Avalanche of Donald Trump Trial Documents Made Public
Donald Trump at a roundtable discussion at the 180 Church on June 15, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. Over 400 prosecution slides from Trump's recent hush money trial have been posted online. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
A huge collection of texts, emails and phone messages from Donald Trump's Stormy Daniels trial have been posted online.
NBC uploaded more than 400 prosecution slides shown to the jury in the hush-money case. They are viewable at https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24741655-djt-ny-summation-slides The slides include everything from The National Enquirer text messages about how to pay off Playboy model, Karen McDougal, to Michael Cohen's messages about giving money to adult film actress Daniels. The collection allows the public to view the prosecution evidence without media editing.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, faced trial in New York City on 34 counts of falsifying business records for hush-money payments made to Daniels. On May 30, a jury convicted him on all 34 counts, although the former president denied any wrongdoing. Newsweek sought email comment from Trump's attorney on Monday.
Among the large number of texts are ones between McDougal's lawyer, Keith Davidson, and a National Enquirer editor while she was selling her story about an alleged one-year affair with Trump. At the time, David Pecker was buying up scandal about his friend, the former president, and keeping it confidential so that it wouldn't damage Trump's 2016 election campaign.
McDougal's affair allegedly began when Trump recorded an episode of The Apprentice at Hugh Hefner's Playboy mansion in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles.
Davidson texted that McDougal wanted more than $1 million for her story. He suggested an $800,000 lump sum, followed by $100,000 for each of the next two years as long as McDougal didn't speak to any other media organization.
Davidson joked that he also wanted an ambassadorship from Trump, adding that he could become the U.S. ambassador to the Isle of Man, a small British island in the Irish Sea.
A National Enquirer editor texted back that he would relay the message but added that the magazine was willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars rather than a million for her story.
While testifying for the prosecution during the trial, Davidson said that the Isle of Man comment was a joke.
"I know they don't have an ambassador, but I think it was a reference to Mr. Trump's candidacy," Davidson added.
On June 29, 2016, Dylan Howard, National Enquirer editor, texts Davidson to let him know that Stormy Daniels' agent is trying to "hawk" her story to the magazine.
Davidson texts back: "Lol [Laugh out loud]! She's trying to sell a story to you?"
The National Enquirer also tipped off Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen. He then set up a shell company to buy Daniels' story directly and, according to the evidence in the case, Trump repaid Cohen, disguising the repayment as legal fees.
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