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Donald Trump departed Trump Tower moments ago and is en route to the downtown Manhattan courthouse, where a jury is set to continue a second day of deliberations to determine his legal fate in his historic criminal hush money trial. The 12 jurors— seven men and five women — will determine whether Trump is guilty of 34 felony criminal charges of falsifying business records in connection with allegedly concealing reimbursements to his then-lawyer for a purported hush money scheme to silence an adult film star about an affair shortly before the 2016 presidential election. Jurors will return to court at 9:30 a.m. Trump and the attorneys will remain in the courthouse while the jury deliberates. Trump’s team has a war room of sorts and will be in there at times during jury deliberation.

Persons: Donald Trump, —, Trump, reimbursements Organizations: Trump Locations: Manhattan

☆ Trump found guilty in hush money trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Jeremy Herb | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —A Manhattan jury found Donald Trump guilty of all 34 charges of falsifying business records Thursday, an unprecedented and historic verdict that makes Trump the first former president in American history to be convicted of a felony. And if he defeats President Joe Biden in November, he will be the first sitting president in history to be a convicted felon. The verdict in the hush money trial was announced after jurors deliberated for nearly 12 hours over two days. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks to the media after a jury found former President Donald Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, on Thursday, May 30, in New York. “There’s only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box,” Biden wrote on X, linking to a fundraising page.

Persons: Donald Trump, he’s, Joe Biden, ” Trump, ”, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Michael Cohen, Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Trump, Bragg, Donald J, Seth Wenig, Daniels, Juan Merchan, Todd Blanche, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, “, ” Blanche, Biden, ” Biden, ” Michael Tyler, Hunt, Mike Johnson, Kaanita Iyer, Annie Grayer, Celina Tabor, Kara Scannell, Lauren del Valle, Laura Dolan Organizations: CNN, Trump, White, CNN Manhattan, Attorney, Democrat, Manhattan, Republican National Convention, GOP, “ Locations: Manhattan, “, New York, Milwaukee, Celina

The judge left the courtroom, and Trump, his lawyers and the prosecutors remained behind to wait for the end of the day. But everything changed when the judge re-entered the courtroom at 4:36 p.m. with a stunning note: The jury had reached a verdict. The jury needed 30 minutes to fill out the forms, leaving Trump and the attorneys sitting in the courtroom until the judge and jury returned. When the judge returned to the bench, he warned the parties and the audience against “reactions” or “outbursts of any kind” before the jury entered. The jurors were polled one-by-one to confirm this was their verdict, and Trump turned and craned his neck to the right to look at the jurors.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, Todd Blanche, Juan Merchan, Merchan, “, ”, Eric, Eric patted, Steve Witkoff, Trump’s, CNN’s Nicki Brown Organizations: CNN, Trump

Former President Donald Trump appears in court with his lawyers Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and Susan Necheles for his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 28 in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesAs the jury is set to begin deliberating today, former President Donald Trump and his team are preparing for a possible conviction in his criminal New York hush money case. While there remains hope for a hung jury, legal advisers have privately warned Trump and his team to prepare for a possible conviction in the case. Privately, Trump has asked allies what they think the outcome will be, while complaining that the trial is rigged against him. “It’s all the about the messaging—pre-trial, during the trial and then after the trial,” one source close to Trump told CNN.

Persons: Donald Trump, Todd Blanche, Emil Bove, Susan Necheles, Spencer Platt, Trump, “, ” Organizations: Manhattan Criminal, Trump, CNN Locations: New York City, York, Manhattan

CNN —The jury in Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial finished its first day of deliberations Wednesday without reaching a verdict after meeting for more than four-and-a-half hours. ET to resume deliberations, but the 12 men and women will also again hear from Judge Juan Merchan. Jurors also want to re-hear Merchan’s instructions on the law that he had given them earlier Wednesday morning. The testimony the jurors are requesting relates to interactions Trump had directly with Pecker. While most federal judges will send the actual document with the jury as it deliberates, New York state courts forbid this practice.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Juan Merchan, David Pecker, Michael Cohen, Trump, Karen McDougal’s, Cohen, Pecker, Joe Biden, Merchan, Stormy Daniels, ” Merchan, Elie Honig, “, ” Honig, ”, They’ve Organizations: CNN, National Enquirer, AMI, Trump, New Locations: York, New York, Manhattan

Defense attorney Todd Blanche will present first Tuesday morning with closing arguments expected to take 2.5 to 3 hours, a person familiar tells CNN. Essentially, Trump’s lawyers do not want the lead prosecutor to have another crack at the jury before they retire to deliberate. What they are expected to say today: In their closing, Trump’s team will revisit many of the arguments they made at trial — that allegedly falsified documents were not falsified because Michael Cohen was working as a lawyer to President Trump in 2017, according to the person familiar. They will also argue that if documents were falsified, it was Cohen who falsified them by lying about how much he was owed, according to the source. The Trump team does not feel that Robert Costello’s disastrous appearance on the witness stand last week will ultimately hurt their case or their arguments about Cohen.

Persons: Todd Blanche, Joshua Steinglass, Michael Cohen, Trump, Cohen, Allen Weisselberg, Trump's, The, Robert Costello’s Organizations: CNN, Trump, Lawyers, The Trump

Cohen testified that Trump bodyguard Keith Schiller put Trump on the phone so Cohen could tell him he was going forward with the Daniels payment. Blanche also said that prosecutors offered no evidence connecting Trump to the payment to Daniels outside of Cohen’s testimony. They speak in coded language, and they speak fast,” Steinglass said of Cohen and Trump. “Trump is deputizing Cohen right in front of Pecker so that Pecker knows that any go ahead from Cohen is a go head from Trump. When the “Access Hollywood” story came out in October 2016, Steinglass said that Trump and the campaign went into panic mode.

Persons: ”, Donald Trump, Michael Cohen –, Stormy Daniels, Cohen, Juan Merchan, Michael Cohen’s, Todd Blanche, Trump’s, Blanche, Tom Brady, ” Blanche, Keith Schiller, Trump, Daniels, Schiller, texted Schiller, “, Michael Cohen, Merchan, there’s, Joshua Steinglass, David Pecker, ” Steinglass, Steinglass, “ Hey, Keith, how’s, Karen McDougal, “ Trump, deputizing Cohen, Donald J, Pecker, Allen Weisselberg, Weisselberg, Jeff McConney, “ I’m, –, Dino, McDougal Organizations: CNN — Prosecutors, Trump, Defense, ” Prosecutors, CNN, AMI, ”, Trump Organization, Trump Org, ” Defense, Trump . Trump Locations: Trump’s New York, Trump, Weisselberg

☆ Closing arguments for Trump’s hush money trial begin Tuesday. Here’s what to know
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-26 | by ( Devan Cole | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

But prosecutors will have an extra degree of difficulty with a long break ahead of closing arguments, as jurors will have been away from the case since Tuesday. “This, more than even your typical case, is going to be a closing case,” he added. The star witness in this case are the documents, and the documents speak for themselves.”Trump’s attorneys will present their closing arguments first on Tuesday, followed by the arguments from prosecutors. They will say this is a documents case,” he explained, going on to describe the various accounting documents presented during the trial. Still, the closing arguments from each side will be carefully crafted to win not only a verdict in their favor, but also to mark each attorneys’ place in the historic trial, Villalona mused.

Persons: CNN —, Donald Trump, Trump, Attorney Alvin Bragg’s, “, ”, Elie Honig, Bernarda Villalona, Juan Merchan, David Pecker, Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Robert Costello, Cohen, Daniels, Merchan, Honig, ‘ Michael Cohen’s, Allen Weisselberg, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, “ Trump, …, Pecker, ’, Agnifilo, Villalona, CNN’s Jeremy Herb, Kara Scannell, Lauren del Valle Organizations: CNN, Attorney, Former New York, Trump Organization, Trump, Trump Org ., Attorney’s Locations: York, Manhattan, New York

☆ Trump trial: CNN’s in-the-courtroom reporters describe key moments
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-25 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

A judge found Trump liable for fraud for inflating his net worth to get friendly loans, and juries found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defaming Carroll. DEL VALLE: This is actually my fourth Trump trial. Here, it’s almost been interesting how at moments it just felt like a regular trial. Reporters in the courtroom sat behind Trump – with a view often blocked by the many officers in the aisles of the gallery. The response prompted one of the biggest laughs in the courtroom in the entire trial – even several jurors were laughing.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, CNN’s Kara Scannell, Lauren del Valle, Jeremy Herb, Jean Carroll, Trump, defaming Carroll, del, he’s, it’s, That’s, I’ve, Kara, Lauren, Daniels, It’s, Susan Hoffinger, Christine Cornell, Michael Cohen’s, Todd Blanche, Blanche, Cohen, Keith Schiller, Cohen …, flailing, Kaitlan Collins, Robert Costello, Emil Bove’s, Costello, Judge Juan Merchan, ” Merchan, –, admonish, David Pecker, Trump’s, Pecker, Jane Rosenberg Hope Hicks, Hope Hicks, CNN Madeleine Westerhout, Madeleine Westerhout, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Boris Epshteyn, “, Joshua Steinglass, Emil Bove, Jaden Jarmel, Schneider, Bove, ”, ” Jarmel, ” Bove Organizations: CNN, Trump, New, DEL VALLE, Midway, National Enquirer, Trump … DEL VALLE, White House, VALLE, White, Attorney, Republican Locations: York, New York, del Valle, Manhattan

☆ 6 weeks later, NY appeals court denies Trump motion to move venue of hush money trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Lauren Del Valle | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —A panel of New York State appellate judges denied Donald Trump’s appeal to move his criminal trial — which has been going on for six weeks — out of Manhattan to another county. All of Trump’s emergency appellate requests to delay the trial were denied at the time, and since then, the court has denied Trump’s motions on the underlying issues. Five days before the trial got underway, Trump’s lawyers had asked the appeals court to delay the trial pending an appellate ruling on these issues. That request was denied after an emergency hearing on April 10, and the order issued on Thursday now dismisses the petition. Trump can ask the appeals court to consider the issues in a direct appeal after a final judgment in the trial, the ruling says.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Cliff Robert, ”, ” Trump, Judge Juan Merchan’s, Trump Organizations: CNN, New, Trump, Manhattan District Locations: New York State, Manhattan

CNN —The defense rested its case in Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial on Tuesday after roughly 90 minutes of testimony – and without the former president taking the stand. Here are takeaways from the final day of testimony in the Trump hush money trial:Trump doesn’t take the standOver the last several months, Trump repeatedly teased that he would take the stand in his own defense. “That was a lie,” Blanche alleged of Cohen’s testimony he spoke to Trump about moving forward with the hush money deal. Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger also tried to remind jurors that it was Trump – not Cohen – who was on trial in this case. In their first meeting, Costello said Cohen was “absolutely manic” and suicidal after the FBI raid on his properties.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Robert Costello, Michael Cohen, Trump, Cohen, ” Trump, Todd Blanche, Costello, Sandoval, –, Jean Carroll, Donald J, Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal, Cohen –, Trump’s, Blanche, Keith Schiller, Schiller, Daniels, ” Blanche, Keith, ” Cohen, Prosecutors, Susan Hoffinger, Trump –, ” Hoffinger, “, Juan Merchan, ” Merchan, Merchan, ” Costello, Emil Bove, Bob, Donald Trump, ”, scold Costello, Hoffinger, Rudy Giuliani, Mercahn Organizations: CNN, FBI, Publicly, Trump, New, Mr, Giuliani Locations: Wisconsin, New York, Florida

CNN —The prosecution rested their case against Donald J. Trump on Monday in the former president’s hush money trial, which is barreling toward a conclusion as soon as next week. Regardless of the break, the Trump hush money trial is near its end – and roughly a week away from being in the hands of the jury. Cohen was the key witness, spending more than 17 hours on the witness stand over four days before wrapping up on Monday. Trial endgame comes into focusTrump’s side began its defense case Monday afternoon – and the former president’s lawyers appear likely to rest on Tuesday. The defense first called a paralegal to introduce call records between Cohen and Costello, before Costello took the stand.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Michael Cohen’s, Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Juan Merchan, Robert Costello, audibly, Costello, Merchan, Daniels, Hope Hicks, National Enquirer David Pecker, Todd Blanche, Trump’s, Rudy Giuliani, “, Bob, Donald Trump, Emil Bove, ”, there’s, ” Merchan, Susan Hoffinger Organizations: CNN, Trump, National Enquirer, CNN Defense, FBI, New Locations: Manhattan, New York

☆ Eric Molitor was acquitted on charges related to the Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot. Now he’s running for sheriff
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-19 | by ( Alison Main | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —A man acquitted last year on charges linked to a 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is now looking to unseat an incumbent county sheriff. Eric Molitor has filed to run in the Republican primary this August against Trent Taylor, the sheriff of deep-red Wexford County in Northern Michigan. Taylor told CNN he believes he’s constitutionally obligated to enforce the state’s laws and that it would be “reckless” not to do so, as Molitor has said he would. Molitor told CNN his experience opened his eyes to flaws in the justice system.

Persons: Gretchen Whitmer, Eric Molitor, Trent Taylor, ”, Taylor, “, Molitor, Whitmer, he’s, ” Taylor, ” Molitor, we’ve, Dan Pfannes, Pfannes, MAGA, Donald Trump’s “, Trump, Michele Lundgren, Dana Nessel, ’ ”, CNN’s Lauren del Valle, Veronica Stracqualursi, Josh Campbell, Michelle Watson Organizations: CNN, Michigan, Republican, Democrat, Michigan State University, Northern, Capitol, Michigan House, Democrats, The Michigan Sheriffs ’ Association, Michigan Democratic Party, MAGA Republican, Michigan Republicans won’t, Republican Party Locations: Wexford County, Northern Michigan, Cadillac , Michigan, Michigan, Wexford

Here are the takeaways from Day 18 of the Trump hush money trial:A heated confrontation over a key phone callIt took several hours of cross-examination before Blanche finally turned to the evidence directly related to the case. Blanche says the texts show that at 8:04 p.m. Cohen texted Schiller the phone number of the teenager prank calling him. “Was it true for just that phone calls, or was it true for other phone calls too?”“You just said you don’t recall a phone call back in 2016. “Because these phone calls are things that I have been talking about for the last six years. There’s also the possibility, as CNN has reported, that former Cohen attorney Bob Costello could appear.

Persons: Donald Trump, Todd Blanche, Michael Cohen, Trump, Stormy Daniels, Blanche, Cohen, Keith Schiller –, Daniels, Barron, Blanche finally, Schiller, “, ”, ” Blanche, Cohen texted Schiller, Keith Schiller, ” Cohen, Keith, ” “, it’s, he’s, Darrell Scott, –, Trump’s, Jean Carroll, Blanche quizzed, Maggie Haberman –, Susan Necheles, Susan Hoffinger, Merchan, There’s, Bob Costello, Costello Organizations: CNN, Trump, Mr, White, Congress, New, New York Times, Prosecutors Locations: Trump, White, New York, summations

☆ E. Jean Carroll seeks to expedite Trump’s appeal of verdict from first defamation civil trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Lauren Del Valle | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Lawyers for E. Jean Carroll have asked a federal appeals court to expedite Donald Trump’s appeal of the verdict in their first trial in which a jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages after finding Trump liable for defamation and battery in May 2023. The motion with the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals filed Tuesday cites Trump’s numerous attempts to delay both trials with Carroll as a signal that he’s likely to drag out the appeal. The jury in the second trial held in January determined Trump should pay Carroll $83.3 million in damages for defaming her. Her lawyers also asked the appeals court to consider the author’s progressing age. Carroll is an 80-year-old woman who has struggled mightily to obtain justice for almost five years,” the filing says.

Persons: Jean Carroll, Donald Trump’s, Carroll, Trump, Trump’s, “ Donald J, “ Ms, mightily Organizations: CNN, E, 2nd US, Carroll

Attorneys were at a sidebar as prosecutor Susan Hoffinger began asking Michael Cohen about a Wall Street Journal story from 2018 on American Media Inc., the payments and Cohen's conversation with ex-National Enquirer publisher David Pecker. "David was very concerned because it was going to affect AMI, it was going to affect him," Cohen said. Cohen says he told Pecker: "I told him that matter was going to be taken care of, and the person of course who was going to be able to do it was Jeff Sessions," who was attorney general at the time. Cohen testifies that he told Pecker that because "that was post my conversation with the president." Hoffinger confirmed with Cohen that he had already had a conversation with Trump about it at that point.

Persons: Susan Hoffinger, Michael Cohen, David Pecker, David, Cohen, Merchan, Pecker, Jeff Sessions, Hoffinger, Trump Organizations: American Media Inc, National Enquirer, AMI

☆ Stormy Daniels’ husband says they’ll likely leave country if Trump is acquitted
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Piper Hudspethblackburn | Piper Hudspeth Blackburn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The husband of adult film actress Stormy Daniels said on Tuesday that there’s a “good chance” the couple will leave the country if former President Donald Trump is acquitted in his Manhattan criminal trial. “Either way, I don’t think it gets better for her. Prosecutors allege that Trump broke the law by falsifying business records to reimburse his former lawyer Michael Cohen and conceal a “hush money” payment made to Daniels on Trump’s behalf. “If that story was untrue, I would have written it to be a lot better,” Daniels said of her encounter with Trump. “This is all her fighting for what she believes is right and telling the truth, and I don’t think a lot of people realize that,” he continued.

Persons: Stormy Daniels, Donald Trump, Barrett, CNN’s Erin Burnett, Daniels, “, it’s, we’ll, Blade, Trump, nominee’s, ”, Michael Cohen, Cohen, Susan Necheles, ” Daniels, Burnett, Shania Shelton, Jeremy Herb, Lauren del Valle, Kara Scannell Organizations: CNN, Republican, Trump, Prosecutors, Wall Street

“Sounds like something I would say,” responded Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and fixer. The question set the tone for the cross-examination of the Manhattan district attorney’s key witness in the hush money trial against the former president. For roughly two hours, Blanche began a cross-examination to try to discredit Cohen’s allegations against Trump. Blanche then asked whether Cohen called Trump a “Cheeto-dusted cartoon villain.”“That also sounds like something that I said,” Cohen said. “You were telling the truth, correct?” Blanche asked in regards to the compliments Cohen gave Trump.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Todd Blanche, Michael Cohen, Blanche, Cohen, Cohen “, ”, Trump’s, Stormy Daniels, Trump, Daniels, Joshua Steinglass, Juan Merchan, ” Cohen, “, Donald Trump, ’ ” Cohen, Trump Blanche, ” Blanche, Blanche . Trump, Robert Mueller’s, Jay Sekulow, –, Susan Hoffinger, Florida Sen, Rick Scott, Sen, J.D, Vance of Ohio, Doug Burgum, Mike Johnson, Byron Donalds, Cory Mills, Vivek Ramaswamy, Johnson, Lara Trump, Eric Trump, ” Ramaswamy, ” Trump Organizations: CNN, Trump, Trump . Assistant, Trump –, Federal, Commission, FBI, Trump Organization, North Dakota Gov, Republican National Committee Locations: Manhattan, Russia, United States, New York, Florida, Louisiana

Prosecutors say it’s entirely possible they could rest their case by the end of this week. Cohen himself was federally charged with campaign finance violations, tax crimes and lying to Congress in previous testimony. Judge to Cohen: Please stop talking: Trump attorney Todd Blanche urged Judge Juan Merchan on Friday to order Cohen to stop talking about the trial and Trump. Trump is not allowed to talk about Cohen because of the gag order in place. Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass responded that prosecutors have repeatedly instructed Cohen and all of the other witnesses in the case not to speak publicly about it.

Persons: Donald Trump, Cohen, Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, He’s, Trump, Alvin Bragg’s, Todd Blanche, Judge Juan Merchan, Blanche, Joshua Steinglass, ”, Merchan, White, Madeleine Westerhout, Westerhout, Daniels, she’d, Read Organizations: Trump, Manhattan, White, White House

Cohen’s testimony ties together the prosecution’s allegations that Trump broke the law by falsifying business records to reimburse Cohen and conceal the hush money payment that Cohen said he made at Trump’s direction. Cohen described his conversations with Trump during the Daniels hush money negotiations, which prosecutors backed up using Cohen’s phone records to show when the two had spoken. Trump,” Cohen said. “Reimbursement of my money,” Cohen said. They joined Trump for the high-profile Cohen testimony, sitting in the gallery behind the former president at the defendant’s table.

Persons: CNN — Michael Cohen, Donald Trump, Stormy Daniels, Trump, Cohen, Daniels, Susan Hoffinger, Todd Blanche, perjurer, David Pecker, Keith Davidson, Karen McDougal, Pecker, Davidson, Dylan Howard, Hope Hicks, “, ” Cohen, ”, Hoffinger, ” Hoffinger, “ Mr, Michael Cohen's, Melania, CNN “, Trump’s, reimbursements Cohen, Allen Weisselberg, Weisselberg, “ David Dennison ”, Peggy Peterson ”, would’ve, ” –, McDougal, glanced, Hicks, Madeleine Westerhout, Cohen’s, wasn’t, Juan Merchan’s, Eric Trump, Susie Wiles, Sen, Rick Scott, J.D, Vance of Ohio, Tommy Tuberville, Nicole Malliotakis, Alina Habba Organizations: CNN, Trump, National Enquirer, Melania Trump, New York, Republican Locations: Yom Kippur, –, Trump, Cohen’s, Republic, Manhattan, Florida, Alabama, Staten, Iowa

“It was Michael Cohen,” Davidson responded. Cohen is the only witness who will testify about Trump’s alleged involvement in both the decision to pay Daniels and the plan to reimburse Cohen for advancing the money. Prosecutors allege that during the February meeting, Trump and Cohen agreed how Cohen would be paid back. Arguably the most negative assessment of Cohen came from Davidson, who negotiated the hush money deal with Cohen on Daniels’ behalf in 2016. “There were times where Mr. Cohen did things that you felt were not helpful to what you were trying to accomplish, right?” Bove asked Trump’s 2016 campaign press secretary.

Persons: Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s, Cohen, Stormy Daniels, David Pecker, Hope Hicks, “, Daniels, Keith Davidson, Daniels ’, Gina Rodriguez –, “ Gina, Keith, ’ ” Davidson, ”, Joshua Steinglass, ” Davidson, Trump, Trump’s, Pecker, ” Steinglass, Todd Blanche, Elie Honig, Cohen’s, antagonizing Trump, Juan Merchan, Merchan, Cohen ’, Emil Bove, ” Pecker, Bove, Gary Farro, ” Farro, Davidson, ” Cohen, Christ, I’m, I’ve, ’ ”, Jeff McConney, ” McConney, Matthew Colangelo, Hicks, –, ” Bove, ” Hicks Organizations: CNN, Trump, National Enquirer, American Media Inc, Prosecutors, Office, Daniels, Trump Organization Locations: Manhattan, Trump’s New York, Moscow, thedirty.com, Washington

Here are the takeaways from day 15 of the Trump hush money trial:Cohen is on deckCohen is expected to take the stand Monday, putting him face-to-face with his former boss. With Cohen’s testimony implicating Trump, however, comes all of the baggage that accompanies the former president’s longtime fixer. Judge to Cohen: Please stop talkingAhead of Cohen’s expected testimony, Trump attorney Todd Blanche urged Judge Juan Merchan to order Cohen to stop talking about the trial and Trump. Video Ad Feedback Pollster: Trump's trial won't affect votes in November 03:46 - Source: CNNMerchan has already said he cannot gag witnesses in the case. Prosecutors introduce key text and call records into evidenceAfter Westerhout left the stand, prosecutors spent the rest of the day calling a series of custodial witnesses to introduce cell phone records into evidence.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Michael Cohen, Trump’s, Stormy Daniels, Trump, Cohen, Daniels, He’s, Alvin Bragg’s, Cohen’s, Todd Blanche, Judge Juan Merchan, Blanche, ” Blanche, Joshua Steinglass, ”, CNN Merchan, Merchan, “, ” Cohen, White, Madeleine Westerhout, Susan Necheles, Westerhout, didn’t, ” Westerhout, she’d, Allen Weisselberg, ” Necheles, she’s “, Weisselberg, Cohen reimbursements, Stormy Daniels ’, Gina Rodriguez, Dylan Howard, Howard, Rodriguez, David Pecker, “ We’re, ” Rodriguez texted Howard, “ Keith, Davidson, ” Howard, ” Rodriguez, Steinglass, ” Merchan, wasn’t Organizations: CNN, White, Prosecutors, Trump, Manhattan, White House, Trump Org ., National Enquirer, American Media Inc, Trump Org Locations: Manhattan

Donald Trump is heading into the most perilous phase of his hush money trial aside from the moment when the jury retires to consider its verdict. Merchan also instructed Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, to rein in his client after complaining that the defendant had cursed audibly and shaken his head during Daniels’ testimony. The judge was concerned that the jury might notice the witness being intimidated — which he warned he could not allow to continue. So far, Trump — who has launched searing attacks on the judge — has managed to refrain from openly attacking Daniels since she took the stand. And her appearance is only an appetizer for expected explosive evidence in the coming days of the biggest star witness, Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen.

Persons: Donald Trump, Stormy Daniels, Trump, Judge Juan Merchan, Merchan, Todd Blanche, Daniels, —, Michael Cohen Organizations: Trump, Trump —

CNN —Judge Juan Merchan called out former President Donald Trump’s defense team during their motion for a mistrial Thursday afternoon, telling them there were many times they could have objected to Stormy Daniels’ testimony, but did not. For the second time this week, Merchan expressed surprise that Trump’s lawyers had not objected more when Daniels was on the stand. And for the second time this week, Merchan rejected their motion for a mistrial. Merchan specifically pointed to Daniels’ testimony about the trailer park, in which Daniels suggested Trump told her she would be stuck living in a trailer park before they had sex in 2006. Merchan also referred back to the defense’s opening statement when Blanche denied there was ever a sexual encounter between Daniels and Trump.

Persons: Juan Merchan, Donald Trump’s, Stormy Daniels, Merchan, Daniels, Todd Blanche, Daniels ’, Trump, Susan Necheles, ” Merchan, Blanche, CNN’s Laura Dolan Organizations: CNN, Trump

“If that story was untrue, I would have written it to be a lot better,” Daniels said of her encounter with Trump. “You have a lot of experience of making phony stories about sex appear to be real,” Necheles asked. “You’re celebrating the indictment by selling things from your store,” Necheles asked. “Not unlike Mr. Trump,” Daniels responded. Prosecutor Josh Steinglass said Trump was aware of the “messy details” of the encounter in 2016 and that shows motive for the hush money payment and cover up.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Stormy Daniels, Susan Necheles, Trump, Daniels, ” Daniels, Juan Merchan, combatively, Necheles, ” Necheles, “, That’s, she’d, “ You’re, Madeleine Westerhout, Westerhout, Rhona Graff, Joe Scarborough, Jeanine Pirro, Serena Williams, Tom Brady, ”, ” Westerhout, Michael Cohen, Melania, Melania Trump, “ Madeline, it’s, Merchan, Todd Blanche, Blanche, ‘, ” Merchan, Trump’s, Josh Steinglass Organizations: CNN, Trump, White, Wing, ” Prosecutors, Daniels, NBC, White House, longtime Trump Organization, Trump Org, ” Trump Locations: New York

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