Trump trial live: Hope Hicks gets emotional as she ends week’s testimony detailing Access Hollywood tape fallout

04/05/2024

LIVE – Updated at 06:31

Donald Trump is back at Manhattan Criminal Court for the latest instalment of his hush money trial on Friday, where testimony continues.

Former aide and press secretary to Mr Trump, Hope Hicks is currently testifying.

Ms Hicks was a crucial part of the 2016 Trump campaign and allegedly part of at least 10 telephone conversations with Mr Trump and former fixer and attorney Michael Cohen regarding the hush money payments and alleged reimbursements.

Her testimony covered the impact on the campaign of the Access Hollywood tape and news of the Karen McDougal affair. When asked about Cohen making the payment to Stormy Daniels she said it would be out of character for him to do that out of the kindness of his heart as Mr Trump had told her. She then cried and court took a break.

Earlier, Mr Trump’s attorneys cross-examined a forensic analyst from the Manhattan district attorney’s office who pulled thousands of files from Cohen’s phones, including the bombshell audio of a secretly recorded conversation from 2016, played yesterday, which captured Cohen and the defendant discussing a payment to Ms McDougal.

The Independent’s Alex Woodward is covering the trial at Manhattan Criminal Court.

Key Points

Hope Hicks breaks down at Trump trial as she testifies about Michael Cohen
Hope Hicks says Trump ‘concerned’ how Melania would take news of Karen McDougal affair
Bombshell audio captures Trump and Cohen discussing hush money ‘catch-and-kill’ plot
Trump blames Cohen for breaking gag order as judge fires back over jury comments

Watch: Trump asked what it was like to see Hope Hicks

Friday 3 May 2024 23:12 , Oliver O’Connell

Feature: Does the quashing of Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction spell hope for Trump?

Friday 3 May 2024 22:15 , Oliver O’Connell

Could the same legal reasoning that saw Weinstein’s conviction appeal succeed help Trump overturn a possible guilty verdict in his New York trial?

Does the quashing of Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction spell hope for Trump?

Trump Media’s accounting firm hit with ‘massive fraud’ charge

Friday 3 May 2024 21:45 , Oliver O’Connell

The independent accounting firm for the Trump Media & Technology Group, BF Borgers, has been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with substantial fraud.

The firm now faces allegations that they were running a “sham audit mill,” according to CNN.

No allegations of wrongdoing against Trump Media, the owner of Truth Social, were put forward by the commission.

Gustaf Kilander reports:

Trump Media’s accounting firm hit with ‘massive fraud’ charge

Court sketch: Hope Hicks testifies

Friday 3 May 2024 21:30 , Oliver O’Connell

trump trial live: hope hicks gets emotional as she ends week’s testimony detailing access hollywood tape fallout

Hope Hicks, a former top aide to ex-President Donald Trump, testifies during his criminal trial before Justice Juan Merchan on 3 May 2024 (REUTERS)

Watch: Trump delivers conspiracy-laden rant about ‘Soros-backed’ DA and lawyers

Friday 3 May 2024 21:16 , Oliver O’Connell

Did Hope Hicks just help the prosecution and dent Trump’s defence?

Friday 3 May 2024 20:50 , Oliver O’Connell

Under questioning by prosecution attorney Matthew Colangelo, Hope Hicks testified that Donald Trump told her that Michael Cohen made the Stormy Daniels transaction on his own.

The former president told her: “Michael felt like it was his job to protect him” and that “he did it in the kindness of his own heart and he didn’t tell anyone about it.”

Mr Trump also said it was better to do it when he did rather than have it come out before the election.

Ms Hicks was asked whether the idea that Cohen would’ve made a $130,00 payment out of the kindness of his own heart was consistent with what she knew about him.

“I’d say that would be out of character for Michael,” she replied.

Judge Juan Merchan overruled objections from the defence team to the line of questioning.

Asked to elaborate, Ms Hicks said: “I didn’t know Michael to be an especially charitable person or a selfless person. [He was] the kind of person who seeks credit.”

By implication, the former Trump aide appeared to make the prosecution’s case against her former boss easier — that Cohen would not have acted alone and instead worked on behalf of Mr Trump, and that action was purposefully taken before the election.

Ms Hicks then began to cry on the witness stand with a break being called so that she might compose herself.

On her return to the stand, Ms Hicks was very critical of Cohen and characterised him as an outsider in Trumpworld often going rogue. She also heaped praise on her former boss.

Jury sent home for weekend

Friday 3 May 2024 20:42 , Oliver O’Connell

Judge Juan Merchan has sent the jury home for the weekend.

Defence attorney Todd Blanche is arguing that if Donald Trump testifies and prosecutors question him about the gag order rulings, it would create a “whole sideshow”.

Which… are trial rulings from this trial…

However!

“I agree with Mr Blanche,” Merchan says.

It would be “very, very prejudicial” for a jury in this case to consider rulings from the same judge about the same defendant.

So if Trump does testify, prosecutors will not be allowed to question him about the judge’s gag order rulings.

They will, however, under a previous ruling, be allowed to bring up the civil fraud trial gag order decisions.

The trial resumes at 9.30am on Monday.

Friday 3 May 2024 20:32 , Alex Woodward

Bove is treating Hicks like she is a defence witness. Calm, slower questions, with a lower and softer voice. Pulling out of her a sense that all things in Trumpworld were fine, that damage control over destructive stories was part of the job, and that ultimately Trump cared about his family – an echo of Todd Blanche’s portrait of him as a consummate family man in the opening statements.

Hicks has also changed up how she speaks about him. He is now “President Trump.”

“President Trump really values Ms Trump’s opinion,” she says. “She doesn’t weigh in all the time but when she does it’s really meaningful to him and he really respects what she has to say.”

She was “concerned about what the perception of this would be.”

Trump “didn’t want anyone in his family to be hurt or embarrassed.”

“He wanted them to be proud of him.”

The defence finishes questioning Hicks and there is nothing further from the prosecution.

Hicks is excused.

Friday 3 May 2024 20:20 , Alex Woodward

Trump gives a lot of feedback, right?

“He likes to call and praise people for stories even if they’re not about him … Or if it’s not a good story. He does a really nice job of maintaining relationships and always be willing to engage with the media … He spoke often with publishers, journalists, editors.”

Bove essentially normalizing Trumpworld.

Friday 3 May 2024 20:19 , Alex Woodward

Michael Cohen wasn’t part of the campaign, right?

“No, he would try to insert himself in certain moments but he wasn’t supposed to be in the campaign in any official capacity.”

At times he did things that were frustrating to the campaign staff, right? Yes

He went rogue at times, fair to stay? Yes

He did things that you thought were not helpful to things you were trying to accomplish?

“He liked to call himself a fixer or Mr Fix It. But it was only because he first broke it,” says Hicks.

Profile: Hope Hicks — the longtime Trump advisor who’s seen it all

Friday 3 May 2024 20:15 , Oliver O’Connell

Hope Hicks, the woman who once stood at the heart of Donald Trump’s political operations, took the witness stand in her former boss’s hush money trial in New York on Friday.

Once a key member of Trump’s inner circle, the two have not spoken since 2022. But according to insiders, Ms Hicks remains fond of the ex-president and wants nothing but the best for him — even as she appears under subpoena to give evidence in his so-called hush money trial.

Joe Sommerlad takes a look at who she is and how she got to the heart of Trumpworld.

Who is Hope Hicks, the longtime Trump advisor who’s seen it all

Court resumes after short break

Friday 3 May 2024 20:13 , Alex Woodward

Court has resumed after a short break with Ms Hicks and the jury returning to the courtroom.

“Sorry about that,” she says smiling at Bove.

Bove is asking whether she had positive relationships with a number of Trumpworld figures at the company and whether she felt Trump showed her “trust and respect.”

Friday 3 May 2024 20:04 , Alex Woodward

Emil Bove is up for the defence.

Hicks is visibly upset. She moves her face to the side to hide her tears. Bove asks whether we need a break.

Judge Merchan asks if Hicks would like one.

“Yes please.” She reaches for a tissue.

The cameras in the overflow are off but we can hear what sounds like Hicks crying.

Friday 3 May 2024 20:03 , Alex Woodward

Hicks says Trump told her that Cohen made the Stormy transaction because “Michael felt like it was his job to protect him” and that “he did it in the kindness of his own heart and he didn’t tell anyone about it.”

Did the idea that Cohen would’ve made a $130,00 payment out of the kindness of his own heart consistent with what you knew about him?

Objection.

Overruled.

“I’d say that would be out of character for Michael”

How so?

Objection.

Overruled.

“I didn’t know Michael to be an especially charitable person, or a selfless person. The kind of person who seeks credit.”

No more questions from the prosecution.

Friday 3 May 2024 19:47 , Alex Woodward

We’re going over Hicks’s White House roles.

She joined in January 2017 as the director of strategic communications, then became the communication director in August of that year.

She left in April 2018 and became the executive vice president of communications at the Fox Corporation, before returning to the White House in 2020.

Friday 3 May 2024 19:42 , Alex Woodward

The overall response to the article was “muted,” Hicks says.

“Relative to some of the other stories we dealt with … it just didn’t get a lot of traction.”

Trump “was concerned about the story. He was concerned how it would be viewed by his wife, and he wanted me to make sure that the newspapers weren’t delivered to their residence that morning.”

Was he concerned about the campaign?

“Everything we talked about in the context of this time period and this timeframe was in the context of the campaign. … Something Trump said a lot was ‘How is it playing?’ … Could’ve been a speech, an article, a tweet.”

Friday 3 May 2024 19:38 , Alex Woodward

Cohen texted Hicks on November 4 2016

“Call me” at 7.09pm

“Any news?” at 8.50pm

“Any news???” at 9.02pm

She sent him a link to the WSJ story.

Cohen: Lots of innuendos with little fact

Cohen: Poorly written and I dot [sic] see it getting much play

“A little irony there,” Hicks says, laughing a bit on the stand as she reads the texts aloud.

Hicks: I agree with most of that!! It will get play bc the media is the worst but should just ignore and blow past it

Cohen, the next morning: Even CNN not talking about it. No one believes it and if necessary, I have a statement by Storm denying everything and contradicting the other porn stars statement. I wouldn’t use it now or even discuss with him as no one is talking about this or cares!

“I didn’t know what he was talking about and I didn’t want to know,” Hicks says.

“I just mean that the election was taking place in three days and we were doing five-six rallies a day. There was a lot going on and it wasn’t like this story was consuming the news cycle and I didn’t need to be aware of every little detail.”

Friday 3 May 2024 19:33 , Alex Woodward

We also see another portion of the WSJ article mentioning Stormy Daniels, and Hicks’ quote to the paper that it is “absolutely, unequivocally untrue” that she had a relationship with Trump.

She testifies that’s consistent with what she told the WSJ and a grand jury.

A string of text messages between Hicks and Cohen is shown to the court from the aftermath of the publication of the 4 November 2016 WSJ article about Karen McDougal.

Friday 3 May 2024 19:29 , Alex Woodward

She clarifies that the “denial” part for both women came from Trump, but she’s not clear where the “no knowledge” part came from.

“As I sit here now I don’t have a strong memory of him saying, ‘we have no knowledge of any of this.’ … These are hectic conversations, there’s a lot of people weighing in.”

Friday 3 May 2024 19:28 , Alex Woodward

On the stand, Hope Hicks recalls that on 4 November 2016, after a stop in Ohio, the campaign landed in Hershey, Pennsylvania. In a car getting to the next venue, Trump was speaking on the phone with Michael Cohen. Reince Priebus was also in the car.

“I don’t know who initiated the phone call.” There was “nothing memorable” about the call and “I don’t remember what was said.”

We see the Wall Street Journal article on Karen McDougal and the quote from Hicks on behalf of the campaign in the story, in which she says “we have no knowledge of any of this” and that the claim of an affair was “totally untrue”.

Did Trump tell you to say that?

“I don’t remember him verbatim saying that but that was the consensus of the conversations we were all having.”

Court resumes

Friday 3 May 2024 19:21 , Oliver O’Connell

Court resumes after the lunch break.

Trump is back at the defence table.

Hope Hicks returns to the witness box without acknowledging Trump, who looked up at her.

The jury is brought back in.

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

Trump’s lunchtime Truths

Friday 3 May 2024 19:17 , Oliver O’Connell

Here’s a classic all-caps rant:

THIS ISN’T A TRIAL, IT’S A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN, A WITCH HUNT, JUST LIKE THE HIGHLY CONFLICTED AND BIASED JUDGE, JUAN MERCHAN, WANTED IT TO BE. I’M SURE HIS POLITICAL FRIENDS AND ALLIES, AND CROOKED JOE BIDEN, IN PARTICULAR, WILL BE THRILLED THAT THEY ARE GETTING AWAY WITH THIS CORRUPT, “ANCIENT,” AND HIGHLY POLITICAL ATTACK ON HIS 2024 PRESIDENTIAL OPPONENT. THESE EIGHT YEAR OLD STORIES, WHICH CAME OUT PRIOR TO THE 2016 ELECTION (THE VOTERS HAVE ALREADY, AND LOUDLY, SPOKEN!), AND HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS FAKE CASE, BROUGHT BY A CROOKED, SOROS BACKED NEW YORK CITY D.A., ALVIN BRAGG, SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO BE USED. VIRTUALLY EVERY LEGAL SCHOLAR AND EXPERT CALL IT A SHAM AND DISGRACE, ELECTION INTERFERENCE. IT IS AN INSULT TO AMERICAN JUSTICE!

And here’s some fresh commentary on the evidence shown in court yesterday:

The tape played yesterday and discussed today, while good for my case, was cut off at the end, in the early stages of something very positive that I was in the midst of saying. Why was it cut off???

Hmm… “something very positive that I was in the midst of saying” — what was it?

Here’s what he’s referring to:

Bombshell audio captures Trump and Cohen discussing hush money ‘catch and kill’ plot

ICYMI: Trump falsely claims trial gag order means he’s not allowed to testify

Friday 3 May 2024 19:00 , Oliver O’Connell

Donald Trump falsely claimed on Thursday that his hush-money trial gag order means that he isn’t “allowed” to testify as part of his defence.

Mr Trump was hit with a gag order in March preventing him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his hush-money trial, in which he is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an alleged bid to cover up hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels – all of which he denies.

The order prohibits Mr Trump from commenting about the trial on Truth Social or to the media, but it does not, however, impact Mr Trump’s right to testify in his trial.

Trump falsely claims trial gag order means he’s not allowed to testify

Donald ‘Von S****InPantz’

Friday 3 May 2024 18:40 , Oliver O’Connell

Amelia Neath and Kelly Rissman report:

A rather vulgar nickname for Donald Trump has now been formally entered into the public record at the former president’s hush-money trial, after his own defence attorney read out the moniker to the court.

“Von S****InPantz” debuted in court on Thursday after Mr Trump’s legal team complained to New York Justice Juan Merchan that the gag order against their client was unfair.

“Everybody can say anything they want, except for President Trump,” his attorney Todd Blanche explained to the judge.

Mr Blanche then continued to show a series of posts by Michael Cohen, Mr Trump’s former personal attorney, to the courtroom that mocked the former president and labelled him with insulting names.

Donald ‘Von S****InPantz’ has been entered into the public record at Trump’s trial

On this day in 2016…

Friday 3 May 2024 18:20 , Oliver O’Connell Friday 3 May 2024 18:02 , Oliver O’Connell

Court will resume at 2.15pm.

As court is ending early today at 3.45pm, Ms Hicks will almost certainly be back on the stand on Monday.

Friday 3 May 2024 17:59 , Alex Woodward

Hicks had also learned that the story would mention Stormy Daniels, and Trump “wanted to know the context and he wanted to make sure there was a denial of any kind of relationship”.

She said that the reporting “wasn’t necessarily about accusations of, you know, certain behaviour”.

Judge Merchan excuses the jury for lunch.

Friday 3 May 2024 17:57 , Alex Woodward

Hicks emailed Cohen a draft, and he responded with:

Instead, say: “These accusations are completely untrue and just the latest despicable attempt by the liberal media and the Clinton machine to distract the public from the FBI’s ongoing criminal investigation into Secretary Clinton and her closest associates.”

Hicks said they ended up changing the statement to “just a denial” and “that we didn’t know anything about this deal.”

Friday 3 May 2024 17:53 , Alex Woodward

She also called Pecker, and “asked what was going on, why was I receiving this email, and he explained that Karen McDougal was paid for magazine covers and fitness columns and it was all very legitimate and that was what the contract was for”.

First, she spoke with Michael Cohen.

“There was a reason I called David next. I think Michael… he didn’t know what I was talking about.”

She began drafting a response, and she “sent it to Michael first to get his input while Mr Trump was still on stage” then shared it with him after the rally.

Friday 3 May 2024 17:47 , Alex Woodward

Ms Hicks received an email from Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Rothfeld just as the campaign was landing in Ohio for a rally.

In the email, “I think it outlined that there was a woman named Karen McDougal who had a story that was purchased by the National Enquirer but was never published. And he was asking me or the Trump campaign if we knew anything about that.”

Rothfeld was one of the authors of the WSJ report on Ms McDougal.

Ms Hicks let Trump know about the email before he started speaking at the rally, fearing she wouldn’t have enough time to respond.

She looped in Jared Kushner.

She had hoped he could lean on his relationship with Rupert Murdoch, “seeing if we could buy a little extra time to deal with this.”

“I think he said he wasn’t going to be able to reach Rupert and should just work on responding and dealing with it.”

Friday 3 May 2024 17:43 , Alex Woodward

“Have you ever heard of someone named Karen McDougal?” she is asked by Colangelo.

“I received an inquiry from a reporter at The Wall Street Journal asking questions about her and The National Enquirer,” Ms Hicks replies.

“Have you ever heard of someone named Stormy Daniels?”

“A year prior, I remember 2015, Mr Trump, security guys on the plane were telling a story about a celebrity golf tournament … and her name came up. She was there with one of the other participants that Mr Trump played with that day.”

Friday 3 May 2024 17:40 , Alex Woodward

The jury is now seeing the “foul-mouthed Sen John McCain”, “nobody has more respect for women than me,” “media rigging election” and “phoney stories” tweets. Hicks is also being asked to read them aloud.

Friday 3 May 2024 17:38 , Alex Woodward

We’re seeing a clip from Trump’s October 15 2016 rally in North Carolina, where he said allegations from other women are “horrible lies, all fabrications, and we can’t let them change the most important election of our lives”.

Did you read what Trump posted on Twitter at the time?

Yes

Who was authorized to post from the account

“One other staff member who could post things that Mr Trump approved … His name is Dan Scavino.”

Only with Mr Trump’s approval?

Yes.

So what appeared on Twitter was approved by Trump?

Objection.

Overruled.

Friday 3 May 2024 17:35 , Alex Woodward

Ms Hicks spoke to Michael Cohen a few days later on “Saturday October 8”.

“I was calling him to ask him to chase down a rumour … that there may be another tape that would be problematic for the campaign.”

“I didn’t want anyone to be blindsided.”

“I asked him to call this friend of his and ask about the existence of the tape and let me know if there was a tape and when we can expect it to be published.”

That Saturday was the debate in St Louis, with moderators Martha Raddatz and Anderson Cooper — who is watching the trial today in court.

Friday 3 May 2024 17:31 , Alex Woodward

The Trump defence team has objected to a line of questions about whether Ms Hicks recalled other officials reacting to the tape.

Attorney Emil Bove then asks for a sidebar.

Trump appeared to snap awake, grabbing Todd Blanche’s arm as he got up to walk over to the judge.

Now Trump is scribbling something down.

The objection is sustained by Judge Merchan.

Friday 3 May 2024 17:26 , Alex Woodward

Trump’s eyes have been closed for most of this so far.

Friday 3 May 2024 17:25 , Alex Woodward

We see the campaign’s initial very brief statement about it from the day of the video’s release: “This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course — not even close. I apologize if anyone was offended.”

The court also sees this video:

What was the media response like:

“It was intense. Dominated coverage for I would say 36 hours leading up to the debate. At the time, I got the email … we were anticipating a Category 4 hurricane making landfall somewhere on the east coast and I don’t think anyone remembers where that hurricane made landfall.”

ADA Matthew Colangelo: “The Access Hollywood tape pushed the hurricane off the news?”

Friday 3 May 2024 17:19 , Alex Woodward

How was the discussion with Trump about how the campaign would respond?

“I don’t really have a strong recollection of that conversation,” but Trump said it was “two guys, discussing privately, locker room talk.”

“I think he felt like it was pretty standard stuff for two guys, you know, chatting with each other.”

They acknowledged that it was “not good,” she says.

Friday 3 May 2024 17:18 , Alex Woodward

Was Trump upset?

“Um… yes, he was,” says Ms Hicks.

What was your reaction when you heard the tape?

“Just… a little stunned. Just… yeah, it’s hard to describe. It was definitely concerning. And I had a good sense that this was going to be a massive story and sort of dominate the news cycle for the next several days, at least.”

Were you concerned about the campaign?

“It was a damaging development.”

Why?

“Um… it just… it just didn’t feel like the kind of… the kind of story… obviously it wasn’t helpful. It just… There were a lot of layers to it, for where we were trying to go with the campaign and this was kind of pulling us backwards. And it was going to be difficult to overcome.”

Friday 3 May 2024 17:14 , Alex Woodward

She went to a conference room where Trump and others were doing debate prep and motioned for Jason and others to come over.

“The sight of the five or six of us gathered out there was a sign that something was afoot. Trump called us in at some point and told us to share what was happening.”

“I shared the email with Mr Trump sort of verbally and we were at the time … trying to get a copy of the audio of the tape, to assess the situation further, and we weren’t sure how to respond yet.”

Trump said, “that didn’t sound like something he would say.”

He saw the tape within a matter of minutes after it was live.

Friday 3 May 2024 17:12 , Alex Woodward

She emailed Jason Miller, David Bossie, Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon:

FLAGGING.

1. Need to hear the tape to be sure

2. Deny, deny, deny

“It’s a reflex,” she says laughing. “I was obviously a little shocked and not realized that the entirety of the transcript was in the email.”

Friday 3 May 2024 17:08 , Alex Woodward

We see a copy of the Access Hollywood transcript that the reporter sent her.

Her reaction to the email:

“I was concerned. Very concerned. Um… yeah. I was concerned about the contents of the email, concerned about the lack of time to respond, concerned that we had a transcript and not a tape. There was a lot at play.”

Friday 3 May 2024 17:05 , Alex Woodward

Ms Hicks says she found out about the Access Hollywood tape on the afternoon of 7 October 2016 after she “received an email from The Washington Post asking for comment” while she was in her office on the 14th floor of Trump Tower.

Now admitted into evidence is an email where Ms Hicks forwarded that Washington Post reporter’s request to other campaign leadership.

The subject is “URGENT WashPost query”.

Friday 3 May 2024 17:03 , Alex Woodward

How frequently were you interacting with Trump in the fall of 2016?

“We were travelling every day … We were based here in New York and we would usually leave Trump Tower at about 7 in the morning, we would go to LaGuardia and get on Mr Trump’s plane, and make somewhere between two and our sometimes five stops in a day,” says Ms Hicks.

Friday 3 May 2024 16:59 , Alex Woodward

Do you know someone named David Pecker?

“Yes … I know him as the publisher of American Media, which is like a group of publications, and as the editor of National Enquirer. I had been introduced to him at a previous job … I had met with him to talk about various strategies … for clients. I reconnected with him at some point as he was a friend of Mr Trump’s.”

She remembers Trump speaking with Pecker “shortly after the National Enquirer published a piece about Ben Carson” about “medical malpractice.”

“I think he was just congratulating David on a great investigative piece. Sometimes he would say things like This is Pulitzer-worthy.”

Friday 3 May 2024 16:56 , Alex Woodward

Who did you report to?

I reported to Mr Trump.

How frequently during the campaign period as part of your role?

Every day.

How involved was Mr Trump involved in the press aspects?

He was very involved.

“He knew what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it. We were all just following his lead. I think that he deserves the credit for the different messages the campaign focused on in terms of the agenda he put forward.”

Friday 3 May 2024 16:49 , Alex Woodward

On Michael Cohen, Ms Hicks is asked if they met before October 2014, she said: “I believe so. There was about a six to eight-month period where I was working at a different PR firm … I believe we met during that time.”

Prosecution attorney Matthew Colangelo is questioning Ms Hicks.

“Mr Trump one day said we’re going to Iowa and I didn’t really know why. But after that first trip to Iowa it was clear he was exploring a potential political run. He started traveling regularly.

“He would give speeches, meet with voters, different panels and discussions, media interviews, etc. We made a decision to formalize that with an exploratory committee … and he announced in June.”

She was offered an official campaign role sometime on that first trip.

“Mr Trump I think he might’ve been joking but he said I would be the campaign press secretary. I didn’t take it very seriously but eventually, I just started working so much on the campaign … and I was the press secretary.”

Before the general election, “It was just me and Mr Trump who is better than anybody about communications and branding.”

Friday 3 May 2024 16:43 , Alex Woodward

“Once the campaign work started, my role was a little bit different … Beginning January 2015, I started to speak to him more regularly … June 2015, we’d speak by phone every day … I would usually call the office and be connected, but he had a cell phone or a home phone number as well,” Ms Hicks tells the court.

“Everybody who works there in some sense reports to Mr Trump … It’s a big successful company but it’s really run like a small family business in some ways.”

She’s asked about her relationships with or what she knows about Trump bodyguard Keith Schiller, former Trump Organization executive assistant Rhona Graff and former CFO Allen Weisselberg.

Friday 3 May 2024 16:37 , Alex Woodward

Hope Hicks is on the stand in a dark suit with a light blue top

“I’m really nervous,” she says with a laugh.

After college, she started working with Trump family, and “I enjoyed it so much that I was offered a position at the Trump Organization, and jumped at the opportunity to join the company full time” in October 2014.

“Shortly after … Mr Trump at the time said that he would be exploring a run for president and we began doing that in January 2015, and just a few months later in March 2015 formed a formal exploratory committee and announced he was running in June 2015.”

She has no professional relationship with Trump today.

At the Trump Organization, she met with Trump “maybe once a week, at first” and then more regularly as he began his political work

Trump is a “very good multi-tasker and a very hard worker”

New witness: Hope Hicks

Friday 3 May 2024 16:30 , Oliver O’Connell

Hope Hicks (REUTERS)

Hope Hicks is called to the stand to testify.

She is a former aide and adviser to Mr Trump who served as the former president’s press secretary during his 2016 presidential campaign.

Ms Hicks was allegedly part of at least 10 telephone conversations with Mr Trump and Cohen regarding the hush money payments and alleged reimbursements.

Friday 3 May 2024 16:28 , Alex Woodward

Todd Blanche is up, asking whether Ms Longstreet ever looked at Michael Cohen’s social media. She says yes – Twitter and podcasts.

Blanche: “Have you listened to all of the Mea Culpa podcasts?”

Longstreet: “Absolutely not.”

Huge laughs from the court and from Blanche.

“Fair,” he says with a smile on his face.

Blanche is friendly, laughing along with her answers, and asks her to clarify that she doesn’t have “independent knowledge of who actually wrote” the posts.

“That’s true, I just know the account it’s posted from.”

Nothing else from the defence and nothing else from the prosecution.

Friday 3 May 2024 16:22 , Alex Woodward

October 15:

“Nothing ever happened with any of these women. Totally made up nonsense to steal the election. Nobody has more respect for women than me!”

October 16

Polls close, but can you believe I lost large number of women voters based on made up events THAT NEVER HAPPENED. Media rigging the election

October 17

Can’t believe these totally phoney stories, 100% made up by women (many already proven false) and pushed big time by press, have impact!

And this Truth Social post from 2023:

I did NOTHING wrong in the “Horseface” case. I see she showed up in New York today trying to drum up some publicity for herself. I haven’t seen or spoken to her since I took a picture with her on a golf course, in full golf gear including a hat, close to 18 years ago. She knows nothing about me other than her conman lawyer, Avanatti, and convicted liar and felon, jailbird Michael Cohen, may have schemed up. Never had an affair with her, just another false acquisition by a SleazeBag. Witch Hunt!

Friday 3 May 2024 16:19 , Oliver O’Connell

Ms Longstreet is back on the stand.

The prosecution opened a video from Twitter on 8 October 2016 – Trump’s apology video for his Access Hollywood remarks.

The clip is played in court.

“I never said I’m a perfect person,” Trump says in the video. “Anyone who knows me knows these words don’t reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize.”

We see this October 11 2016 tweet: “The very foul-mouthed Sen John McCain begged for my support during his primary. I gave, he won, then dropped me over locker room remarks!”

Friday 3 May 2024 16:15 , Alex Woodward

Before the jury returned…

Todd Blanche objected to several of Trump’s Twitter and Truth Social posts from being admitted to evidence as hearsay, including one post that he said is “unduly prejudicial.”

That post – “If you go after me, I’m coming after you,” from last year – speaks to the “pressure campaign that defendant had put on witnesses,” and is admitted into evidence to “offset the defence claim that witnesses are benefiting from willingness of testifying,” Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Mangold said.

She argued that Judge Merchan had previously said the defence would need to “open the door” to allowing such statements, and he’s satisfied that they have.

Merchan allows it all.

‘Not a serious candidate’: Trump dismisses RFK Jr

Friday 3 May 2024 16:12 , Oliver O’Connell

Donald Trump has dismissed the idea of debating independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr, slamming him as “not serious”.

“I don’t know anything about him,” Mr Trump said. “Look, RFK is polling very low, he is not a serious candidate.”

The former president was responding to a question about whether he would debate Mr Kennedy Jr, who he has frequently sparred with throughout his campaign.

Martha McHardy reports:

Trump dismisses RFK Jr as ‘not a serious candidate’ when asked if he would debate him

Just joining us?

Friday 3 May 2024 15:57 , Oliver O’Connell

If you’re just joining our rolling live coverage of Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial, here’s what you missed yesterday in court, as compiled by Kelly Rissman:

‘I hate that fact that we did it’: Key takeaways from Trump’s day in court

Friday 3 May 2024 15:55 , Alex Woodward

She was asked if she had to review posts from @realDonaldTrump, and who she believes that person is: Donald Trump.

Trump, slumped in his chair, smiled and nodded his head

No reaction from the former president when she’s asked the same question about his account on Truth Social.

Defence attorney Todd Blanche has a few questions and concerns about some of the materials now being submitted.

He’s going to talk things over with Trump while we’re on the morning break.

New witness: Georgia Longstreet

Friday 3 May 2024 15:42 , Alex Woodward

The next witness to take the stand is Georgia Longstreet, who works at the district attorney’s office as a paralegal.

She is here to discuss the introduction of records.

Ms Longstreet was tasked with identifying publicly available materials like social media posts and news articles relevant to the case, including reviewing between 5,000 and 10,000 social media posts and then using a screenshot app to save them, note them, and “hash” them, which gives them a digital footprint to preserve their integrity.

Basically getting custodial evidence before we see Truth and Twitter posts.

For those keeping score, this is witness number eight.

Friday 3 May 2024 15:37 , Alex Woodward

Bove is up for a brief re-cross of Mr Daus.

“My questions were more about variables … Unknowns. … Not about whether you saw tampering but if you saw gaps … that created risks for such tampering.”

“This recording … we can agree, can’t we? That it cuts off mid-conversation?”

Daus: “Towards the end.”

“The conversation is ongoing, and the audio file stops. … You don’t know what happened … after that. … And someone has told you about a phone call that allegedly caused the recorder to shut off. … But there’s no record of that call on the device itself, correct? That’s another variable, isn’t it?”

Daus is off the stand. Merchan asked the attorneys to approach.

Friday 3 May 2024 15:31 , Alex Woodward

There was an objection and Judge Merchan overruled it.

Conroy smartly asks for the court reporter to read that last question back, giving jurors a clear and unobstructed way of hearing Daus’s answer. He repeats it: “I did not.”

He also says he saw no indication of any tampering of any of the evidence introduced yesterday.

Nothing further.

Friday 3 May 2024 15:29 , Alex Woodward

Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy is back up again for redirect questioning of Mr Daus.

“Is it unusual for a phone to be used? Is it unusual for a phone to make recordings?”

Conroy brings up the Trump-Cohen conversation, asking Daus to clarify for the record whether he saw “any evidence of tampering or manipulation.”

“I did not.”

Before he has a chance to finish that sentence, Bove pops up and asks for a sidebar.

Friday 3 May 2024 15:27 , Alex Woodward

The fact that Michael Cohen’s phone was turned on and off, had its contents searched by the FBI and had a factory reset are “far from ideal from a forensic perspective,” Bove asks.

They’re “all things that create variables, all things you’d be investigating,” Bove says.

“They would have to be taken into account,” Daus says.

Bove: “In many ways, we’d have to take Michael Cohen’s word for it.”

“It would seem so,” Daus says.

No further questions.

Friday 3 May 2024 15:18 , Alex Woodward

Bove brought up the metadata from the Cohen-Trump conversation.

Daus testified that there was nothing in there that suggests it was modified, those would be timestamped in the metadata.

Bove: “Judge, I’d like to strike all of that as nonresponsive.”

What Bove wanted Daus to state was that the evidence from prosecutors does not show anything that could suggest it was manipulated — e.g., It doesn’t say it was but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t.

That’s the kind of questioning we’re getting from Bove, digging into details to plant some seeds of doubt.

[Bove’s request to strike was overruled]

Friday 3 May 2024 15:14 , Alex Woodward

Bove picks up questioning from yesterday around the chain of custody of Michael Cohen’s phones and the integrity of the recordings and messages extracted from them.

He asks about the Dust app (which I have never heard of) co-founded by Mark Cuban, apparently which claims to be able to delete any message from your phone and the phone of the person you are messaging among other features.

Bove digs into Cohen’s contacts: What made the fact that he had more than 37,000 unusual? Could it have been that he transferred them from a laptop?

Elon Musk hosted an ‘anti-Biden’ dinner party. Here’s who attended

Friday 3 May 2024 15:00 , Joe Sommerlad

The ever-more tiresome tech entrepreneur and Twitter-ruiner hosted an “anti-Joe Biden” dinner party last month with a guest list featuring some of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful people.

Here’s Kelly Rissman to peruse the invites.

Elon Musk hosted an ‘anti-Biden’ dinner party. Here’s who attended

Cross-examination of Doug Daus resumes

Friday 3 May 2024 15:00 , Alex Woodward

Judge Merchan asked to bring forensic analyst Doug Daus back in. Attorneys are huddling at the bench first.

While prosecutors and defence attorneys are speaking with Merchan at the bench, Trump is slouching in his seat, eyes closed, alone.

Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn is sitting by himself a couple of rows behind him.

Defence attorney Emil Bove is now continuing his cross-examination of Mr Daus whose testimony was intended to confirm evidence that was introduced.

Bove is spending an unusual amount of time for this type of custodial witness, suggesting that the evidence was compromised in some way, or could have been, based on the chain of custody and the way analysts handle phones and software.

FBI investigating after Trump ally Lindsey Graham targeted by scam caller pretending to be Chuck Schumer

Friday 3 May 2024 14:45 , Joe Sommerlad

Haha! Here’s John Bowden on the South Carolina Republican senator’s gripe that agents had taken his phone away to track down the pranker.

FBI investigating after Lindsey Graham targeted by scam caller impersonating Schumer

Friday 3 May 2024 14:44 , Alex Woodward

Todd Blanche is objecting to the prosecution’s upcoming admission of a Washington Post article that he argues basically amounts to a “full transcript” of the Access Hollywood tape.

Merchan has already ordered that jurors can’t hear the tape but prosecutors can tell jurors through evidence and testimony what was said.

Blanche also objects to the inclusion of “an alleged” Truth Social post from August 2023 where Trump warns “If you go after me, I’m coming after you!”

Judge Merchan begins with message for Trump

Friday 3 May 2024 14:35 , Oliver O’Connell

Judge Juan Merchan begins today’s session with a message for the defendant.

Alex Woodward reports from the courthouse in Lower Manhattan:

He’s addressing Trump’s false claim outside the courthouse yesterday afternoon that he isn’t allowed to testify because of the gag order.

Merchan, diplomatically, says there “may be a misunderstanding regarding the order restriction extrajudicial statements .”

“I want to stress Mr Trump that you have an absolute right to testify in trial,” he says.

“That is a constitutional right that cannot be denied … in any way. … It is a fundamental right that cannot be infringed upon.”

The gag order restricting extrajudicial statements “does not prevent you from testifying in any way … or limit or minimize what you say” from the witness stand, the judge tells him.

The order “does not apply to statements made from the witness stand”.

Trump backtracks on his false claim about gag order

Friday 3 May 2024 14:33 , Oliver O’Connell

Jimmy Kimmel wants to testify at Trump’s hush money trial

Friday 3 May 2024 14:30 , Joe Sommerlad

The late night host, a long-running enemy of the defendant, was only too delighted when his 2018 interview with Stormy Daniels was mentioned in court yesterday and says he would be happy to testify if called.

Jimmy Kimmel wants to testify at Trump’s hush money trial

Mary Trump says there is ‘always a way out’ for her uncle amid hush money trial

Friday 3 May 2024 14:15 , Joe Sommerlad

The former president’s estranged niece has cast doubt over the possibility that her uncle will be convicted in court amid his hush money trial, saying there is “always a way out” for him.

Martha McHardy has this report.

Mary Trump says there is ‘always a way out’ for her uncle amid hush money trial

Why is Trump really speaking at the Libertarian National Convention? RFK Jr

Friday 3 May 2024 14:00 , Joe Sommerlad

This is what Trump had to say about independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr outside court yesterday:

But that dismissal of RFK Jr’s significance does not tally with the news that Trump will be a headline speaker at the 2024 Libertarian National Convention, the nominating contest for one of the US’s highest-performing non-major political parties.

The surprise announcement made by the convention’s organisers on Wednesday pointed to one major issue of the 2024 race: both Democrats and Republicans fear that third-party candidates could tilt the scales in the favour of the other side this November.

John Bowden reports.

Why is Trump really speaking at the Libertarian conference? RFK Jr’s polls

Trump will accept election results if he loses – under one condition

Friday 3 May 2024 13:45 , Joe Sommerlad

The former president has once again refused to fully commit to accepting the election results if he doesn’t win the 2024 presidential vote as he faces multiple indictments related to alleged 2020 election interference.

After his rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday, Trump told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “If everything’s honest, I’d gladly accept the results. If it’s not, you have to fight for the right of the country.

“But if everything’s honest, which we anticipate it will be – a lot of changes have been made over the last few years – but if everything’s honest, I will absolutely accept the results.

He continued: “If you go back and look at all of the things that had been found out, it showed that I won the election in Wisconsin. It also showed I won the election in other locations.”

Kelly Rissman has more.

Trump claims he will accept 2024 election results if he loses – under one condition

Cohen’s vulgar nickname for Trump entered into court records and duly trends worldwide

Friday 3 May 2024 13:30 , Joe Sommerlad

During yesterday’s gag order hearing, defence attorney Todd Blanche complained that the prohibition was preventing Trump from responding to mockery by President Biden at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and by Cohen on social media.

Trump’s former fixer has since forsworn the taunting out of respect for Judge Merchan, he says, but previously derided his old boss as, ahem, “Donald Von Sh**zInPantz”, which, when raised by Blanche, obliged the court stenographer to enter it into the record for all time.

At the time of writing, it is also trending on X.

This is seemingly the episode that “inspired” Cohen to invent the nickname, one far crueller than any monicker Trump himself has ever dished out to an opponent.

Among those triggered by this sidestep into the scatalogical was Laura Ingraham on Fox, whose delicate sensibilities were offended when Jake Tapper read it out on CNN.

Here’s Harry Fletcher of Indy100 on Trump supporters’ extraordinary response.

Why are Trump supporters wearing diapers to his rallies?

New York hush money trial: Hope Hicks tipped to be next witness

Friday 3 May 2024 13:18 , Joe Sommerlad

The Washington Post is reporting that Trump’s former White House aide Hope Hicks is “likely to take the stand as early as Friday”.

Hicks, 35, worked for the 45th president’s 2016 campaign and was then his communications director from 2017 to 2018 before returning as counselor to the president from 2020 to 2021.

The Post describes her as “the Zelig of Trumpworld” who was “present for nearly every scandal that caught the scrutiny of special counsels, US attorneys, congressional committees, grand juries and federal prosecutors”.

Donald Trump and Hope Hicks at the White House on 2 October 2020 (EPA)

New York hush money trial: Trump lies that gag order prevents him from testifying

Friday 3 May 2024 13:00 , Joe Sommerlad

This is simply not true – and smacks of his excuse throughout his presidency that he could not release his tax returns, like every other commander-in-chief, because he was “under audit” by the IRS.

Watch live: Trump’s hush money trial continues in New York

Friday 3 May 2024 12:46 , Joe Sommerlad

Here’s today’s latest livefeed from Manhattan with Day 11 about to get underway.

Donald Trump’s hush money trial continues in New York after bombshell audio released

New York hush money trial: What to expect on Day 11

Friday 3 May 2024 12:30 , Joe Sommerlad

For the final time this week, Alex Woodward is down at Manhattan Criminal Court and sends this dispatch:

“A second week of witness testimony is coming to and end.

“Donald Trump’s attorneys will continue to cross examine a forensic analyst from the DA’s office who pulled thousands of files from Michael Cohen’s phones — countless texts, emails and voice recordisngs, including bombshell audio of a secretly recorded conversation from 2016 that captured Cohen and Trump discussing Karen McDougal’s payment.

“But defence attorneys are trying to plant as many seeds of reasonable doubt as they can, suggesting to jurors that such evidence was compromised or potentially manipulated.

“That’s been the defence’s strategy thus far: painting crucial prosecution witnesses as unreliable, giving jurors just enough “reasonable doubt” to chew on when considering a verdict.

“We don’t know who’s next in the witness list, but the star of the show so far is Cohen, who has been the subject of nearly every one of the seven witnesses thus far.

“Meanwhile, Justice Juan Merchan could issue a decision at any time on yesterday’s gag order motions, which could put Trump on the hook for $4,000 or even more severe sanctions for his repeat violations.

“Otherwise it’s a cool and slightly humid morning at the courthouse.”

New York hush money trial: Key takeaways from Trump’s latest day in court

Friday 3 May 2024 12:00 , Joe Sommerlad

Here’s Kelly Rissman with our latest round-up of the case, featuring all the highlights from Day 10.

‘I hate that fact that we did it’: Key takeaways from Trump’s day in court

Michael Cohen was Trump’s consummate inside man. Now, friends say he’s on the stand and at risk

Friday 3 May 2024 11:48 , Joe Sommerlad

We heard a lot about Cohen during testimony yesterday and it’s just possible he could take the stand as soon as today to give evidence in person.

With that in mind, here’s Kelly Rissman’s look at his soured relationship with Trump and what’s at stake for him in this trial.

Michael Cohen was Trump’s inside man. Now, he’s on the stand and at risk, friends say

New York hush money trial: Daniels’ ex-attorney fires back at Davidson testimony

Friday 3 May 2024 11:30 , Joe Sommerlad

Stormy Daniels’ former attorney, the disgraced Michael Avenatti, fired back at Keith Davidson’s testimony yesterday from a jail cell, posting this on X:

Avenatti has said he has been in contact with Trump’s legal team and is willing to testify but is currently serving a prison sentence for attempting to extort Nike and for embezzling settlement funds from several other clients.

Alex Woodward and Gustaf Kilander have the story.

Stormy Daniels’ ex-attorney fires back at Trump trial testimony

New York hush money trial: Stormy Daniels lawyer thought Cohen ‘was going to kill himself’ if he didn’t get White House role

Friday 3 May 2024 11:00 , Joe Sommerlad

The lawyer who negotiated Stormy Daniels’ $130,000 hush money payment with Michael Cohen thought Trump’s then-attorney was going to “kill himself” after learning he had been left out of a job in the White House after the 2016 presidential election.

In his second day of testimony, Keith Davidson told jurors that Cohen was distraught by mid-December 2016 when he learned he would not be going to Washington DC.

Here’s more from Alex Woodward on the rest of Davidson’s testimony.

Stormy lawyer thought Cohen would ‘kill himself’ when left out of Trump White House

New York hush money trial: Bombshell audio captures Trump and Cohen discussing ‘catch-and-kill’ plot

Friday 3 May 2024 10:30 , Joe Sommerlad

This was probably the most dramatic moment from yesterday’s proceedings, when jurors heard Trump’s own voice discussing a deal with his ex-attorney Michael Cohen to buy the silence of a former Playboy model who alleged an affair with the former president.

A portion of the recording – secretly recorded by Cohen while Trump was in the middle of his 2016 campaign for the presidency – have the jury a brief but crucial look into how the “fixer” kept his boss up to date with a scheme that is now central to the criminal case against him.

Here’s Alex Woodward’s report.

Bombshell audio captures Trump and Cohen discussing hush money ‘catch and kill’ plot

New York hush money trial: Judge fires back at Trump’s attorneys over jury comments

Friday 3 May 2024 10:00 , Joe Sommerlad

Let’s have a little recap of Thursday’s action from Manhattan Criminal Court, shall we?

First up, here’s our man Alex Woodward on Judge Juan Merchan getting cross as he heard the prosecution’s latest allegations of gag order violations from the defendant, two days after fining him $9,000 for nine previous breaches.

Trump blames Cohen for breaking gag order as judge fires back at jury comments

Truth Social: Trump’s barrage of clips fail to suppress ‘Sleepy Don’ narrative

Friday 3 May 2024 09:30 , Joe Sommerlad

A relatively quiet night for the no-doubt-exhausted defendant on social media, largely comprising endless clips from his pizza giveaway, his midweek Wisconsin and Michigan rallies and his comments outside of court yesterday.

Perhaps his most attention-grabbing post from yesterday was his attempt to shoot down the idea that he is repeatedly falling asleep in court, which no one is buying and which has only served to keep the embarrassment in the conversation.

Here’s Mike Bedigan on Trump’s absurd comments praising his own “beautiful blue eyes” as he denied dozing.

Trump fawns over his own ‘beautiful blue eyes’ as he denies falling asleep at trial

Trump hands out pizza to New York firefighters

Friday 3 May 2024 09:00 , Joe Sommerlad

After breezing out of court yesterday, the defendant carried out his latest photo op on the streets of New York City, following his recent bodega and construction site outings.

This time he was delivering pizzas to city firefighters, a relatively innocuous but not exactly pressing gesture for a presidential candidate in a moment when America’s college campuses are the scenes of violent clashes between students and riot police but whatever.

Donald Trump hands out pizza to New York firefighters as UCLA riots plague city

Kirsti Noem blames ‘fake news’ for outrage over her killing her dog

Friday 3 May 2024 07:30 , Oliver O’Connell

South Dakota Gov Kristi Noem has blamed the “fake news” media for stirring up controversy over the killing of her young dog, which she detailed in her new memoir.

Ms Noem, who has been touted as a potential Donald Trump running mate in November, made yet another attempt to explain her putting down of 14-month-old “working dog” Cricket during an appearance on Fox News.

John Bowden has the story:

Kirsti Noem blames ‘fake news’ for outrage over her killing her dog Cricket

Donald Trump claims immigration has left London ‘unrecognisable’ after Europe ‘opened its doors to jihad’

Friday 3 May 2024 06:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

The former US president made his remarks to supporters during an election rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday.

Trump said: “We’ve seen what happened when Europe opened its doors to jihad. Look at Paris, look at London, they’re no longer recognisable.

“I’m going to get myself into a lot of trouble with the folks in Paris and the folks in London, but you know what, that’s the fact. They are no longer recognisable and we can’t let that happen to our country.”

Donald Trump claims immigration has left London ‘unrecognisable’

Jimmy Fallon says Trump should wear a shock collar in court after reports of him falling asleep

Friday 3 May 2024 06:00 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Late-night host Jimmy Fallon has suggested that Donald Trump wears a shock collar following reports that he has repeatedly fallen asleep during his New York hush money trial.

“In an effort to stop Trump from falling asleep in court, his lawyers have been giving him a number of different devices”, the comedian said during his opening monologue on the Tonight Show on Wednesday.

“So far, the only thing that can keep him awake is an iPad playing Bluey.”

Mr Fallon continued: “His lawyers are running out of ideas to keep him awake, they even hired a kindergarten teacher to keep him awake by standing at the front of the court saying, ‘Eyes on me, eyes on you’.”

The comic then cut to a spoof commercial for a “Trump Shock Collar”, which the ad described as: “The world’s first human shock collar disguised as a red neck tie!”

Read the full story here:

Jimmy Fallon says Trump should wear an electric shock collar to stay awake in court

Analysis: Biden’s making a play for North Carolina and Florida. Republicans will have to defend themselves

Friday 3 May 2024 05:30 , Oliver O’Connell

Eric Garcia writes:

On Thursday, President Biden made his way to Wilmington, North Carolina, also making a stop in Charlotte to visit the families of police officers killed in the line of duty. Biden’s trip comes shortly after Vice President Kamala Harris visited Charlotte last month. In fact, both have made multiple journeys down to North Carolina this year.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the vice president visited Jacksonville, Florida on the day that the state’s six-week abortion ban came into effect. Harris, as Inside Washington has written before, can zero in on abortion rights in ways that Biden, an 81-year-old Catholic man, cannot. And indeed, Harris delivered some scorching lines against Florida Republicans, saying “extremist” Republican lawmakers who voted in the ban “either don’t know how a woman’s body works, or simply don’t care.”

The president continues to poll badly, even in states that he won in 2020 such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada. So why the focus on tough-to-win states like North Carolina and Florida?

Biden’s making a play. Republicans will have to defend themselves

Key takeaways from Trump’s day in court

Friday 3 May 2024 05:00 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Donald Trump was back in court again on Thursday during his third week of the hush money trial in Manhattan, where jurors heard bombshell recordings between Mr Trump and his former personal attorney Michael Cohen.

The former president’s legal team attempted to defend Mr Trump over his gag order violations on Thursday. Earlier this week, Judge Juan Merchan fined him $9,000 for repeated violations of the order, which bars him from talking about foreseeable witnesses or staff of the judge or DA’s office. Ironically, after court adjourned for the day, Mr Trump falsely claimed to reporters that he was not “allowed to testify” because of the gag order.

The court also saw a different side of Michael Cohen, who has previously been described in the Manhattan courthouse as “excitable” and “pants on fire.”

One witness said he thought Cohen “was going to kill himself” after Cohen found out that Mr Trump, Cohen’s long-term client, wasn’t considering him for top roles in his White House administration.

Here are some takeaways from another day at the hush money trial:

‘I hate that fact that we did it’: Key takeaways from Trump’s day in court

ICYMI: Watch: Trump hush money trial continues as second gag order ruling due

Friday 3 May 2024 04:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Watch as Donald Trump‘s hush money trial in New York resumed on Thursday, 2 May, at Manhattan Criminal Court.

Judge Juan Merchan is due to consider four more alleged violations of the former president’s gag order after fining him $9,000 for nine breaches.

Mr Trump was warned he could face “incarceratory punishment” if he continued bad-mouthing key participants.

He used Wednesday’s recess to hit the campaign trail in Wisconsin and Michigan, delivering a familiar onslaught of insults, grievances, half-truths, and apocalyptic forecasts.

Thursday’s proceedings come after the court has heard key testimony from Gary Farro, the banker for former Trump fixer Michael Cohen, explaining how the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels to cover up the alleged extramarital affair with Mr Trump was funded.

Watch live: Trump hush money trial continues as second gag order ruling due

Trump should wear a shock collar in court, says Fallon

Friday 3 May 2024 03:30 , Joe Sommerlad

Late-night host Jimmy Fallon has suggested that Donald Trump wears a shock collar following reports that he has repeatedly fallen asleep during his New York hush money trial.

“So far, the only thing that can keep him awake is an iPad playing Bluey.”

Read on…

Jimmy Fallon says Trump should wear an electric shock collar to stay awake in court

Friday 3 May 2024 02:30 , Oliver O’Connell

Potential Donald Trump juror breaks silence on death threats he’s received

Trump blames Cohen for breaking gag order

Friday 3 May 2024 01:30 , Oliver O’Connell

The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money trial fired back at his attorney’s attempts to dodge punishment for his comments about the jury – remarks that appear likely to violate a gag order that blocks him from public attacks on witnesses and jurors.

In a contempt hearing on Thursday morning, the former president’s legal team tried to blame at least some of Mr Trump’s potential violations on Michael Cohen, arguing his former attorney and the potential star witness in the case has made “multiple and repeated attacks” on his “credibility” and campaign.

Pulling up several social media posts from Cohen, Mr Trump’s attorney argued that he is “inviting and almost daring Trump to respond to everything he’s saying”.

Alex Woodward reports from court:

Trump blames Cohen for breaking gag order as judge fires back at jury comments

Michael Cohen: Once Trump’s inside man — no, friends say he’s at risk

Friday 3 May 2024 00:30 , Oliver O’Connell

Kelly Rissman writes:

Michael Cohen was once so close to Donald Trump that he “would take a bullet for” him, he said.

In the seven years since professing this unwavering loyalty, the former lawyer and “fixer” has suffered his own very public downfall and criminal conviction, and is now recast as star witness in the Manhattan district attorney’s hush money case against the former president.

It is a role that Cohen both relishes — as reformed “truth-teller” who enthusiastically pulls back the curtain on the alleged murky dealings of Trump world — and reviles.

Michael Cohen was Trump’s inside man. Now, he’s on the stand and at risk, friends say

In pictures: Trump makes post-trial campaign stop at Midtown Manhattan firehouse

Friday 3 May 2024 00:00 , Oliver O’Connell

(AP)

Man who bragged that he ‘fed’ an officer to the Jan 6 mob gets nearly five years in prison

Thursday 2 May 2024 23:30 , AP

A Georgia business owner who bragged that he “fed” a police officer to a mob of rioters storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced on Thursday to nearly five years in prison for his repeated attacks on law enforcement during the insurrection.

Jack Wade Whitton struck an officer with a metal crutch and dragged him — head first and face down — into the crowd on the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace. Whitton later boasted in a text message that he “fed him to the people.”

Roughly 20 minutes later, Whitton tried to pull a second officer into the crowd, prosecutors say. He also kicked at, threatened and threw a construction pylon at officers trying to hold off the mob of then-President Donald Trump‘s supporters.

“You’re gonna die tonight!” he shouted at police after striking an officer’s riot shield.

Read on…

Man who bragged that he ‘fed’ an officer to the mob of Capitol rioters gets nearly 5 years in prison

Today in court: Bombshell audio captures Trump and Cohen discussing hush money ‘catch and kill’ plot

Thursday 2 May 2024 23:06 , Oliver O’Connell

Alex Woodward reports:

For the first time in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, jurors heard the former president’s own voice discussing a deal with his former attorney to buy the silence of a former Playboy model who alleged an affair with Mr Trump.

A portion of the recording – secretly recorded by Michael Cohen while Mr Trump was in the middle of his 2016 campaign for the presidency – was played inside a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday, giving the jury a brief but crucial look into how his “fixer” kept his boss up to date with a scheme that is now central to the criminal case against him.

Bombshell audio captures Trump and Cohen discussing hush money ‘catch and kill’ plot

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