Former President Donald Trump returns to court for his Stormy Daniels “hush money” trial.
Trump was fined $9,000 for repeated gag order violations, and the judge threatened him with “incarceratory punishment” if “necessary and appropriate” should Trump continue to violate the gag order.
The judge also allowed Trump to have May 17 off from the trial to attend his son Barron’s graduation.
This live blog has ended.
Trump left the courtroom at 4:30 pm and lamented that he's "sitting a courthouse all day long," in remarks after the trial. The ex-prez said the case was "nonsense," and called the judge "totally conflicted." Trump said he should be on the campaign trail instead of sitting in New York for trial. Trump went on to call the case a "disgrace to New York." Court just broke for the day, with Keith Davidson, a former lawyer for Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, still on the stand. The trial is off Wednesdays, and will start back up at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday.Trump slams 'conflicted' judge, 'nonsense' case in post-trial remarks
By David Spector Court breaks until Thursday with Stormy Daniels' lawyer still on the stand
By Ben Kochman
The non-disclosure agreement struck between Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump's camp before the 2016 election used fake names — "Peggy Peterson" for Daniels and "David Dennison" for Trump, Daniels' attorney testified.
Lawyer Keith Davidson told jurors that using the pseudonyms was his idea. The plan was to use names starting with "P" for plaintiff, and "D" for defendant, but Davidson ended up basing Trump's pseudonym on an actual man named David Dennison who member of his high school hockey team, he said.
"How does he feel about you now?" prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked Davidson, referring to the real Dennison.
"He’s very upset," Davidson replied, flashing a smile.
After news broke in October 2016 of Donald Trump bragging on a hot mic about grabbing women by their genitals, Stormy Daniels' lawyer texted "Trump is f—d" to the editor of the National Enquirer, trial evidence released Tuesday shows.
“Wave the white flag. It's over people!” responded the Enquirer's editor, Dylan Howard, evidence shows.
But Daniels' attorney, Keith Davidson, noted in another text that things "could get a lot worse" for Trump if Daniels went public right before the 2016 election with her claim about having a one-night affair with the married real estate mogul, he testified.
Keith Davidson, who represented both Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, has resumed testimony.
Right now he's being asked about details of the negotiations between McDougal and the National Enquirer magazine that ended with McDougal being paid $150,000 to stay quiet about her alleged affair with Donald Trump.
Just ahead of a 2:15 p.m. deadline, former President Donald Trump deleted posts that Justice Juan Merchan said violated his gag order.
With 30 minutes to go before the deadline, Trump has removed the social media posts that Judge Merchan found violated the gag order. He had until 2:15 to do so.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) April 30, 2024
Court has gone to recess until 2:15, when the lawyer for Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal will be back on the stand.
Donald Trump did not speak as he left the courtroom.
Karen McDougal, the Playboy model who says she had a year-long affair with a married Donald Trump, told her lawyer about the "sexual" and "romantic" relationship, the attorney testified Tuesday.
"Ms. McDougal alleged that she had had a romantic affair with Donald Trump some years prior," lawyer Keith Davidson said, while describing a series of texts he traded with National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard in the summer of 2016.
“When you say romantic, does that mean sexual?” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass then asked Davidson.
“That’s what she expressed,” Davidson testified.
The prosecution's next witness is Keith Davidson, an attorney who once represented Stormy Daniels.
Michael Cohen's $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels was wired to Davidson's account, court records say.
Former President Donald Trump returned to the courtroom as witnesses continue to testify in his criminal "hush money" case.
Earlier in the day, Trump was fined $9,000 for violating the judge's gag order.
The ex-prez denounced the case against him as a "scam" in remarks made before proceedings commenced.
The DA's Office used the C-SPAN witness to introduce videos into evidence in which Donald Trump rails against women who came forward with allegations against him a month before the 2016 presidential election.
“It’s a phony idea! I have no idea who these women are,” Trump says in one of the videos.
Trump watched the video of his younger self speaking on a video screen inside the courtroom.
Natalie Harp, an aide to former President Donald Trump, was spotted entering the courthouse today.
Andrew Giuliani, Eric Trump and Texas AG Ken Paxton were all seen there too.
Harp took a seat a row back from Eric Trump in the gallery.
