Trump trial live: First week of testimony concludes as jury hears about ties to Stormy Daniels

Donald Trump returned to court for the latest instalment of his New Yorkhush money trial on Frida, where the jury heard further testimony from tabloid mogul David Pecker who detailed the “catch-and-kill” scheme to suppress stories about the defendant’s alleged affairs.

The former National Enquirer publisher doubled down on his testimony that he bought and silenced the story of Playboy model Karen McDougal’s affair with Mr Trump to influence the 2016 election.

With cross-examination complete, the court then heard from Trump executive assistant Rhona Graff and Guy Farro of First Republic Bank who set up a wire transfer to Stormy Daniels.

Justice Juan Merchan is yet to rule on whether Mr Trump should be held in contempt and fined $10,000 for allegedly violating a trial gag order by posting about witnesses and jurors on Truth Social.

In other legal news, Supreme Court justices heard oral arguments concerning Mr Trump’s “presidential immunity” defence against prosecution in federal cases, and the former president had his latest efforts to overturn the E Jean Carroll defamation verdict against him dismissed.

Alex Woodward is providing live updates from the courthouse in Manhattan.

Key Points

• David Pecker confirms under oath plan to help Trump over Karen McDougal story

• What to expect on day eight of Trump’s New York hush money trial

• David Pecker testifies to Trump plan to bury Karen McDougal story

• Supreme Court justices appear poised to offer Trump some immunity

• Trump loses latest bid for new E Jean Carroll trial

• Former president backs away from testifying over porn star payment

22:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Oh wait, he invited himself to the White House to debate the president.

Don’t hold your breath...

Who’s going to tell him?

21:57 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump’s invitation to an impromptu courthouse debate after trial proceedings ended today sadly went unanswered...

I’ve been waiting for Crooked Joe at the Courthouse, the Fake News Media was there also — HE DIDN’T SHOW! ANY WHERE, ANY TIME, ANY PLACE!

After telling Howard Stern he would be happy to debate Mr Trump, the president returned to Washington, DC.

Rooting for Trump to fail has made his stock shorters millions

21:45 , AP

Rooting for Donald Trump to fail has rarely been this profitable.

Just ask a hardy band of mostly amateur Wall Street investors who have collectively made tens of millions of dollars over the past month by betting that the stock price of his social media business — Truth Social — will keep dropping despite massive buying by Trump loyalists and wild swings that often mirror the candidate’s latest polls, court trials and outbursts on Trump Social itself.

Several of these investors interviewed by The Associated Press say their bearish gambles using “put” options and other trading tools are driven less by their personal feelings about the former president (most don’t like him) than their faith in the woeful underlying financials of a company that made less money last year than the average Wendy’s hamburger franchise.

Read on...

Rooting for Trump to fail has made his stock shorters millions

21:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Cohen then applied for another LLC, Essential Consultants LLC, which was intended to “collect fees for investment consulting for real estate transactions,” according to a form.

The prosecution says they're at a stopping point for today.

Judge Merchan asks them to approach before excusing the jurors.

“We'll call it a week.”

21:24 , Alex Woodward

The LLC is Resolution Consultants LLC, the shell company that Cohen used to set up the McDougal transfer that Pecker ultimately backed out of.

The type of business on the First Republic Bank form to set up the LLC is listed as “MANAGEMENT CONSULTING”.

Cohen is the only listed officer for the LLC.

Cohen signed off on it on 13 October 2016, two days after calling Farro's office to try to set it up.

A question on the form asked “is the entity associated with political fundraising/political action committees?” The corresponding box was checked “no”.

On the morning of October 26, Farro's assistant emailed Farro asking him to return Cohen's call. He did.

“He said he was changing course, no longer wanted to open Resolution Consultants, and wanted to open a new account,” Farro says.

“Every time Michael Cohen spoke to me he gave me a sense of urgency ... This was one of those times.”

The account had never actually opened, because Cohen didn't pay for it, so there wasn't anything to do necessarily.

Full story: Trump’s longtime assistant testifies to ‘vague’ memory of seeing Stormy Daniels at Trump Tower

21:10 , Oliver O'Connell

Alex Woodward reports from the courthouse:

A former longtime assistant to Donald Trump at his Trump Organization testified that she has a “vague recollection” of seeing adult film star Stormy Daniels at Trump Tower before his 2016 presidential campaign.

Rhonna Graff, who worked at the Trump Organization for more than 30 years, testified on Friday at a criminal trial in Manhattan across from her former boss, who is charged with falsifying business records to cover up payments to Ms Daniels as part of a scheme to bury details of an alleged affair.

She testified that she saw Ms Daniels in the lobby of the 26th floor of Trump Tower, where Mr Trump’s office is located.

Continue reading...

Trump’s longtime assistant has ‘vague’ memory of seeing Stormy at Trump Tower

21:09 , Alex Woodward

An email in the morning from October 13 2016.

The subject line is: FW: Message from "26-Copier-Pantry"

There's a PDF attachment.

Farro then emailed one of his coworkers about opening an account for Cohen “immediately”.

21:05 , Alex Woodward

We see an email from October 11 2016 from Farro's assistant about a missed call from Michael Cohen.

She sent another email two days later asking him to please return his call “regarding an important matter”.

When he called back, Cohen said he wanted to open an LLC account.

This was all roughly three weeks before election day.

21:01 , Alex Woodward

Farro: "Michael Cohen was assigned to me after a client left in 2015."

He said he believed he was given Cohen for “my knowledge and my ability to handle individuals who may be a little challenging”.

“Michael did a lot of his own business and frankly I didn’t find him difficult,” he said.

20:59 , Oliver O'Connell

Gary Farro is the next witness — the third of the trial — and was formerly a senior managing director at First Republic Bank. He says he's here voluntarily, but “I did receive a subpoena”.

He now works at Flagstar Bank but worked at First Republic Bank for 15 years, beginning in 2002.

It was there he allegedly set up the home equity line of credit through which Michael Cohen paid Stormy Daniels.

Kirsti Noem makes shocking admission she shot pet dog she 'hated'

20:38 , Oliver O'Connell

Mike Bedigan reports:

One of the candidates in the running to be Donald Trump’s pick for Vice President has admitted that she once shot a pet puppy that she “hated”.

Kristi Noem wrote about an incident with the dog, named Cricket, who she called “untrainable” and “less than worthless”. She also claimed to have put down an unnamed, family-owned goat because he was “nasty and mean”.

Ms Noem, the Governor of South Dakota is seen as a leading contender to be Mr Trump’s running mate for the November presidential election.

Yikes...

Trump VP candidate Kristi Noem admits she shot pet dog she ‘hated’

20:20 , Alex Woodward

We see an email from Graff to Madeleine Westerhout at the White House on April 6 2017:

Here is the Fed Ex label you requested. Hope it works ; )

Necheles asks: The only reason you’re testifying here today is because you worked at the Trump Organization?

Yes.

You don’t want to be here, do you?

"Correct."

Lawyers are expensive, aren’t they?

"I haven’t seen the bills but I assume they are."

The Trump Organization is paying bills for all employees?

Yes.

Is the payment of your legal fees conditioned on how you testify?

No.

No one from the Trump Organization has told you how to testify?

No.

No further questions and no follow-ups from the prosecution.

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche asks for a sidebar.

The celebrities dragged into Trump’s hush money trial

20:15 , Oliver O'Connell

A string of famous names have been dragged into Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial, after four days of testimony from the former publisher of the supermarket tabloid The National Enquirer.

David Pecker became the first witness to take the stand in the former president’s New York hush money trial this week, laying out a so-called “catch-and-kill” scheme at the centre of the case.

Joe Sommerlad has the story...

The celebrities dragged into Trump’s hush money trial

20:14 , Alex Woodward

Graff agrees with Necheles that Trump “was actively involved” with The Apprentice, and that part of her job duties was to work with the show's producers.

“He was very hands-on, yes. … At the time it was probably the most popular TV show,” she says.

The series elevated him to “a whole other platform from being a businessman to … rock star status.”

Graff says she has some memory of Trump saying he thought Stormy might be a “good contestant” on the show.

“I can't remember a specific incident when I heard it. It was part of the office chatter.”

20:13 , Alex Woodward

Susan Necheles is now cross-examining Graff.

What was it like working for Trump?

I never had to do the same day twice. It was a very stimulating, exciting ... place to be.

Was he a good boss?

“I think he was fair, and what’s the word I’m looking for ... Respectful to me.”

Did he respect your intelligence?

“I don’t think I would have been there 34 years if he didn’t.”

What was a typical day?

“There was no typical day. I would usually get there early in the morning … see what was on the calendar and see what was happening … Those kinds of things.”

20:11 , Alex Woodward

After establishing the Trump Organization protocols for keeping and maintaining contact information and managing email communications, Hoffinger gets down to more pertinent questions.

We see an entry for Karen McDougal's contact information (including a Yahoo email account).

And another for Stormy Daniels, which includes her phone number. The name is simply "Stormy."

Graff has a "vague recollection" of seeing Stormy Daniels in the reception area at Trump Tower.

She knew she was an adult film actress.

We see a few appointment calendar entries for Jan 17 and Jan 18 2017, a few days before Trump was inaugurated.

He had an interview with Ainsley Erhardt, a couple of teleprompter practice sessions, and a meeting with “Mike Allen - per Hope” for a photo shoot with The Washington Post in the lobby area of the 25th floor.

He also had his "Wheels Up" time at LGA on Jan 19, one day before the inauguration.

...and that’s it for the prosecution.

New witness: Rhona Graff

19:46 , Oliver O'Connell

Rhona Graff is Donald Trump’s former long-time executive assistant, dubbed his “gatekeeper”.

She's on the stand wearing a black t-shirt and black cardigan with a large turquoise amulet.

Prosecution attorney Susan Hoffinger is up to begin questioning Graff.

She spent 37 years at the Trump Organization, first as an executive assistant all the way up to senior vice president.

Mr Trump was her boss.

Trump’s attorneys try to pick holes in David Pecker’s ‘catch and kill’ testimony

19:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Alex Woodward reports from the courthouse:

Donald Trump’s defence attorneys have tried to undermine trial testimony from one of the alleged architects of a scheme to buy up politically damaging stories to boost Mr Trump’s 2016 election chances.

Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, the first witness in the historic trial in a Manhattan courtroom, answered a barrage of “yes” or “no” questions from Mr Trump’s lawyer Emil Bove on Thursday and Friday, hoping to poke holes in his week-long testimony that the former president and his then-attorney Michael Cohen conspired with him to influence the election.

At one point on Friday, Mr Bove tried to get Mr Pecker to admit that he either lied on the witness stand or to federal law enforcement about Mr Trump “thanking” him for his help burying stories of Mr Trump’s alleged affairs.

Continue reading...

Trump’s attorneys try to pick holes in David Pecker’s ‘catch and kill’ testimony

19:44 , Alex Woodward

Bove mentions the anthrax incident at the AMI office in Florida, and how Pecker testified that Trump was one of the first people to reach out.

“Trump was one of the first people to reach out to see if you’re OK,” Bove says.

“You know he cares about people. ... He cares about his family. ... And you know that, right?” Bove says. “The types of stories you’re talking about today and in 2016 were things that were stressful.”

Pecker agrees.

Bove has no further questions and Pecker can step down.

Re-cross-examination of Pecker by Bove

19:43 , Alex Woodward

Trump defence attorney Emil Bove is now re-cross-examining David Pecker.

Bove, again asking yes or no questions only, asked Pecker whether having McDougal around at AMI would be a boost to the company because of her “celebrity” and brand value.

The overflow crowd burst out laughing.

Pecker fumbled around a bit before answering.

“Did she meet the celebrity category at that time? Uh, no.”

19:32 , Alex Woodward

Despite just getting back down to business, Trump's eyes appear to be closed again. It almost looks meditative. Like he's listening harder.

Steinglass reads from a federal law enforcement summary of Pecker's summary of his January 6 2017 meeting at Trump Tower. Bove had tried to suggest Pecker was lying when he said that Trump thanked him for handling the McDougal and doorman stories.

Steinglass: “Did you in fact tell the FBI that the defendant thanked you for the Karen McDougal story and Dino Sajudin story?”

Yes.

“Was that the truth then?”

Yes.

“Was that the truth now?”

Yes.

“Do you believe you have ever been inconsistent on that point?”

No.

Court resumes as redirect questioning of Pecker continues

19:23 , Oliver O'Connell

Court has returned from lunch with David Pecker being questioned on redirect by prosecutor Joshua Steinglass.

Alex Woodward is reporting live for The Independent from the courthouse.

‘The King of Pettiness'

19:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has had many nicknames throughout the years, from giving himself the moniker ‘very stable genius’ to the more recent ‘Sleepy Don’ – coined by social media users reacting to him apparently during the first day of the ongoing hush money trial.

However, The Daily Show’s Jordan Klepper has bestowed a new nickname upon the former president as the “king of pettiness” after Trump’s latest Truth Social rant, launched at former attorney general Bill Barr.

Amelia Neath has the story:

The Daily Show reacts to Trump’s response to Bill Barr voting Republican

‘Let’s do it tonight’ Trump fumes as Biden says he’ll debate him

18:53 , Oliver O'Connell

In a live radio interview this morning, President Joe Biden said he would be “happy” to debate former president and current criminal defendant Donald Trump as part of the 2024 presidential election campaign.

Mr Trump couldn’t let that go and — much like when he says he will testify in his trials — accused the president of not really meaning it.

While Mr Biden has the actual presidential debates in mind that traditionally come in the fall, the former president began suggesting evenings next week, and even tonight at the courthouse — not sure those optics would work in Mr Trump’s favour....

Here’s what he wrote on Truth Social:

Crooked Joe Biden just announced that he’s willing to debate! Everyone knows he doesn’t really mean it, but in case he does, I say, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, ANYPLACE, an old expression used by Fighters. I suggest Monday Evening, Tuesday Evening, or Wednesday Evening at my Rally in Michigan, a State that he is in the process of destroying with his E.V. Mandate. In the alternative, he’s in New York City today, although probably doesn’t know it, and so am I, stuck in one of the many Court cases that he instigated as ELECTION INTERFERENCE AGAINST A POLITICAL OPPONENT - A CONTINUING WITCH HUNT! It’s the only way he thinks he can win. In fact, let’s do the Debate at the Courthouse tonight - on National Television, I’ll wait around!

There is no evidence that President Joe Biden has in any way orchestrated any of the civil or criminal indictments against Mr Trump. The federal cases were handed off to Special Counsel Jack Smith by the Department of Justice to avoid any possible influence by the administration. The state and local cases are beyond the remit of the federal government. All four criminal cases were presented to grand juries of US citizens who recommended that charges be brought.

In pictures: This morning in court

18:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Redirect questioning of Pecker in one image

18:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Courtesy of MSNBC:

Court breaks for lunch

18:04 , Alex Woodward

The jury has been excused for lunch.

Steinglass has half an hour to go on redirect. Bove wants to re-cross Pecker.

Todd Blanche also asks for the name of the next witness.

The judge will come back to that after lunch.

18:01 , Alex Woodward

Steinglass: “Had you published a story about a Playboy model having a yearlong sexual affair while he was married … would that have sold magazines? … That would be like, National Enquirer gold. … At the time you entered into that agreement, you had zero intention of publishing that story. … You killed the story because it helped candidate Donald Trump.”

Pecker: “Yes.”

17:58 , Alex Woodward

Steinglass hammers home the main point the prosecution is trying to make and mentions prior AMI plans to suppress coverage in other stories.

“In this case, did you suppress stories to help a presidential candidate?”

“Yes.”

Steinglass also points out that Pecker and AMI didn’t make similar arrangements with other political candidates to write certain stories, which Pecker admits was done in coordination with the campaign.

Pecker, revisiting the Trump Tower meeting: “It was my understanding, I would use the company sources … for any information that would be coming out on Mr Trump or the campaign, related to — specifically — women, who would be selling their stories, similar to what I experienced with Schwarzenegger … My understanding is those stories would come up, I would speak to Michael Cohen, I would tell him that these stories are going to be for sale, and someone else would buy them if we don’t. … That was my understanding of that meeting.”

17:36 , Alex Woodward

Pecker admits that the August 5 2016 contract does not mention Trump reimbursing him, Cohen, the plan to reassign life rights to Trump, nor the arrangement at Trump Tower.

“Does the contract even mention the word campaign?” Steinglass asks. (No, it does not.)

17:30 , Alex Woodward

Pecker confirms that the “true purpose” of the McDougal contract with to acquire the life rights of her story, and that the other parts of the agreement – columns, cover appearances, blog posts, ghostwriters, etc. – gave the deal “plausible deniability”.

Pecker: “It was included in the contract basically as a disguise of what the actual purpose of it … The actual purpose of it was to acquire the lifetime rights … It would be published by American Media. It would not be published by any media source.”

Redirect questioning of Pecker begins

17:27 , Alex Woodward

Bove asks about Pecker’s testimony that Cohen was trying to get access to boxes with materials about Trump, out of concern that he would leave AMI. Bove suggests it’s because of his “job application” with Time.

Pecker clarifies that in 2016, AMI was “looking to acquire all of Time.” He wasn’t applying for a job there.

Pecker also confirms that the contents of those boxes was worthless.

Bove wraps up, with a reminder in the form of a question about Pecker’s obligation to the truth, and that jurors will be the judge of that.

Pecker: “I’ve been truthful to the best of my recollection.”

That’s it for Bove.

Redirect from prosecutor Joshua Steinglass.

Biden ‘happy’ to debate Trump

17:20 , Oliver O'Connell

President Joe Biden on Friday said he will participate in televised debates with his likely opponent, former president Donald Trump, before the 5 November presidential election.

Mr Biden said he’d debate Mr Trump during an hour-long, wide-ranging interview with Sirius-XM radio host Howard Stern after Stern asked him whether he’d do so.

Andrew Feinberg reports:

Biden says he’s ‘happy’ to debate Trump after months of speculation

17:12 , Alex Woodward

Bove asks about an October 2019 meeting with the District Attorney’s office, in which Bove suggests he described that paragraph 3 was “wrong and inaccurate”.

Bove reads: “I think that may be inaccurate. I think that came up with the feds. I have never heard Pecker saying that.”

“Do you remember that?”

“No.”

Pecker: “My testimony I gave, I offered at that meeting to be the eyes and ears … The stories, women would be selling them and I would offer them to Michael Cohen. Selling and purchasing here are synonymous. Someone has to buy them.”

“Based on your experiences, Michael Cohen was prone to exaggeration?”

Yes.

“You could not trust everything he said?”

Objection.

Sidebar.

This feels too close to an attempt to impeach another witness who hasn’t testified yet.

Question answered

17:08 , Oliver O'Connell

Yesterday, Donald Trump was sucking on some type of candy or lozenge he kept taking out of his jacket while seated in court. He sounded very hoarse at the end of the day.

Today, Ben Kochman of The New York Post spotted what it was:

17:02 , Oliver O'Connell

Here’s the paragraph of the non-prosecution agreement that is being focused on by Bove questions:

3. In or about August 2015, David Pecker, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AMl, met with Michael Cohen, an attorney for a presidential candidate, and at least one other member of the campaign. At the meeting, Pecker offered to help deal with negative stories about that presidential candidate's relationships with women by, among other things, assisting the campaign in identifying such stories so they could be purchased and their publication avoided. Pecker agreed to keep Cohen apprised of any such negative stories.

16:55 , Alex Woodward

“AMI’s assets are worth less to Hudson News Group if AMI is subject to federal investigation?”

Pecker: “The investigation is not going to reduce the earnings of the company, of the magazines.”

But what if AMI had been indicted? Bove asks. He hits the word indicted like it’s italicised.

Pecker admits that yes that would’ve been an issue.

The non-prosecution agreement is just that, however. It does not criminally charge AMI.

“There’s no admission by AMI in this agreement of a campaign violation, correct?” Bove aks.

Bove is focusing on a clause about the federal government prosecuting AMI for “false, incomplete or misleading testimony or information.”

That “gives the federal government some options if it determines that AMI or its representatives give false or misleading testimony, right?”

Court resumes

16:44 , Oliver O'Connell

Alex Woodward is reporting for The Independent from the courthouse in Lower Manhattan:

Pecker is recalling the FBI’s search of his phone in April 2018. Agents showed up at his home around 8am.

He pushed back at Bove’s description of those meetings as “stressful” but admitted he wanted to get them over with.

We’re looking at Pecker’s nonprosecution agreement with the Justice Department from September 2018, which Pecker testified about yesterday.

Bove is suggesting that Pecker and AMI were under pressure from a deal for the company to get sold off to Hudson News Group.

Asked by Bove whether that meant that AMI needed to get the investigations cleared up, Pecker pauses and says yes.

“The federal investigation needed to get resolved before the deal could go through, correct?”

Pecker, after a pause: “The transaction could’ve closed subject to the investigation being completed.”

How does Trump interact with others in court?

16:33 , Oliver O'Connell

Norm Eisen, legal analyst for CNN and senior fellow at the Brookings Governance, had an interesting interaction with the former president as the court went on its break...

16:18 , Oliver O'Connell

Alex Woodward reports from the courtroom:

Bove has less than an hour of cross-examination left. Then there’s some redirect.

It’s highly likely that Pecker will be done today.

I doubt we’ll get an idea who the next witness will be for Monday, but last time prosecutors gave the defence a heads-up the afternoon before.

Thus far, Bove hasn’t done much if anything to undermine Pecker’s credibility, and Pecker’s description of events is consistent with his prior testimony.

Jurors are only getting the defence’s perspective, not anything new about what happened.

‘I would if it’s necessary’: Trump seems to get cold feet about testifying in New York hush money trial

16:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump appears to be getting cold feet about taking the stand to testify in his criminal hush money trial, after he previously insisted that he would “absolutely” do so.

The former president called in to Newsmax on Thursday night after the conclusion of day seven of his historic trial. Anchor Greg Kelly asked him about his intentions to testify in his own defence based on what he had seen of the proceedings so far.

“Well I would if it’s necessary,” Mr Trump answered.

Joe Sommerlad and Alex Woodward report on the former president apparently losing confidence...

Trump seems to get cold feet about testifying in New York hush money trial

16:15 , Alex Woodward

“This is the FBI’s interview, is that correct? These are the FBI notes? The FBI notes, some of these here, are wrong. I know what I testified to yesterday,” says Pecker.

Are you saying the FBI made a mistake here?

“I know what the truth is. I can’t state why it’s written this way.”

Bove: “Your testimony is inconsistent with what’s written here?”

Steinglass, loudly: “Objection.”

Morning recess. 15 minutes.

16:12 , Alex Woodward

During that meeting on 6 January 2017, according to Pecker yesterday, Trump told him “I want to thank you for handling the McDougal situation” and “the doorman situation”.

Bove: “Was that a mistake?”

Pecker: “No.”

Bove: “Do you believe Trump said that to you as we sit here right now?”

Pecker: “Yes I do.”

Bove reminds him about what prosecutors in other meetings have said about the importance of telling the truth, and how it could be criminal if he does not.

He is reminded of a report from a meeting with law enforcement about the meeting that notes that “Trump did not express any gratitude towards Pecker and AMI.”

“I don’t recall.”

Bove shows the interview report to Pecker.

He’s been scanning the document and can’t seem to find what Bove is telling him.

16:04 , Alex Woodward

Questioning now turns to the topic of Stormy Daniels.

“You did not authorise [editor Dylan] Howard to speak to Keith Davidson about Stormy Daniels?” Yes.

What Howard did was “unauthorised and outside of his employment?”

Steinglass objects. It’s sustained.

When Howard told him that Michael Cohen has not paid Keith Davidson, “you were surprised to hear that” because you told him to “stay out of it” and you were “not happy.”

Pecker agrees.

“The main concern was Howard’s reputation,” Bove says. “The concern was Dylan Howard would look bad [if he doesn’t pay his sources] … And he said that to you.”

“And so you and Howard called Cohen, said to Cohen, I want you to know I’m not paying or doing anything on this. And you meant it.” Pecker agrees.

Bove is asking about the meeting that Pecker walked into with James Comey, Sean Spicer et al when he was being briefed on the Fort Lauderdale mass shooting.

“You knew that after that meeting there were some issues between President Trump and James Comey, right?”

There is an objection, a sidebar with Judge Merchan, and then the objection is sustained.

15:53 , Alex Woodward

The court is now looking at the payment to McDougal.

Bove asks whether everyone who signed on to this was following procedure, and that there were no “false entries.”

Pecker agrees.

“You didn’t do anything inappropriate when you consulted counsel [about McDougal]? … When you told Cohen the deal was ‘bulletproof’, you meant it because you had legal advice?”

Yes.

In reference to Keith Davidson [McDougal’s lawyer], Bove asks about him learning that Dylan Howard was “using a major attorney as a source”?

Pecker: “I wouldn’t classify him as a major attorney.”

Pecker says Howard was just one of “50, several other editors” at the time, and “they all have their own sources” and how they get stories. He’s suggesting there wasn’t anything unusual about that pipeline.

The “major attorney” answer got a laugh in the overflow room. Pecker smirked a bit.

15:37 , Alex Woodward

Bove turns to the agreement signed by Karen McDougal, focusing on the bulk of that arrangement, concerning her role working for AMI properties.

“AMI told Ms McDougal that her promotion to AMI magazines would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars?”

Yes.

“Running 65 stories with Ms McDougal’s name?”

Yes.

“When AMI signed this agreement … you believed it had a legitimate business purpose, correct?”

Yes.

Yesterday, Pecker said he included those roles to “substantiate the $150,000 payment” to buy the rights to her story: “With respect to campaign, uh, laws, I wanted to have the contract be a record that stipulates that – for the services that she was going to perform for American Media – has a basis for it.”

15:32 , Alex Woodward

Bove recalls Cohen trying to get a job with Mark Cuban in summer 2016, and Cohen calling on Pecker for a “little help” to arrange paparazzi to cover a meeting between them.

Publishing those photos would “put pressure on Trump to treat Cohen differently” Bove says.

“Michael Cohen never said that to me,” Pecker says. He admits that it could’ve looked that way.

‘Six or seven’ Trump supporters outside court

15:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Media reporter Brian Stelter says on CNN that six or seven Trump supporters are outside the courthouse, some attempting to sell merchandise.

15:24 , Alex Woodward

Pecker recalls Trump calling him in June 2016, which he previously recounted earlier this week.

“Mr Trump called my office … Since I was in Chatham, New Jersey, my assistant transferred the call to Chatham. When the call came in, the assistant in the office, a small office, came over and told me President Trump was on the phone.”

“When I spoke to Mr Trump, he wanted to know, he asked me, I spoke to Michael [Cohen], and I want to talk to you about Karen McDougal. So he said, Is it true there’s a Mexican group looking to buy the story for $8m? I said no, I don’t believe that’s true. Two, he said that [long pause] I’m recollecting completely. He said that [pause] I said that this story about Karen, since she’s claiming she had a relationship with you, should be taken off the market. Mr Trump said I don’t buy stories because it always gets out. I said I still think you should buy the story. Mr Trump said I’ll speak to Michael and get back to you.”

One note: when Bove introduced McDougal, he was trying to get Pecker to admit that he knew about her because she was once a cover model for AMI property Men’s Fitness. But Pecker said they never met. He didn’t know her.

15:22 , Alex Woodward

Cross-examination moves on to discussing Karen McDougal.

Bove tells Pecker that McDougal didn’t want to publish her story but rather restart her career at AMI.

Pecker agrees.

“Her main interest was not publishing this story,” Bove asks.

Pecker agrees.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass has been trying to object to Bove calling Trump “President Trump” referencing periods when he was not the president.

“He wasn’t president in June 2016,” Steinglass says partially off-mic, laughing in frustration.

15:18 , Alex Woodward

Questioning moves on to Dino Sajudin, the Trump World Tower doorman who had a false story about Donald Trump fathering an illegitimate child with a housekeeper.

Pecker confirms that he never talked about it with Trump.

We’re looking at the AMI contract with Dino for $30,000 to buy the rights to his story.

Bove reminds Pecker that he previously testified that, if the story was true and he ran it, it would sell 10 million copies and be a bigger story than the death of Elvis.

“At some point when this agreement was signed and the vetting process was completed, Sajudin was starting to make threats [to] go somewhere else, that’s why you paid him $30,000, right?”

Yes.

“You couldn’t have him going to another publication if that was true, right?”

We’re looking at the contract amendment.

Bove says it was “still possible” in Pecker’s mind that the story was true, and Pecker “couldn’t walk away.” Pecker agrees.

15:07 , Alex Woodward

In another example, an Enquirer headline read: BEN CARSON ‘LIES’ OVER MILITARY & VIOLENT PAST.

Bover notes that the story had been run by Politico days earlier.

Bove’s line of questioning is trying to make the Enquirer look as if it was merely republishing other outlets, not singularly scheming to boost negative stories about Trump.

“With substantially everything in the exhibits you were shown … The National Enquirer was recycling content from other publications because it was cost-efficient and it made business sense?”

“Yes,” says Pecker.

15:03 , Alex Woodward

Bove is trying to suggest that Pecker’s agreement with Trump and Cohen in 2015 was already in line with what The National Enquirer was doing, and not evidence of a conspiracy.

Again — as yesterday — he’s framing every single question as a yes or no.

“It made sense for the business to run articles about Bill and Hillary Clinton … Those articles were negative, right? … It’s easy to say that you would continue to do that during that August 2015 meeting, right? … Running those stories was beneficial to AMI, right? … Doing what’s good for AMI was standard operating procedure, right?”

“There wasn’t much new content in those stories, was there,” regarding negative stories of Trump’s opponents Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz. “It was standard operating procedure for The National Enquirer to recycle content from other publications and frame it slightly differently, right?”

Bove gives the example that The Guardian had already run articles about Carson’s malpractice before the Enquirer ran headlines about Carson leaving sponges in peoples’ brains.

14:54 , Alex Woodward

Pecker is reading through a transcript in a defence exhibit of his testimony to a federal grand jury in 2018 about the fateful Trump Tower meeting in 2015.

Basically, Bove is trying to pin down the fact that Pecker didn’t bring up Hope Hicks in that meeting with the feds, yet later said that she was in and out of that meeting in some capacity.

Also, Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn is here in the court — as he was yesterday — in the same seat two rows behind Trump, one row behind the Secret Service.

14:49 , Alex Woodward

Bove’s whole schtick yesterday just got sunk by Merchan.

Merchan instructs the jury that there’s nothing weird about prosecutors speaking with witnesses before a trial.

“The law permits the witness to do so,” he said. “Speaking to a witness about his or her testimony, reading materials, is a normal part of preparing for trial. It is not improper, as long as the witness does not depart from the truth.”

Before getting back to Hope Hicks questions, Bove tells Pecker: “I want to apologize and move on from that.”

14:43 , Alex Woodward

Assistant district attorney for Manhattan Joshua Steinglass raised a couple of issues, including the defence’s “improper impeachment” of tabloid mogul David Pecker on the stand yesterday, and defence attorney Emil Bove’s conflation of state and federal prosecutors – both of which made things (intentionally) unclear to the jury, in what seemed like an obvious attempt to derail his testimony and make him look unreliable.

Pecker returns to the witness stand, for likely his last day in court (for now), and the jury is walking in.

Where are Trump’s supporters?

14:41 , Oliver O'Connell

Busy at work, presumably?

Court resumes

14:38 , Oliver O'Connell

Judge Juan Merchan is on the bench and addresses a couple of issues before the cross-examination of David Pecker resumes before the jury.

He says that next week’s gag order hearing will be on Thursday at 9:30am. That’s the gag order violations hearing on the other four new allegations of contempt of court that popped up this week alone. He is yet to rule on the first 10 instances.

The Independent’s Alex Woodward is reporting from inside the courtroom...

Watch: Trump’s courthouse remarks in full

14:35 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump claims yesterday in court went “very well” and the case should “be over” if it weren’t for the “highly-conflicted” judge.

The former president also remarked about his Supreme Court argument on presidential immunity and the “freezing courtroom”.

Trump wishes Melania a happy birthday

14:31 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump begins his daily remarks to the media by wishing his wife Melania a happy birthday, saying he will join her down in Florida this evening.

The former president says he would be with her if it weren’t for his trial.

No Trump family members have attended the trial so far but are free to do so...

Trump again claims his supporters can’t get to courthouse

14:27 , Oliver O'Connell

And yet people protesting against him don’t seem to have a problem getting there?

Rooting for Trump to fail has made his stock shorters millions

14:15 , Joe Sommerlad

Here’s the latest on Trump Media and Technology, parent company of Truth Social, whose share price has fluctuated pretty wildly since its recent launch on the Nasdaq exchange but which is at least earning someone a few bucks.

Rooting for Trump to fail has made his stock shorters millions

MAGA conspiracy blog files for bankruptcy amid defamation lawsuits

14:00 , Joe Sommerlad

Bad news for MAGA as the popular conservative blog Gateway Pundit is filing for bankruptcy amid a string of defamation lawsuits it is facing.

Launched in 2004, the site has been a hotbed of conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, school shootings and other topics since its founding and has staunchly promoted by Trump and his allies.

The site was even granted White House press credentials during his administration.

But its peddling of conspiracy theories has landed the blog in hot water in recent years and it is now facing a string of lawsuits alleging it promoted bogus claims about the 2020 election.

In a message posted on the site on Wednesday, the blog’s founder, Jim Hoft, said the outlet had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection “as a result of the progressive liberal lawfare attacks” and that this was “not an admission of fault or culpability”.

Here’s Martha McHardy’s report.

MAGA conspiracy blog files for bankruptcy amid string of defamation lawsuits

The National Enquirer was the go-to American tabloid for many years. Donald Trump helped change that

13:45 , Joe Sommerlad

Catch-and-kill. Checkbook journalism. Secret deals. Friends helping friends.

Even by National Enquirer standards, testimony by its former publisher David Pecker at Trump‘s hush money trial this week has revealed an astonishing level of corruption at America’s best-known tabloid and may one day be seen as the moment it effectively died.

“It just has zero credibility,” said Lachlan Cartwright, executive editor of The Enquirer from 2014 to 2017.

“Whatever sort of credibility it had was totally damaged by what happened in court this week.”

The National Enquirer was the go-to American tabloid for many years. Donald Trump helped change that

Don Jr and Eric ‘helping to pick next Trump officials and staffers'

13:30 , Joe Sommerlad

Trump’s adult sons, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, are reportedly playing a central role in drawing up a list of potential candidates to join a second Trump administration in anticipation of their father’s victory over Joe Biden in November’s presidential election.

The brothers are not running the transition team, leaving that responsibility to the Trump campaign’s senior adviser, Susie Wiles, but are instead playing a lead role in vetting prospective officials and staffers on ideological grounds.

By doing so, they reportedly hope to ensure a greater degree of loyalty than the former president experienced during his chaotic first term in the White House from 2017 to 2021.

Don Jr in particular has made it his mission “to keep the John Boltons of the world outside a second Trump administration”, one insider told Axios, referring to the Republican’s estranged former national security adviser, a foreign policy hawk who has become a potent critic since being dismissed in September 2019.

Don Jr and Eric ‘helping to pick next Trump administration officials and staffers’

Team Biden hits back after Trump dismisses Charlottesville as ‘little peanut’

13:15 , Joe Sommerlad

The Republican presidential candidate/criminal defendant may come to regret bringing up the notorious “Unite the Right” rally in his recent denunciation of pro-Palestinian demonstrations on American college campuses.

Here’s Graig Graziosi’s report on his distinctly unhelpful comments.

Donald Trump claims campus protests are worse than deadly rally in Charlottesville

Live: Donald Trump's hush money trial continues in New York

13:00 , Joe Sommerlad

Here’s your livestream link with the trial due to resume again shortly in Manhattan.

Raskin denounces conservative Supreme Court justices as ‘partisan operatives’ helping Trump

12:45 , Joe Sommerlad

Bravo to the redoubtable Maryland Democrat for this.

New York hush money trial: What did Trump say after he left court yesterday?

12:30 , Joe Sommerlad

Well, I guess you asked for it, so here’s a complete transcript of His Majesty’s (somewhat deranged) remarks from yesterday afternoon:

“Today was breathtaking… breathtaking and amazing testimony. So this is a trial that should’ve never happened, this is a case that should’ve never been filed and was really an incredible, an incredible day. Open your eyes and we can’t let this continue to happen to our country.

“On another matter, you know, the economy has just been reported to be doing very badly the stock market’s way down. And some horrible numbers came out, including very high numbers on inflation and in particular gasoline at seven and a half dollars in California and that usually leads the way. It’s going to happen here too.

“And very importantly as you look at the various colleges all over the country and beyond colleges because it’s happening in other areas too. You see what’s happening on the front having to do with Palestine and Israel and protests and hate, anger Biden is sending an absolutely horrible message. Horrible, horrible message. He has no idea how to message. He can’t speak. He can’t put two sentences together. He doesn’t know what to do. This is not a president. This is somebody that shouldn’t be doing what he’s doing. Because he can’t do it again. He can’t do it well.

“We’re having protests all over. He was talking about Charlottesville. Charlottesville was a little peanut. And it was nothing compared, the hate wasn’t the kind of hate that you have here. This is tremendous hate and we have a man that can’t talk about it because he doesn’t understand and he doesn’t understand what’s going on with our country. He doesn’t understand that all over the world we’re being laughed at as a country because of him and his administration.

“And today we had, I hear, because I was forced to be here and I’m glad I was because it was a very interesting day in a certain way. But the US Supreme Court had a monumental hearing on immunity and the immunity having to do with presidential immunity. I think it was made clear, I hope it was made clear, that the president has to have immunity or you don’t have a president or at most you could say it would be a ceremonial president. That’s not what the founders had in mind. We’re not talking about ceremony. We want presidents that can get things done and bring people together. So, I heard it, the meeting was quite amazing coordination as the justices were on their game. So let’s see how that all pans out. But again, I say presidential immunity: very powerful, presidential immunity is imperative, or you practically won’t have a country anymore. Thank you very much.”

Trump loses latest bid for new E Jean Carroll defamation trial

12:15 , Joe Sommerlad

The former president’s request to have a new trial in his $83m defamation case with writer E Jean Carroll, who accused him of sexual assault, was denied by a federal court on Thursday.

Judge Lews Kaplan of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected the motion.

Here’s Eric Garcia’s report.

Trump loses latest bid for new E Jean Carroll defamation trial

New York hush money trial: What to expect on day eight

12:00 , Joe Sommerlad

Our man Alex Woodward is back at the Manhattan Criminal Court once more this morning and says this:

“We are going to have more cross-examination of David Pecker from Trump defence attorney Emil Bove today.

“He didn’t give the judge a timeline for how long he’s going to take, but he’s speeding through questions to cast an overall pall of untrustworthiness in an attempt to impeach Pecker’s credibility on the stand.

“We still haven’t heard from Justice Merchan about the 10 alleged gag order violations, so that could come up.

“He also scheduled a hearing on four more alleged violations for next week.”

You can see the prosecution’s filings on that here and here.

Trump tells Newsmax he never actually wanted to ‘lock up’ Hillary Clinton and backs away from testifying

11:45 , Joe Sommerlad

In another media phone-in last night, the defendant rowed back on one of his most notorious catchphrases and insisted again that he is on trial for no reason whatsoever.

There was also plenty of electioneering hyperbole like this, which is simply untrue. “The best economy in history”?? Is that how you remember it America?

Perhaps more significantly, he’s now saying he will only take the stand in Manhattan to defend himself “if it’s necessary”, a big retreat from his earlier posturing on the matter, presumably after being strongly advised against it by Todd Blanche and Emile Bove.

Key takeaways from hush money trial day seven: Arnie, Melania and ‘mentor’ Trump

11:30 , Joe Sommerlad

Here’s Kelly Rissman with a comprehensive round-up of Thursday’s events from Manhattan.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and ‘mentor’ Trump: Key takeaways from Trump’s day in court

New York hush money trial: Trump ‘used White House to manage blowback from affair allegations’

11:15 , Joe Sommerlad

According to Pecker’s testimony yesterday, Trump’s interest in the Karen McDougal story did not end with its initial suppression and his victory in the 2016 election.

Instead, he continued to keep tabs on McDougal’s contractual agreement with American Media Inc to keep quiet through at least his first year in office, with Pecker recounting several incidents in which Trump asked after “our girl” and another in which he raged at the publisher after the story finally became public and the model was interviewed by CNN’s Anderson Cooper in March 2018.

Here’s more from Alex Woodward.

Trump used White House to manage blowback from Karen McDougal allegations: Pecker

New York hush money trial: Arnold Schwarzenegger dragged into Trump web of intrigue

10:45 , Joe Sommerlad

Pecker, who will be back on the stand for probably the final time today for more cross-examination from Trump attorney Emile Bove, also revealed on Thursday that he previously had a similar “catch-and-kill” arrangement with Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger during his run to be governor of California.

His name came up, along with those of other celebrities like Mark Wahlberg and Tiger Woods, when Pecker was asked about how commonplace his “checkbook journalism” antics were.

Here’s Alex Woodward on that too.

Arnie Schwarzenegger dragged into Trump trial during tabloid boss’s testimony

New York hush money trial: David Pecker testifies to Trump plan to bury Karen McDougal story

10:15 , Joe Sommerlad

Back in Manhattan, the former National Enquirer was back on the stand for his third day of testimony about his magazine’s “catch-and-kill” game.

Pecker testified that he agreed to spend tens of thousands of dollars to buy and then bury politically compromising stories about Trump with the assurance that “the boss will take care of it”.

That promise, allegedly from Trump’s then-personal attorney Michael Cohen, gave the ex-American Media Inc chief the green light to pay Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 to buy the rights to her story of an alleged affair with the then-presidential candidate.

Alex Woodward was there and sent this report.

Tabloid boss details Trump plan to bury McDougal story: ‘Boss will take care of it’

Key Takeaways from Trump’s immunity arguments at the Supreme Court

09:45 , Joe Sommerlad

On the final day of arguments for this term, the nine justices questioned lawyers for Trump and Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith for three hours, toying with whether or not American presidents should be awarded broad, some or no immunity from criminal prosecution.

Here are Ariana Baio’s takeaways from the hearing.

Key Takeaways from Trump’s immunity arguments at the Supreme Court

Supreme Court justices appear poised to offer Trump some immunity

09:15 , Joe Sommerlad

Trump is right that it was a “BIG DAY IN COURT(S)” yesterday, with the Supreme Court hearing oral arguments on his dubious “presidential immunity” defence and his hush money trial picking up in New York.

In DC, the justices appeared poised to offer Trump and future US presidents some form of protection from criminal prosecution over actions carried out while in the White House while rejecting broad absolute immunity, acknowleding the “huge implications” of their eventual decision.

Ariana Baio has this report on a monumental day, which could have major repercussions for this year’s presidential race, let alone the future of American democracy.

Supreme Court justices appear poised to offer Trump some immunity

Truth Social: Trump claims hush money trial ‘has completely fallen apart’ and bashes media rivals

08:49 , Joe Sommerlad

Good morning! Let’s take a look at Trump’s latest social media output, shall we?

Still absolutely refusing to learn his lesson regarding the gag order in the hush money trial, he has again referred to Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg as “Soros backed” and claimed, preposterously, that the case “has completely fallen apart” and that “Virtually every Legal Scholar and Expert has stated that there is no Crime, there never was.”

Have they? You’d think we would have heard about that by now.

Meanwhile, he’s continued to push his lie that the New York City authorities are suppressing (non-existent) mass MAGA protests outside the courthouse and posted further Fox News clips attacking the “sham” trial.

Elsewhere, he’s back to trashing Morning Joe and The New York Times again like 2017 never ended but is curiously quiet on the subject of the Supreme Court, indicating, perhaps, that he realises just how pivotal the justices’ eventual ruling will be to his fate.

Reversing Trump repeal, FCC restores net neutrality

08:15 , AP

The FCC on Thursday restored “net neutrality” rules that prevent broadband internet providers such as Comcast and AT&T from favoring some sites and apps over others.

The move effectively reinstates a net neutrality order the commission first issued in 2015 during the Obama administration; under then-President Donald Trump, the FCC subsequently repealed those rules in 2017.

Net neutrality is the principle that providers of internet service should treat all traffic equally. The rules, for instance, ban practices that throttle or block certain sites or apps, or that offer higher speeds to customers willing to pay extra.

Read more...

Net neutrality restored as FCC votes to regulate internet providers

Trump claims campus protests are worse than deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville

06:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has claimed that the antisemitic, white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 was “peanuts” compared to the current pro-Palestine demonstrations across US college campuses.

Mr Trump made the comments on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Wednesday.

“Joe Biden would say, constantly, that he ran because of Charlottesville,” he wrote, referencing the 2020 election.

“Well, if that’s the case, he’s done a really terrible job because Charlottesville is like a ‘peanut’ compared to the riots and anti-Israel protests that are happening all over our Country, RIGHT NOW.”

Graig Graziosi has the story:

Donald Trump claims campus protests are worse than deadly rally in Charlottesville

Trump vows to beat Biden in New York

04:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump vowed to beat President Joe Biden in the 2024 election in New York as he made a surprise campaign stop at a construction site in Manhattan early on Thursday morning – on a day when testimony resumes in his hush money trial and the US Supreme Court hears arguments in his “presidential immunity” case.

“We’re going to make a play for New York,” Mr Trump told reporters at the event.

Martha McHardy has the story:

Trump goes into campaign mode on morning of criminal trial and Supreme Court case

03:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump meets New Yorkers ahead of resumption of hush money trial

The National Enquirer was the go-to American tabloid for many years. Donald Trump helped change that

01:15 , AP

Catch and kill. Checkbook journalism. Secret deals. Friends helping friends.

Even by National Enquirer standards, testimony by its former publisher David Pecker at Donald Trump‘s hush money trial this week has revealed an astonishing level of corruption at America’s best-known tabloid and may one day be seen as the moment it effectively died.

“It just has zero credibility,” said Lachlan Cartwright, executive editor of the Enquirer from 2014 to 2017. “Whatever sort of credibility it had was totally damaged by what happened in court this week.”

On Thursday, Pecker was back on the witness stand to tell more about the arrangement he made to boost Trump’s presidential candidacy in 2016, tear down his rivals and silence any revelations that may have damaged him.

Continue reading...

The National Enquirer was the go-to American tabloid for many years. Donald Trump helped change that

Watch: Former Trump White House lawyer says ex-president needs to be sharp to speak with press

Friday 26 April 2024 00:15 , Oliver O'Connell

E Jean Carroll defamation: Trump loses latest bid for new trial

Thursday 25 April 2024 23:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Eric Garcia reports:

A federal court denied former president Donald Trump’s request to have a new trial related to the charges that he defamed writer E Jean Carroll, who accused him of sexual assault.

The US District Court for the Southern District of New York handed down the denial on Thursday after Mr Trump had sought a new trial.

In May 2023, a jury found Mr Trump liable for sexually abusing Ms Carroll. Then, earlier this year, a jury determined that Mr Trump for defaming Ms Carroll, with $65mn in punitive damages and $18mn in compensatory damages.

In response, Mr Trump posted a $91.6mn bond to appeal the verdict against him.

Read on...

Trump loses latest bid for new E Jean Carroll defamation trial

Watch: Trump calls Charlottesville ‘a little peanut’ compared to college Gaza protests

Thursday 25 April 2024 23:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Schwarzenegger dragged into Trump hush money trial as tabloid boss reveals plan to buy damaging stories

Thursday 25 April 2024 22:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Alex Woodward and Kelly Rissman report:

The tabloid publisher behind a “catch and kill” scheme to bury compromising stories about Donald Trump testified in court that he previously had a similar arrangement with Hollywood actor turned ex-governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger.

David Pecker, the former publisher of tabloid giant National Enquirer, is testifying for the third day of the former president’s historic criminal trial.

Read on...

Arnie Schwarzenegger dragged into Trump trial during tabloid boss’s testimony

Watch: Trump glad to have been forced to attend ‘very interesting day’ despite missing SCOTUS immunity hearing

Thursday 25 April 2024 22:00 , Oliver O'Connell

What is happening with the gag order violations?

Thursday 25 April 2024 21:52 , Alex Woodward

Judge Juan Merchan has not yet issued an order on the 10 alleged gag order violations, but he will hold a hearing on the 11th through 14th alleged incidents next week, as he did the other day about those first 10.

We are still waiting on an order regarding the first 10. It is unclear if he'll do something about that before the next hearing or whether he will wait to do it all together.

That seems doubtful.

MAGA conspiracy blog files for bankruptcy amid string of defamation lawsuits

Thursday 25 April 2024 21:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Popular MAGA conspiracy blog Gateway Pundit is filing for bankruptcy amid a string of defamation lawsuits it is facing.

The blog, which was launched in 2004, has been a hotbed of conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, school shootings, and other topics since its founding and has staunchly promoted Donald Trump and his MAGA allies, with the site being granted White House press credentials during the Trump administration.

But its peddling of conspiracy theories has landed the blog in hot water in recent years and it is now facing several lawsuits alleging it promoted bogus claims about the 2020 election.

Martha McHardy reports:

MAGA conspiracy blog files for bankruptcy amid string of defamation lawsuits

Watch: Hoarse-sounding Trump says testimony was ‘breathtaking’

Thursday 25 April 2024 21:42 , Oliver O'Connell

Judge sets cause hearing for alleged gag order violations

Thursday 25 April 2024 21:36 , Oliver O'Connell

Thursday 25 April 2024 21:31 , Alex Woodward

Steinglass is elaborating now without a jury present about his objection during the cross-examination of Pecker.

“That was a totally improper line of questioning” and an “improper impeachment violation” of the witness, Steinglass says.

Steinglass is arguing that the documents Bove has been referencing would not help Pecker remember what he's saying, leaving a false impression to jurors that Pecker could have remembered what he was saying if he looked at them.

“There wasn't anything in that document and therefore it's misleading,” Judge Merchan said.

Bove tries to jump in. Merchan cuts him off.

“Are you missing my point?” he said. “Please be careful.”

Court is done for the day.

Thursday 25 April 2024 21:23 , Alex Woodward

Bove questions Pecker's earlier testimony about Hope Hicks jumping in and out of the August 2015 Trump Tower meeting. That elicits an objection from prosecution attorney Joshua Steinglass.

Judge Merchan sustains the objection.

Bove is suggesting that Pecker didn't mention Hope Hicks at any point in his July 2018 meeting with prosecutors.

"I don't remember," Pecker says.

Steinglass wants to approach the bench again.

It's the third time they've done so over this particular line of questioning.

Trump looks casual, and unworried, chatting with defence attorney Susan Necheles while the attorneys are at the bench. He's gestured towards them a couple of times.

And with that, Merchan is excusing jurors for the day.

Pecker is still on the stand, alone, looking like he's just seen a ghost.

Cross-examination will resume and likely finish tomorrow.

Pecker testimony gives insight into Trump’s preoccupation with McDougal affair

Thursday 25 April 2024 21:08 , Oliver O'Connell

Thursday 25 April 2024 21:06 , Alex Woodward

Bove: “Because in fairness it's hard to remember the dates of these things even when they happened a couple of months ago, right?”

Trump is the most alert he's been all day. Chin up, staring at Pecker, jerking his head.

Bove keeps trying to suggest prosecutors prepped him for testimony and has been instructed to say what he's saying today.

"What I said under oath was the truth," Pecker says. "That’s all I planned on doing today."

"It's not a script."

Thursday 25 April 2024 21:01 , Alex Woodward

Bove's line of questioning about Pecker not giving an exact date for the Trump Tower meeting in August 2015 suggests that he is trying to cast to the jury that his testimony is unreliable. He notes that Trump wasn't even in New York City in the first week of August because he was preparing for a debate.

“You changed your testimony this week on this issue,” Bove says.

Steinglass keeps trying to object.

“Why did you change your testimony?” Bove says.

Pecker wasn't sure what the date was, just that it was in the middle of August.

“I don't mean to put you on the spot,” Bove says. “Even when you're doing your best ... it's hard to remember what people said almost 10 years ago, correct? ... You fill in some details to keep them in sequence, and to make them sound logical?”

Pecker can only say yes. Bove will certainly be using this against him to make the rest of his testimony look wholly unreliable.

Thursday 25 April 2024 20:58 , Alex Woodward

Trump is slouching with his right arm slung over his chair.

Bove gets Pecker to admit that he bought a story about Tiger Woods in order to use it for leverage to get him to appear in AMI titles.

Trump has put his arm back down. Now he's crossing his arms and squinting and jerking his head to get a look at Pecker on the witness stand.

We're hearing about Pecker's deals to suppress other stories about Rahm Emanuel and Mark Wahlberg.

Thursday 25 April 2024 20:50 , Alex Woodward

Bove is asking many yes or no questions. Pecker hasn't said much other than “yes”.

Pecker agrees with Bove that he had never heard of a “catch-and-kill” scheme until after this case.

Bove's questions all typically end with a “right?” or something to that effect, prompting Pecker to say some version of “yes”. It gives Bove a lot of control of the narrative to the jury.

For example, here's Bove coming back to the Arnold Schwarzenneger scenario from 2002:

In that period, you were trying to expand AMI's holding in the fitness business? Yes.

A huge deal, right? worth about $365m? You wanted this to go through very much? Yes to all.

You needed Arnold's blessing, correct? Yes.

You met him in person and you reached an agreement? Yes, we did.

Click here to read the full blog on The Independent's website