A lawyer for porn star Stormi Daniels took the stand Thursday to question celebrity gossip stories as Donald Trump’s lawyers tried to paint him as an extortionist who helped get millions of dollars in sex tape payments.
Attorney Keith Davidson, who represents the two women, Daniels and Karen McDougal, said they had ties to Trump and were paid to remain silent, giving jurors an important insight into how the payment was made. Trump denied the allegations by McDougal and Daniels, a former Playboy playmate.
From the courtroom, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, his office’s forensics specialist Doug Daus, explained in detail how data was extracted and protected from electronic devices. Daus explained “information about information” — and served as an expert witness to prove text messages and conversations between people like former Trump White House aide Hope Hicks; Allen Weisselberg, former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization; Trump’s ex-lawyer Michael Cohen and even Trump.
He backed down after reports that Trump closed his eyes every day during court proceedings, sometimes falling asleep. “I just close my beautiful blue eyes, listen carefully sometimes and take it all in!!!” he said in a Truth Social post this afternoon.
Trump collects money from gag order while lawyer fights in court
Trump’s presidential campaign tried to collect money from him because his lawyer, Todd Blanche, argued that Trump did not further violate the gag order. Trump said that he “FULLY OBLIGED” and “I’ve been stuck in court all day” and urged his supporters to send cash. The page included a poll asking “whether you support President Trump more or less after each witch hunt, raid, indictment and arrest.”
Blanche argued that Trump had to respond to “months of attacks” by Cohen, who is expected to testify later in court. Trump’s lawyer also reached out to President Joe Biden, saying Trump can’t respond after the sitting president referred to the court obliquely, citing “stormy weather” during his recent remarks.
“No one is forcing him, but he is running for the presidency. He must be able to speak,” said Blanche. Trump nodded.
Prosecutors argued that Trump created an “air of menace” in what they called the case “corrosive.” A few days ago, Judge Juan Merchan fined Trump $9,000 for willfully defying the court order and warned him that he could face prison terms.
Blanche drew media attention to this case.
“Every time we whisper to our client, it’s live all over social media,” Blanche said, referring to the banks, which are watching every move of reporters sitting in the courtroom behind Trump and his team.
Carefully worded disclaimers
Davidson, a Los Angeles attorney who represents clients in settlement agreements against A-list celebrities, told jurors that the denials he gave on Daniels’ behalf were, in his opinion, true — prosecutors tried to pressure him to admit to confusion. the truth
Denying that Daniels and Trump were romantically involved is “technically true,” he said, under “very, very, very good reading.”
“How is that technically correct?” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked.
“You’re going to have to dig deep into the concepts of ‘romantic’, ‘sexual’ and ‘relationship,'” Davidson said. “I don’t think anyone has suggested that any interaction between her and Mr. Trump was romantic.”
He testified to other narrow denials and repeatedly resisted any characterization of the “product” to Daniels, saying instead that it was a “settlement.”
Crazy deals and tabloid secrets
Trump has watched closely as his lawyer, Emil Bove Davidson, has become embroiled in several high-profile scandals.
He pointed to an article he co-wrote about a Hulk Hogan sex tape in which he made racist comments by former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard, who played a key role in the alleged scheme to buy McDougal’s story. Bove asked about the alleged extortion scheme surrounding the tape.
Bove questioned Davidson’s involvement in the story about actor Lindsay Lohan’s treatment in a rehab facility (Davidson said he did not remember), his relationship with a “sex tape broker” regarding the “Tila Tequila tape” (Davidson again could not remember). ) or his involvement in the widely publicized $2 million settlement from Charlie Sheen, which the actor called “tortious.” Davidson denied any “extraction” of money from Sheen, claiming instead that “credible settlements were made.”
He also asked Davidson if he had used the words “leverage” and “settling regret” in his conversation with Cohen. When asked if he remembered what he said about Trump, he said, “If he loses this election, we all lose all our damn leverage. The value of this case is zero,” Davidson admitted. During cross-examination, the prosecution asked for more context, describing the conversation as taking place long after the election and involving an attorney Daniels later retained.
This was a line of cross-examination intended to cast doubt on the nature of the Daniels deal and Davidson’s motivations.
Trump leaned into a chair with his arm over his side as Bove told Davidson that he had never been in the same room with the former president to this day.
Listening to tapes
Coroner Daus confirmed the accuracy of the recordings of the phone calls taken from Cohen’s phone. Cohen recorded his conversation with Davidson, and the defense played the conversations in court.
“I’m not the only one affected. This is my whole family,” Cohen told Davidson. “No one thinks about Michael.”
Another recording heard Cohen and Trump speaking About the McDougal deal, Cohen explained his intention to form a company that would buy the rights to the story.
“Pay in cash,” Trump tells Cohen in a recording played for the jury.