Testimony resumed Tuesday in former President Trump‘s criminal trial over accusations that he paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels hush money during the 2016 election after she alleged the two previously had an affair.
The day’s proceedings opened with Judge Juan Merchan finding that Trump violated a gag order nine times and fined the former president $9,000 over recent posts on the social media platform Truth Social and Trump’s campaign website attacking prospective jurors and potential witnesses.
Merchan instructed Trump to remove the posts and that additional violations could result in jail time.
Trump complied with the ruling, but not quietly:
“This Judge has taken away my Constitutional Right to FREE SPEECH. I am the only Presidential Candidate in History to be GAGGED. This whole ‘Trial’ is RIGGED, and by taking away my FREEDOM OF SPEECH, THIS HIGHLY CONFLICTED JUDGE IS RIGGING THE PRESIDENTIAL OF 2024 ELECTION,” he wrote.
Merchan is not protected under the gag order.
READ: Full Trump gag order ruling
The court then heard from witnesses that testified that long-time Trump “fixer” Michael Cohen was a “jerk” and an “asshole” and confirmed questionable negotiations in text messages.
Cohen’s former legal advisor, Lanny Davis, told The Hill that the negative characterizations witnesses have attributed to Cohen are things of the past.
Cohen’s ex-banker, Gary Farro, testified that Cohen misled the bank about why he intended to open the account for a real estate consulting business, and that if the bank knew it was a shell corporation that would be used to pay Daniels, “the account would not have been opened.”
Attorney Keith Davidson testified that Playboy model Karen McDougal sold her story of an alleged affair with Trump to American Media Inc. instead of ABC News to ensure it was not published.
He also testified that the release of a raunchy hot-mic moment Trump had during an “Access Hollywood” interview before entering the presidential race had an impact on efforts to allegedly quiet the women claiming they had affairs with Trump.
“Before (the) Access Hollywood tape, there was very little if any interest,” in porn actress Stormy Daniels’ story, Davidson said. “It wasn’t until Access Hollywood that interest sort of reached a crescendo.”
The court also heard from Keith Davidson, the attorney who organized the hush money payments for McDougal and Daniels.
The trial will resume Thursday.
For more coverage, read The Hill’s live blog covering the day’s proceedings.
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