Stormy Daniels tells Trump trial she ‘didn’t care’ about $130,000 hush-money payment – live
Stormy Daniels in Berlin on 11 October 2018. Donald Trump in court in New York on 7 May 2024.
LIVE – Updated at 18:15
Adult film actor tells court all she wanted was for Trump encounter story to remain secret as she had not told her boyfriend.
18:15
No cameras are allowed inside the courtroom during Donald Trump’s hush-money trial, but these courtroom sketches offer a glimpse into today’s proceedings.
17:59
The court is breaking for lunch and will resume at 2pm ET.
As Donald Trump left the courtroom just now, he looked around the gallery. He did not seem more dour than normal.
Before the break, the prosecution asked Stormy Daniels about the delay of the $130,000 payment. “Did you get paid the 130,000 on 14 October 2016, as was disclosed in that email?”
Daniels said: “No, it was late.”
“What did you understand for the reason the delay was happening?” Daniels replied:
I didn’t know it was late, he just kept making excuses.
Who? She said Michael Cohen to her lawyer, Keith Davidson.
Daniels testifies she ‘didn’t care’ about $130,000 hush-money amount
17:49Hugo Lowell
Prosecutors elicit more important testimony from Stormy Daniels undercutting another of Donald Trump’s defense claims that he was being extorted by her and her lawyer, Keith Davidson.
Daniels says she didn’t negotiate for more money than $130,000 because she “didn’t care” about the money.
Her financial situation was “the best it had ever been” and all she wanted was the story to remain secret – because she had not told her boyfriend – and just wanted all of it to be over.
17:41
Stormy Daniels said she met Donald Trump again in the summer of 2007 in Los Angeles.
Trump “kept trying to make sexual advances, putting his hand on my leg, scooting closer,” she said, NBC reported. Daniels added: “I told him I was on my period”.”
She said she stopped taking Trump’s calls after he told her that he couldn’t get her on “The Apprentice”.
17:40
Stormy Daniels testified that she later attended the launch of Trump Vodka in January 2007 and that she had agreed to meet Donald Trump because the chance to be on The Apprentice was still up in the air.
Daniels said she was introduced by Trump to Karen McDougal at the party. McDougal, a former Playboy model, has said she had an extramarital affair with Trump.
Daniels describes meeting with Trump at Trump Tower
17:38
Stormy Daniels said that she met with Donald Trump again at the Trump Tower in 2007 after he suggested she visit.
Daniels testified that she went up to his office to meet him and that she also met with his assistant, Rhona Graff, in the lobby area.
She said that during their meeting, Daniels recalled Trump telling her that he was “still working on the Apprentice thing”. She said Trump also offered her tickets to pageants, NBC reported.
Asked if he seemed concerned about others seeing her there, she said:
Oh no, he introduced me to everybody. He just seemed busy.
17:29
Stormy Daniels testified that she saw Donald Trump the day after their sexual encounter. She said his bodyguard, Keith Schiller, had asked if she would meet him again and that she had agreed because it was in public.
Daniels said she met Trump at a hotel nightclub where he was seated at a table with Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who Trump called “Big Ben”.
She said she spoke with Trump often in the weeks after they met, “sometimes two to three times a week”, and that she would always put him on speaker phone and that “dozens of people” heard her on the phone with him.
Asked why she continued to speak to Trump, she told the jury that her publicist “thought it was a good idea” to continue the conversations about the TV show.
Stormy Daniels says Trump did not ask her to keep their sexual encounter a secret
17:29
The prosecution asks Stormy Daniels if Donald Trump asked her to keep their encounter confidential. Daniels says no.
Did he express any concern at that point with his wife finding out? Daniels says no.
17:24
The court is taking a short break.
Before the break, Stormy Daniels was asked what her expectations were about going to Donald Trump’s hotel room after meeting him at the celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe. Daniels testified that she had no expectations other than going for dinner with someone else.
Asked to describe their meeting in the penthouse suite of the hotel, Daniels said Trump was wearing silk or satin pyjamas and that she made fun of him for them, asking “Does Mr Hefner know you stole his pyjamas?”
She said she asked him to go and change, which he did. When he returned in a suit, they sat at a dining table and began talking. She said they spoke about how she grew up, and he asked whether she had a boyfriend.
Daniels said Trump asked her how she got involved in the adult entertainment business, and that he was very interested in how she had segued from being a porn star to writing and directing.
17:24
Stormy Daniels said Donald Trump “was just on the bed” in his boxer shorts and T-shirt when she exited the bathroom.
She said:
I laughed, nervously, tried to make a joke out of it I guess and step and leave …I just thought to myself, great, I’ve put myself in this bad situation.
Trump “stood up between me in the door – not in a threatening manner,” she said. She told him that “I gotta go.”
He said I thought we were getting somewhere … I thought you were serious about what you wanted, if you want to get out of that trailer park, I was offended because I never lived in a trailer park.
‘I blacked out’: Daniels describes ‘brief’ sexual encounter with Trump
17:24
Stormy Daniels is asked what happened after she told Donald Trump that she wanted to leave.
I just think I blacked out – I was not drunk I was not drugged … I just don’t remember.
She says at some point, she ended up on the bed having sex with Trump.
The next thing I know is I was on the bed, somehow on the opposite side of the bed from where we had been standing, I had my clothes and my shoes off … we were in missionary position.
She said she “was staring up at the ceiling and didn’t know how I got there”.
“Was he wearing a condom?” the prosecution asked. Daniels said: “No.”
“Was that concerning to you?” Daniels replied: “Yes.”
Did you say anything about it? Daniels said: “I didn’t say anything at all.”
And was it brief? “Yes.”
Daniels says Trump told her ‘let’s get together again, honeybunch’ after sexual encounter
17:24
The prosecution asks Stormy Daniels if she remembers getting dressed after having sex with Donald Trump.
Daniels says:
Sitting on the edge of the bed, noticing that it was absolutely completely dark outside now, it was really hard to get my shoes on because my hands were shaking so hard … My hands were shaking so hard that I was having a hard time getting dressed.
She is asked what Trump said to her. She says Trump said:
Let’s get together again, honeybunch!
The prosecution asks: “Did you say no at anytime?” “No.” “Why not?” Daniels says:
Because I didn’t say anything at all.
What did Trump say when she was leaving?
He said that we have to get together again soon, went to kiss me goodbye, I just laughed as fast as I could. That was it.
Judge warns prosecutors to keep Daniels’ questioning relevant to the case
17:24Hugo Lowell
The judge, Juan Merchan, is clearly unhappy with the Stormy Daniels testimony.
He warned prosecutors before the trial resumed after the morning break that much of her testimony had so far been irrelevant to the case – and at times it has felt like Daniels gossiping for sport, except for when the mood turned serious when she talked about how she came to have sex with Donald Trump.
Still, Judge Merchan on multiple occasions has now admonished Daniels for talking at length about the encounter, often in an unserious manner and at times making faces.
“Just listen to the question and answer the question,” Merchan has instructed her, after sustaining objection after objection from the defense.
17:23Hugo Lowell
Prosecutors are getting some important testimony from Stormy Daniels undercutting one of Donald Trump’s defense claims – and Jeffrey McConney’s testimony – that he didn’t want the story about their affair to come out, not because of the 2016 election, but because he didn’t want to embarrass his wife Melania.
Asked if he was concerned in July 2006 or summer 2007 about anyone finding out, or if he told her to keep it confidential? “Absolutely not.”
17:12Hugo Lowell
Stormy Daniels testified that after she used the restroom attached to the bedroom, Trump had appeared on the bed in boxers and a T-shirt.
Daniels said she tried to sidestep around him, but Trump confronted her standing up in the doorway.
Although not in a threatening manner, Daniels said, Trump told her: “I thought you were serious about what you wanted” when she tried to leave.
Daniels testified that the:
Next thing I know, I was on opposite side of bed from where we had been standing, my clothes and shoes were off, my bra was still on … and we were missionary position…
Her testimony was cut off when Trump’s lawyer, Susan Necheles, objected, which Merchan sustained.
‘Like a jump scare’: Daniels testifies she was ‘startled’ to see Trump in boxer shorts in bed
17:05
Stormy Daniels is describing what happened after she went into the bathroom of Donald Trump’s penthouse suite, where she saw a “leather-looking toiletry bag” containing products such as Old Spice.
She says that when she came out of the bathroom, she saw Trump wearing boxer shorts and a T-shirt. She wasn’t expecting him to be there minus a lot of clothing, she said. She said:
At first I was just startled, like a jump scare … and that’s when I had that moment where I felt like the room spun in slow motion and I felt the blood basically leave my hands and my feet, almost like if you stand up too fast … I just thought, oh my god, what did I misread to get here? The intention is pretty clear if someone’s stripped down to their underwear and on the bed.
Daniels testifies Trump told her she reminded him of his daughter Ivanka
16:51
Stormy Daniels later said Donald Trump told her she reminded her of his daughter Ivanka, when he was trying to convince her that appearing on The Apprentice would be good for her career:
You remind me of my daughter, she is smart and blonde and beautiful and people underestimate her as well.
16:47
The court is back in session after a short break.
Stormy Daniels is back on the witness stand.
Daniels testifies Trump said he and Melania ‘don’t sleep in the same room’
16:43Hugo Lowell
Stormy Daniels has been testifying at a rapid pace about how she first met Donald Trump in July 2006 at a golf tournament, after which Trump invited her up to his room for dinner.
Daniels recounted in incredible detail the foyer to his hotel suite, how Trump initially came out in silk-satin pyjamas that she told him to change out of, which he did, and how they made small talk.
At one point, Daniels said she talked with Trump about his wife, Melania, as they flicked through photos. She told him Melania was beautiful, but recalled Trump said not to worry because “we don’t even sleep in the same room”.
16:38
Stormy Daniels testified that most people want to know the salacious details of her work, but that Donald Trump was interested in the business aspects.
She said he asked questions including if she had health insurance, or about STD testing.
16:35
Prosecutor Rebecca Mangold asks Sally Franklin to read a line from Donald Trump’s book, Trump: How to Get Rich, in which Trump wrote that:
I am the chairman and president of the Trump Organization. I like saying that because it means a great deal to me.
Another excerpt with the chapter title “Pay attention to the details” reads:
If you don’t know every aspect of what you’re doing, down to the paperclips, you’re setting yourself up for some unwelcome surprises.
16:35
Right now, on direct-examination, the prosecution is asking Sally Franklin, of Random House, about books by Donald Trump that the company has published. Among them is How to Get Rich.
Franklin was asked to read excerpts from Trump’s texts. “For many years, I’ve said that if someone screws you, screw them back,” one passage read by Franklin said.
Like it says in the Bible, an eye for an eye.
She was also asked about a portion of text that read, “All the women on the Apprentice flirted with me” and claimed “a sexual dynamic is always present between two people unless [one] is asexual”.
One passage also undermines any defense claim that Trump didn’t pay attention to payments as he wrote in his own words:
I always sign my checks, so I know where my money is going … I always read my bills, so I know I’m not overcharged.
16:34
On re-direct, Sally Franklin was asked to read Donald Trump’s acknowledgments page from How to Get Rich, to show that Trump’s words reflected his real-life speech and behavior, and were not a ghostwriter’s artful turn of phrase.
“She’s done a remarkable job helping me put my experiences on paper,” Trump said, in reference to secondary author Meredith McIver.
By saying “helping me put my experiences on paper,” Trump is attributing things he described doing in his book to himself.
16:34Hugo Lowell
Prosecutors have Sally Franklin read another excerpt from the book Trump: Think Like a Billionaire that strikes exactly at Trump’s awareness of his finances:
There’s nothing worse than a computer signing checks… when you sign a check yourself, you’re seeing what’s really going on.
Recall that Donald Trump personally signed the $35,000 hush-money reimbursement checks to Michael Cohen, in part because the money was being drawn from his personal account, according to testimony from the ex-Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney yesterday.
Prosecutors are suggesting those checks showed Trump had direct knowledge of the illicit repayment scheme, even as Trump’s lawyers say he just automatically signed off without understanding precise details.
Stormy Daniels called to the stand
16:33
The prosecution calls its next witness: Stormy Daniels.
Daniels, an adult film star whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, says she met Donald Trump in 2006 at a celebrity golf tournament. Daniels was 27 at the time and Trump was 60 and Daniels has always said the sex was consensual.
Just before the 2016 election, Daniels said she was approached by Michael Cohen, Trump’s lawyer at the time, and offered $130,000 not to disclose the alleged affair. She accepted the money. “The story was coming out again. I was concerned for my family and their safety,” Daniels told 60 Minutes in 2018.
After the Wall Street Journal broke the story of the payment, Daniels sued Trump to release her from the non-disclosure agreement. She said it was void because it had not been signed by Trump.
Daniels testifies about her personal biography as prosecutors paint sympathetic portrait
16:31
Susan Hoffinger, in asking Stormy Daniels about her background, is making her a sympathetic character.
The prosecutor knows that Donald Trump’s team is going to try chipping away at Daniels’ credibility, so she is showing that the adult actress is a dynamic, kind, intelligent woman.
Daniels testified that she had received a full scholarship for veterinary medicine but didn’t attend, because of the cost. She got into the adult industry in high school, when Daniels met someone at a horse stable where she worked, who turned out to be an exotic dancer.
I started dancing on the weekends, which was actually kind of cool because I didn’t have to miss any classes, and I could make more in two nights than I did shoveling manure eight hours a day.
Hoffinger also prompted Daniels to discuss how she left home early, at age 17. “My mother was very neglectful, she would disappear for days at the time,” Daniels recalled.
I wish I could say she was some kind of addict, because that would be some sort of excuse…
Hoffigner asked Daniels whether she’d supported herself since leaving home as a teen. “Yes,” Daniels said.
16:30
As Stormy Daniels responds to Susan Hoffinger’s questions, she is looking both toward the prosecutor and addressing jurors directly.
At one point, she took a sip of water from a plastic cup.
16:30
“I’d like to now direct your attention to July 2006,” says Susan Hoffinger, the prosecutor.
Stormy Daniels says she was in Lake Tahoe with Wicked Entertainment, an adult company.
“What were you and others from Wicked Entertainment doing in Lake Tahoe in July in 2006?” She said that Wicked was there to promote the company.
The players would come around, you’d stay at your hole that had your company’s logo, give them water or towels…
Did you meet Donald Trump on the golf course at that celebrity golf tournament?” Daniels said: “Yes, I did.”
She later said “it was a very brief encounter on the course.” What was discussed? “It wasn’t very much …”
Daniels testifies about meeting Trump at celebrity golf tournament
16:29
Stormy Daniels said that her boss from Wicked introduced Donald Trump to all of his contract workers and when he got to her, revealed that she was also a director. Trump, she recalled, said she must be pretty smart if she directed too.
Daniel was asked whether they ran into each other again at the tourament. She said that they did, in one of the gift rooms.
Like I mentioned, every party came through, there’s so many photos of the girls with all the celebrities that came through that day … He did remember us from the golf course – he remembered me specifically, that I was the smart one.
“We did have our DVDs, our adult films there, he did ask for one I directed.” Daniels said it was called Three Wishes. They spoke very briefly.
At one point, one of Trump’s bodyguards came over and said “Mr Trump was interested in having me join him for dinner.” Hoffinger asked Daniels: What was your answer? “No.”
Daniels identifies Trump in courtroom
16:00
Stormy Daniels, asked by prosecutors to pick out Donald Trump in the courtroom during her direct examination, identifies him at the defense table.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked:
Do you see Mr Trump in the courtroom today?
“Uh, navy blue jacket,” Daniels said, pointing to the defense table.
15:43Hugo Lowell
Donald Trump is leaning back in his chair with a passive look on his face as Stormy Daniels takes the stand in his criminal trial.
In the rows behind Trump, his attorney Alina Habba is sitting with her arms crossed, Eric Trump is looking at the wall, and Trump aide Boris Epshteyn is on his phone.
15:36
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is questioning Stormy Daniels, who has been speaking very quickly, about her background.
While Daniels, wearing black and a matching pair of glasses, walked into the courtroom with confidence, the fast progression of her words does indicate nervousness.
15:32
Stormy Daniels has taken the witness stand. She said that she is testifying pursuant to a subpoeana.
15:25
Sally Franklin has finished testifying and left the witness stand.
Judge Juan Merchan is chatting with both sides at the bench right now.
15:03Hugo Lowell
Prosecutors are having Sally Franklin, a Penguin Random House executive, read through a series of passages from some of Trump’s books bragging about his cheapness and how he watched his outflows closely.
The thrust here is that Trump, in his own words, paid close attention to his finances – casting doubt on the Trump defense claim that he merely signed the checks to reimburse Michael Cohen for paying the hush money without knowing what it was for.
14:52
Sally Franklin, the first witness called to the stand today, is testifying as a records custodian.
Her testimony allows prosecutors to enter into evidence copies of some of Donald Trump’s previous books, including Trump: How to Get Rich.
14:49
Donald Trump appeared to delete a Truth Social post complaining that his legal team did not have enough time to prepare for the next witness in the hush money criminal trial.
The statement posted at 7.30am this morning said:
I have just recently been told who the witness is today. This is unprecedented, no time for lawyers to prepare.
He did not name the identify the witness, but Trump attorney Susan Necheles has just said that Stormy Daniels is expected to take the stand today.
The former president went on to attack the judge, Juan Merchan, for running the trial in a “biased and partisan way” and for being “crooked” and “highly conflicted”.
Trump deleted the Truth Social post shortly after posting it, likely because it violates a court-imposed gag order that prevents him from intimidating people closely connected to the case, including witnesses. Merchan has made it clear that he would jail Trump if the violations continued.
Judge allows prosecutors to call Stormy Daniels as witness
14:47Hugo Lowell
Juan Merchan allows – over Donald Trump’s objections – the Manhattan district attorney’s office to call Stormy Daniels as the second witness today.
Trump, wearing a lemon-yellow tie today, appears unimpressed.
First witness called
14:47
The prosecution has called its first witness of the day: Sally Franklin, the senior vice-president and executive managing editor for Penguin Random House publishing group.
14:38
Prosecutors said that they don’t plan on going into any salacious details about the sexual act.
“The details of the encounter are important,” Susan Hoffinger argued, saying they provided “reasons for why she did what she did” with signing the NDA.
The details will be how she ended up having a sexual encounter with him.
”It’s not going to involve any descriptions of genitalia or anything of that nature,” Hoffinger said later.
Merchan said he didn’t have an issue so long as there wouldn’t be details about the alleged sex act. Hoffinger interjected:
Your honor, there will be some details very briefly, very briefly.
Merchan agreed that some discussion of the sexual encounter was admissible, citing that Daniels has “got credibility issues,” which necessitated including some information.
Trump attorney asks judge to prohibit Stormy Daniels from testifying about alleged ‘sexual act’
14:37
Trump attorney Susan Necheles reveals that Stormy Daniels is expected to be the prosecution’s second witness for the day.
She’s fighting to keep details about the alleged sex act between Daniels and Donald Trump under wraps.
14:28
Donald Trump walked into the courtroom, sporting a deep blue suit and buttercup yellow tie.
14:21
The testimony from Jeffrey McConney, the Trump Organization’s former comptroller and Deborah Tarasoff, the company’s accounts payable supervisor, on Monday sought to place Donald Trump at the center of his company and personal finances – to undermine any defense argument that he was not at the helm of bill-paying.
“Who has the authority to approve invoices?” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo asked McConney.
“President Trump, before he became president,” McConney said. After Trump became president, those who could sign off on invoices included the former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, as well as some of Trump’s adult children.
McConney was also asked about a discussion he had with Weisselberg on repaying Michael Cohen. Weisselberg, an unwavering Trump loyalist, was imprisoned after being convicted of perjury for lying in Trump’s civil fraud case.
“We have to reimburse Michael,” McConney remembered Weisselberg saying during an early 2017 meeting. During that meeting, they determined that Cohen was owed $420,000 for legal expenses and taxes; the sum included a bonus. “He tossed the pad toward me, I started taking notes on what Allen said.”
Colangelo teased out that Trump – whom prosecutors have cast as incredibly cheap – heaped more money on Cohen than was normal for him to do. “Do these notes show that Mr Cohen was receiving $360,000 back on a $180,000 expense?” Colangelo said. “Yes,” McConney replied.
“Are you aware of another incident where an expense was doubled because of taxes?” Colangelo continued. McConney said no.
14:11
Donald Trump’s motorcade has arrived at the Manhattan courthouse.
Court is scheduled to get under way at 9.30am ET.
Three key takeaways from Monday
13:58Hugo Lowell
Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York entered a new phase on Monday, as prosecutors moved onto the alleged falsification of business records to cover up hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels, after previously calling witnesses who described a conspiracy to kill the story.
Three major takeaways of the day:
Prosecutors argue Cohen’s ‘expenses’ were not processed as expenses
Trump argues ‘legal expense’ was a dropdown label, not a falsification
Trump warned of jail for further gag-order violations
For more on these points, you can read the full story below:
Stormy Daniels ‘likely’ called as witness today, her lawyer tells AP
13:57
It is “likely” that Stormy Daniels, an adult film star whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, will be called to testify today, her lawyer told the Associated Press.
The $130,000 hush-money payment to Daniels is at the center of this trial.
Trump said earlier Tuesday that he was “recently told” who the witness would be on Tuesday and complained he should’ve been given more notice, the Associated Press reports.
13:46
Here are some of the images from the newswires from court on Monday:
Trump complains about length of trial: ‘I thought they would be finished today’
13:44
Donald Trump’s criminal trial over hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels continues on Tuesday – and it could take at least another two weeks for prosecutors to finish presenting their case.
Trump complained about this as he was leaving. Repeating previous false claims, he insisted the trial was merely a ruse to keep the Republican party’s presumptive presidential nominee “off the campaign trail”.
“I thought they would be finished today,” Trump said. “The judge is so happy about two or three more weeks because they all want to keep me off the campaign trail. That’s all this is about, election interference”.
Trump will have to watch what he says after Monday earned him another $1,000 fine for violating a gag order that bars him from attacking witnesses, jurors and other key people involved in the trial.
It was the 10th time he was held criminal contempt and the judge, Juan Merchan, warned him yet again he could face jail for continued violations.
Case to resume after judge fines Trump and threatens jail time for gag order violations
13:43
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of Donald Trump’s criminal trial over his hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
The trial reopened yesterday after a pause over the weekend. It was another lively day with a stern warning from the judge, Juan Merchan, that additional violations of a gag order barring Trump from inflammatory out-of-court comments about witnesses, jurors and others closely connected to the case could result in jail time.
The $1,000 fine imposed on Monday marks the second time since the trial began last month that Trump has been sanctioned for violating the gag order. He was fined $9,000 last week, $1,000 for each of nine violations.
“It appears that the $1,000 fines are not serving as a deterrent. Therefore going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction,” Merchan said before jurors were brought into the courtroom.
The first witness called this week was Jeffrey McConney, former Trump Organization comptroller and senior vice-president.
Through McConney’s testimony, the prosecution sought to show that Trump had intimate knowledge of his personal and companies’ finances – and that repayments to Michael Cohen were out-of-the-ordinary for his boss.
Next up was Deborah Tarasoff, who works for The Trump Organization as an accounts payable supervisor. Tarasoff’s time on the stand seemed to establish just how intertwined Trump was with his underlings. Cohen, she said, worked next to her and then elsewhere on the 26th floor of Trump Tower, the nerve center of his company.
Here’s a quick recap of their testimonies yesterday:
Deborah Tarasoff, a former accountant at the Trump Organization, testified that Trump personally signed reimbursement checks to his “fixer” Michael Cohen, who made the payment to adult movie star Stormy Daniels that is at the heart of this case. Showing that Trump signed them chips away at the defense claim that Trump was detached from the transactions.
Tarasoff was led through a succession of checks to Cohen that she cut, then sent to Trump for signing, some while the former president was in the White House. The purpose appeared to be giving the jury a clear understanding of the regular practices in place at the company, and how the hush-money payment to Daniels veered outside normal procedures to point of illegality.
Jeffrey McConney, the Trump Organization’s retired controller and senior vice-president, was pressed by the prosecution on the company’s accounting and reporting procedures, focusing on the argument that Trump was in full control of his personal and company finances, and had authorized and was aware of the purpose of the payment to Daniels.
Trump’s lawyer Emil Bove got McConney to concede he had never spoken with Trump about repayments to Cohen, and had never been directed to register the payments in a certain way, or improperly.
Bove suggested there was no falsification, in part because of the narrow way Trump Organization payments had to be recorded, using the drop-down menu of an “antiquated” software recording system.
Additionally, McConney conceded that Cohen was Trump’s personal lawyer, and said he always recorded payments to lawyers as “legal expenses” in the ledger during his 36-plus years with the company.
12:58
Merchan’s latest gag order ruling came just minutes after Trump walked into the courtroom in Manhattan. And the judge appeared to be getting increasingly exasperated with Trump’s repeated violations:
“Mr Trump, as you know the prosecution has filed three separate motions to find you in criminal contempt,” Merchan said. “It appears that the $1,000 fines are not a deterrent.”
Merchan continued: “The last thing I want to do is put you in jail. You are the former president of the United States and possibly the next president as well … but at the end of the day, I have a job to do and part of that job is to protect the dignity of the judicial system.”
He also said that Trump’s actions “constitute a direct attack on the rule of law. I cannot allow that to continue”.
“So as much as I do not want to impose a jail sanction,” Merchan added sternly, “I want you to understand that I will, if necessary and appropriate.”