Former President Donald Trump is currently on trial in New York City, facing felony charges linked to a 2016 hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. This historic trial signifies the first instance where a former U.S. president is being tried for criminal offenses.
In April of last year, Trump entered a plea of not guilty to a 34-count indictment. The charges were related to the falsification of business records. These records were connected to a hush money payment that Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, had made to Daniels. The purpose of the payment was to improve Trump’s chances in the 2016 presidential election.
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Outside the courtroom, former President Trump hinted that he might not testify in the trial when asked about his thoughts on Keith Davidson’s testimony, speaking to reporters.
“I cannot testify because this judge, who is clearly biased, has imposed an unconstitutional gag order on me. It’s unprecedented,” Trump claimed, disregarding the fact that the gag order only restricts him from making inappropriate remarks towards witnesses, jury members, and attorneys involved in the case.
According to Trump, he considers the question to be the easiest one he has encountered so far. However, he mentions that he is unable to testify due to the judge’s conflict of interest. Trump claims that the judge’s supposed bias has led to an unconstitutional gag order being imposed on him.
– Kelsey Walsh and Mike Pappano from ABC News.
During the cross-examination of expert witness Douglas Daus, defense attorney Emil Bove questioned him about the abrupt ending of the 2016 Trump-Cohen recording on Cohen’s phone. Bove aimed to cast doubt on the recording’s reliability and integrity.
Daus mentioned that he picked up on the recording that there was another incoming call, although he couldn’t confirm why the recording abruptly ended.
Bove asked if there was no direct knowledge of why it cuts off.
During the cross-examination, Bove, who has extensive experience in handling cellphone extractions as a former prosecutor, engaged in a friendly conversation with Daus, discussing the various methods of extracting data from a device. The atmosphere briefly shifted from tense to amicable as they delved into the topic.
Judge Merchan then adjourned the proceedings for the day and dismissed the parties involved.
The hearing will continue tomorrow at 9:30 p.m. ET.
During the trial, expert witness Douglas Daus provided testimony regarding a recording found on Michael Cohen’s phone. The recording in question was made on September 6, 2016, at 10:56 a.m.
In the recorded conversation, which lasts for about two minutes, we can hear Cohen engaging in a conversation with Trump.
Cohen expresses his intention to establish a company to facilitate the transfer of information related to their friend David. He confidently states that he is fully committed to this task and has already discussed it with Allen in terms of financing.
“What financing?” Trump inquired.
Cohen mentioned that we would need to compensate him in some way.
Daus’s direct examination by the prosecution was then concluded.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Emil Bove attempted to cast doubt on the credibility of the content found on Cohen’s phone. Bove insinuated that the material may have been tampered with or manipulated at some point in the chain of custody, questioning its integrity.
Douglas Daus, an expert witness, guided the jurors through his findings on Cohen’s phones after extracting the data. The most astonishing discovery was the presence of a staggering 39,745 contacts.
According to Daus, the majority of phones typically store a few hundred contacts.
According to Daus, Cohen had 10 pages of contacts solely for Donald Trump on one of his phones.
According to Daus, Cohen’s second phone had 385 contacts, which is considered an average number.
Daus presented the jury with text messages exchanged between Cohen and former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks.
On November 4, 2016, Cohen sent a text to Hicks, urging her to call him.
A photo of Cohen in the White House briefing room, taken from his phone, was presented to the jurors. In the photo, Cohen can be seen standing confidently behind the podium.
On February 8, 2017, jurors were presented with a calendar entry found on Cohen’s phone titled “Meeting with POTUS.”
During the investigation, Daus discovered that Cohen’s phone was equipped with three encrypted messaging apps: WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal.
Jurors were presented with the location of some of the recordings on Cohen’s phone less than an hour after they listened to some of his phone calls with Keith Davidson, as demonstrated by Daus.
The next witness called by the prosecutors is Douglas Daus, an employee at the lab responsible for processing devices for the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
Daus is an analyst in the unit of the Manhattan DA’s office responsible for handling and processing electronic devices, including cell phones seized during search warrants. In this role, Daus and the team generate “extractions” of the devices, which are essentially copies of the devices referred to as a Cellebrite or GreyKey report.
In addition to the content itself, the extraction process also encompasses metadata. This valuable information offers a comprehensive record of the device’s usage, including details about when, where, and how it was utilized.
Daus analyzed two of Michael Cohen’s phones for the Trump case, specifically an iPhone 6S and iPhone 7.
During the re-cross examination by defense attorney Emil Bove, jurors were able to listen to a recorded phone call from 2018 where Michael Cohen expressed his regret to Stormy Daniels’ former attorney Keith Davidson. Cohen stated, “And I can’t even tell you how many times he said to me, ‘I hate the fact that we did it.’ And my comment to him was, ‘But every person that you’ve spoken to told you it was the right move.'”
According to Davidson, Cohen was discussing Trump and Stormy Daniels’ nondisclosure agreement.
Trump sat forward in his chair, leaning towards the courtroom as he carefully read the transcript of the recordings displayed on the screen before him.
In wrapping up his re-cross examination, Bove prompted Davidson to reiterate that he had never personally encountered Donald Trump.
During the re-direct examination, Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass opened the questioning by focusing on the recorded phone call between Keith Davidson, Stormy Daniels’ former attorney, and Michael Cohen in April 2018.
During that time, attorney Michael Avenatti had assumed the role of Daniels’ lawyer and was in the process of suing Davidson, according to his statement.
“Absolutely,” Davidson affirmed.
During the trial, the jurors were presented with a segment of a recorded call.
Davidson responded, “I can’t even begin to imagine.”
Cohen expressed his concerns about writing a book and whether he should deviate from the Trump doctrine. He contemplated going completely rogue and possibly joining forces with Steve Bannon. Cohen emphasized that the impact of these decisions would not only affect him but his entire family. He felt that nobody was considering the consequences for Michael.
Next, Steinglass successfully completed his redirect.
Emil Bove, the defense attorney, proceeded to interrogate Keith Davidson, the attorney representing Stormy Daniels, regarding the nondisclosure agreement that Daniels had willingly signed as part of the hush money arrangement.
Bove highlighted the presence of the initials “esq” next to Michael Cohen’s signature on the signature page.
Davidson was asked by the individual if Trump was signing the agreement as a lawyer. Davidson, in agreement, seemed to indicate that this was the reason why Trump reimbursed Cohen and classified it as a legal expense.
After finishing his cross-examination, Bove concluded his questioning, prompting a brief pause in the proceedings.
Trump stayed in the courtroom, engaging in conversation with his attorney Susan Necheles and legal advisor Boris Epshteyn.
As Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney, stepped into the courtroom, Trump locked eyes with him, his gaze seemingly tracking Bragg’s every move as the DA made his way towards his seat.
Davidson’s response was a simple and direct “No.”
Davidson disagreed with the notion presented, stating, “You are greatly mistaken regarding the timing. These events occurred years after the settlement.”
Bove stated that Davidson had mentioned that at the time, Cohen and Trump had never discussed authorizing the payment to Daniels.
As the lawyers and the judge in the case listened to the recording on headphones, Trump sat at the defense table, staring forward. At times, his eyes appeared shut, and he adjusted himself in his seat.
Defense attorneys Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles made multiple attempts to communicate with Trump.
During his testimony, Keith Davidson, who was previously Stormy Daniels’ attorney, revealed that he maintained a working relationship with Michael Cohen, who served as Donald Trump’s attorney at the time, even after the 2016 election.
Davidson explained that he was assigned tasks by his supervisor.
Davidson chuckled as he recounted the incident, “He sent me a client who didn’t want to pay,” he said, eliciting laughter from a couple of jurors.
Davidson reflected on the evolution of his relationship with Cohen, acknowledging that it had undergone significant changes over the years.
Davidson recounted that Cohen’s conversational style is typically “all over the place,” so the structured nature of this particular conversation was quite unusual for him.
Davidson expressed his belief that he was being recorded during that time.
During the trial, the defense sought to present a recorded phone conversation between Cohen and Davidson. In the call, Davidson can be heard saying, “Sometimes people experience settler’s remorse” in relation to the hush payment made to Stormy Daniels.
Bove inquired about the conversation between Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels in March 2018.
Davidson confirmed that it does indeed seem to be true.
