NEW YORK — Salacious celebrity scandal peppered with foundation-building evidence defined the second week of testimony in former President Trump’s criminal trial in New York.
Witnesses this week began probing the minutiae of the Manhattan district attorney’s case, from bank records and confidentiality agreements to text messages suggesting efforts to keep negative stories about Trump quiet to help his 2016 campaign.
But the credibility of key witnesses was also heavily called into question, setting the stage for defense lawyers to target critical future testimony.
Here are five takeaways from the second week of testimony in the silence trial.
Celebrity Scandals Make a Cameo
Keith Davidson, a lawyer for two women paid to keep their alleged affairs with Trump secret, gave a behind-the-scenes account of the efforts to execute the deals with the National Enquirer and former Trump agent Michael Cohen.
But Davidson’s testimony during cross-examination by Trump’s lawyers also unearthed a graveyard of celebrity scandals to which he also appeared to be linked.
People such as Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen, Hulk Hogan and Tila Tequila have been cited as clients or victims of Davidson’s work, which defense lawyers have used to suggest that the lawyer has a habit of extorting famous figures.
At one point, Trump’s lawyers tried to paint Davidson as an extortionist for stories involving everything from sex tapes to stints in rehab.
Davidson’s testimony initially exposed his relationship with National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard as he worked to keep alleged affairs by porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, whom Davidson represented, from becoming public while Trump mounted his first presidential campaign.
But when election night came in 2016, Davidson expressed remorse in a text message to Howard as Trump surprised the nation by inching his way toward becoming president-elect.
“What did we do?” Davidson wrote.
Hope Hicks: 2016 Damage Control
Trump may run for president in 2024, but it was the chaos of his 2016 campaign that became central to the case on Friday when his former political adviser Hope Hicks took the stand.
Hicks testified for hours about how she was instrumental in mitigating the damage caused by a series of scandals just before Election Day.
The first “crisis” arose when a Washington Post reporter contacted the campaign about the “Access Hollywood” tape, a 2005 recording of Trump boasting about grabbing women inappropriately and apparently without their consent.
“I was worried,” Hicks said of her initial reaction to learning of the tape — and news organizations’ intention to publish it along with a story. “I was very worried.”
When confronted with the Post’s request for comment, Trump told Hicks that “it didn’t sound like something he would say,” she testified. But he later told her he believed the comments were “pretty standard things for two guys talking.” The first time Trump saw the tape he was upset, she said, describing her own reaction as “a little stunned.”
Hicks also testified that just four days before Election Day 2016, Cohen broke a Wall Street Journal story that revealed McDougal’s secret deal. Cohen, she said, didn’t believe the story would gain much traction.
“Just a little irony,” she noted on the witness stand, discussing the story in detail nearly eight years later.
Cohen credibility war underway
Cohen was already in the hot seat this week – before he himself gave evidence – as witnesses took turns shooting at the ex-president’s former fixer, making clear the challenges of the controversial character’s imminent testimony.
Davidson testified that he and others in his orbit at the time took steps to actively avoid Cohen because they didn’t like him very much. Text messages between a top National Enquirer editor and Daniels’ manager revealed descriptions of Cohen as “a jerk” and “that idiot.”
In his testimony, Davidson described Cohen as a guy who was “highly excitable and had his pants on fire.”
“He had a lot of things going on,” the lawyer said.
Even Cohen’s former banker, Gary Farro, revealed that the former fixer became his client because he maintained a reputation as someone who can deal with clients “who can be a little challenging.”
Having coordinated payments to a Trump Tower doorman and McDougal — as well as paying Daniels himself — Cohen’s testimony is expected to provide prosecutors with a key link to Trump. Cohen said his actions were carried out at the behest of his then boss.
But this week’s testimony gave defense lawyers significant material to undermine the credibility of the future star witness, whose own testimony is expected to mark the trial’s climax.
Trump’s court entourage grows
At the start of the trial, some observers noted that the former president’s family was not with him in the courtroom.
But Trump’s entourage grew this week to include a broader set of aides and family members.
The former president’s son, Eric Trump, appeared Tuesday, sitting in the courtroom gallery alongside Trump campaign adviser Susie Wiles.
They were joined by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and Club For Growth President David McIntosh.
Trump himself at times turned his body to face a witness, while at other times, the former president looked straight ahead to read texts, emails and other displays displayed on the monitor in front of him.
Throughout the week, Trump whispered frequently to his lawyers – sometimes appearing frustrated – or consulted written press clippings provided to him by an aide. The former president also closed his eyes for several minutes on several occasions, although he denied having slept in court.
“Unlike the FAKE NEWS MEDIA, I do not fall asleep during the corrupt district attorney witch hunt, especially today. I just close my beautiful blue eyes sometimes, listen intensely and take it ALL in!!!” Trump posted to Truth Social on Thursday.
The test schedule appears
The testing schedule is constantly being adjusted, and the latest changes make one thing clear: many partial weeks are still to come.
The trial will now convene next week at its normal time of every weekday except Wednesday, when the judge hears his other active cases.
But after that, the schedule is regularly disrupted.
Judge Juan Merchan has agreed to miss the trial on Friday, May 17, so that Trump can attend his son Barron’s high school graduation.
The following Friday, court will not meet because a juror plans to leave town that day for Memorial Day weekend. And court will not meet on holiday Monday.
Next week? Another ignored day. If the jury has not yet begun deliberating, the judge signaled that he will skip the trial on June 3 so that one of Trump’s lawyers can attend a graduation.
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This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
