In the metaphorical eye of the storm, the fifteenth day of Donald Trump’s New York money trial focused on phone records, social media posts and payments — capped by Stormy Daniels’ testimony the day before and Micahel Cohen’s expected appearance on Monday. .
Even Trump seemed weary of the court proceedings at times, flipping through newspaper articles as an assistant district attorney approved financial records for payments to Cohen, his former fixer.
The district attorney’s office alleged that Trump violated campaign finance laws during the 2016 presidential campaign when he made a deal with adult movie star Stormi Daniels to keep her partners quiet about alleged sex in exchange for a $130,000 payment.
Trump has been charged in 34 states with falsifying business records that prosecutors allege were used to hide payments to Daniels. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. She also denied having a relationship with Daniels.
The day in court ended quickly. Attorney General Joshua Steinglass told the court that prosecutors had two more witnesses and could rest at the end of next week. On Monday, former Trump fixer Michael Cohen, the star witness in the case, will take the stand.
Here’s what you missed on Day 15 of the trial:
Current and former Trump aides fill the courtroom
In the courtroom, Trump’s de facto campaign manager for his current bid sat behind him and could be seen talking to Trump’s top adviser, Boris Epstein, during pauses or pauses in the testimony.
The court has drawn up a rotating cast of current and former Trump staffers.
Madeleine Westerhout, Trump’s former White House executive assistant, returned to the stand Friday morning after beginning her testimony Thursday.
Cohen is expected to appear on Monday.
Discussion of the evidence
Much of Friday’s proceedings involved the taking of evidence — a process that in some courts is done by stipulation or simple agreement of both parties, but in this trial is driven by witnesses, which can sometimes be a slow process.
Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the case, ruled that in a 1999 Larry King interview, Trump talked about his familiarity with campaign finance law.
The decision came after Trump’s defense team moved to strike him from the record.
An AT&T employee and a Verizon employee were called to verify the accuracy of the phone records.
And a prosecutor’s lawyer confirmed records of payments made to Cohen from the former president’s personal checking account and revocable trust.
Another assistant prosecutor confirmed a series of messages between former National Enquirer editor-in-chief Dylan Howard and Stormy Daniels’ manager about her alleged affair with Trump will be made public.
Sow doubt
Trump’s lawyers tried to show that the former president was too busy to pay attention to some documents that landed on his desk.
On cross-examination, Westerhout agreed that Trump had been sending incoming requests without interruption. On Thursday, he said Trump is detail-oriented and “always knows where things are.”
Trump simply scribbled one-word queries into documents before him, for example, responding to a bill with simply “PAY.”
Westerhout appeared uncomfortable at times during cross-examination by Trump attorney Susan Necheles, pausing and narrowing her gaze as she answered questions about White House postal procedures since Trump took office.
Under questioning, Westerhout said he met with a Trump advocate ahead of his first appearance on the stand on Zoom. In addition, he stated that he is currently the chief of staff to Robert O’Brien, Trump’s former national security adviser in the White House, and is expected to return in a future Trump administration.
He testified that he attended three preparatory meetings with the district attorney’s office on Wednesday morning.
Westerhout also testified that he had no first-hand knowledge of Trump’s real-time reaction to the Access Hollywood tape. He agreed with Necheles on Thursday that Trump was “unafraid” and the story moved quickly. But on Friday, he recalled how he was working at the Republican National Committee back then.