Stormy Weather TFG on Criminal Trial in NYC

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Back at 2:15p

Trump is back in the courtroom, appearing to sharply exhale when he reached the defense table before sitting down.

The parties argue an evidentiary issue about Dylan Howard's text messages with Stormy Daniels' agent Gina Rodriguez.

ADA Steinglass: "Mr. Howard is a co-conspirator, and these are statements in furtherance of the conspiracy."

Steinglass adds that the messages go to a "core part of the conspiracy."

They are 15 pages of texts, the judge said.

"All rise."

The jury is entering.

Pecker's testimony continues:

Q: Did there come a time when you visited the White House?

A: Yes, I did.

Pecker:

Trump invited me to the White House for dinner, describing it as a "'thank you' dinner"

Pecker says Trump told him:

"Bring your friends [and] business associates. It's your dinner."

Pecker took Trump up on the invitation, bringing along Howard and Rothstein.

"Jared Kushner was there. Sean Spicer was there."

All of the people he brought were able to take a photo with Trump in the Oval Office, he says.

Photo exhibits:

* Dylan Howard in the White House

* David Pecker and Trump walking into the White House, where he said they were having a conversation about Karen McDougal

Email from Dylan Howard to Keith Davidson dated July 12, 20217:

"Surreal last night," the three-word body of the email reads, referring to the dinner.

Pecker says that Karen McDougal seemed "a little upset" during a lunch.

The articles were taking a while.

She hadn't received media training as a red carpet anchor.

"So, she was stating what she'd like to get done."

Pecker said the purpose of the meeting was to make sure they were complying to the agreement.

"I wanted her to remain within our (pause) family, I should say."

That was a pregnant pause before the "family."

According to Pecker, Trump got angry after seeing Anderson Cooper interviewing McDougal. Trump said that he thought there was an agreement forbidding her from speaking to the press.

Pecker replied: "Yes, we have an agreement but I amended it to allow her to speak to the press."

Pecker says Trump got “mad” and couldn’t understand why Pecker amended the agreement.

At some point, the FEC contacted Pecker about his activities with AMI.

Pecker said that Michael Cohen tried to reassure him: "Jeff Sessions is the attorney general and Donald Trump has him in his pocket."

But Pecker wasn't reassured: "I'm very worried."

Questioning turns to AMI's non-prosecution deal with federal prosecutors.

The prosecutor shows him the agreement.

Justice Merchan recites a curative instruction that jurors cannot use the non-prosecution agreement for any purpose, other than to assess David Pecker's credibility.

They cannot use it as evidence of Trump's guilt.

Pecker has been reciting his various agreements with law enforcement.

After reading various portions of the NPA — linked higher in the thread — Pecker recites his agreements with the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

That agreement immunizes Pecker if he fulfills the agreement to cooperate truthfully.

Here's how Pecker says he learned about the FBI raid on Michael Cohen:

"The FBI came to my home on the same day and had a search warrant on my phone."

Dylan Howard then called him to say the same happened to him, and Howard told him about Cohen, according to Pecker.

Asked if he has any ill-will toward Trump, Pecker emphatically answers in the negative.

"On the contrary, [...] I felt that Donald Trump was my mentor. He helped me out throughout my career."

After Pecker gives a post-9/11 closing anecdote about his friendship with Trump, the prosecution's direct examination ends.

Team Trump will have the opportunity to cross examine the witness next.

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Adam Klasfeld @KlasfeldReports
Questioning for Trump is Emil Bove.

Observation:

Trump's lead attorney Todd Blanche has been quiet in court all day, since the judge dressed him down during Tuesday's proceedings.

Bove, his fellow Southern District of New York alum, has taken the lead most of the day.

Bove questions Pecker about "checkbook journalism."

"You only published about half of the stories that you purchased?" he asks.

Pecker agrees.

Pecker also agrees that it's standard for those agreements to obligate sources not to disclose their stories to other outlets.

Bove calls these kind of source agreements "standard operating procedure," and Pecker agrees.

Pecker agrees that he had not heard phrase "catch-and-kill" before the investigation.

Q: The first time you heard that phrase is from a prosecutor, right?
A: That is correct.

Asking about politicians trying to get favorable coverage to win an election, Bove says there's "nothing surprising about that, yes?"

Pecker agrees.

Bove turns to AMI's purchase of a story about Tiger Woods, about a woman meeting him in a parking lot in Florida.

"All of the investigative work was done internally," Pecker says.

Pecker agrees that AMI used the information to leverage it against Woods for access.

Pecker concedes he's also suppressed stories about Mark Wahlberg and Rahm Emanuel.

Bove pointedly asks whether he's gotten FEC scrutiny about Emanuel.

Pecker agrees he hasn't.

Bove latches onto a discrepancy in Pecker's grand jury testimony, on whether the Trump Tower meeting was early- or mid-August.

First, Bove asks the question accusingly with flashes of his prosecutorial experience.

Then, he adopts an empathetic tone about the nature of memory.

Bove's stick-and-carrot approach—over a minor detail of what part of a month a meeting took place—cues Pecker to concede it's difficult to precisely remember events from nearly a decade ago.

Pecker holds firm on the crux of his testimony:

"What I said under oath is the truth. That's all I plan on doing today."

Pushing back at Bove's suggestion, Pecker says, softly but decisively: "It's not a script."

Pecker agrees that Cohen acted as an intermediary for potentially negative stories.

Bove notes that Cohen worked for Trump for at least eight years before the Trump Tower meeting.

Prosecutor objects, and the parties approach the bench for a sidebar, after Trump's counsel mentions David Pecker's testimony before the federal grand jury.

So ends trial proceedings for the day.

The judge is excusing the jury with their daily instructions.

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Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports

Post-trial proceedings:

Prosecution accuses Trump's counsel of improper impeachment, leading to an exchange where Emil Bove tests the judge's patience.

Merchan: "Mr. Bove, are you missing my point? Because I don't think you're responding to what I'm saying."

News—

As proceedings end, Justice Merchan announces he's signed the order to show cause on Trump's four latest alleged gag order violations.

He's scheduled a hearing on Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. ET

ETA:

Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports

The big questions:

Does Justice Merchan rule on the first 10 alleged violations before that hearing, and if he does, does he warn Trump about possible imprisonment for further violations in that ruling?

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I'm sticking with Klasfeld for now because almost every legal analyst is using his live tweets in theirs.

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Unless noted all live tweeting is by @adamklasfeld

Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports

"All rise."

Justice Juan Merchan enters the courtroom and goes to the bench.

He announces that the next hearing on the latest alleged gag order violations has been rescheduled for Thursday.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass addresses an issue where cross-ex left off yesterday: improper impeachment.

Trump's lawyer Emil Bove suggested that Pecker shifted his story on seeing Hope Hicks at the Trump Tower meeting in 2015.

Bove handed Pecker a doc that didn't say that.

Bove says he will address it at the start of cross ex today.

Steinglass also suggests that Bove had been muddying the water when questioning Pecker about his interviews with law enforcement.

The prosecutor wants Bove to specify which law enforcement meetings — federal or state — in his questions.

Pecker enters and takes the stand.

"All rise."

The jury is entering.

Justice Merchan instructs the jury that the law "permits" prosecutors to speak to witnesses before trial.

It's a "normal part" of preparing for trial, "as long as it's not suggested that the witness depart" from saying the truth.

Bove begins cross-ex.

As promised before the proceedings began, Bove apologizes to Pecker for the "confusion" in his question about seeing Hope Hicks.

Bove questions Pecker more about Hope Hicks, and his meeting with federal prosecutors on July 2018.

When Bove gets close to the same territory that got him in trouble on Thursday, prosecutors object.

Sustained.

Pecker agrees with Bove's suggestions that running the stories was beneficial to AMI — and standard operating procedure.

Q: There's already negative public information in the public domain about Ben Carson, and you ran it in the National Enquirer.

A: Yes.



Bove asks a series of questions about the value of The National Enquirer drawing from a network of sources that they cultivated.

Bove shows Pecker this passage from a WSJ article:

"Since last year, the Enquirer has supported Mr. Trump's presidential bid, endorsing him and publishing negative articles about some of his opponents.'

He appears to suggest the public knew about the tabloid's support.

Pecker confirms that neither Trump nor Cohen ever paid him any money for either the Sajudin or McDougal stories.

Trump's attorney pivots to Sajudin's story.

Q: If this story was true, it was worth a lot of money, right?
A: Yes.

Pecker agrees with Bove's characterization that it would have been the "biggest National Enquirer story ever."

Context:

Pecker also testified during direct examination that, even if it was verified, the Enquirer would have sat on the story until after the election.

Pecker agrees that Sajudin threatened to sell the story elsewhere, and that affected the sky-high price tag on the story.

Trump's lawyer suggests that Pecker signed the deal because he believed there was a small possibility that it was true.

Q: You could not walk away from that possibility, however small that might be?

Pecker agrees.

Bove tells Pecker that Karen McDougal did not want to publish her story, but rather to restart her career.

Pecker agrees.

Bove tries to complicate Pecker's story about Trump's phone call about Karen McDougal.

During the case, Pecker said Trump asked whether a Mexican group wanted to buy it for $8 million. Pecker dispelled the rumor, but told him to buy it.

But Bove elicits another detail.

Asked by Trump's attorney, Pecker agrees that he recalls telling Trump: "It is my understanding that [McDougal] doesn't want her story published."

The defense likely will use the concession to suggest there wasn't a motive to catch-and-kill her account.

Re-up:

Pecker's testimony on this conversation from Thursday. Trump repeated the rumor about the purported $8M offer from a Mexican group.

Pecker didn't believe it, but he told Trump to pay (much less) for it.



Pecker agrees with the Trump attorney's statement that the agreement had a legitimate business purpose.

Q: When you told Michael Cohen that the agreement was "bulletproof," you meant it, right?
A: Yes, I did.

Q: Because you had legal advice.
A: Yes.

Bove asks a string of questions about Pecker relying on the advice of his lawyers, sparking two objection from the prosecution table.

Both sustained.

After Pecker described Keith Davidson as a "major" attorney, Bove quipped: "Stipulated," sparking loud laughter in the court.

So loud, the court officers respond: "Quiet down!"

Pecker also agrees with the proposition that he was also a big source for The Enquirer.

On Thursday, Pecker testified that he was brought into a Trump's meeting with Comey, Spicer, Priebus and Pompeo, all talking about the then-breaking Ft. Lauderdale shooting in 2017.

Trump joked to the group that Pecker "probably knows more than anybody else in this room."

"Unfortunately, they didn't laugh," Pecker recalled on Thursday, referring to the group's reaction to Trump's joke.

But the jurors did — and the transcript recorded it:

"(Whereupon, the jurors laugh.)"

Bove tried to ask a question about this anecdote, but how he did it prompted an objection from the prosecution table.

Sustained.

Bove asks Pecker about his testimony that Trump told him: "I want to thank you for the doorman story, the doorman situation."

The Trump lawyer suggests Pecker that he got it wrong, but the witness holds firm.

Q: Was that a mistake?
A: No.

Pecker also testified that Trump told him: "I want to thank you for handling the McDougal situation."

But Bove doesn't appear to ask Pecker about that.

Morning recess.

Bove estimates that he has a little less than an hour left of cross-ex.

Prosecutors expect to have redirect.

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Justice Merchan is back on the bench.

Trump is seated between his attorneys, more animated than previously.

The witness enters and returns to the stand.

"All rise."

The jury is entering.

Jurors typically have not glanced at anyone at the defense and prosecution tables — eyes straight forward — as they processed to the jury box.

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Cross-ex resumes.

Bove turns to Pecker's meetings with prosecutors.

Pecker pushes back at Trump's lawyers suggestion that the meetings were "stressful," but he acknowledges that he wanted it to be over as soon as possible.

The defense displays AMI's non-prosecution agreement with SDNY.

Bove suggests that there were problems with the company's assets at the time. There were discussions with the Hudson News Group to acquire the National Enquirer.

Q: You knew that to consummate that deal, you had to finalize the investigations, correct?
A: Yes, uh... (pause) yes

Pecker concedes that put some pressure on the negotiations.

"From the tabloid's standpoint, that would have added on to the stress of the transaction," he says.

Pecker, sounding more hesitant than usual, notes the transaction could have closed subject to the investigations being completed.

"There was no drop dead date, that it had to be completed by a certain time," he notes.

Q: If AMI had been indicted, that would have affected the value of its assets?
A: Uh, yes.

Prompted by Trump's lawyer, Pecker notes that AMI was never charged or prosecuted.

Yesterday, Pecker testified: "We admitted to a campaign violation."

But Bove notes "there is no violation in this agreement."

"In this agreement, no," Pecker says.

Bove highlights the passage of the non-prosecution agreement stating the federal government "will not criminally prosecute" AMI.

Asked whether there's an admission to a campaign financial violation in the agreement, Pecker answers: "No."

Trump's lawyer pushes Pecker to say that he didn't understand money to be part of the Trump Tower meeting agreement.

But Pecker pushes back:

"There was a discussion that I was going to be the eyes and ears of the campaign," including notifying Cohen of women selling stories.

Pecker suggests the latter led to the payoffs to the women.

A long sidebar conference follows.

After it ends, Bove asks Pecker about his meeting with the Manhattan DA's office in October 2019.

Bove indignantly asks about Pecker's testimony that Michael Cohen told him Trump had former AG Jeff Sessions "in his pocket."

The attorney says it shows Cohen is "prone to exaggeration."

The line from Trump's attorney sparked an objection, which was initially overruled, until prosecutors asked for a sidebar.

After the huddle, Bove moved on to another topic.

Cross-ex ends.

Assistant DA Joshua Steinglass begins his redirect.

The prosecutor asks about Karen McDougal's contract and Pecker's testimony that its "true purpose" was to smother her story.

Pecker agrees with the prosecutor's statement that the purpose of the provisions about McDougal's career was to establish "plausible deniability."

Steinglass shows Pecker this provision of AMI's non-prosecution agreement.



As the exhibit shows, the deal was signed, but Pecker says he pulled out of the plan after meeting with AMI's general counsel.

Steinglass prompts the witness to agree that assigning McDougal's story to Cohen wasn't in McDougal's contract.

ADA Steinglass: Was it your understanding that when AMI entered into this agreement that AMI admitted that the conduct that it admitted violated federal election law?

Pecker: Yes.

The prosecutor returns to AMI's agreement with doorman Dino Sajudin, asking Pecker about whether it was the company's "standard" agreement to lock up a source.

Pecker said on cross-ex, and now, that it was standard.

But it was amended, the prosecutor notes.

Q: Is it standard for AMI to be consulting with a presidential candidate's fixer about amendments about a source agreement?

A: No.

The amended agreement added a $1 million liquidated damages clause.

Asked if that was "standard," Pecker answers no.

Asked why he added it then, Pecker says it was at Cohen's request.

Pecker testifies that he was aware of Cohen's activities on behalf of the Trump campaign, even though he insisted he wasn't a part of it.

The prosecutor turns to Pecker's testimony that AMI had been involved with "hundreds of thousands" of NDAs.

Asked how many of those NDAs involved coordinating with the campaign of a presidential candidate, Pecker replies it's the only one.

Prosecutor: "Why did AMI spend money to silence [Arnold] Schwartzenegger's accusers?"

Pecker responds that Schwartzenegger was critical to the bodybuilding industry, as well as the supplement industry, and two of their magazines.

The defense latched onto this testimony to suggest that AMI's conduct was standard operating procedure, but Steinglass has Pecker point out the differences.

Schwartzenegger benefited AMI's bottom line, and the episode familiarized it with the campaign-finance repercussions.

Steinglass notes that Pecker was friends with Trump.

Before the Trump Tower meeting in August 2015, AMI did not institutionally attack Trump's political rivals, and Pecker never acted as his "eyes and ears."

Steinglass notes that Pecker did not use the phrase "catch and kill," but the prosecutor prompts the witness to explain what he agreed to do about "women selling stories" at that Trump Tower meeting.

Pecker's answer describes the process for quashing the stories.

Lunch recess.

[ti-amie]

Good afternoon from New York.

Trump is back at the defense table, and we're waiting for the judge to return to the bench.

Cross ex resumes:

The prosecutor asks about whether the Enquirer's circulation includes everyone glancing at headlines at supermarket checkout counters.

Pecker says no.

The prosecutor showed Pecker a passage from a WSJ article dated Nov. 4, 2016:

"Quashing stories that way is known in the tabloid world as 'catch and kill.'"

Pecker agrees he probably learned about the phrase from the article, not prosecutors.

On Stormy Daniels' story, Pecker reiterates that he did not want AMI to have anything to do with a "porn star."

Pecker said he wasn't going to print it, or buy it, or have anything to do with it, referring to Stormy's story.

He was still, however, going to fulfill his obligation to tell Cohen about it.

Prosecutor Steinglass turns to the questions on cross-ex about alleged discrepancy in notes from the FBI interview.

Bove suggested Pecker didn't mention Trump thanking him for the "doorman situation," but Steinglass says the notes reflect that he did.

Q: Was it the truth then?
A: Yes.

Q: Is it the truth now?
A: Yes.

Q: Do you believe that you have ever been inconsistent on this point?
A: No.

Asked whether anyone from the New York District Attorney's office ever asked him to do anything other than tell the truth, Pecker answers no.

Redirect ends.
Trump's attorney starts re-cross.

Trump's attorney Emil Bove pushes back at the characterization of Enquirer stories as "attack ads": They were "headlines," Bove says.

Pecker agrees.

Before the lunch recess, Pecker agreed with the prosecutor that McDougal's story was "Enquirer gold."

Bove notes that Pecker believed that McDougal did not really want to sell her story, as much as she wanted to restart her career.

Bove notes that McDougal had a lengthy career before the AMI agreement, including as a Playboy model and other credits.

Q: There was real value to her brand, correct?
A: I wouldn't say that there was a value to her brand to a media company.

Asked if he believes Trump cares about his family, Pecker responds: "Of course I do."

Bove asks if he believes the proceedings are stressful to Trump's family.

Prosecution: Objection
Judge: Sustained.

With that, Pecker's testimony concludes.

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Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports
Up next: Rhona Graff, who was Trump's executive assistant for decades.

Graff's title eventually became "assistant to the President" and then Trump Org senior vice-president.

Assistant DA Susan Hoffinger is questioning her.

Graff is testifying pursuant to a subpoena.

Graff input Trump's appointments in the calendar, including on Outlook.

Hoffinger has an officer hand Graff a thumb drive for identification.

Graff confirms that she dated and initialed the exhibit, which contains emails between her and fellow Trump executive assistant Madeleine Westerhout.

One data point that Graff entered into the Trump Organization's contact info: Stormy Daniels' contact info, which is redacted in the exhibit.

Asked whether she understood Daniels was an adult film actress, Graff replies: "Yes, I did."

Graff scheduled a meeting with Ainsley Earhardt from Fox and Friends on Jan. 17, 2017

It was a busy day:

Trump also had teleprompter practice sessions and a photo shoot for WaPo on that date.

Trump also had a teleprompter practice session on Jan. 18, 2017, the following day.

On Jan. 19, 2017, Trump was flying out from LaGuardia to D.C.

Cross ex by Trump's lawyer Susan Necheles begins:

She lobs some easy questions to the witness.

Graff says Trump was a "good boss."

Graff says that "99% of the time," their discussions were about business.

Prompted by Necheles, Graff adds there were some personal and friendly discussions too. Trump invited her to his inauguration, she says.

"I'd say it was a pretty unique, memorable experience."

Necheles dispenses with the euphemism used by prosecutors for Stormy Daniels' profession — colloquially, she's a "porn star."

Graff (primly): "I'd say that's a good (slight pause) synonym."

Q: No one from the Trump Organization told you how to testify?
A: Absolutely not.

Graff's testimony concludes.


Afternoon recess.

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Next witness:

Gary Farro, who was a senior managing director at First Republic Bank back in 2016

That's the bank Michael Cohen used to obtain a $130,000 home equity loan, which Cohen then funneled to Stormy Daniels' lawyer through a shell company, per prosecutors.

Farro now works at Flagstar Bank.

After the witness says he's here "voluntarily," the prosecutor asks: "Are you sure?"

He says he also received a subpoena.

Farro on how he lost his job:

"In March of last year, First Republic Bank was one of the banks that went under with Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank."

One of the bank's no-nos, per Farro.

"We wouldn't do anything in adult entertainment."

Asked what he meant by that, Farro says, somewhat hesitantly: "Porno?"

Q: Have you heard the term shell corporation?
A: I have.

Farro explains what a "shell company" is, agreeing with the prosecutor that it's an entity without any business operations.

Q: Do you know about someone named Michael Cohen?
A: Yes, I do.

Farro says Cohen was assigned to him and had been a client at the bank for years before he took over the client relationship.

Farro said he was assigned to Michael Cohen because of his skill sets with "individuals who may be a little challenging," a comment that sparked some chuckles in the courtroom.

Correction:

Bove picks apart a hairsplitting detail from notes from the meeting. The discrepancy is whether Pecker said AMI was "buying" or "purchasing" accounts of "women selling stories."

Pecker notes that "buying" and "purchasing" mean the same thing.

The detail was a bit too fine-tuned for this under-caffeinated reporter during the Friday session.

I deleted and corrected earlier tweets botching the quotation.

Cohen told Farro that he worked for Trump "frequently," because he was "very excited" about that fact, the witness says.

Farro acknowledges that he's testifying, in part, as a custodian of records for First Republic Bank.

He is currently being asked about emails for authentication.

Context:

Custodial witnesses verify records through legal procedures that can often seem tedious, and the jurors seem less than captivated at this moment.

But important and compelling evidence often comes in through them.

Rhona Graff, as a custodial witness, authenticated the records linking the Trump Organization's database to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal.

Now, Farro is reviewing emails about Cohen.

Email:

"Please return Michael Cohen's call when you are available today regarding an important matter," Farro wrote on Oct. 13, 2016.

Farro says that this is about Michael Cohen wanting to open an account for his new LLC.

"He said it was an account for real estate."

Email from Farro on Oct. 13, 2016:

"Need an account opened for Mike Cohen immediately. He wants no address on the checks. Calling you now to discuss."

Exhibit: Corporation paperwork for Cohen's shell company

Resolution Consultants LLC, a supposed real estate consulting company.

That's the same LLC that Cohen used to try to transfer rights to McDougal's story from AMI to himself.

Next exhibit: Delaware entity formation records for the same LLC

Email:

Michael Cohen to Oliva Cassin, another First Republic employee dated Oct. 13, 2016

Subject: "Re: Account paperwork"

In a bank record, Cohen gave an elaborate description for what Resolution Consultants LLC does.

The description does not appear to include anything close to acquiring the rights to Karen McDougal's story from a tabloid empire before the 2016 election.

On Oct. 26, 2016, Farro's assistant sent an email to him: "Please return Michael Cohen's call at [REDACTED]."

According to Farro, Cohen said that he was "changing course" and wanted to open a different account instead of Resolution Consultants LLC.

Asked if it was urgent, Farro quipped: "Every time Michael Cohen spoke to me he gave me a sense of urgency."

DA Bragg alleged in court documents that Cohen spoke to Trump on that same day: Oct. 26, 2016, shortly before the election.

Cohen was now opening a new account for Essential Consultants LLC, the shell company he used to pay off Stormy Daniels through her attorney.

Bank records for Essential Consultants LLC are displayed for the jury.

The form asked: "Is the entity associated with Political Fundraising / Political Action Committee (PAC)?"

Cohen answered: "No."

"When Cohen called me, I was on a golf course," Farro says, chuckling—and adding that it may seem like a "cliché" for him as a banker.

So ends the first full week of Trump's criminal trial, not counting jury selection.

Justice Merchan instructs the jury.

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Harry Litman
@harrylitman
Graf done. Trump greets her and tries to shake her hand as she leaves(in front of jury). She gives him big grin. Guards more or less stop him.

DA asks for sidebar before next witness.

And 15 minute recess--suspense builds!