Second day of testimony wraps in Trump hush money trial

Trump is now looking at David Pecker as he’s testifying about former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Prosecutors asked David Pecker if he nows somebody named Karen McDougal.

“Yes, I do,” Pecker said.

McDougal is a model and actress who has said she had a monthslong affair with Donald Trump in 2006 and was paid $150,000 to keep quiet about it by the National Enquirer. Trump has denied the allegations.

Prosecutors are looking to establish that this case is about election fraud, and Donald Trump’s use of his network to benefit him while running for president in 2016.

In order to do so, prosecutors in their questioning have highlighted again and again the benefits and motivations of David Pecker — former chairman of American Media, Inc., which publishes the National Enquirer —  related to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Pecker has testified already about how Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen was deeply involved in the campaign, how other political advisers were in touch with Pecker, and how his contact with the former president and response to stories being shopped to his tabloid took on a new life because of Trump’s campaign.

Prosecutors have made clear they see these record falsification charges against Trump as more serious than common business record violations due to Trump’s interest in concealing his payments through Cohen to adult film star Stormy Daniels because they benefited him politically, akin to contributions to his campaign.

David Pecker said he told Michael Cohen the story about Donald Trump allegedly fathering a child wasn’t true and that he wanted to release the doorman from the agreement.

Pecker said that Cohen asked him to wait to release him until after the election.

Cohen initially didn’t understand why, Pecker testified, and he explained, “I said that to have him locked into us; its only going to cause more problems, so I suggested I wanted to release him. “

General counsel emailed the doorman, Dino Sajudin, in December 2016, informing him he had been released from the exclusivity agreement.

Judge Juan Merchan has ruled that the exhibit can be displayed with a redaction.

The exhibit prosecutors are showing is an email about the paperwork for a wire payment to Trump doorman Dino Sajudin.

The email references “Trump non published story.”

Donald Trump attorney Emil Bove objected to the next exhibit. The lawyers are now at the bench.

The agreement contained a clause that would require Trump doorman Dino Sajudin to pay AMI $1 million if he breached the agreement in which he was paid $30,000.

“It was basically a lever over him to make sure that that wouldn’t happen,” David Pecker testified.

Pecker also said he determined jointly with Michael Cohen to amend the agreement to extend the timeframe to “in perpetuity.”

David Pecker turned to the jury and said the story about Donald Trump allegedly fathering a child “was absolutely 1,000% untrue.”

He said they determined that it was false after hiring a private investigator and sending reporters out to where the child “supposedly was.”

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked Pecker why they were paying for a story that was not true.

David Pecker is explaining the document the jury is seeing. “It’s up to the publisher whether they’re going to publish the article or not,” he said.

He continued: “Paying the $30,000, you had the full exclusive for it and you had the choice to publish the article or not.”

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass showed Pecker an amendment to the agreement that said the agreement is “extended in perpetuity and shall not expire.”

David Pecker testified that if the story was true, “it would be probably the biggest sale of the National Enquirer since the death of Elvis Presley.”

Pecker said if the story was verified he would have published it after the election, based on a conversation he had with Michael Cohen.

“If the story came back true, I would have published the story shortly after it was verified,” Pecker said.

But Pecker said he would’ve held the story until after the presidential election, even if he verified it before then.

“That was the conversation I had with Michael Cohen and that’s what we agreed to,” Pecker said.

David Pecker, the former National Enquirer boss on Monday became the first witness called to testify in Donald Trump’s historic hush-money trial.

Sitting in the Manhattan courtroom, Pecker offered illuminating details into how the infamous tabloid operated and conducted so-called “catch and kill” operations.

It was the first time that Pecker has spoken publicly about the secret practice — buying exclusive rights to a story for the express purpose of never publishing the information — since the tactic gained widespread notoriety during the 2016 presidential election. 

The Wall Street Journal, which led the way reporting on the story, first broke news in November 2016 — just days before the election — that Enquirer-parent American Media Inc. had paid former Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 for the rights to a story about an affair she alleged with Trump.

But while The Journal and other news outlets reported heavily on how Pecker shielded Trump from the embarrassing affair allegations by purchasing the rights to damaging stories and then never letting them see the light of day, Pecker has never spoken a word about it — until now.

Read more about Pecker’s testimony.

The jury is now viewing an agreement AMI, the parent company of the National Enquirer, struck with Dino Sajudin, the doorman selling a story about Donald Trump allegedly fathering a son.

The deal was to purchase the rights to story, and the document is dated November 15, 2015.

David Pecker testified that he asked former National Enquirer editor in chief Dylan Howard “to negotiate a number, a price to buy the story and take it off the market,” in regard to the doorman selling a story that Donald Trump allegedly fathered a child.

Pecker said Howard negotiated to pay $30,000 to buy the story. He called Michael Cohen to tell him, and Cohen asked who would pay for it.

Pecker says that when he agreed to buy the story, Cohen told him, “The boss will be very pleased.”

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked him to specify who the boss was. “The boss would be Donald Trump,” Pecker replied.

Witness David Pecker started to say on the stand that they discussed having Dino Sajudin, a former Trump Tower doorman, take a polygraph test — but prosecutor Joshua Steinglass quickly cut him off.

“What you were about to say, don’t say that,” Steinglass said.

The judge previously ruled polygraph information could not come into evidence.

Steinglass again told Pecker not to discuss any results of the polygraph test Sajudin took. 

After David Pecker alerted Michael Cohen that a doorman was selling a story about Donald Trump allegedly fathering a child, Cohen called Pecker back, Pecker testified.

Cohen told Pecker he verified that the two names were on the payroll and asked Pecker to check out the story, Pecker testified.

Pecker explained that he called Cohen because of their August 2015 meeting where he agreed that with anything he “heard in the marketplace that was going to be negative” to Trump, his family or the campaign, that he’d notify Michael Cohen.

Donald Trump shook his head and leaned back at the defense table as David Pecker recalled a doorman who was selling a story that Trump had allegedly fathered a child.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is now moving onto asking David Pecker about the story of Dino Sajudin, the doorman who was selling a story that Donald Trump had allegedly fathered a child. This is the first catch and kill deal that has come up.

“I immediately called Michael Cohen and I described to him exactly what I was told by Dylan (Howard),” Pecker said, referencing the National Enquirer editor.

According to Pecker on the stand, Cohen responded, “Absolutely not true, but I’ll check it out”.”

Following the sidebar, documents are accepted into evidence over the Trump team’s objection.

“Objection noted and overruled,” Judge Juan Merchan says, noting that any embedded hearsay issues will be dealt with as they move through the documents.

Trump attorney Emil Bove objected after prosecutor Joshua Steinglass started to walk witness David Pecker through how AMI kept records and information, like text messages.

The judge asked the lawyers to come to the bench.

Judge Juan Merchan said he doesn’t want the parties to speak about objections in front of the jury.

Donald Trump again thumbed through the papers in front of him as prosecutors tee up records to submit them into evidence.

David Pecker, meanwhile, sipped water from a glass while on the witness stand.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is continuing to walk David Pecker through record-keeping and information, like text messages, on the servers of AMI, which is the National Enquirer’s parent company.

He is teeing up text message records to submit them into evidence.

Donald Trump and his attorney Todd Blanche just passed a note. Blanche put it in his pocket after Trump gave it back to him.

Prosecutors Joshua Steinglass just handed a court security officer a thumb drive to bring to David Pecker. He is about to introduce a bunch of business records from AMI, the National Enquirer’s parent company, into evidence.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is now continuing his questioning of David Pecker.

He’s beginning by asking Pecker if he had access to the business records of AMI, the National Enquirer’s parent company.

The jury is back, and former tabloid executive David Pecker’s testimony will continue soon.

Witness David Pecker is returning to the witness stand.

He has been on the stand for just over an hour today, testifying on a myriad of topics.

He mainly established the substance of the August 2015 meeting at the crux of the “catch and kill” practice that is central to the case — and how he offered to flag instances of “women selling stories” as part of an agreement he saw as mutually beneficial with the then presidential candidate.

The prosecutors also established the personal and professional relationship between Donald Trump and Pecker, and how Pecker and Michael Cohen’s communication intensified after Trump announced his candidacy.        

Donald Trump is back in the courtroom, and Judge Juan Merchan is on the bench.

Donald Trump is getting up and leaving the courtroom. Court is taking a quick break.

Judge Juan Merchan says that the Steve Bannon issue right now is moot after prosecutor Joshua Steinglass says they are prepared to move on.

Merchan is now taking a break for a few minutes.

Defense attorneys and prosecutors are having a sidebar after Donald Trump’s attorney objected to prosecutor Joshua Steinglass’ line of questioning.

Steinglass says he’s making the larger argument about the case including a conspiracy because this is an issue he expects the defense will raise again with future testimony.

“The entire case is predicated on the idea that there was a conspiracy to influence the election in 2016,” Steinglass tells the judge.

Steinglass argued that this is fair game because intent is an underlying element of falsifying business records in the first degree so prosecutors can use evidence like this to prove their allegations that Trump conspired or took steps to conceal the acts he’s charged with.

Pushing back on that, Trump’s attorney Emil Bove said anything involving Steve Bannon “was very normal, standard campaign work.” 

In a sidebar, Trump attorney Emil Bove says the defense is objecting to the line of questioning about Steve Bannon.

“The government is eliciting hearsay statements from Steve Bannon as the declarant, they’re being offered for their truth,” he says.

Bove also notes the defense did not receive notice that prosecutors are offering Bannon as co-conspirator and says Donald Trump is not charged with conspiracy.

Judge Juan Merchan just excused the jury so they can take a short break.

David Pecker is also being excused for the time being so the attorneys can talk in open court.

As defense attorneys and prosecutors are having a sidebar at the bench, Donald Trump is shuffling through the papers in front of him and looking at them.

It’s so quiet, you can hear the pages turning in the courtroom.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked David Pecker if Steve Bannon ever asked him to run any articles.

Trump attorney Emil Bove objected and asked to be heard at sidebar.

Trump introduced David Pecker to Trump’s former political adviser Steve Bannon in October 2016.

“He said he thought all of us could work very well together,” Pecker said Trump told him.

Pecker recalled he personally sent a box of magazine issues with negative headlines about Trump’s opponents including Hillary Clinton to Bannon.

Former tabloid executive David Pecker continues to outline how the “catch and kill” operations worked at the National Enquirer, and the influence Donald Trump had.

Pecker said Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney, would direct him and Dylan Howard, then-editor in chief of the National Enquirer, on which candidate and which direction the magazine should go.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass also showed National Enquirer headlines about Marco Rubio, another one of Donald Trump’s 2016 rivals.

He asked David Pecker if they ran those headlines when Rubio was gaining popularity — the same question he asked about negative stories on Ted Cruz.

Pecker said again, he believes that was the case, though he doesn’t remember when Rubio dropped out.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked David Pecker if an article from 2016 with the headline “Ted Cruz sex scandal 5 secret mistresses” was discussed with Michael Cohen.

“We would have discussed that, yes,” Pecker says.

Steinglass asks Pecker whether the articles were published in the spring of 2016 and if Cruz was gaining popularity around that time.

“I believe so,” Pecker says.

David Pecker said that while his team was preparing to run a negative article on one of Donald Trump’s rivals, they would be in communication with Michael Cohen.

“He would comment on them, so we would add content based on the information” Cohen provided them,” Pecker said.

Pecker said he couldn’t recall if Cohen ever said he shared the headlines with “The Boss” — which Pecker testified is how Cohen referred to Trump.

David Pecker said he wanted to clarify how the system between the National Enquirer and Michael Cohen worked.

“When we were preparing an article, we’d communicate what we were doing at the direction of the article from Michael Cohen, and we would also send him the PDFs of the story before it was published,” he testified.

In fewer than two hours on the stand in total, David Pecker already has established crucial key points that are likely important for prosecutors in proving their case to the jury.

Those include:

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is now showing David Pecker some of the negative stories about Donald Trump’s opponents that the National Enquirer ran.

Among them are:

Pecker said that while they were preparing an article like the one on Cruz, they would communicate with Michael Cohen.

David Pecker is speaking toward the jury. Many of the jurors’ heads are turning to look at Pecker as he answers questions and then ping-pong back toward the prosecutor as he asks the next question.

David Pecker testified that Michael Cohen told him that he “wasn’t part of the campaign” and instead was “on the outside” as Donald Trump’s personal attorney.

However, Pecker said said Cohen seemed to have an informal role in the campaign, or he “injected himself into it.”

“Michael was physically in every aspect of whatever the campaign was working on, at least at Trump Organization at Trump Tower, at least when he was physically there,” Pecker said.

David Pecker is explaining how Michael Cohen played a role in the negative stories that the National Enquirer ran about Trump’s political opponents.

“Michael Cohen would call me and say, ‘We would like you to run a negative article on a certain’ — let’s say for argument sake — on Ted Cruz then he — Michael Cohen — would send me information about Ted Cruz or Ben Carson or Marco Rubio, and that was the basis of our story and then we would embellish it from there,” he testifies.

The jury is now seeing a series of National Enquirer articles praising Donald Trump.

Per a defense request, Judge Juan Merchan instructed the jury that the exhibit is being entered for the limited purpose of showing that the articles were published and when — but they are not in evidence for any other purpose.

Prosecutors are scrolling through a series of headlines from the National Enquirer.

Among them: “Donald Trump: ‘Healthiest individual ever elected!”

David Pecker said leaks were “more prevalent” in the organization, and so he didn’t want “anyone else to know” about the agreement he had with Donald Trump.

“So that’s why I kept it very confidential,” Pecker said.

Donald Trump is leaning forward to look at the screen in front of him as prosecutors introduce headlines and covers from the National Enquirer as evidence to show David Pecker.

David Pecker testified that at the time, he told Dylan Howard, who was the editor in chief of the National Enquirer, that “the agreement that I made has to be highly, highly confidential.”

David Pecker said his agreements with Trump were not put into writing because “it was just an agreement among friends.”

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass also had Pecker confirm that the positive stories about Trump were of mutual benefit, but stopping stories from being printed about Trump only benefited the campaign.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked David Pecker if he ever purchased a story about Donald Trump in order for it not to be printed prior to the August 2015 meeting with Trump and Cohen in Trump Tower.

“Ah no,” Pecker said.

“Did that part help the National Enquirer at all?”

Pecker replied, “No, that didn’t help.”

David Pecker testified that when he went to Michael Cohen to notify him about a negative story, Cohen would vet the story to see if it was true or not, and then go to the individual publication to try to make sure the story wasn’t published.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked David Pecker how Trump reacted to Pecker’s suggestion he would continue running negative stories about Bill and Hillary Clinton.

“He was pleased,” Pecker said.

Pecker said stories about Bill and Hillary Clinton were great sellers for the magazine.

To underscore the point to the jury, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked David Pecker a series of questions about what he offered to do.

He asked Pecker to confirm that he offered to publish positive stories about Trump, publish negative stories about his opponents and alert him about damaging information involving women.

To each question, Pecker answered “yes.”

Pecker testified, “I think it was a mutual benefit. It would help his campaign, and it would also help me.”

David Pecker continued to recall what he offered Donald Trump in the August 2015 meeting.

“Anything that I hear in the marketplace — if I hear anything negative about yourself or if I hear anything about women selling stories, I would notify Michael Cohen as I did over the last several years,” Pecker said.

“And Michael Cohen — then he would be able to have them killed in another magazine or have them not be published or somebody would have to purchase them,” he added.

Pecker explained why he raised women at the meeting.

“In a presidential campaign, I was the person that thought that there would be a lot of women would come out to try to sell their stories, because Mr. Trump was well known as the most eligible bachelor, and dated the most beautiful women,” Pecker says.

Former tabloid executive David Pecker’s testimony is an important part of the hush money trial because he says he witnessed Donald Trump signing invoices and checks, CNN senior legal analyst Elie Hong said.

“David Pecker said, ‘I saw, with my own eyes, Donald Trump’s assistant would bring him invoices and checks, he would look at them and sign them,’” Honig noted, adding that one of the key questions of this hush money case is the falsification of business records.

The prosecution is also showing that Pecker was close to the former president, CNN’s Phil Mattingly explained.

“They are using David Pecker as the vehicle into painting the picture of Trump’s world. A world in which Michael Cohen was the point of contact for David Pecker, who was very close to the former president,” Mattingly said. 

Donald Trump is looking toward David Pecker but not reacting as the former tabloid executive discusses what he agreed to do at the meeting.

Describing the 2015 Trump Tower meeting, David Pecker said:

“At the meeting, Donald Trump and Michael (Cohen), they asked me, what can I do, and what my magazines could do, to help the campaign?”

Pecker said he “would be your eyes and ears.”

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is now asking David Pecker about the August 2015 meeting in Trump Tower with Michael Cohen and Donald Trump.

“I received a call from Michael Cohen saying the boss wanted to see me,” Pecker said.

Hope Hicks was in and out of the meeting, Pecker says.

Prosecutors have submitted an email from Michael Cohen as evidence.

On June 2, 2015, Cohen personally invited David Pecker to Donald Trump’s campaign announcement event.

In the email, Cohen asks Pecker to attend the event.

“No one deserves to be there more than you,” the email says.

“As a friend, I would love if you could make it. Let me know so I can save you a seat next to me on the atrium floor,” the email says.

David Pecker says that he attended Donald Trump’s presidential campaign announcement in June 2015.

Trump is watching Pecker as he testifies about being invited by Michael Cohen to attend the announcement at Trump Tower.

After Donald Trump’s campaign for president began in 2015, David Pecker said interest in Trump through his magazines “skyrocketed.”

Pecker said they did research on potential covers to see what would sell the best. It was Trump, viewed “as the boss” in a boardroom, Pecker said.

“Do you know somebody named Hope Hicks?” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked David Pecker.

“Yes, I do,” Pecker replied.

Pecker said he knew Hicks when she worked for Ivanka’s company and did public relations for Star Magazine, before she became Trump’s campaign communications director.

In 2015 after Trump announced his candidacy, David Pecker said his contact with Michael Cohen increased to “a minimum of every week.”

“If there was an issue, it could be daily,” Pecker said of his contact with Cohen.

As prosecutors question David Pecker, Donald Trump has been both leaning back in his chair and forward with his arm on the table, with his body angled toward Pecker on the witness stand.

David Pecker says he first met Michael Cohen at a bar mitzvah in 2000.

Donald Trump introduced Cohen as his new hire to Pecker in 2007, Pecker testified.

Pecker said Trump told him “that now my contacts should go through Michael Cohen.”

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked David Pecker about Trump’s approach to money.

Pecker said that Trump was “very cautious, very frugal.”

David Pecker was asked to describe Donald Trump as a businessperson.

“I would describe Mr. Trump as very knowledgeable,” Pecker said. “I would describe him as very detailed oriented. I would describe him, almost, as a micromanager — he looked at all aspects of whatever the issue was.”

David Pecker is testifying that he saw Trump review and sign invoices and checks.

He described sitting in Trump’s office when Trump’s assistant Rhona Graff walked in and gave him invoices and checks to sign.

“I noticed that he reviewed the invoice and looked at the check and he would sign them,” Pecker testified.

David Pecker is explaining how he and Donald Trump would communicate by phone, frequently through their offices and assistants.

There were times that Trump’s bodyguard would pass messages to Trump from Pecker, he said.

Pecker also said he visited Trump at Trump Tower on multiple occasions over the years.

David Pecker said before 2015, he saw Donald Trump monthly or maybe quarterly.

But after Trump announced he was running for president, “I saw Mr. Trump more frequently,” Pecker said.

When asked, David Pecker confirmed he considered Donald Trump a friend at least until 2017.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is now asking David Pecker about “The Apprentice.”

Pecker said the show was “an instant success” and he had a number of conversations with Trump about the show.

“He was always kind enough to send me the content,” the show’s ratings, Pecker said, “and I was able to publish that in the National Enquirer.”

Trump would share the ratings and show information for the Apprentice with Pecker who would publish the information in the National Enquirer and other magazines. It was “a mutually beneficial relationship,” Pecker said noting he didn’t have to pay for it but Trump got the publicity for the show in return.

Prior to acquiring the National Enquirer in 1999, David Pecker said he had “a lot of dealing and discussion with Mr. Trump as a celebrity in his own right.”

“At that time he was very helpful, introducing me to other executives and other people in New York,” Pecker said, adding that Donald Trump would advise him of events and parties he could either attend himself or send his editors to.

David Pecker said back in 1989, he “had an idea of creating a magazine called Trump Style and I presented it to Mr. Trump, and he liked the idea a lot. He just questioned me ‘Who was going to pay for it?’”

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asks David Pecker to explain his relationship with Trump.

“I’ve had a great relationship with Mr. Trump over the years,” Pecker says.

David Pecker testified that he’s known Donald Trump since the late 1980s.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked him to identify him in the courtroom. Pecker smiled, pointed over to the defense table and said, “He’s sitting, wearing, I think, a dark blue suit.”

Trump leaned back in his chair and gave a smirk to Pecker as he pointed to Trump.

Prosecutor Josh Steinglass will lead the questioning of David Pecker who is on the witness stand.

Pecker testified for less than 30 minutes yesterday.

David Pecker is back on the stand to resume his testimony.

As the then-chairman of American Media Inc., which publishes the National Enquirer, Pecker was involved in numerous “catch-and-kill” schemes he orchestrated on behalf of Donald Trump, and he allegedly helped broker the deal with Stormy Daniels.

According to court documents, an agent for Daniels contacted AMI in October 2016 and said she was willing to go public with her allegations of an affair with Trump. Pecker then allegedly contacted Cohen, who subsequently negotiated the deal, per court filings from Cohen’s plea agreement.

In a separate incident, AMI agreed to pay model and actress Karen McDougal $150,000 months before the 2016 election for her silence about an alleged affair with Trump. While this payment is not part of the charges against the former president, prosecutors are expected to use it to establish a pattern of such payments.

Pecker has been granted immunity in exchange for his testimony and AMI signed a non-prosecution agreement with prosecutors.

Read up on the other key players in the case.

Judge Juan Merchan reminded David Pecker that he’s still under oath and called for the jury, who then entered.

Testimony will resume soon.

Judge Juan Merchan is back on the bench.

Donald Trump has posted on Truth Social about the gag order following the gag order hearing, calling for Judge Juan Merchan to recuse himself.

Trump alleges he is “not allowed” to defend himself, but he has indicated he is willing to take the stand to testify.

As we wait for the judge to return to the bench, Trump has resumed chatting with his attorney Todd Blanche. They are looking at the stack of papers Trump brought in with him.

Attorney Todd Blanche and Trump were whispering before Judge Juan Merchan entered the courtroom.

He and Blanche were leaning in close to each other to talk. Trump then veered to his right to talk to attorney Emil Bove, who in now sitting in the first chair.

Former President Donald Trump has reentered the courtroom. He is holding a stack of papers, some held together by binder clips.

CNN’s Chief Legal Correspondent Paula Reid has described the outcome of today’s gag order hearing as a “disaster for the defense.”

During the hearing, Judge Juan Merchan questioned whether Donald Trump recognized that he had breached the gag order, even asking him to take the stand and swear under oath that he did not know he had done so.

Merchan went as far as to tell Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, that he was “losing all credibility with the court.”

Reid said that was a “disaster” for how Trump’s team had hoped to tackle the hearing.

“I knew this wasn’t going to go well legally for the team… but this was much worse than I could’ve expected.”

Donald Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche faced a tough task Tuesday morning as he sought to avoid a maximum fine for his client for violating a gag order.  

Under the order, Trump is barred from publicly discussing witnesses or jurors in the case and prosecutors have pointed to eight social media posts and two campaign website posts to argue that “going after Michael Cohen is a recurring theme in these posts.” The prosecution is seeking $1,000 per violation — the maximum fine.  

But Blanche argued that specific attacks from Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, and adult film star Stormy Daniels prompted the former president to respond, but he has yet to point to specific attacks by them despite several requests to do so from Judge Juan Merchan.  

The former president was not visibly reacting to any of the proceedings at the time, according to journalists in the courtroom, but did talk to his attorneys at least twice.  

David Pecker speaks at an event in 2014.

David Pecker will be back on the stand on Tuesday to continue testimony in the hush money trial against former President Donald Trump. Not only is he the first witness to answer questions from the prosecution, but he is also a critical piece of how the state is trying to prove criminal intent, one former federal prosecutor said.

Criminal intent means that “not just an act happened, but an act happened for a purpose,” said Elliot Williams, a CNN legal analyst. “The defendant did something wrong to carry out some criminal purpose.”

As the then-chairman of American Media Inc., which publishes the National Enquirer, Pecker was involved in numerous “catch-and-kill” schemes he orchestrated on behalf of Trump, and he allegedly helped broker the deal with adult film star Stormy Daniels which is at the center of the case.

Williams said it’s likely that prosecutors will focus much of their questioning trying to uncover what was discussed in meetings between Pecker and Trump. The question at the heart of the argument, Williams said, is if the payments were intended to conceal information from voters, “or was it just Donald Trump saying, ‘Well, you know, this is embarrassing to my wife and my kids, I really want to keep this hidden.’”

Before witnesses can continue to offer testimony in the historic criminal hush money trial of Donald Trump, Judge Juan Merchan held a hearing on whether the former president violated the gag order in the hush money case.  

Under the order, Trump is barred from publicly discussing witnesses or jurors in the case.  

The prosecution has pointed to eight social media posts and two campaign website posts where Trump was primarily sharing commentary about expected trial witness Michael Cohen, and prosecutor Chris Conroy is seeking a $1,000 fine for each post — the max fine. 

Conroy made the case that Trump “knows about the order” and “knows what he’s not allowed to do” but violates it anyway. The prosecutor has also called the defense’s argument that the former president can respond to attacks by Cohen as an attempt to “muddy the waters,” and said those 10 posts “pose a very real threat” to the proceedings.  

Prosecutors also want the judge to remind Trump that “future violations of this Court’s restrictions on his extrajudicial statements can be punished not only with additional fines but also with a term of incarceration of up to thirty days.” 

Trump was not visibly reacting to the accusations, according to CNN’s reporters in the courtroom.  

As court was breaking, Judge Juan Merchan said he plans to go from 11 a.m. ET to 2 p.m. ET straight with the jury.

After hearing from prosecutors and Donald Trump’s attorneys, Judge Juan Merchan said he he is reserving a decision on the gag order violations.

The court is now in a short break.

Judge Juan Merchan says that when attorney Todd Blanche claims Trump got “too close to the line” with reposts, they should have told him that “my client is thinking of reposting something.”

After Blanche sat back down, he passed a note to Trump, who is reading it.

Prosecutor Chris Conroy is now back at the microphone following defense attorney Todd Blanche’s tense exchange with Judge Juan Merchan. Merchan grew exasperated as he repeatedly asked Blanche questions.

Donald Trump is now whispering to Blanche, who is seated beside him.

In respect to reposts, Judge Juan Merchan said, “You’re not giving me anything to hang my hat on to say, ‘you’re right, this was ambiguous.’”

“The court should make crystal clear what it means with the reposts,” Trump attorney Todd Blanche said, adding they didn’t read the gag order the same way.

“This gag order, we are trying to comply with it,” Donald Trump attorney Todd Blanche said before Judge Juan Merchan.

“President Trump is being very careful to comply with your order,” Blanche added.

Moving onto the post about the jury and Jesse Watters, Judge Juan Merchan asked: “Your client manipulated what was said and put it in quotes, am I right?”

“I wouldn’t use the word manipulation your honor,” Donald Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche responded. “But the rest of the quote was not part of the quote.”

Merchan said that Trump’s post on the jury was not a repost.

“This is something that was said on TV and your client had to type it out. He had to sit there, use quotation marks, the shift key and type every thing out and then add those additional words,” the judge said.

Blanche acknowledged that Trump’s post about the jury was not a repost.

Judge Juan Merchan said he wants to hear an assertion under oath that Donald Trump believed he wasn’t violating the gag order when he made the posts in question.

Merchan said: “How do I know that’s his position? Are you testifying under oath that that’s his position?”

“I’m not testifying, I’m making argument,” attorney Todd Blanche replies.

“It’s your client’s position that when he reposts, he did not believe he was violating the gag order. I’d like to hear that. Or you just want me to accept it because you’re saying it?” Merchan says to Blanche.

We’re learning more about Trump’s social media in today’s gag order hearing.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche says Trump has a “group of folks” who work with the former president and find articles they think Trump’s audience should read.

“You’ve presented nothing,” Judge Juan Merchan says to Trump attorney Todd Blanche. “I’ve asked you eight or nine times to show me the exact post he was responding to. You’ve been unable to do that even once.”

Judge Juan Merchan is now asking how reposts get on Donald Trump’s Truth Social feed.

He says, “It’s not passive … It means someone had to do something.”

Merchan says that there is an active action to repost things, and he doesn’t buy that by calling it a repost, “your client can wash your hands of it.”

Judge Juan Merchan, speaking about Donald Trump’s comments on Michael Cohen, said “using the name is not prohibited, making a connection to the trial is prohibited.”

Trump attorney Todd Blanche argued the post in question has “nothing to do with this case,” but rather, “it has to do with the system and the fact that President Trump very strongly believes the people should have prosecuted Mr. Cohen for lying.”

Merchan then asked if Trump is “attacking Michael Cohen’s credibility, like he was attacking Ms. Daniel’s credibility?”

Blanche said no, Trump is “attacking the people and the system for not prosecuting Michael Cohen for lying.”

“There are two systems of justice,” Blanche said, noting Allen Weisselberg is in jail for lying under oath and “Cohen is going to be a witness.”

Judge Juan Merchan wants Todd Blanche to explain Donald Trump’s post about former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz.

Merchan asks why Trump had to discuss someone who’s on the witness list.

Blanche says Pomerantz is not a witness expected to testify at trial.

Trump is talking to his attorney Emil Bove as the exchange gets a little more heated between Judge Juan Merchan and attorney Todd Blanche.

Trump who was watching Merchan whipped his head quickly to Bove to say something after the exchange.

“What I do see is, I keep asking you over and over again for a specific answer, and I’m not getting an answer,” Merchan said to Blanche.

Judge Juan Merchan just raised his voice while talking to Donald Trump attorney Todd Blanche.

“I’m asking the questions. I’m going to be the one who decides whether your client is in contempt,” he said.

“I keep asking you over and over again for a specific answer, and I’m not getting an answer,” Merchan said to Blanche.

Judge Juan Merchan again pushes Donald Trump attorney Todd Blanche to zero in on what specific attack from Michael Cohen or Stormy Daniels prompted the former president’s posts on social media.

“There must’ve been a very recent attack to cause him to pull out a document that is six years old and is going to be used at trial,” he told the court.

Judge Juan Merchan pressed defense attorney Todd Blanche on specifics about Michael Cohen attacking Donald Trump politically.

“There’s no specific post that you’re referring to?” he asks Blanche.

Blanche said he’s generally referring to repeated attacks from Cohen and Stormy Daniels, who he said “have ramped up their political attacks and their attacks on him as a candidate as well” in the weeks leading up to the trial.

In the back and forth between Judge Juan Merchan and Trump attorney Todd Blanche, Merchan said, “You’re suggesting that merely the use of a word pardon is sufficient for your client to violate a gag order.”

Blanche retorts, “Absolutely not. President Trump is allowed to respond to political attacks.”

Donald Trump appears to be looking at Judge Juan Merchan as the judge is engaged in a back-and-forth with defense attorney Todd Blanche.

Defense lawyer Todd Blanche tells the judge that two things about a Trump post referencing Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen make it political, pointing to a reference to being pardoned and how Daniels and Cohen are making money posting about the former president and their strong dislike of him.

Judge Juan Merchan steers Blanche back on track asking him to refer directly to the posts at issue rather than inferring the general meaning of public comments from Cohen and Daniels.

“So the pardon is what makes it political?” Merchan asks Blanche.

“Of course,” Blanche responds.

Donald Trump attorney Todd Blanche said posts the former president made involving Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen “were in direct response” to statements those two made and not about the trial.

Blanche added that Cohen directly responded to one of Trump’s posts “politically.” It was not about the case or his testimony, Blanche said.

Donald Trump is still looking straight ahead while his lawyer is speaking, not visibly reacting at all to any of the proceedings yet.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche is now speaking for Donald Trump.

“President Trump does in fact know what the gag order allows him to do and not allow him to do,” Blanche said, adding, “there was absolutely no willful violation of the gag order.”

Prosecutor Chris Conroy says his team is asking the court to order Donald Trump to remove the 10 offending posts — eight from his social media and two from his campaign website.

Conroy says the court should “remind him that incarceration is an option should it be necessary.”

Prosecutor Chris Conroy said his team is not seeking an “incarcerary penalty.”

“We are asking the court to impose the max $1,000 fine for each of the 10 violations,” Conroy said.

Prosecutor Chris Conroy says that Donald Trump’s argument that he should be able to repost others’ statements without violating the gag order “flies in the face of common sense.”

Conroy says that Trump’s reposts are “some of his most dangerous statements,” pointing to an article he shared last year where he had a baseball bat.

He said Trump is “launching specific separate attacks on two witnesses and attacking potential jurors and jurors.”

He is “intentionally breaching the crystal clear unequivocal lines set by this court on April 1 designed to protect the integrity of this proceeding,” Conroy said.

“It’s clear he knows about the order, he knows what he’s not allowed to do and he does it anyway,” says prosecutor Chris Conroy said of Donald Trump.

There’s no indication, Conroy added, that Trump’s claim he’s responding to attacks is “anything more than an after-the-fact justification.”

Prosecutor Chris Conroy told the judge that the appellate department denied Donald Trump’s attempt to fight the gag order before the trial began.

“There is no provision in this order for responding to attacks,” Conroy said.

Conroy said that Trump’s lawyers are trying to “muddy the waters” by arguing he can respond to attacks.

A man was arrested inside the courthouse while today’s gag order was in session, according to reports from journalists inside the courtroom.

The man appeared to be arguing with officers over where he was sitting or standing in an overflow room, and about how he could get into the courtroom, according to the journalists’ reports.

After a long discussion, officers asked the man to step out into the hallway and leave but, according to reports, he refused and was detained.

Donald Trump’s violations of the gag order are “made with knowledge” and are “willful beyond a reasonable doubt,” prosecutor Chris Conroy said.

“There is no doubt this defendant made these statements,” Conroy added.

Former President Donald Trump on Monday evening commented on the jury process ahead of a hearing on his potential gag order violations and claimed the jury for his hush money trial is majority Democrat.

Judge Juan Merchan is holding a hearing on whether to fine Trump for repeatedly violating the gag order barring him from publicly discussing witnesses or jurors in the criminal hush money case. 

Under the gag order, Trump is barred from “Making or directing others to make public statements about any prospective juror or any juror in this criminal proceeding.”

Jill Konviser, a former New York State Supreme Court Justice, told CNN on Monday night that she believed Trump’s comments were a violation of Trump’s gag order. 

Trump has repeatedly railed against the gag order and his lawyers argue he has not violated it.

Prosecutor Chris Conroy now mentions Donald Trump’s Truth Social post about jurors in which he quoted Fox News’ Jesse Waters calling them “undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge.”

Conroy says the day after the post, a juror was excused after saying she was no longer comfortable serving on the jury. “What happened here is precisely what this order was designed to prevent, and this defendant doesn’t care,” Conroy said.

“It came from a segment specifically discussing juror profiles in this case,” Conroy said. “To me, that shows very clear deliberation and willfulness in making the post.”

Prosecutor Chris Conroy noted to the judge that the social media posts from Donald Trump that he’s referencing are occurring “while we’re in trial.”

“The trial has now begun,” he added.

Trump has also referenced former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, according to prosecutor Chris Conroy.

Conroy said Trump has also tried to make Pomerantz “somehow at issue in this case.”

Prosecutor Chris Conroy told Judge Juan Merchan that “going after Michael Cohen is a recurring theme in these posts.”

Conroy noted Trump’s post of a story calling Cohen a “serial perjurer.”

More context: Trump has continued to feud with Cohen, his former attorney and a key witness for the prosecution in the case, and complained that Cohen has been posting about him and he’s not allowed to respond. Trump nevertheless went after Cohen in remarks on camera after leaving court on Monday.

The first example prosecutor Chris Conroy has raised is Donald Trump’s post on April 10 about Michael Avenatti, in which Trump appears to reference Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen as “two sleazebags.”

The judge asked Conroy to tie the post to the exact violation of the gag order. Conroy said that “by calling them sleazebags and going after their credibility, I think that’s all part of the plan for this trial. There is no other reason to be talking about that than related to this.”

Prosecutor Chris Conroy said Judge Juan Merchan should sanction Donald Trump for each of the violations of the gag order.

Remember: Prosecutors want Merchan to fine Trump $1,000 per violation and to remind him that “future violations of this Court’s restrictions on his extrajudicial statements can be punished not only with additional fines but also with a term of incarceration of up to thirty days.”

Judge Juan Merchan is now hearing arguments on whether Donald Trump should be held in contempt of court for allegedly violating the gag order on the case at least 10 times in the days before and after the trial began. Prosecutors are seeking the punishment for Trump to be $1,000 per allegation. 

Merchan has said in prior court orders he will be looking at possible instances of violations where Trump was primarily sharing commentary about expected trial witness Michael Cohen who called him a “serial perjurer.”

Those instances are:

It’s not yet known if Merchan will also want to discuss Trump’s comments on Tuesday after court, in which he appeared to double down with on-camera comments in a courthouse hallway criticizing Cohen, his former personal attorney.

Donald Trump is not visibly reacting to prosecutor Chris Conroy accusing him of violating the gag order, continuing to look straight forward.

Prosecutor Chris Conroy said Donald Trump violated the gag order again Monday outside court. “The defendant violated the order again, on camera. He did it right here in the hallway outside,” he said.

Conroy said prosecutors will file another motion over that violation later today.

“The defendant has violated this order repeatedly and hasn’t stopped,” Conroy added.

“Judge, each of the 10 posts that I just handed the court” violate the gag order, prosecutor Chris Conroy said.

Each of Trump’s posts “pose a very real threat” to the proceedings, he added.

Conroy said that the posts intimidate “both the defendant’s direct targets” and others who may be called to testify.

Prosecutor Chris Conroy is at the podium and is handing the 10 alleged violations of the gag order to Judge Juan Merchan and Trump’s attorneys.

He said there are other papers he may reference in the bundle.

“The purpose of this hearing find out if the defendant, Mr. Trump, should be held in contempt” for one or all of these violations, Merchan said.

There was no mention of the sidebar in the robing room among the lawyers and judge before the hearing got underway. 

Donald Trump is passing notes again. He just handed a piece of paper to his lawyer Emil Bove.

The attorneys have re-entered the courtroom after side-barring with Judge Juan Merchan.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked to approach the bench and now all the lawyers have left the courtroom to sidebar.

Donald Trump is seated alone at the defense table.

Trump’s aide came up to offer him a bottle of Fiji water, which he declined. He is looking straight ahead as the lawyers are with the judge.

Former President Donald Trump was chatting with his lawyer Emil Bove before Judge Juan Merchan entered.

“Good morning, Mr. Trump,” Merchan said.

Remember: The jury is not in the room for the gag order hearing; they have been instructed to arrive to court today at 11 a.m. ET.

Donald Trump entered the courtroom, walked down the center aisle and headed to his seat.

Three secret service agents entered before him, and defense attorney Todd Blanche and three others followed. Behind them was the rest of his legal team and Jason Miller, who took a seat at the back of the courtroom.

A gag order hearing is set to start soon.

Former President Donald Trump railed against President Joe Biden’s handling of Israel’s war on Hamas, the Pro-Palestinian protests happening on various college campuses and also the Pennsylvania primaries — which are happening today.

Trump called Biden “the worst president in the history of our country,” in his handling of the conflicts in the Middle East and claimed that the president is no friend to Israel.

He said the protests happening across the college campuses are a “disgrace” and also blamed Biden for taking the “wrong tone.”

Prosecutors have entered the courtroom ahead of this morning’s gag order hearing.

The judge is holding the hearing on whether to fine Donald Trump for repeatedly violating the gag order barring him from publicly discussing witnesses or jurors in the criminal hush money case. Trump has railed against the gag order and his lawyers argue his social media posts do not violate it.

Former President Donald Trump speaks to the press at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on Monday.

The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s first criminal trial will consider this morning whether the former president should be fined for repeatedly violating the gag order barring Trump from publicly discussing witnesses or jurors in the criminal hush money case.

Here’s what to know about the gag order imposed on Trump by Judge Juan Merchan in late March:

Why was it imposed? Merchan implemented the gag order because, he said, the former president has a history of making “threatening, inflammatory, denigrating” statements against people at all levels of the justice system, including jurors. According to CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig, the fundamental reason for the gag order is to protect members of the jury.

What does it do? The ruling limits the former president from making statements about potential witnesses in his hush money criminal trial. It prevents Trump from criticizing his former attorney, Michael Cohen, or adult film star Stormy Daniels, who will be witnesses at trial. But it does not prevent Trump from talking about New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is a public figure, or Merchan himself.

Merchan also ruled that Trump can’t make statements about attorneys, court staff or the family members of prosecutors, lawyers, family members of the court and family members of the Manhattan district attorney. Trump is also barred from making statements about any potential or actual juror.

What does Trump say? Trump and his attorneys have argued that as the leading Republican candidate for president, Trump’s speech should not be restricted as he appeals to voters in the 2024 election. When Merchan expanded the original order to include family members of the court in early April, Trump’s lawyers indicated they would appeal it, arguing it went too far.

The argument from Donald Trump’s legal team this morning in the gag order hearing is expected to cover the usual constitutional arguments against the order, and then focus specifically on three familiar targets:

They are also expected to argue that republishing on Truth Social should not be covered in the order. Trump has been quoting others as a way to get around the gag order. It is not clear that will work, but that is part of the legal team’s argument.

Judge Juan Merchan determined on Monday that some of Donald Trump’s past wrongdoings and legal matters can be brought up in his hush money trial, but others cannot.

Merchan issued his ruling from last Friday’s Sandoval hearing — a routine process through which the court will determine to what extent Trump’s past wrongdoing can be brought up in the current trial.

What is allowed:

What’s not allowed:

Former president Donald Trump's defense team stops to listen as Trump speaks upon arriving at Manhattan criminal court, Monday, April 22, in New York. 

Trump’s legal team is led by Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, two former federal prosecutors from New York, and Susan Necheles, a veteran criminal defense lawyer with deep experience in New York and before Merchan.

Donald Trump’s motorcade has arrived at the courthouse where the former president is expected to attend a second day of witness testimony in his historic criminal trial.

Before today’s testimony, the judge will hold a gag order hearing at 9:30 a.m. ET. 

The prosecution in the hush money trial against Donald Trump will have to rely on documents that prove intent in order to make their case to the jury and judge.

“There are 34 business records counts,” CNN’s chief legal analyst Laura Coates noted.

Coates went through an argument checklist on what prosecutors will be aiming to prove:

And then the motive will need to be determined on whether this was a private or political act: Whether this was done to protect and prevent Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, from finding out about the affair or done for political purposes.

“Even if it was half private, half political, it doesn’t matter,” Coates said.

Joe Biden deliver remarks on Earth Day event at Prince William Forest Park in Virginia, on April 22, 2024.

During the first two weeks of Donald Trump’s criminal trial, President Joe Biden will have traveled to four states touting his policies on clean energy, reproductive rights and manufacturing. And Biden advisers – both at the campaign and the White House – say that robust schedule will continue over the course of the coming weeks as his predecessor’s trial plays out in a lower Manhattan courtroom through mid-June.

A campaign official described the strategy as staying a course that Biden has been on for months now: pounding the pavement while his rival seethes on social media.

While the White House has preferred to let the visual “split-screen,” in aides’ parlance, speak for itself, the campaign has been sending out sharply worded missives, needling Trump for being off the campaign trail and lagging his 2020 fundraising benchmarks. Behind the scenes, campaign staff are using the weeks-long trial to recalibrate, plan and strategize for the spring to November, one official says.

Pennsylvania his holding its presidential primary elections today.

Donald Trump’s motorcade has departed Trump Tower and is headed downtown to the Manhattan criminal court where a jury is expected to hear from his longtime friend and former chief executive of American Media, David Pecker.

As Pecker returns to the stand Tuesday, prosecutors will seek to lay out the “catch and kill” scheme and his role in orchestrating two nondisclosure agreements for negative stories about Trump.

But first, the judge will consider whether to fine Trump for repeatedly violating the gag order barring the former president from publicly discussing witnesses or jurors in the criminal hush money case.

The gag order hearing kicks off at 9:30 a.m. ET — and if arguments are not completed by 11 a.m. ET — the judge indicated the arguments will continue another time, and the court will bring the jury back to resume direct questioning of Pecker, the Manhattan DA’s witness who is testifying under subpoena.

The court is expected to end at 2 p.m. ET due to the Passover holiday.

Court sketch of David Pecker, the former chairman of the National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc. Pecker testified in Day 5 of former President Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial taking place in criminal court in New York City on April 22, 2024.

The first witness took the stand in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial on Monday after both sides laid out parts of their cases to the jury in opening statements.

During his testimony, David Pecker described his job at the time as the former chairman of the National Enquirer’s parent company. Pecker is set to return to the stand on Tuesday.

Here’s a recap of what he said:

During opening statements, prosecutor Matthew Colangelo focused on the case, telling the jury it is “about a criminal conspiracy and a cover-up.”

During his turn, Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche told the jury, “President Trump is innocent” and that “none of this was a crime.” He said they will find “plenty of reasonable doubt” in the prosecution’s case. 

Prosecutors and Donald Trump’s attorneys delivered opening statements and the first witness — a former National Enquirer publisher — was called Monday in the historic and unprecedented criminal trial of a former president.

Each side got their first chance to lay out a theory of the case for jurors. Prosecutors told jurors that the reimbursement of hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels was part of a larger conspiracy to influence the 2016 presidential election.

The former president’s attorneys responded by telling the jury that Trump was innocent and not involved in the creation of the 34 business records he’s charged with falsifying. They also pointedly added that there’s “nothing wrong with trying to influence an election.”

Here are key takeaways from Monday:

This morning, Judge Juan Merchan will consider whether to fine Donald Trump for repeatedly violating the gag order barring the former president from publicly discussing witnesses or jurors in the criminal hush money case.

Merchan is holding a hearing at 9:30 a.m. ET Tuesday after the Manhattan district attorney’s office filed a motion accusing Trump of repeatedly violating the gag order by posting on social media about his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, as well as about the jury in his case.

Prosecutors want Merchan to fine Trump $1,000 per violation and to remind him that “future violations of this Court’s restrictions on his extrajudicial statements can be punished not only with additional fines but also with a term of incarceration of up to thirty days.”

Trump has continued to feud with Cohen, his former attorney and a key witness for the prosecution in the case, and complained that Cohen has been posting about him and he’s not allowed to respond. Trump nevertheless went after Cohen in remarks on camera after leaving court on Monday.

“The things he got in trouble for were things that had nothing to do with me. He got in trouble. He went to jail. This has nothing to do with me,” Trump said.

Some context: The gag order imposed by Merchan in late March limits the former president from making statements about potential witnesses in his hush money criminal trial. Merchan also ruled that Trump can’t make statements about attorneys, court staff or the family members of prosecutors, lawyer, family members of the court and family members of the Manhattan district attorney. Trump is also barred from making statements about any potential or actual juror.

Read more about the gag order ahead of today’s hearing.