Secretly recorded phone calls and carefully worded denials: What you missed on Day 10 of Trump's hush money trial
A recap of Trump's 10th day on trial in the New York hush money case.
Taking the stand on Thursday, an attorney for porn actor Stormy Daniels fielded questions on a litany of celebrity gossip stories as attorneys for Donald Trump tried to paint him as an extortionist who helped leverage sex tapes into multimillion-dollar payouts.
Keith Davidson, the lawyer who represented two women — Daniels and Karen McDougal — who said they had affairs with Trump and were paid to stay quiet, gave jurors crucial insight into how the payment came about. Trump has denied the claims by McDougal, a former Playboy playmate, and Daniels.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg watched from the courtroom as a forensics specialist from his office, Doug Daus, explained in painstaking detail how data is extracted and preserved from electronic devices. Daus explained “data about data” — and served as an expert to enter into evidence text messages and conversations between people like former Trump White House aide Hope Hicks; Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer; former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, and even Trump.
After reports about Trump closing his eyes daily during court proceedings, appearing at times to fall asleep, he pushed back. “I simply close my beautiful blue eyes, sometimes, listen intensely, and take it ALL in!!!” he said in a Truth Social post this afternoon.
As his lawyer Todd Blanche argued that Trump hasn’t further violated the gag order, Trump’s presidential campaign sought to raise money off it. Trump said he had “been FULLY GAGGED” and “stuck in court all day” in a message to his supporters that urged them to send him cash. The page included a survey asking whether “you support President Trump more or less after every single witch hunt, raid, indictment, and arrest.”
Rating: 5