Defense lawyers in Donald Trump’s hush money trial dug Friday into assertions of the former publisher of the National Enquirer and his efforts to protect Trump from negative stories during the 2016 election.
Here’s the latest:
Quick Read
- Defense’s Examination: Defense attorneys questioned David Pecker, former National Enquirer publisher, attempting to undermine his testimony about the tabloid’s “catch and kill” practices which involved buying rights to damaging stories about Trump to prevent their publication.
- Additional Witnesses: The prosecution called Rhona Graff, Trump’s former executive assistant, and Gary Farro, a former banker for Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen. Both provided insights into the inner workings and financial transactions that are central to the case.
- Nature of Charges: The trial involves $130,000 in payments made by Trump’s company to Michael Cohen, who used the funds to prevent porn actor Stormy Daniels from publicizing her claims of a past sexual encounter with Trump. Trump has denied the encounter and pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
- Key Testimonies:
- Gary Farro: He detailed assisting Cohen with creating accounts for limited liability companies used in the financial transactions for the hush money.
- Rhona Graff: Described as Trump’s “gatekeeper,” she testified about her role in managing Trump’s schedule and communications, including interactions with David Pecker.
- Pecker’s Consistency Questioned: Defense highlighted potential inconsistencies in Pecker’s statements to the FBI and his testimony in court, focusing on whether Trump expressed gratitude for suppressing stories.
- Prosecution’s Counter: Prosecutors emphasized Pecker’s consistent assertion in later FBI interviews and to a grand jury that Trump thanked him for handling sensitive issues, which Pecker insists were detrimental to Trump’s image and campaign.
The Associated Press has the story:
Banker tells how he helped ex-Trump attorney create LLC in hush money trial testimony
Newslooks- NEW YORK (AP) —
Defense lawyers in Donald Trump’s hush money trial dug Friday into assertions of the former publisher of the National Enquirer and his efforts to protect Trump from negative stories during the 2016 election.
David Pecker returned to the witness stand for the fourth day as defense attorneys tried to poke holes in his testimony, which has described helping bury embarrassing stories Trump feared could hurt his campaign.
Pecker has painted a tawdry portrait of “catch and kill” tabloid schemes — catching a potentially damaging story by buying the rights to it and then killing it through agreements that prevent the paid person from telling the story to anyone else.
The prosecution later called to the stand Rhona Graff, Trump’s former longtime executive assistant who has been described as his “gatekeeper,” and Gary Farro, a private client adviser who previously worked at First Republic, which was used by former Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen.
The three witness’ testimony will cap a consequential week in the criminal cases the former president is facing as he vies to reclaim the White House in November.
The charges center on $130,000 in payments that Trump’s company made to his then-lawyer, Cohen. He paid that sum on Trump’s behalf to keep porn actor Stormy Daniels from going public with her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier. Trump has denied the encounter ever happened.
Prosecutors say Trump obscured the true nature of those payments and falsely recorded them as legal expenses. He has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The case is the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president and the first of four prosecutions of Trump to reach a jury.
BANKER EXPLAINS HOW HE HELPED FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY CREATE AN LLC
Gary Farro detailed the step-by-step process of helping Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen create an account for his limited liability company while testifying Friday in the Trump’s hush money trial in Manhattan.
According to Farro, Cohen said Resolution Consultants, which he opened in September 2016, was related to real estate. In fact, the LLC was formed to facilitate the planned purchase of Karen McDougal’s story rights from American Media. That deal never went through.
Prosecutors have shown emails in which Cohen describes the opening of the account as an “important matter.”
Farro said that since the account was never funded, it was never technically opened. Instead, Cohen pivoted to starting another account for another LLC — Essential Consultants — which he used to make the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels. Similarly, Farro said Cohen led him to believe that firm would be involved in real estate consulting.
PROSECUTION CALLS BANKER AS ITS 3RD WITNESS
The prosecution on Friday called its third witness in former president Donald Trump’s hush money trial to testify.
Gary Farro works at Flagstar Bank as a private client adviser and was previously at First Republic Bank, which was used by former Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen.
Farro, testifying pursuant to a subpoena, said Cohen had several personal bank accounts at First Republic when Farro took over the client relationship in 2015.
“I was told that I was selected because of my knowledge and because of my ability to handle individuals that may be a little challenging,” Farro said.
“Frankly, I didn’t find him that difficult,” he added.
FORMER LONGTIME EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT OF TRUMP CONCLUDES HER TESTIMONY
After Rhona Graff concluded her testimony Friday in Donald Trump’s hush money trial in Manhattan, Trump spoke briefly to his former executive assistant as she left the stand.
The former president appeared to reach out to her with his hand as an officer guided her away from the witness stand past the defense table.
Trump’s lawyers were at the bench, talking with Judge Merchan, when Trump stood up and engaged with Graff.
Soon after, Trump left court for a break. He was carrying the thick stack of papers he brought in with him in the morning. He gave a thumbs up as he left and ignored a shouted question from a reporter about Stormy Daniels. He returned several minutes later.
SECOND WITNESS, DESCRIBED AS TRUMP’S ‘GATEKEEPER,’ TESTIFIES
Rhona Graff, Donald Trump’s longtime executive assistant, was called to the stand Friday in the former president’s hush money trial in Manhattan.
Graff started working for Trump in 1987 and left the Trump Organization in April 2021. She has been described as his gatekeeper and right hand. She was among several people involved in keeping his records.
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, the first prosecution witness called, testified Thursday that Graff was often the conduit for his communications with Trump, routing his calls and summoning him to a Trump Tower meeting on Jan. 6, 2017. At the meeting, the ex-publisher said, he and Trump discussed some of the hush money arrangements at issue in the case.
Graff testified that porn actor Stormy Daniels was once at Trump’s offices in Trump Tower.
“I have a vague recollection of seeing her in the reception area” one time, Graff said.
The date of the visit wasn’t immediately clear.
Graff said she assumed Daniels was there to discuss potentially being a contestant on one of Trump’s “Apprentice”-brand shows.
“You had heard President Trump say that he thought that she would be an interesting addition” to the cast, Trump lawyer Susan Necheles asked.
“It was part of the office chatter,” Graff said.
PUBLISHER DAVID PECKER CONCLUDES HIS TESTIMONY
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker concluded his testimony Friday afternoon in Donald Trump’s hush money trial in Manhattan.
Before he left the witness stand, however, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass elicited testimony pushing back on a defense suggestion that Pecker had changed his story about Trump thanking him at a Jan. 6, 2017 Trump Tower meeting for his help burying negative stories.
During cross-examination, Trump lawyer Emil Bove had shown Pecker notes from the first of two FBI interviews he gave in 2018. According to the notes, Pecker told investigators that Trump hadn’t shown gratitude at their meeting.
Pecker maintained that the FBI’s notes of the interview may have been wrong. And, as Steinglass noted, he told investigators in an interview a week later that Trump had thanked him “for handling” Karen McDougal’s affair claims and a Trump Tower doorman’s false rumor about him.
Pecker confirmed he later told a federal grand jury that Trump was “very grateful and these stories could have been very, very damaging.”
Asked by Steinglass if he had any confusion over whether that happened, Pecker replied: “No.”
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