Associated Press

After flashing a nonplussed expression, Daniels said, “No.”

By the Associated Press

Daniels said she’s received $100,000 and is due another $25,000 for footage and other rights she provided to the makers of a documentary about her experiences that aired recently on the NBC streaming service Peacock.

Some of that money was used to compensate camera operators who’d been filming her before the documentary’s producers got involved, she said. Daniels said she was not paid for any interviews she gave for the documentary.

By the Associated Press

Daniels underscored several times that she received no compensation for a “60 Minutes” interview she gave in 2018, relaying her alleged sexual encounter with Trump. But Necheles, the defense lawyer, contended that the publicity from the TV appearance led to other moneymaking opportunities, including a book deal and a strip club tour.

Daniels also denied any involvement in coming up with a slogan that was attached to her strip club appearances the same year: “Make America Horny Again.” She said a club came up with the moniker and it stuck.

“I never used that tagline,” she testified. “I hated it.”

By the Associated Press

Necheles confronted Daniels with two statements she signed in early 2018 denying that she ever had sexual involvement with Trump or received money to keep quiet. She said her then-lawyer, Keith Davidson, advised her to sign it and that she was told that Trump’s then-attorney Michael Cohen was pressing him to get her to do so.

Necheles noted that by then, Trump wasn’t running for election — an apparent effort to buttress the defense’s argument that the then president’s reasons for wanting to squelch the claims weren’t related to his political ambitions, but rather to protecting his family and reputation.

“I wouldn’t know what he wanted to protect,” Daniels said.

By the Associated Press

Necheles is running through the finer points of Daniels’ nondisclosure agreement with Cohen, asking the witness to confirm that she agreed to specific highlighted portions of the document.

Daniels is responding in terse one-word answers, “Yes,” adding: “I signed this only based on what my attorneys suggested.”

By the Associated Press

Daniels conceded that she was angry when Cohen was slow to pay her the $130,000 he’d promised, but she denied ever yelling at her then-lawyer Keith Davidson demanding to be paid.

“You were furious, weren’t you?” Trump lawyer Necheles asked.

“Yes,” Daniels testified.

Necheles then played an audio recording of a phone call in which Davidson told Cohen that if he didn’t pay up, the boyfriend of Daniels’ manager might go public claiming he’d heard her on the phone screaming at Davidson to settle the case.

Davidson, relaying what the boyfriend might say about Daniels, was heard saying: “If [Trump] loses this election, we all lose all [expletive] leverage. This case is worth zero.”

Daniels denied that the third-hand imagined account of what her manager’s boyfriend might say bore any resemblance to how she actually interacted with her lawyer at the time.

“I’ve never yelled at Keith Davidson on the phone,” Daniels testified, looking at a transcript of the recording. “This specifically says Gina’s boyfriend was going to go out and tell a story.”

By the Associated Press

As Daniels was negotiating her nondisclosure agreement with Cohen, she testified that she was also speaking with other journalists, including an editor at Slate, as a “backup” plan. While Daniels said she was most interested in getting her story out and ensuring her family’s safety, Necheles, Trump’s lawyer, is accusing her of refusing to share the story with reporters because she wouldn’t be paid for it.

“The better alternative was for you to get money, right?” Necheles said.

“The better alternative was to get my story protected with a paper trail so that my family didn’t get hurt,” Daniels replied.

By the Associated Press

Necheles is pressing Daniels on why she decided to take money to keep silent instead of holding a press conference, as Daniels has said she wanted to do.

“Why didn’t you do that?” Necheles asked.

“Because we were running out of time,” Daniels said.

Did she mean, Necheles asked, that she was running out of time to use the claim to make money?

“To get the story out,” Daniels countered.

The negotiations were happening in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign.

By the Associated Press

The attorney is continuing with a line of questioning about Daniels’ 2016 efforts to sell her story of a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump. He says it never happened.

By the Associated Press

Daniels is dressed in a black coat, shoes clacking along the courtroom floor as she enters.

By the Associated Press

Trump’s lawyers asked the state’s mid-level appeals court on Wednesday to expedite a decision on his gag order appeal. The court did not take immediate action but set deadlines for court filings in the next two weeks. If the court refuses to lift the gag order, Trump’s lawyers want permission to take their appeal to the state’s high court, called the Court of Appeals.

By the Associated Press

Scott filed into the first row of the courtroom gallery behind the defense table, joining Trump’s entourage. He spoke with Trump lawyer and spokesperson Alina Habba before taking a seat. He’s sitting next to Trump Organization general counsel Alan Garten.

By the Associated Press

Over the first few weeks of the trial, the scene outside the Manhattan courthouse has largely settled into a routine — a few dozen members of the public, a typically small group of demonstrators and the journalists covering the day-to-day developments. But the arrival of Stormy Daniels seems to have shifted that equilibrium.

With Daniels set to retake the stand on Thursday, a far larger share of the public has amassed outside 100 Centre Street, along with new ranks of media from the U.S. and abroad. A few minutes before 8 a.m., as the complex system of lines swelled to its longest point since the start of the trial, court officers said they had no choice but to turn people away.

Among the members of the public on line was Rose Brennan, a 63-year-old woman wearing a hand puppet meant to resemble Donald Trump. “He has accompanied me on many adventures,” she said of the puppet. “Even though I hoped he would have been retired by now.”

She said she and the puppet traveled from New Jersey, arriving outside the courthouse at 5:30 a.m. because “I just want to be a witness to history.”

By the Associated Press

He entered his motorcade shortly before 8:40 a.m., headed to the courthouse.

By the Associated Press

A Georgia appeals court on Wednesday agreed to review a lower court ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue to prosecute the election interference case she brought against Trump.

On Tuesday, the federal judge in Florida presiding over the classified documents prosecution of the former president has canceled the May 20 trial date, postponing it indefinitely.

By the Associated Press

“I support my friend. I support Donald Trump,” the Florida senator said on Fox & Friends early Thursday. “This is just political persecution, it’s a crime.”

He also echoed Trump’s claims that the trial is a political attack against the former president.

“This is just the Democrats and Biden just trying to say, ‘Hey, this is my opponent. I’m trying to get him, put him in jail,’” Scott said. “This is going on in the United States of America, not in Nicaragua.”

By the Associated Press

Donald Trump squirmed and scowled, shook his head and muttered as Stormy Daniels described the unexpected sex she says they had nearly two decades ago, saying she remembered “trying to think of anything other than what was happening.”

It was a story Daniels has told before. This time, Trump had no choice but to sit and listen.

Read the full story.

By the Associated Press

Stormy Daniels will return to the witness stand on Thursday.

By the Associated Press

“You were looking to extort money from President Trump,” defense lawyer Susan Necheles said.

“False,” Daniels responded.

“Well, that’s what you did,” the lawyer said.

“False,” Daniels answered.

Necheles was questioning why Daniels decided to sell her story when, as she testified, a stranger had threatened her to keep quiet in 2011 after a gossip site reported that she’d had a sexual encounter with Trump.

“I was a very different and much braver person in 2016 than I was in 2011. And Donald Trump was not just a guy on television, he was running for president,” Daniels testified.

By the Associated Press

As Trump passed through the hallway to reenter the courtroom from the afternoon break, he was asked by a reporter how things were going “in there.”

“Very well,” he responded.

By the Associated Press

He did not comment to reporters but pumped his fist in the air as he walked past.

By the Associated Press

Two main themes emerged early in defense attorney Susan Necheles’ cross-examination questioning: portraying Daniels as something of a gold digger who’s profited off of claims of sex with Trump and as someone whose story has shifted over the years.

Asked if she’s “been making money by claiming you had sex with Donald Trump,” Daniels hesitated and then acknowledged she made money on her book, “Full Disclosure,” but said she hasn’t been paid for interviews.

“I have been making money by telling my story about what happened to me,” Daniels testified.

Necheles also pushed Daniels on a conversation she had in 2011 with Gloria Allred, the well-known attorney who’s represented many women with high-profile sexual harassment claims.

As recounted in Danniels’ book, she did not initially tell Allred that she’d had sex with Trump, according to Necheles. The back-and-forth grew increasingly tense as Daniels suggested that she did not trust Allred at the time and felt she was being pushed to exaggerate her claims against Trump.

“You’re making this up as you sit there, right?” Necheles says of Daniels’ testimony — a claim that Daniels emphatically denied.

Necheles then suggested Daniels left the conversation with Allred with the takeaway: “If you want to make money off President Trump, you better talk about sex.”

“No, although that does seem to be the case,” Daniels responds.

By the Associated Press

In an apparent effort to suggest that Daniels has a financial motive to testify against Trump, Necheles grilled her about not having completely filled out or signed a financial disclosure form related to her legal fee debt to him.

“Isn’t it true,” Necheles asked, “that you’re hoping that if President Trump gets convicted, you won’t have to pay him?”

‘I hope that I don’t have to pay him no matter what happens,” Daniels retorted.

By the Associated Press

Necheles is pressing Daniels on the fact that she owes Trump hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees stemming from her unsuccessful defamation lawsuit — and that she tweeted in 2022 that she “will go to jail before I pay a penny.”

“That was me saying, ‘I will not pay for telling the truth,’” Daniels testified.

Necheles also asked about another Daniels tweet regarding not giving “a dime” to Trump, whom she described with a scatological term.

“You despise him, and you call him names,” Necheles said.

Daniels said that was because Trump had called her names in his own social media posts.

By the Associated Press

“Yes,” the witness acknowledged.

“And you want him to go to jail?”

“I want him to be held accountable,” Daniels said. Asked again whether that meant going to jail, she said: “If he’s convicted.”

By the Associated Press

Prosecutor Susan Necheles asked Daniels whether she had rehearsed her testimony. Daniels said she hasn’t. Necheles referred to a previous statement in which Daniels said she had undergone “grueling” mock trial preparations. Daniels said this does not amount to a rehearsal. “The memories were hard to bring up, they were painful,” she said.

By the Associated Press

Defense lawyer Susan Necheles will now question her on cross-examination.

By the Associated Press

Daniels replied with a drawn-out “no” in response to whether she is still represented by Avenatti. Asked why not, she offered a one-sentence summary of the notorious attorney’s fall: “Because I fired him, and later he was found guilty of not just stealing from myself but several other clients and was disbarred and is in prison,” she said, capping off the response with a slight shrug.

By the Associated Press

She hired Michael Avenatti in 2018, who sued Trump and prevailed in getting the nondisclosure agreement nullified. Trump was ordered to pay Daniels about $100,000 in legal fees.

Daniels went on to give an interview to Anderson Cooper on “60 Minutes” and wrote a book, “Full Disclosure,” about her life, career and her alleged encounter with Trump.

In questioning Daniels about her book, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger appeared to be seeking to answer the defense’s claims that her story had shifted over time. The book included some descriptions of what she said happened with Trump, but “not every detail, no,” Daniels said.

Jurors are following along keenly as Daniels’ testimony continues, with several appearing to take notes.

By the Associated Press

Daniels testified that she was steadfast in abiding by her nondisclosure agreement with Cohen. She declined to comment to The Wall Street Journal for a story published on Nov. 4, 2016, that reported she had been in discussions to tell her story on “Good Morning America” but that nothing had come of it. She also declined when the newspaper asked her for comment before it broke the news of her hush money arrangement in 2018.

“I was under the NDA. I was respecting that, and I didn’t want to comment,” Daniels testified. Daniels said she also had reservations about a statement released on her behalf around that time that denied an encounter with Trump “because it’s not true and I was told that saying anything at all — anything — was a violation of the NDA.”

After The Wall Street Journal published the 2018 story about Daniels and the payoff, her life turned into “chaos,” she testified. “I was front and foremost everywhere,” she recalled. Daniels said her family was “ostracized” from her daughter’s playgroup and her riding stable.

By the Associated Press

She was winning professional accolades for her work writing and directing adult films, living with her daughter in a neighborhood where she was respected as a mother and her horse was competing in high-level equestrian events, she said.

By the Associated Press

Daniels testified that after the deadline for the $130,000 payment from Cohen came and went, she authorized her then-lawyer, Keith Davidson, to cancel the deal. He did, by email, according to documents shown in court. But about two weeks later, the deal was revived.

After her lawyer and agent got their cuts, Daniels said she ended up with about $96,000 of the $130,000 payment.

By the Associated Press

Daniels did not look at Trump as she passed him. Her testimony is resuming.

By the Associated Press

Judge Merchan said Hoffinger is making sure Daniels “stays focused” on the questions being asked.

By the Associated Press

Judge Merchan said he would give jurors, who are not yet present in the room, an instruction cautioning them about Daniels’ testimony claiming she was accosted and threatened in a parking lot in 2011.

The judge said he was surprised there weren’t more objections from the defense to Daniels’ testimony.

“When you say the bell has been rung, the defense has to take some responsibility for that,” Merchan said.

Trump shook his head as Merchan denied the request for a mistrial, then jotted something down on a piece of paper that he shared with his attorney.

By the Associated Press

“I don’t believe we’re at the point where a mistrial is warranted,” he said.

The judge said he agreed with Blanche that Daniels said more at times than she should’ve, but he blamed the defense for not objecting more vigorously when she was testifying.

“I agree there are some things that would’ve been better left unsaid,” Merchan said, noting the “witness was a little difficult to control.”

Merchan said there were guardrails in place and that he sustained most of the defense’s objections — but that there should have been more.

At one point, Merchan noted, he objected on his own — rather than waiting for a defense objection — to stop Daniels from giving more detail than she should have.

By the Associated Press

Following the lunch break, Trump’s lawyers are saying that Daniels ran afoul of rules established for her taking the witness stand. This is the first time the Trump team has asked for a mistrial.

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.”

Blanche argued “the court set guardrails for this testimony” but it was “just thrown to the side.”

“This is the kind of testimony that makes it impossible to come back from,” he said, adding that it is also “unfair” as Trump has to go out on the campaign trail later today.

A post published to Trump’s Truth Social account just before court resumed read: “THE PROSECUTION, WHICH HAS NO CASE, HAS GONE TOO FAR. MISTRIAL!”

By the Associated Press

The former president waved as he walked through the hallway but did not respond to shouted questions from reporters.

By the Associated Press

Daniels said she was in the best financial shape of her life, directing 10 films a year, when she authorized her manager Gina Rodriguez to shop her story during the 2016 presidential election cycle. Daniels said she had no intent of approaching Cohen or Trump to have them purchase her story. “My motivation wasn’t money, it was to get the story out,” she testified prior to the lunch break.

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. Daniels testified that she learned from Rodriguez that Cohen was interested in purchasing her silence.

“They were interested in paying for the story, which was the best thing that could happen because then my husband wouldn’t find out but there would still be documentation,” Daniels said.

Daniels testified that when she was approached with Cohen’s $130,000 offer: “I didn’t care about the amount, I just wanted to get it done.”

By the Associated Press

Before the break, Daniels testified that a few years after “The Apprentice” possibility died and she had stopped talking with Trump, she learned from her agent in 2011 that the story had made its way to a magazine. She said she agreed to an interview for $15,000 because “I’d rather make the money than somebody make money off of me, and at least I could control the narrative.”

The story never ran, but later that year, she was alarmed when an item turned up on a website. In the interim, she said, she’d been threatened to keep silent by a stranger in a Las Vegas parking lot.

Daniels has previously made that claim and produced a composite sketch of the man, which Trump called “a total con job.” Daniels sued Trump over that comment, calling it defamatory; her suit was dismissed in 2018, and she was ordered to pay Trump nearly $293,000 for his attorneys’ fees and another $1,000 in sanctions.

Daniels said her agent proposed getting the online item taken down, and it was.

By the Associated Press

Trump gave a fist pump to reporters as he left the courtroom.

By the Associated Press

Daniels testified that she last saw Trump in June 2007 at his bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel. She recalled spending about two hours there — highlighted by Trump’s fascination with the Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week,” which was on the TV, and little news about her chances of appearing on “The Apprentice.” Daniels testified that she spurned Trump’s advances and that he told her, “I miss you,” and wanted to get together again.

Asked if Trump every told her to keep things between them confidential, she testified: “Absolutely not.”

Daniels said she spoke with Trump several more times by phone and that he eventually told her he wouldn’t be able to put her on “The Apprentice.” She testified that Trump told her “someone high up’s wife overruled” the idea. In her 2018 book, “Full Disclosure,” Daniels wrote that Trump had told her that actress Roma Downey — the wife of show producer Mark Burnett — had objected to her being on the program.

By the Associated Press

Daniels said she next saw Trump for a meeting inside Trump Tower set up by his assistant, Rhona Graff. “It was very brief, he was very busy,” she remembered, describing Trump as carrying out multiple meetings at once.

At their meeting, Trump told her that he “wanted to say hi,” Daniels testified, and that he was still working on getting her on ‘The Apprentice.’ He offered her two tickets to the Miss USA beauty pageant, which she accepted.

Graff testified earlier in the trial that she recalled seeing Daniels once at Trump’s office, but didn’t remember the date. Graff said she assumed Daniels was there to discuss potentially being a contestant on one of Trump’s “Apprentice” shows.

By the Associated Press

In January 2017, Daniels said she brought two friends to a vodka release party sponsored by Trump in Los Angeles.

Inside a VIP booth, Daniels said she was introduced to another of Trump’s friends — a woman she later learned was Karen McDougal, a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with Trump. The former president also denies this claim.

Daniels testified that Trump repeatedly propositioned her to go home with him that night, but that she declined his advances. At the same time, she said, she didn’t want to close off the possibility of appearing on “The Apprentice,” which Trump had suggested was possible.

“I wanted to maintain that sort of relationship,” she said. “The chance to be on ‘The Apprentice’ was still up in the air, and it would’ve been great for my career.”

By the Associated Press

Daniels said Trump’s bodyguard called her the next day to tell her that Trump wanted to see her again, and she agreed to meet him in a bar or club in her hotel. She found him with NFL quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Daniels said that Trump introduced her to the football player but seemed largely preoccupied during her 10 minute visit in the loud space. She said he would continue to think about the possibility of her appearing on one of his “Apprentice” show, she told jurors. (Roethlisberger declined to comment on Daniels’ description of the evening in her 2018 book.)

After returning home the next day, Daniels told many people she’d met Trump and gone to his room but informed only a few close confidantes about the alleged sexual encounter, she said. In the months after, she said, Trump called her frequently with “an update — or non-update” on the “Apprentice” possibilities.

“He always talked about when we could get together again, did I miss him, and he always called me honeybunch,” she testified, adding that she always put him on speakerphone and many of her colleagues heard the calls — without telling him.

By the Associated Press

Before they had sex, Daniels said Trump was between her and the door. She said she didn’t feel physically or verbally threatened, though she knew his bodyguard was outside the suite and there was what she perceived to be an imbalance of power: Trump “was bigger and blocking the way,” she testified.

“The next thing I know was: I was on the bed,” Daniels recalled.

By the Associated Press

Daniels testified that she ended up having sex with Trump on the bed of his hotel suite.

After multiple discussions with the judge and Trump’s lawyers out of the earshot of jurors, prosecutor Hoffinger navigated her questioning about the encounter with exceeding caution.

She instructed Daniels to keep her answers brief and free of extra details.Trump’s lawyers repeatedly objected as Daniels described certain details, and Judge Merchan repeatedly shot down Daniels’ attempts to describe the encounter in more vivid detail — striking several of her answers from the official court record.

Asked if Trump used a condom during the encounter, Daniels said, “No.” Daniels said the encounter was “brief” and when it ended she was shaking.

“He said, ‘Oh it was great, let’s get together again honey bunch,’” Daniels continued. “I just wanted to leave.”

Jurors looked on, riveted, as Daniels discussed the sexual encounter.

Trump has denied having sex with Daniels.

By the Associated Press

Eric Trump posted on X that he is in the courtroom “Sitting front row attempting to figure out how any of this garbage from 20 years ago relates to ‘legal’ bills submitted by a long time personal attorney being booked as a ‘legal’ expense.’” He accused the prosecutors of being “giddy by this salacious show.”

By the Associated Press

“I thought, ‘Oh my God,’ what did I misread to get here?” Daniels testified. “Because the intention was pretty clear. Somebody stripped down in their underwear and posed on the bed, waiting for you.”

Daniels said Trump told her: “I thought we were getting somewhere, we’re talking. I thought you were serious about what you wanted. If you ever want to get out of that trailer park — I was offended because I never lived in a trailer park.”

As Daniels described the bedroom encounter, Trump hung his head, eyes cast downward, away from the witness box.

By the Associated Press

Daniels testified that, after a while, she had to use the bathroom. When she was finished, she said, she found Trump sitting on the bed wearing boxer shorts and a T-shirt.

“When I exited, he was up on the bed, like this,” Daniels testified, feigning reclining with her knees up on the witness stand.

“At first it was just startled, like jump scare. I wasn’t expecting someone to be there, minus a lot of clothing,” Daniels testified. She said it suddenly felt like the room was spinning, like blood was draining from her hands and feet.

By the Associated Press

Before Daniels returned to the stand, the judge admonished Hoffinger, the prosecutor, about the “degree of detail” she had elicited from Daniels, saying there was no need to get into the design of the floor in the hotel room foyer or the various subjects covered in her conversation with Trump. “The degree of detail that we’re going into here is just unnecessary,” Merchan said.

By the Associated Press

He gave a small wave as he entered the courtroom.

By the Associated Press

Prior to the morning break, Daniels testified that she and Trump spoke for about two hours in his hotel suite before they were supposed to go to dinner. During the conversation, she said, he dangled the idea of putting her on his TV show “The Apprentice.”

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.”

Daniels said she doubted the show’s network, NBC, would ever let it happen and that she feared her lack of business acumen would make her an easy out. She said she enjoyed her work making adult films and wasn’t ashamed of it, but she had designs on writing and directing music videos and more mainstream productions. “They have bigger budgets and better catering,” she quipped on the witness stand.

Daniels said her takeaway was that being on the show could position her to “be taken seriously as a writer and director.”

“He’s like, ‘This is your chance for somebody to see you and maybe give you that opportunity,’” Daniels said. “He pitched it as a win-win.”

By the Associated Press

Trump did not speak to reporters as he left for the break, ignoring shouted questions about Daniels, but raised a fist.

By the Associated Press

Daniels testified that she briefly asked about Trump’s wife while in the hotel room, calling her very beautiful. Trump responded that they did not sleep in the same room, she said. As Daniels was describing the scene, Trump shook his head at the defense table and appeared to say something under his breath.

By the Associated Press

After Trump changed into his suit, Daniels testified that she and Trump sat down at a dining room table in the penthouse. He started asking her about her childhood and her career — extending questions about the production of adult films, how much is scripted versus improv, whether performers have unions and how testing for sexually transmitted diseases works in the industry.

“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.

By the Associated Press

Per instructions from Trump’s bodyguard, Daniels said she took an elevator up to the penthouse level of the hotel where Trump was staying. She said she exchanged pleasantries with the bodyguard, Keith Schiller, outside the door before entering.

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. She said she called Trump’s name and said, “Hello,” and Trump entered the foyer “wearing silk or satin pajamas that I immediately made fun of him for.”

“I said, ‘Does Mr. Hefner know you stole his pajamas,’” Daniels recalled, referring to the late Playboy owner. Trump then left her to quickly change into a suit. She said Trump’s hotel suite was three times the size of her apartment.

By the Associated Press

During their interactions in the gift room, Daniels testified that Trump remembered her as “the smart one” and asked her if she wanted to go to dinner. She testified that Trump’s bodyguard, Keith Schiller, took her number.

Daniels said she accepted Trump’s invite because she wanted to get out of a planned dinner with her adult film company colleagues, some of whom she “didn’t want to be around — catfights,” she said with a chuckle.

She said her then-publicist suggested in a phone call that Trump’s invitation was a good excuse to duck the work dinner and would “make a great story” and perhaps help her career. “What could possibly go wrong?” she recalled the publicist saying.

By the Associated Press

Daniels said it was taken in a “gift room” where tournament sponsors, including the adult film company for which she then worked, distributed freebies to the players.

By the Associated Press

As is standard in court proceedings, Daniels was asked if she saw Trump in the courtroom and to identify him.

Before answering, Daniels shuffled in her seat for a beat, looking around the courtroom. She pointed toward Trump, describing his navy suit coat, and said he was sitting at the defense table.

Trump looked straight forward, lips pursed, as he was identified.

By the Associated Press

Daniels’ testimony quickly shifted to the celebrity golf outing in Lake Tahoe where she met Trump in 2006. The adult film studio she worked for at the time was sponsoring one of the holes on the golf course. She said they initially had a “very brief encounter” when Trump’s group passed through. She recalled him chatting with her about the adult film industry and her directing prowess, remarking that she must be smart if she’s making films.

By the Associated Press

Daniels testified that she started appearing in adult films at age 23 and soon was writing and directing them, as well. She said she has directed over 150 such films and has won a roster of porn industry awards.

Daniels is upbeat and voluble on the stand so far, speaking over the prosecutor’s questions occasionally and laughing at times as she recounts her wide-ranging resume. She has been asked by Hoffinger twice to slow down so that a court stenographer can keep up.

By the Associated Press

One juror smirked when she mentioned one of the ways into the industry was by winning a contest, like “Miss Nude North America.” Many jurors take notes, alternating their gaze from Daniels on the witness stand to prosecutor Hoffinger at a lectern behind the prosecution table.

By the Associated Press

Daniels testified that she did ballet growing up, and then an acquaintance got her into exotic dancing while she was in high school. “I started dancing on the weekend, which was pretty cool because I didn’t have to miss any classes,” Daniels said.

As Daniels described her childhood and early work experience, Trump whispered frequently in the ear of his attorney, Todd Blanche. Otherwise, his gaze has been cast down at his desk.

By the Associated Press

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is asking Daniels about her upbringing in Louisiana. Daniels talks about having grown up poor and wanting to become a veterinarian.

By the Associated Press

Daniels walked briskly to the witness stand, not looking at Trump, before being sworn in.

Trump stared straight forward as Daniels entered the room, turning his head slightly in her direction as she approached the stand.

By the Associated Press

“The people call Stormy Daniels,” prosecutor Susan Hoffinger said.

The porn actor was paid $130,000 in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential race 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. Trump denies having sex with Daniels.

At the time of the payment, Trump and his campaign were reeling from the Oct. 7, 2016, publication of the never-before-seen 2005 “Access Hollywood” footage — in which he boasted about grabbing women without their permission.

Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney, paid Daniels through a shell corporation he created, and the deal was finalized on Nov. 1, 2016, just a week before Election Day.

Prosecutors say payments from Trump reimbursing Cohen were falsely — and illegally — logged as legal fees in order to cover up their actual purpose. Trump’s lawyers contend the payments were legitimate legal expenses.

By the Associated Press

Trump sits at the defense table, lawyer Emil Bove in his ear, while the rest of the defense team are at the bench conferring with prosecutors and the judge.

By the Associated Press

Over the objections of defense attorneys, prosecutors are introducing additional excerpts from one of Trump’s books, “How to Get Rich,” including an epigraph from Trump’s mom and a page thanking the book’s co-writer, Meredith McIver.

The line of questioning seems designed to undercut the defense’s suggestion, made on cross-examination, that the books were written by a ghostwriter, with little involvement from Trump.

“Are quotes attributed to an author’s mother typically written by a ghost writer or the author?” Mangold asked.

“The author,” Franklin replied.

By the Associated Press

Donald Trump’s son Eric Trump posted on X about the case while sitting in court with his father, calling it “unbelievable” that a former president and candidate “is being tried for 34 felonies (based on a bookkeepers entry who never spoke with the President and sat in New York while he was in the Oval Office 240 miles away from Washington DC).”

By the Associated Press

Testimony moved on to excerpts from Trump’s 2005 “Trump: Think Like a Billionaire,” including sections in praise of penny-pinching (“I call it financial smarts”) and keeping a close eye on bills.

When Trump lawyer Todd Blanche got his chance to cross-examine Franklin, he underscored that Trump worked with a writer on the manuscripts.

By the Associated Press

Prosecutor Becky Mangold is having Franklin read excerpts from the 2004 volume “Trump: How to Get Rich” that gets at Trump’s approach to business. The readings appear to be designed to show that Trump was hands-on at his company and willing to retaliate against those he perceives have done him wrong. Among the excerpts: “If you don’t know every aspect of what you’re doing, down to the paper clips, you’re setting yourself up for some unwanted surprises,” and, “For many years, I’ve said that if someone screws you, screw them back.”

By the Associated Press

Franklin is an executive at Penguin Random House. One of its imprints published a couple of Trump’s books, “Trump: How to Get Rich” and “Trump: Think Like a Billionaire.”

By the Associated Press

The judge agreed with the prosecution that the details will be necessary because of the porn actor’s credibility concerns and past denials. Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger said that prosecutors intend to establish that Daniels and Trump did have intercourse but that the testimony “will not involve descriptions of genitalia” or other seamy details.

By the Associated Press

After court got underway, Trump lawyer Susan Necheles asked that Daniels — who is expected to appear as a witness today — be barred from testifying about “the details” of her alleged sexual encounter with Trump. Necheles said it’s irrelevant to “a case about books and records.”

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger countered that the details are important to buttress Daniels’ credibility, which the defense has questioned. Hoffinger assured Judge Merchan that the description of the alleged sexual act would be “really basic” and would not “involve any details of genitalia.”

Trump has denied having sex with Daniels.

By the Associated Press

Trump had a tight-faced expression as he stepped into the courtroom. He peered at the reporters sitting in the gallery as he made his way to the defense table. He then turned and looked at his entourage, including son Eric and lawyer/spokesperson Alina Habba, as they filed into the gallery rows behind him.

Shortly after, Judge Juan M. Merchan took the bench.

By the Associated Press

He read from a piece of paper that he said had statements of people commenting about the case’s weakness on television.

He then started defending the action at the heart of the case, the contested “legal expense.”

“We didn’t put it down as construction costs,” he said. “The legal expense that we paid was put down as legal expense. There’s nothing else you could say.”

Monday’s testimony, from Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, had focused on whether money paid to Michael Cohen — reimbursing him for payments to Stormy Daniels — was correctly logged as a legal expense.

By the Associated Press

The jury on Monday heard from two witnesses, including a former Trump Organization controller who provided a mechanical but vital recitation of how the company reimbursed payments that were allegedly meant to suppress embarrassing stories from surfacing and then logged them as legal expenses in a manner that Manhattan prosecutors say broke the law.

Here’s a look at who has testified so far and what they’ve said.

By the Associated Press

Donald Trump is diving back into local New York City news, posting on his social media network a complaint about a plan to charge a $15 toll to most drivers entering Manhattan’s central business district. “What office tenant or business would want to be here with this tax,” Trump said.

By the Associated Press

The former president waved to onlookers across the road as he entered his motorcade, headed to the courthouse.

By the Associated Press

Clark Brewster tells The Associated Press that Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is “likely” to be called as a witness in the trial Tuesday.

Trump said earlier Tuesday that he was “recently told” who the witness would be on Tuesday and complained he should’ve been given more notice.

By the Associated Press

Prosecutors are continuing to build toward their star witness, Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the hush money payments. He is expected to undergo a bruising cross-examination from defense attorneys seeking to undermine his credibility with jurors.

By the Associated Press

Trump ended his day in court by suggesting he’s willing to go to jail to keep railing against his case.

Trump complained about the gag order that bars him from talking about jurors and court staff, telling reporters: “I have to watch every word I tell you people ... because this judge has given me a gag order and said you’ll go to jail if you violate it.”

“And frankly, you know what? Our Constitution is much more important than jail,” he went on. “It’s not even close. I’ll do that sacrifice any day.”

Trump also complained about the case potentially lasting another two to three weeks, as has been expected, calling it “election interference.”

“This case should be over. This case should have never been brought,” he said. “I thought they were finished today,” he said, charging “they all want to keep me off the campaign trail.”

He also said he thinks his legal team is doing “very well.”

By the Associated Press

Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass told Judge Juan M. Merchan that the prosecution’s case is proceeding ahead of schedule and he estimates being finished calling witnesses two weeks from Tuesday.

Once the prosecution is done, Trump’s lawyers can then call their own witnesses.

By the Associated Press

The trial is adjourning for the day, about a half-hour earlier than expected. It appears prosecutors opted not to put on another witness for such a short time at the end of the day.

By the Associated Press

Tarasoff is done on the witness stand after a brief cross-examination. Trump lawyer Todd Blanche’s questions focused on having the accounts payable supervisor acknowledge that she got permission to cut the checks in question not from Trump himself but from his company’s chief financial officer and controller.

“You never had any reason to believe that President Trump was hiding anything or anything like that?” Blanche asked.

“Correct,” Tarasoff replied.

By the Associated Press

Trump’s lawyers are getting a chance to question Tarasoff after prosecutor Christopher Conroy took her through a lengthy series of invoices, vouchers, checks, and stubs associated with the 2017 payments to Cohen at the heart of the charges.

By the Associated Press

The trial is resuming after a mid-afternoon break, with Trump Organization accounts payable supervisor Deborah Tarasoff back on the stand.

By the Associated Press

Trump left the courtroom and waved his fist as he walked through the hallway.

By the Associated Press

As prosecutor Christopher Conroy and Tarasoff plodded through a series of checks, stubs and vouchers related to the Cohen payments, Trump at one point gestured at the tabletop monitor displaying the documents before him and briefly whispered with one of his lawyers, Emil Bove.

By the Associated Press

Jurors are getting their first look at the checks used to reimburse Michael Cohen for his $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels, including some bearing former President Donald Trump’s trademark signature.

Prosecutors showed the checks as they questioned Deborah Tarasoff, the Trump Organization accounts payable supervisor who processed the payments.

Most of the checks were paid out of Trump’s personal account and were signed by him at the White House, Tarasoff testified.

Two other checks shown was drawn from Trump’s revocable trust, which was used to hold his assets while he was president. It bore the signatures of two trustees, Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and the Trump Organization’s longtime finance chief Allen Weisselberg.

The checks were logged in internal records as legal expenses arising from a retainer agreement. Prosecutors allege the payments were mislabeled to conceal Cohen’s reimbursement and the underlying hush-money payment.

Cohen started getting the checks soon after leaving full-time employment with Trump’s company, the Trump Organization. He started submitting invoices for $35,000 per month for a total of $420,000.

A prior witness said Cohen was paid that amount to cover the cost of the $130,000 reimbursement, another expense he incurred for technology services, plus a bonus and money for him to pay taxes on the money as if he were receiving it as income, rather than a tax-free reimbursement.

By the Associated Press

Once Donald Trump became president, payments from his personal account had to first be delivered, via FedEX, to his new residence in Washington, Tarasoff testified.

“We would send them to the White House for him to sign,” she said.

The checks would then return with Trump’s sharpie signature. “I’d pull them apart, mail out the check and file the backup,” she said, meaning putting the invoice into the Trump Organization’s filing system.

By the Associated Press

Jurors are looking on passively as Tarasoff goes through the minutiae of check-cutting procedures at Trump’s company.

By the Associated Press

Tarasoffs’ testimony began with her describing the nature of her job and familiarity with key figures in the Trump Organization, including Michael Cohen and two of the trial’s previous witnesses, Rhona Graff and Jeffrey McConney.

Asked by prosecutor Christopher Conroy to describe Weisselberg’s management style, she replied, “He had his hands in everything.” By contrast, Tarasoff said her job was to pretty much follow instructions passed down from on high.

“I get approved bills, I enter them in the system, and I cut the checks,” she said matter-of-factly.

By the Associated Press

Tarasoff was the recipient of a 2017 email in which then-controller Jeffrey McConney told her “post to legal expenses” with regard to the handling of reimbursement payments to Michael Cohen. She prepared the checks used to pay Cohen.

Tarasoff and McConney both worked under longtime company chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg. Tarasoff previously testified at the Trump Organization’s 2022 trial on unrelated tax fraud charges.

In that case, she testified that she knew nothing about Weisselberg’s scheme to evade taxes on $1.7 million in company-paid perks and was just following orders when she processed payments from Trump Organization accounts for his personal expenses.

Also in that testimony, Tarasoff said she agreed with a defense lawyer’s description of Weisselberg as an exacting, authoritarian micromanager who enjoyed immense trust within the company.

Tarasoff said that in September 2016, as the presidential vote that catapulted Trump to the presidency neared, Weisselberg ordered her to start deleting notations about some of the transactions in the company’s bookkeeping system. Tarasoff said she didn’t think Weisselberg was asking her to do anything illegal.

But even if he had, she said: “I guess I would because he’s the boss and he told me to do it.”

By the Associated Press

He walked in a few minutes before the scheduled 2:15 p.m. ET restart. He looked at reporters in the gallery as he passed, then stood for a moment at the defense table, looking back and grinning.

By the Associated Press

Before the lunch break, McConney testified that Cohen’s first few payments were drawn out of Trump’s revocable trust by mistake because the Trump Organization was still sorting out how to pay Trump’s personal bills after he went to the White House.

McConney testified that they switched to making Cohen’s payments from Trump’s personal account once they figured out a method of getting checks to the White House, having them signed by Trump, returned to the organization and sent out.

Bove, echoing McConney’s earlier descriptions, at one point referred to the time after Trump’s election as a “period of flux and chaos at the Trump Organization.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” McConney said.

McConney also testified that while he hadn’t spoken to either Trump or Weisselberg about the reimbursement payments, he’d come to feel that he was kept in the dark about certain matters.

“This was all happening above your head?” asked Colangelo, the prosecutor, to which he replied: “Yes.”

“You were told to do something and you did it?” the prosecutor continued. “Yes,” McConney repeated.

By the Associated Press

He offered a thumbs-up as he passed the camera in the hallway.

By the Associated Press

In a riposte to prosecutors’ questions that elicited that McConney never saw a legal retainer agreement for Cohen, Bove asked whether retainers can be verbal. “To my knowledge, yes,” McConney said.

Bove then wrapped up his cross-examination of McConney. After a quick second round of questions from prosecutor Matthew Colangelo and Bove apiece, his time on the stand is over.

The court is now breaking for lunch.

By the Associated Press

Prosecutors have argued that the 2017 payments to Cohen — including his reimbursement for shelling out $130,000 to Stormy Daniels — weren’t legitimate legal expenses. The defense argues otherwise, and Bove got McConney to acknowledge that he didn’t know whether or not Cohen did indeed do legal work for Trump in 2017.

For example, Bove brought up a defamation lawsuit that Trump was facing from then-“Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos. She accused Trump of subjecting her to unwanted kissing and groping in 2007 and then slurring her when she went public during his 2016 campaign.

He denied all her claims. She dropped the suit in 2021.

McConney testified that he had “no idea” whether Cohen worked on the Zervos matter.

Other attorneys represented Trump in court appearances and filings during at least many of the years of the case.

By the Associated Press

The former Trump Organization controller testified that Trump never directed him to log Cohen’s payments as legal expenses, nor did Weisselberg relay to him that Trump wanted them logged that way.

“Allen never told me that,” McConney testified.

In fact, McConney said he never spoke to Trump about the reimbursement issue at all.

As for Cohen, McConney said his interactions with Trump’s then-lawyer were “minimal.” He said that other than emails about invoices, he never spoke to Cohen about the reimbursement arrangement.

Though he testified that he logged Cohen’s payments as “legal expenses” because Cohen was a lawyer, McConney again appeared somewhat skeptical of his work.

At the time of the payments, “Mr. Cohen was a lawyer,” Bove said, seeking to underscore that the payments were legitimate legal expenses.

“OK,” McConney testified, spurring laughter throughout the courtroom. “Sure. Yes.”

By the Associated Press

Underscoring his point that Cohen was acting as a lawyer to Trump, Bove directed McConney to the signature in a February 2017 email, which reads: “Personal attorney to President Donald J. Trump” and shows a Gmail address, rather than a Trump Organization email.

“It doesn’t say ‘fixer’ does it?” Bove asked, referencing a title commonly applied to Cohen.

“No,” McConney responded.

Bove posited that by that point, after leaving his full-time position at the Trump Organization, Cohen was “akin to a vendor to President Trump” and was paid accordingly.

By the Associated Press

Prosecutors have finished at least their first round of questions for McConney. Trump lawyer Emil Bove is beginning his cross-examination.

By the Associated Press

While noontime testimony took a dry turn — McConney was authenticating and describing various ledger printouts and tax documents — jurors were nevertheless largely watching the former Trump Organization controller, with some appearing to take notes. One juror cradled his chin in his hand.

If not the juiciest testimony heard so far, it’s legally important, allowing the documents to be entered into evidence. They show the source and scope of payments, including that Cohen was paid $315,000 out of Trump’s personal account and $105,000 out of the trust that handled his assets while he was in the White House.

By the Associated Press

The former Trump Organization executive, described by a witness Monday as the architect of an arrangement to reimburse Michael Cohen for a hush-money payment, is currently in jail for lying under oath in another Trump-related case.

Weisselberg, 76, was sentenced last month to five months in jail for lying under oath while testifying in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil fraud lawsuit against Trump. He’s currently serving the sentence at New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex.

It’s his second time behind bars. The ex-chief financial officer served 100 days last year for dodging taxes on $1.7 million in company perks, including a rent-free Manhattan apartment and luxury cars. He was also ordered to pay $1 million as part of Trump’s civil fraud judgment.

Weisselberg’s plea agreement doesn’t require him to testify at the hush money trial, and neither side has indicated it plans to call him as a witness.

Cohen told Congress in 2019 that it was Weisselberg who decided how to structure his reimbursement for the payment to Stormy Daniels. Cohen said Weisselberg paid the money out over 12 months “so that it would look like a retainer.”

By the Associated Press

He waved and gave a thumbs up, but did not speak to reporters as he headed back into the courtroom.

By the Associated Press

Trump flashed a smile at someone in the gallery as he exited the courtroom. Alina Habba, a lawyer who serves as a Trump spokesperson and has represented him in other matters, was among the entourage following him out of the courtroom.

The former president gave a thumbs up as he went through the hallway.

By the Associated Press

After paying the first two checks to Cohen through a trust, the remainder of the checks — covering payments for April to December 2017 — were paid from Trump’s personal account, McConney testified.

With Trump, the only signatory to that account, now in the White House, the change in funding source necessitated “a whole new process for us,” McConney added.

“Somehow we’d have to get a package down to the White House, get the president to sign the checks, get the checks returned to us and then get the checks mailed out,” he testified.

By the Associated Press

Getting to a key part of the case — how and why Cohen’s reimbursement for the Daniels payment was entered as a legal expense — McConney testified that he instructed an accounting department employee to do so.

All expenses had to be entered in the general ledger with a category code, and “we were paying a lawyer,” McConney explained. So in went the code: 51505.

He also instructed the employee to record that the first two payments were for a “retainer” for the months of January and February 2017.

“I was just taking information from the invoice” Cohen had typed into an email, McConney said, though he acknowledged he’d never seen a retainer agreement between Cohen and the company.

By the Associated Press

A bank statement displayed in court showed Cohen paying $130,000 to Davidson, Daniels’ lawyer, on Oct. 27, 2016, out of an account for an entity Cohen created for the purpose.

Weisselberg’s handwritten notes about reimbursing Cohen were stapled to the bank statement in the company’s files, McConney said.

Those notes spell out a plan to pay Cohen a base reimbursement of $180,000 — covering the payment to Davidson and an unrelated technology bill. That total was then doubled or “grossed up” to cover the state, city and federal taxes Weisselberg estimated Cohen would incur on the payments.

Weisselberg then added a $60,000 bonus, for a total of $420,000, according to the notes. That money was to be paid out in 12 monthly installments of $35,000 each.

McConney’s own notes were also shown in court. After calculations that laid out that Cohen would get $35,000 a month for 12 months, McConney wrote: “wire monthly from DJT.”

Asked what that meant, McConney said: “that was out of the president’s personal bank account.”

McConney said he didn’t know of any other time when the company added onto an employee reimbursement to cover the cost of taxes. Employee reimbursements, if characterized as such, are not subject to taxation.

Trump is accused of falsifying business records by labeling the money paid to Cohen in his company’s records as legal fees. Prosecutors contend that by paying him income and giving him extra to account for taxes, the Trump executives were able conceal the reimbursement.

By the Associated Press

For the first time, jurors are hearing about the reimbursements at the root of the falsifying business records charges against Trump.

McConney testified about conversations he had with the company’s longtime finance chief Allen Weisselberg in January 2017 about reimbursing Cohen for $130,000 he’d paid to lawyer Keith Davidson. Davidson was the lawyer for porn actor Stormy Daniels.

“Allen Weisselberg said we had to get some money to Michael, we had to reimburse Michael. He tossed a pad toward me and I started taking notes on what he said,” McConney testified, recalling a Jan. 27, 2017, meeting with Weisselberg. “That’s how I found out about it.”

“He kind of threw the pad at me and said, ‘take this down,’” McConney testified.

Cohen, who’d worked for the Trump Organization for about a decade, had just been taken off the payroll as a salaried employee.

By the Associated Press

As prosecutors shift their questions to the subject of Cohen, McConney — like multiple witnesses before him — doesn’t seem to be a fan.

Asked if he was familiar with the former Trump attorney and fixer, McConney paused briefly, before adding: “I’ve had conversations with him by the coffee machine.” In response to a question about Cohen’s position within the Trump Organization, McConney responded dryly: “He said he was a lawyer.”

By the Associated Press

In an anecdote from early in his career, McConney described Trump’s close attention to his cash and hardball approach to bills.

When he went to drop off a report on Trump’s desk one day in the late 1980s, the then-real estate mogul looked up while on the phone and said, “Jeff, you’re fired.”

McConney was taken aback. Then Trump added, according to the ex-controller: “You’re not fired, but my cash balances went down from last week.”

McConney explained that various expenses had come up. Trump responded that he should “focus on my bills, negotiate my bills.”

“It was a teaching moment,” McConney recalled. The lesson? “If someone’s asking for money, negotiate with them,” rather than just paying.

From the defense table, Trump appeared to enjoy hearing the story, lifting his chin and smiling broadly in McConney’s direction.

By the Associated Press

Former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney has taken the stand.

He worked for Trump’s company for about 36 years, retiring last year after he was granted immunity to testify for the prosecution at the Trump Organization’s New York criminal tax fraud trial, where he admitted breaking the law to help fellow executives avoid taxes on company-paid perks. The company was convicted and is appealing.

He left the company last year with $500,000 in severance, and went on to testify tearfully last fall at the civil fraud trial of Trump, the company and key executives — including McConney. The ex-controller said he’d been worn out by his entanglement in a litany of Trump-related investigations and legal proceedings. “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.

By the Associated Press

The judge found Trump had violated the gag order for comments he gave to a program called “Just the News No Noise” on April 22, which is broadcast on Real America’s Voice.

On the program, Trump criticized the speed at which the jury was picked and claimed it was stacked with Democrats. “The jury was picked so fast. 95 percent Democrats. The area’s mostly all Democrat,” he is quoted as saying.

In his ruling, Judge Merchan said the comments “not only called into question the integrity, and therefore the legitimacy of these proceedings, but again raised the specter of fear for the safety of the jurors and of their loved ones.”

By the Associated Press

Judge Juan M. Merchan has again held Trump in contempt of court and fined him another $1,000 for violating the gag order, sternly warning the former president of the possibility of jail for future violations.

“The last thing I want to do is put you in jail,” the judge said. “You are the former president of the United States and possibly the next president as well. There are many reasons why incarceration is truly a last resort for me. To take that step would be disruptive to these proceedings.”

Prosecutors had accused Trump of four violations, but the judge only concurred with one.

The judge had previously fined Trump $9,000 for nine earlier violations in posts on Truth Social and his website.

By the Associated Press

Before heading into the courtroom, the former president spoke to reporters, relaying familiar complaints about the fairness of the trial, the judge and the gag order that stops him commenting on witnesses and jurors.

He also noted the breaking news that Columbia University has canceled its main commencement following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests.

“That shouldn’t happen,” he said.

By the Associated Press

Donald Trump’s motorcade has arrived at the criminal courthouse in lower Manhattan as the third week of testimony is set to begin in his hush-money trial.

By the Associated Press

He’ll be in court for the third week of witness testimony.

By the Associated Press

Virtually every day of his hush money criminal trial, former President Donald Trump talks about how he can’t talk about the case.

A gag order bars Trump from commenting publicly on witnesses, jurors and some others connected to the matter. The New York judge already has found that Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, repeatedly violated the order, fined him $9,000 and warning that jail could follow if he doesn’t comply.

But the order doesn’t stop Trump from talking about the allegations against him or commenting on the judge or the elected top prosecutor. And despite a recent Trump remark, it doesn’t stop him from testifying in court if he chooses.

As he fights the felony charges against him while running for president, Trump has at times stirred confusion about what he can and can’t do in the case.

By the Associated Press

Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign was seized with worry about the potential political damage from a tape that showed Trump bragging about grabbing women sexually without their permission, longtime Trump adviser Hope Hicks testified last week at his hush money trial.

Hicks, a former White House official, was compelled to testify by Manhattan prosecutors, who are hoping her remarks bolster their argument that the uproar over the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape hastened Trump’s then-lawyer to pay off porn actor Stormy Daniels to bury a negative story that could imperil his 2016 presidential bid.

Once one of Trump’s closest confidants, Hicks provided a window into the chaotic fallout over the tape’s release just days before a crucial debate with Democrat Hillary Clinton. It was recorded in 2005 but was not seen by the public until Oct. 7, 2016, about a month before Election Day. Hicks described being stunned and huddling with other Trump advisers after learning about the tape’s existence from the Washington Post reporter who broke the story. Hicks forwarded the reporter’s request to campaign leadership with the recommendation to “deny, deny, deny,” she said.