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The judge overseeing Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan rebuked the former president on Monday for mounting “a direct attack on the rule of law,” holding him in contempt of court for a second time and threatening to jail him if he continued to break a gag order that bars him from attacking jurors. In a moment of remarkable courtroom drama, the judge, Juan M. Merchan, addressed Mr. Trump personally from the bench, saying that if there were further violations, he might bypass financial penalties and place the former president behind bars. Justice Merchan acknowledged that jailing Mr. Trump was “the last thing” he wanted to do, but explained that it was his responsibility to “protect the dignity of the justice system.”The judge said that he understood “the magnitude of such a decision” and that jailing Mr. Trump would be a last resort. He noted: “You are the former president of the United States, and possibly the next president as well.”

Persons: Donald J, ”, Juan M, Merchan, Trump, Justice Merchan Locations: Manhattan, United States

☆ Chief Counsel at R.N.C. Pushed Out After Two Months on the Job
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Maggie Haberman | More About Maggie Haberman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Charlie Spies, the Republican National Committee’s chief counsel, was pushed out of his new role just two months after taking the job, amid a storm of controversy over conflicts involving other clients at the firm where he still works, according to two people briefed on the matter. Spies, a veteran election-law lawyer whom the R.N.C. A spokeswoman for the Trump campaign and the R.N.C. His past work — including for the presidential campaign of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, the super PAC supporting Jeb Bush against Donald J. Trump during the 2016 Republican primary and Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee — was highlighted for Mr. Trump by people seeking to oust Mr.

Persons: Charlie Spies, Ron DeSantis, Jeb Bush, Donald J, Mitt Romney, —, Trump, Mr, Spies Organizations: Republican National Committee’s, Trump, Gov, PAC, Republican, Mr Locations: Florida

☆ Campaign Updates: At the R.N.C. donor retreat, Trump calls the Biden administration the ‘Gestapo.’
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Maggie Haberman | Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

“You have to respect the office of the presidency,” Mr. Trump said. “When you are Democrat, you start off essentially at 40 percent because you have civil service, you have the unions and you have welfare,” Mr. Trump said on Saturday. director whom Mr. Trump fired amid an investigation into Mr. Trump and his campaign, was connected to the Blagojevich investigation. Mr. Trump also mocked the physical appearance of Jack Smith, the special counsel who has indicted him twice. At another point, Mr. Trump said that if anyone wanted to donate $1 million to the R.N.C.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Biden’s, ” Mr, Trump baselessly, Biden, “, Mr, ”, William P, Barr, Michael Whatley, Mitt Romney, Hope Hicks, Rod Blagojevich, Blagojevich’s, James B, Blagojevich, Jack Smith, Smith, Mike Johnson, Roe, Wade, Trump’s, — Susie Wiles, Chris LaCivita, Tony Fabrizio — Organizations: Republican National Committee, The New York Times, Trump, Democratic, Mr, Sun Locations: New York, Florida, Palm Beach, Fla, Manhattan, Illinois, Minnesota, Virginia, Nevada , Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin

☆ Kristi Noem Suggests Biden’s Dog Should Have Been Killed, Too
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Maggie Astor | More About Maggie Astor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

She said that the dog proved “untrainable,” “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with” and “less than worthless” as a hunting dog — so she shot her in a gravel pit. “I hated that dog,” Ms. Noem wrote. She also alluded to Commander in elaborating on her decision to shoot Cricket: “A dog who bites is dangerous and unpredictable (are you listening, Joe Biden?) — especially if you are running a business where people interact with your dogs,” she wrote. Imagining becoming president in 2025 and sending Mr. Biden’s dog to meet his maker, Ms. Noem added: “Commander, say hello to Cricket for me.”

Persons: Donald J, “, Ms, Noem, Joe Biden, ” Organizations: South, Cricket, CBS Locations: South Dakota

☆ Gallows Humor and Talk of Escape: Trump’s Possible Return Rattles Capital
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Peter Baker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It has become the topic of the season at Washington dinner parties and receptions. It’s a gallows humor with a dark edge. Much of official Washington is bracing for the possibility that former President Donald J. Trump really could return — this time with “retribution” as his avowed mission, the discussion is where people might go into a sort of self-imposed exile. Whether they mean it or not, the buzz is a telling indicator of the grim mood among many in the nation’s capital these days. The “what if” goes beyond the normal prospect of a side unhappy about a lost election.

Persons: Biden, Donald J, Trump, ” Locations: Washington, Portugal, Australia, France, Poland

Donald J. Trump is on trial for 34 felony counts of what could be the dullest sounding crime in New York’s penal code: falsifying business records. Yet, across nine witnesses and two weeks of testimony, jurors have been treated to hours of mesmerizing courtroom theater. There was talk of a sex scandal with a porn star, a surreptitious recording of a future president and the tearful testimony of a former confidante in the glare of the witness stand. There was even a celebrity roll call: Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan and the reality television star Tila Tequila were all name-checked this week, drawing chuckles in the Lower Manhattan courtroom. The phrase “falsifying business records,” however, was not uttered to the jury during testimony.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, Tila Tequila Locations: Lower Manhattan

☆ This is the moment Trump changed American politics
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Being elected president shortly after surviving the publication of the leaked “Access Hollywood” tape in 2016 is the moment in which Donald Trump defied political gravity. The ‘Access Hollywood’ tape reexaminedTrump’s 2016 victory in the Electoral College seems only more improbable in the retelling. It is worth revisiting the earthquake the “Access Hollywood” tape set off in the 2016 campaign. Return of the tapeNow, the “Access Hollywood” tape is back. Video Ad Feedback Trump asked if he stands by comments from 'Access Hollywood' tape.

Persons: CNN —, Donald Trump, Trump, Hope Hicks, Hicks, –, ”, crassly, Billy Bush, Bush, Sen, Mike Lee of, Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Reince Priebus, Christie, Steve Bannon, Melania, ” Trump, “, Bill Clinton, WAZiGoQqMQ — Donald J, Hillary Clinton, James Comey’s, Clinton, Comey, Anthony Weiner, Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Cohen, Daniels, Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Martin, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, ’ ”, Collins, Feedback Trump, Bannon, Charlie Rose, Rose, Jean Carroll Organizations: CNN, Republican, Electoral, Washington Post, Republicans, Trump, New, New Jersey Gov, Republican National, Twitter, Democratic, The New York Times, CBS Locations: New York, Mike Lee of Utah, New Jersey

☆ Campaign Updates Noem, under fire for her new book, joins other V.P. contenders at G.O.P. donor retreat.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Chris Cameron | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

That will be corrected in future editions of the book, too, said Ian Fury, the chief of communications for Ms. Noem. “It was brought to our attention that the upcoming book ‘No Going Back’ has two small errors,” Mr. Fury said. “I had the chance to travel to many countries to meet with world leaders — some who wanted our help, and some who didn’t,” Ms. Noem writes. The conversation that Ms. Noem describes having with Ms. Haley, the former South Carolina governor who dropped out of the Republican presidential primary in March, suggests that Ms. Haley had threatened her because they were both prominent Republican women. It was weird.”Chaney Denton, a spokeswoman for Ms. Haley, said Ms. Noem’s story was inaccurate.

Persons: Kristi Noem, Kim Jong, Noem, Donald J, Trump, Noem’s, Nikki Haley, Ian Fury, Mr, Fury, Kim, “, —, Ms, I’d, Haley, “ I’ve, I’ve, ” Chaney Denton, “ Nikki, ” Ms, Denton, Sean Hannity, ” Organizations: North Korean, The New York Times, South, House Armed Services Committee, North, Republican, Trump, Cricket, Fox News Locations: South Dakota, North Korean, South Carolina

☆ Politics Without Trump? His Youngest Fans Barely Remember It.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Charles Homans | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

When Donald J. Trump held a rally in Rome, Ga., in March, his audience included a second-generation supporter and first-time rallygoer named Luke Harris. “My parents were always supporters of him — especially when he was going against Hillary,” recalled Mr. Harris, who was in sixth grade in Cartersville, Ga., when Mr. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016 to win the presidency. Mr. Harris, now a 19-year-old student at Kennesaw State University, “just grew up looking at him, listening, watching him,” he said. “I kind of grew into it.”Mr. Trump’s victory, to supporters and detractors alike, represented a profound break with politics as usual in the United States. People who voted against him feared he would turn the American presidency upside down.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, rallygoer, Luke Harris, “, Hillary, ”, Harris, Hillary Clinton, Mr, Trump’s Organizations: Kennesaw State University, People Locations: Rome, Cartersville, “, United States

☆ Election Updates: Biden and Trump tussle over the economy with the new jobs report.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The latest employment report on Friday showing a lower-than-forecast 175,000 new jobs across the country in April became immediate fodder for the 2024 presidential race. The monthly jobs report is likely to be quickly forgotten in the campaign. But the biggest impact could be on the Federal Reserve, which sets interest rates in the country. Mr. Trump himself appears to be closely tracking the rate decisions of the Federal Reserve. At the Manhattan courthouse on Thursday, Mr. Trump said, “Interest rates are obviously not going to be reduced prior to the election because inflation is roaring back.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Biden, Biden’s, Jerome H, Powell, ” Organizations: White, Federal Reserve, The New York Times, Siena College, Mr Locations: New York, Manhattan

☆ Who Is Hope Hicks, Once One of Trump’s Most Trusted Advisers?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Maggie Haberman | Matthew Haag | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Hope Hicks was 26 years old and had no political experience when Donald J. Trump plucked her from a job at his daughter Ivanka’s clothing business and hired her for his presidential campaign in 2015. In the years that followed, she rose to be one of his most trusted advisers, eventually serving as the White House communications director. But Mr. Trump has been angry with Ms. Hicks since 2022, when text messages emerged during a House investigation into his efforts to stay in power after his election loss. The messages showed that she had been critical of him after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by his supporters. Now, Ms. Hicks, 35, has taken the stand in Mr. Trump’s hush-money trial in a Lower Manhattan courtroom.

Persons: Hope Hicks, Donald J, Trump, Hicks, Trump’s, Michael D, Cohen Organizations: White House, Capitol, Trump Locations: Lower Manhattan, Manhattan

☆ The Death of a Treaty Could Be a Lifesaver for Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

During a military exercise with the Philippines that began last month, the U.S. Army deployed a new type of covert weapon that is designed to be hidden in plain sight. Called Typhon, it consists of a modified 40-foot shipping container that conceals up to four missiles that rotate upward to fire. It can be loaded with weapons including the Tomahawk — a cruise missile that can hit targets on land and ships at sea more than 1,150 miles away. In 2019, President Donald J. Trump abandoned the treaty, in part because the United States believed Russia had violated the terms of the pact for years. But U.S. officials said that China, with its growing long-range missile arsenal, was also a reason the Trump administration decided to withdraw.

Persons: Donald J, Trump Organizations: U.S . Army, Nuclear Forces Treaty Locations: Philippines, U.S, United States, Russia, China

“I’m really nervous,” Hope Hicks, the onetime Trump spokeswoman, messaging maestro and all-around adviser, acknowledged to the prosecutor questioning her, declaring what was already obvious to the riveted courtroom. Ms. Hicks’s unease came to a head hours later as Mr. Trump’s lawyer began to cross-examine her — and she began to cry. Mr. Trump locked his eyes on her. The question that initially unnerved Ms. Hicks was about her time at the Trump Organization, the family’s business, where she had fond memories of working. Ms. Hicks left the stand, and the trial paused so that she could compose herself.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, “, ” Hope Hicks, Trump’s, Ms, Hicks Organizations: Trump, Trump Organization

☆ Kristi Noem’s New Book Falsely Says She Met Kim Jong-un
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Chris Cameron | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Kristi Noem of South Dakota, a biography that will be released on Tuesday, will be corrected to remove a false anecdote about her meeting Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, a spokesman for Ms. Noem said on Friday. Ms. Noem’s new book also includes an error about when a phone call with Nikki Haley took place. That will be corrected in future editions of the book, too, said Ian Fury, the chief of communications for Ms. Noem. “It was brought to our attention that the upcoming book ‘No Going Back’ has two small errors,” Mr. Fury said. Kim Jong-un was included in a list of world leaders and shouldn’t have been.”

Persons: Kristi Noem, Kim Jong, Noem, Donald J, Trump, Noem’s, Nikki Haley, Ian Fury, Mr, Fury, ” Organizations: North Korean Locations: South Dakota

☆ Auditor That Works for Trump Media Is Charged With Fraud
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Matthew Goldstein | More About Matthew Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

An accounting firm that audits the financial statements of hundreds of public companies including former President Donald J. Trump’s social media company can no longer do so, U.S. securities regulators said on Friday. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged the firm, BF Borgers, with fraud, saying that it had failed to comply with accounting rules. The regulator held BF Borgers and its owner, Benjamin F. Borger, responsible for “deliberate and systemic failures” to comply with accounting rules. Many companies that used BF Borgers must now find new auditors. Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of the Truth Social platform, has been a client of BF Borgers since 2022, according to regulatory filings.

Persons: Donald J, BF, Benjamin F, Borgers Organizations: Securities, Exchange Commission, Trump Media & Technology Group, Trump Media Locations: U.S, Borger

☆ Hope Hicks Takes the Stand: 5 Takeaways From Trump’s Criminal Trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Jesse Mckinley | Kate Christobek | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Gasps were heard in the overflow courtroom when Hope Hicks was called as a witness on Friday in Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan, an audible sign of the anticipation as Mr. Trump’s former press secretary and White House communications director took the stand. In nearly three hours on the stand, Ms. Hicks described the impact on Mr. Trump’s campaign of the so-called “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Mr. Trump bragged about grabbing women’s genitals. As soon as the tape was disclosed in October 2016, Ms. Hicks said, she knew it would be “a massive story.”Taking the stand under a subpoena, Ms. Hicks said she was nervous, and at one point, early in the cross-examination, she broke down in tears. The Manhattan district attorney has charged Mr. Trump, 77, with falsifying 34 business records to hide a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, a porn star who says she and Mr. Trump had a tryst in 2006 while he was married. Mr. Trump, the first American president to face criminal prosecution, has denied the charges and says he did not have sex with Ms. Daniels.

Persons: Gasps, Hope Hicks, Donald J, Trump’s, Hicks, Trump, Stormy Daniels, Daniels Organizations: White House Locations: Manhattan

☆ Trump Trial Live Updates: Witness Who Extracted Secret Recordings to Return to the Stand
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Matthew Haag | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

Before the tape was revealed, Mr. Trump’s legal team aggressively attacked the credibility of Mr. Davidson during a cross-examination that quickly turned hostile. Frequently, Mr. Davidson would respond, “I don’t recall.”Mr. Bove confronted Mr. Davidson about his “fuzzy” memory and Mr. Davidson responded forcefully that his answers had been truthful. Image The jury heard a recording, made by Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s longtime fixer, during the 2016 campaign. That included one in which Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen discussed a hush-money deal for Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who was trying to sell a story about an affair with Mr. Trump. The potential witness list has several major names, including Ms. Daniels, Mr. Cohen and Hope Hicks, who is Mr. Trump’s former spokeswoman.

Persons: Keith Davidson, Stormy Daniels, Donald J, Juan M, Trump, Merchan, Daniels, Davidson, Michael D, Cohen, Mr, Emil Bove, ” Mr, Bove, ”, “, Trump’s, Maansi Srivastava, Davidson’s, Justice Merchan, Alvin L, Bragg, Todd Blanche, ” Trump, Blanche, Doug Mills, Biden’s, Biden, We’re, Douglas Daus, Karen McDougal, Hope Hicks Organizations: Trump, Prosecutors, Trump White House, New York, ., White, Playboy Locations: Manhattan, Michigan, Wisconsin

☆ Hope Hicks Reluctantly Confronts the Man She ‘Totally Understands’ in Court
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Michael M. Grynbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Friday, the audience in the courtroom tensed when prosecutors announced the next person to testify on their behalf: Hope Hicks. She was the meticulously dressed, unfailingly polite aide, a former fashion model who developed a nuanced awareness of, and bottomless patience for, her mercurial charge. “She totally understands him,” Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s one-time campaign manager, said in 2016. Unlike other aides, she never had a falling out with Mr. Trump (or wrote a tell-all memoir), serving as the White House communications director and returning for the final year of his administration. But their closeness took a hit when it emerged in 2022 that she had voiced anger in a text message to a colleague over the fallout on Mr. Trump’s staff from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Persons: Donald J, Hope Hicks, Hicks’s, barker, ” Paul Manafort, Trump’s, Trump Organizations: Trump, White House, Capitol

☆ Live Updates: Stormy Daniels's Lawyer to Return to Stand in Trump Criminal Trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Matthew Haag | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

Mr. Trump, 77, is charged with falsifying 34 business records to hide the payment to Ms. Daniels. He has denied the felony charges, and having had sex with Ms. Daniels and Ms. McDougal. The tabloid had agreed to buy negative stories about Mr. Trump and then bury them. Image Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s former fixer, was the point of contact for a lawyer seeking to sell stories. Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, is planning rallies in Wisconsin and Michigan — both battleground states — on Wednesday.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Juan M, Trump’s, Stormy Daniels, Keith Davidson, Karen McDougal, she’d, Daniels, McDougal, Davidson, Dylan Howard, . Bauer, Griffin, ”, Howard, Mr, Ms, Michael D, Cohen, Justice Merchan, Michael Cohen, Gary Farro, Dave Sanders, Todd Blanche, Farro, Blanche, Cohen “, Melania Trump, Barron’s, Merchan Organizations: National Enquirer, Trump, Trump . Credit, Getty, Trump Organization, First Republic Bank, The New York Times, Prosecutors, SPAN, Republican Locations: Los Angeles, Trump ., Wisconsin, Michigan

☆ Trump Trial to Resume With Stormy Daniels’s Lawyer on the Stand
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Matthew Haag | More About Matthew Haag | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

That testimony ended on a cliffhanger: Would the presidential candidate’s lawyer pay up? Prosecutors have charged Mr. Trump with falsifying business records to cover up repayments to Mr. Cohen, disguising the checks as “legal expenses” by the Trump Organization. If convicted, Mr. Trump faces up to four years in prison. Mr. Davidson’s testimony on Tuesday ended with how he had started to doubt that Mr. Cohen would come through with the $130,000. Mr. Davidson portrayed Mr. Cohen as erratic and excitable — likening him to the dog in the animated movie “Up,” constantly distracted by a squirrel offscreen.

Persons: Keith Davidson, Donald J, Trump, Trump’s, Davidson, Stormy Daniels, Michael D, Cohen, Daniels, Mr, —, ” Organizations: Mr, Prosecutors, Trump Organization

A defense lawyer for Donald J. Trump portrayed the lawyer who negotiated payoffs for two women who claimed to have had sex with Mr. Trump as a shady serial extortionist who has made a living trafficking in celebrity gossip and hush-money deals. During the cross-examination, the defense lawyer Emil Bove quickly sought to discredit Mr. Davidson. He accused him of toeing the line between seeking monetary settlements for his clients and extortion. And he warned Mr. Davidson that he was “not here to play lawyer games,” adding that he was seeking truthful answers. Mr. Davidson responded: “You are getting truthful answers, sir” — sarcastically stressing the last word.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Keith Davidson, Emil Bove, Mr, Davidson, ” —

Rumors that the Hollywood star Lindsay Lohan was in rehab. A lawsuit by Hulk Hogan, the former pro wrestler, against the gossip website Gawker for publishing a tape of him having sex. Testimony on Thursday at former President Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan dove deeply into the celebrity-obsessed digital media environment of the past fifteen years or so that helped fuel Mr. Trump’s rise to political prominence. In his testimony, particularly as he was cross-examined, Mr. Davidson and a defense lawyer, Emil Bove, together led the jurors on a whirlwind tour of several gossipy and tawdry deals he had a hand in. Prosecutors say that the former president’s efforts to continue to keep the story hidden were criminal.

Persons: Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, Hulk Hogan, Donald J, Keith Davidson, Davidson, Emil Bove, Karen McDougal, Stormy Daniels, Trump, Michael D, Cohen Organizations: Hollywood, Prosecutors Locations: Manhattan, Los Angeles

☆ Election Updates: Trump will not commit to accepting result of 2024 race, and repeats lie about 2020.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Michael Gold | Chris Cameron | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

I don’t change on that,” Mr. Trump said, according to The Journal Sentinel. Mr. Trump now faces dozens of felony charges in connection with those events. Months before any voting has taken place, Mr. Trump has regularly made the baseless claim that Democrats are likely to cheat to win. Mr. Trump has for years promoted the lie that he won Wisconsin in 2020, and he did so again in the Journal Sentinel interview. A self-described conspiracy theorist, she has relentlessly promoted false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, I’ll, Mr, it’s, ” Mr, Trump’s, Biden, “, you’re, ”, we’re, Jan, Robin Vos, Christina Bobb, Bobb, The Trump, ” “ Organizations: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Journal Sentinel, Capitol, Democrats, Wisconsin, Journal Sentinel, Republican, Legislature, Senate, Republican Party, Trump, Republican National, America News Network, Republican National Committee Locations: Freeland , Mich, Arizona, Freeland, Waukesha, Wis, Wisconsin

As Democrats confront a presidential race against a resurgent and resilient Donald J. Trump as well as a brutally challenging Senate map, they believe they have an increasingly powerful political weapon: ballot measures to protect abortion rights. Two crucial presidential and Senate battlegrounds, Arizona and Nevada, are expected to put such measures directly before voters. So are other states with top Senate races, including Maryland and potentially Montana. And abortion rights measures are set or could appear on ballots in states like New York, Florida and Nebraska, where competitive contests could help determine whether Democrats win back the House. Those measures have sometimes fueled surges in liberal turnout that have lifted Democratic candidates to victory, as well.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Democrats —, Republicans —, Roe, Wade Organizations: Senate, Democrats, Republicans, Democratic Locations: Arizona, Nevada, Maryland, Montana, New York , Florida, Nebraska, Ohio, Kansas, Michigan

Keith Davidson, the former lawyer for the porn star Stormy Daniels, faced a blistering cross-examination on Thursday in the criminal trial of Donald J. Trump, with defense lawyers casting him as a serial extortionist of celebrities. The judge, Juan M. Merchan, also heard arguments about additional violations of a gag order by Mr. Trump, just days after he held the former president in contempt and fined him $9,000 for nine other violations. Justice Merchan has threatened jail time if the violations continue, but did not rule on four new allegations on Thursday. Mr. Trump, 77, is charged with falsifying 34 business records, including checks and invoices, to hide a $130,000 payment to Ms. Daniels, who says she and Mr. Trump had a tryst in 2006 while he was married. Mr. Trump, the first American president to face prosecution, has denied the felony charges, and having had sex with Ms. Daniels.

Persons: Keith Davidson, Stormy Daniels, Donald J, Juan M, Trump, Merchan, Daniels Organizations: Trump

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