Donald Trump was back at Manhattan Criminal Court for his hush money trial on Thursday after hitting the campaign trail in the battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan during the midweek recess.
Judge Juan Merchan heard four more alleged violations of Mr Trump’s gag order on Day 10 after fining the defendant $9,000 earlier this week and warning him he could face “incarceratory punishment” if he persists in bad-mouthing key participants.
Mr Trump’s attorneys argue he is merely responding to attacks from former fixer Michael Cohen and US president Joe Biden.
Wrapping up his testimony on Thursday was Keith Davidson, the ex-lawyer for Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal who negotiated the sale of their stories to guarantee their silence.
Mr Davidson’s past involvement in salacious celebrity stories was raised in cross-examination in an attempt to muddy his standing with the jury and a recording made by Cohen was played in which Mr Trump said “I hate the fact we did it” regarding the hush money plot.
The Independent’s Alex Woodward is covering the trial at Manhattan Criminal Court.
Key Points
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Michael Cohen was Trump’s consummate inside man. Now, friends say he’s on the stand and at risk
Since the implosion of Michael Cohen’s relationship with his former boss, he has become a reformed ‘truth-teller’, spilling secrets of Trump world. It’s a role he both relishes and reviles, Kelly Rissman reports:
Maroosha Muzaffar3 May 2024 08:00
Kirsti Noem blames ‘fake news’ for outrage over her killing her dog
John Bowden has the story:
Oliver O’Connell3 May 2024 07:30
Bombshell audio captures Trump and Cohen discussing hush money ‘catch and kill’ plot
For the first time in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, jurors heard the former president’s own voice discussing a deal with his former attorney to buy the silence of a former Playboy model who alleged an affair with Mr Trump.
A portion of the recording – secretly recorded by Michael Cohen while Mr Trump was in the middle of his 2016 campaign for the presidency – was played inside a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday, giving the jury a brief but crucial look into how his “fixer” kept his boss up to date with a scheme that is now central to the criminal case against him.
“I need to open up a company for the transfer of all that info regarding our friend, David, you know, so that – I’m going to do that right away,” Cohen can be heard saying on the recording.
“And I’ve spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up,” Cohen says, referencing the now-convicted former chief financial officer for the Trump Organization.
“So, what do we got to pay for this?” Mr Trump can be heard saying. “150?”
That “David” appears to be David Pecker, the former National Enquirer publisher.
Read the full story here:
Maroosha Muzaffar3 May 2024 07:00
Donald Trump claims immigration has left London ‘unrecognisable’ after Europe ‘opened its doors to jihad’
The former US President made his remarks to supporters during an election rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday (1 May).
Mr Trump said: “We’ve seen what happened when Europe opened its doors to jihad. Look at Paris, look at London, they’re no longer recognisable.
“I’m going to get myself into a lot of trouble with the folks in Paris and the folks in London, but you know what, that’s the fact. They are no longer recognisable and we can’t let that happen to our country.”
Donald Trump claims immigration has left London ‘unrecognisable’
Donald Trump claimed immigration has left London “unrecognisable” after Europe “opened its doors to jihad”. The former US Presiden made his remarks to supporters during an election rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday (1 May). Mr Trump said: “We’ve seen what happened when Europe opened its doors to jihad. Look at Paris, look at London, they’re no longer recognisable. “I’m going to get myself into a lot of trouble with the folks in Paris and the folks in London, but you know what, that’s the fact. They are no longer recognisable and we can’t let that happen to our country.”
Maroosha Muzaffar3 May 2024 06:30
Jimmy Fallon says Trump should wear a shock collar in court after reports of him falling asleep
“In an effort to stop Trump from falling asleep in court, his lawyers have been giving him a number of different devices”, the comedian said during his opening monologue on the Tonight Show on Wednesday.
“So far, the only thing that can keep him awake is an iPad playing Bluey.”
Mr Fallon continued: “His lawyers are running out of ideas to keep him awake, they even hired a kindergarten teacher to keep him awake by standing at the front of the court saying, ‘Eyes on me, eyes on you’.”
The comic then cut to a spoof commercial for a “Trump Shock Collar”, which the ad described as: “The world’s first human shock collar disguised as a red neck tie!”
Read the full story here:
Maroosha Muzaffar3 May 2024 06:00
Analysis: Biden’s making a play for North Carolina and Florida. Republicans will have to defend themselves
On Thursday, President Biden made his way to Wilmington, North Carolina, also making a stop in Charlotte to visit the families of police officers killed in the line of duty. Biden’s trip comes shortly after Vice President Kamala Harris visited Charlotte last month. In fact, both have made multiple journeys down to North Carolina this year.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the vice president visited Jacksonville, Florida on the day that the state’s six-week abortion ban came into effect. Harris, as Inside Washington has written before, can zero in on abortion rights in ways that Biden, an 81-year-old Catholic man, cannot. And indeed, Harris delivered some scorching lines against Florida Republicans, saying “extremist” Republican lawmakers who voted in the ban “either don’t know how a woman’s body works, or simply don’t care.”
The president continues to poll badly, even in states that he won in 2020 such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada. So why the focus on tough-to-win states like North Carolina and Florida?
Oliver O’Connell3 May 2024 05:30
Key takeaways from Trump’s day in court
Donald Trump was back in court again on Thursday during his third week of the hush money trial in Manhattan, where jurors heard bombshell recordings between Mr Trump and his former personal attorney Michael Cohen.
The former president’s legal team attempted to defend Mr Trump over his gag order violations on Thursday. Earlier this week, Judge Juan Merchan fined him $9,000 for repeated violations of the order, which bars him from talking about foreseeable witnesses or staff of the judge or DA’s office. Ironically, after court adjourned for the day, Mr Trump falsely claimed to reporters that he was not “allowed to testify” because of the gag order.
The court also saw a different side of Michael Cohen, who has previously been described in the Manhattan courthouse as “excitable” and “pants on fire.”
One witness said he thought Cohen “was going to kill himself” after Cohen found out that Mr Trump, Cohen’s long-term client, wasn’t considering him for top roles in his White House administration.
Here are some takeaways from another day at the hush money trial:
Maroosha Muzaffar3 May 2024 05:00
ICYMI: Watch: Trump hush money trial continues as second gag order ruling due
Mr Trump was warned he could face “incarceratory punishment” if he continued bad-mouthing key participants.
He used Wednesday’s recess to hit the campaign trail in Wisconsin and Michigan, delivering a familiar onslaught of insults, grievances, half-truths, and apocalyptic forecasts.
Thursday’s proceedings come after the court has heard key testimony from Gary Farro, the banker for former Trump fixer Michael Cohen, explaining how the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels to cover up the alleged extramarital affair with Mr Trump was funded.
Maroosha Muzaffar3 May 2024 04:30
Trump should wear a shock collar in court, says Fallon
“In an effort to stop Trump from falling asleep in court, his lawyers have been giving him a number of different devices”, the comedian said during his opening monologue on the Tonight Show on Wednesday.
“So far, the only thing that can keep him awake is an iPad playing Bluey.”
Joe Sommerlad3 May 2024 03:30
Potential Donald Trump juror breaks silence on death threats he’s received
A potential juror who was excused from Donald Trump’s criminal trial has revealed he received death threats, despite not being involved in the case. Mark DeMuro told Good Morning Britain how Trump supporters had contacted him saying they were going to “teach him a lesson” if the former USPresident did not receive a fair trial. Speaking on Thursday (2 May), Mr DeMuro told the ITV news programme about the content of the messages he received: “We know who you are, we know where you are, we are going to come and teach you a lesson.” Mr Trump was held in contempt of court this week and fined $9,000 for violating a gag order.
Oliver O’Connell3 May 2024 02:30