Two voices reverberated within the courtroom. The primary was loud, deep and unctuous, the second was informal — till cash got here up. They have been discussing a deal made in the course of the 2016 presidential marketing campaign to silence a girl who claimed to have had an extramarital affair with the Republican candidate.
The primary voice on the recording belonged to Michael D. Cohen, a former private lawyer and fixer for Donald J. Trump. The second was the candidate himself, Mr. Trump, who on Thursday sat mutely as jurors heard his phrases.
The Manhattan district legal professional’s workplace used the tape, surreptitiously made by Mr. Cohen, to carry the trial’s two foremost characters collectively for the primary time. The recording vividly captured how Mr. Cohen reported particulars of a key transaction to his then boss.
On it, Mr. Cohen discusses a hush-money deal that the dad or mum firm of The Nationwide Enquirer made on Mr. Trump’s behalf with the previous Playboy mannequin Karen McDougal, in addition to the query of learn how to take care of “the financing” — that’s, repaying — the grocery store tabloid’s writer, David Pecker.
“What financing?” Mr. Trump requested, immediately snapping to consideration. He then directed Mr. Cohen to “pay with money.” (Mr. Pecker, the jurors already know, was by no means repaid.)
The existence of the recording, made by Mr. Cohen about two months earlier than the election, was beforehand recognized. But it surely demonstrated for the jury the direct involvement of the long run president in what prosecutors have mentioned was a conspiracy to assist him get elected.
It capped one other exceptional day within the first felony trial of an American president. Because the second week of testimony has moved alongside, the continuing has doubled as an post-mortem not solely of the politics of 2016, however of the celebrity-obsessed digital media setting through which Mr. Trump rose to prominence.
On Thursday, prosecutors concluded their questioning of Keith Davidson, a Los Angeles lawyer who had a distinct segment apply representing individuals with typically salacious claims towards celebrities.
In 2016, Mr. Davidson represented Stormy Daniels, a porn star who had threatened to go public with a harmful story about Mr. Trump shortly earlier than that 12 months’s election. The 34 felony fees towards Mr. Trump, who’s dealing with a penalty of as much as 4 years in jail, stem from that fee, which was made by Mr. Cohen. Prosecutors say the previous president later sought to disguise reimbursements to his former fixer, which have been made after Mr. Trump turned president.
On the stand, Mr. Davidson learn aloud a two-word textual content message that he had despatched in 2016: “Funds acquired.”
These innocuous phrases marked one thing momentous: the primary time that jurors have seen direct proof of the hush-money fee to Ms. Daniels.
A protection lawyer, Emil Bove, in a livid cross-examination, painted a immediately red-faced Mr. Davidson as a serial extortionist. He accused Mr. Davidson of shaking down the Trump marketing campaign, as Mr. Bove mentioned he had different celebrities, together with the truth tv star who calls herself Tila Tequila and Charlie Sheen, the actor.
Mr. Davidson mentioned that in this era he had familiarized himself with extortion legislation. Mr. Bove requested whether or not he had completed so as a way to higher extract cash from his targets whereas avoiding legislation enforcement.
“You probably did all the things you can to get as near that line as attainable with out crossing it, proper?” Mr. Bove mentioned.
“I did all the things I may to be sure that my actions have been lawful,” Mr. Davidson replied.
Mr. Davidson started the day by describing his disagreeable relationship with Mr. Cohen, and the previous fixer’s fevered efforts to maintain allegations of extramarital affairs by Mr. Trump out of the general public eye. These efforts included discussions with Mr. Davidson about how Ms. Daniels ought to reply to a report in regards to the January 2018 deal in The Wall Avenue Journal.
Ms. Daniels mentioned then she had no “sexual and/or romantic affair” with the president, and on the stand, Mr. Davidson took pains to elucidate why that was “technically true.” He mentioned that the one-night stand in a Lake Tahoe lodge, which Mr. Trump denies occurred, was not romantic.
A prosecutor, Joshua Steinglass, requested whether or not Mr. Davidson supposed that assertion “to be cleverly deceptive.”
“I don’t perceive the query,” Mr. Davidson mentioned, earlier than including that he would by no means use the time period “hush cash” for the cash that was acquired. He mentioned he most well-liked “consideration.”
In line with Mr. Bove, Mr. Davidson typically sought to show scandal to his and his purchasers’ monetary benefit. Subjects of debate Thursday included intercourse tapes by figures like Tila Tequila and Hulk Hogan, the wrestler. There was speak of stints in rehab by the actress Lindsay Lohan and an try to shake down Mr. Sheen.
Mr. Davidson repeatedly clashed with Mr. Bove, who accused him of obscuring the reality by failing to provide specifics.
“I’m not right here to play lawyer video games with you,” Mr. Bove mentioned. “I’m simply asking for truthful solutions.”
“You’re getting truthful solutions, sir,” Mr. Davidson shot again, placing a sarcastic spin on the ultimate phrase.
After Mr. Davidson left the stand, a forensic analyst who works for the district legal professional’s workplace took the stand and shortly launched the recording of Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen kibitzing in regards to the fee to Ms. McDougal.
In one other recording that was performed whereas Mr. Davidson was on the stand, jurors heard Mr. Cohen say in 2017 that Mr. Trump hated “the truth that we did it.”
Mr. Davidson defined that Mr. Trump had been referring to the fee to Ms. Daniels, offering a lift to the prosecutors looking for to corroborate Trump’s data of and involvement within the deal.
As he did when he first took the stand Tuesday, Mr. Davidson spent a lot of the day denigrating Mr. Cohen, describing him as aggressive, disagreeable and infrequently unhinged. He testified about Mr. Cohen’s despondency after the 2016 election, when he discovered Mr. Trump was not planning to incorporate him within the administration.
“I can’t consider I’m not going to Washington,” Mr. Davidson recalled Mr. Cohen saying. “I believed he was going to kill himself,” Mr. Davidson mentioned.
Mr. Cohen in 2019 testified earlier than Congress that he had not sought an administration job.
That contradiction and the manifold unflattering feedback about Mr. Cohen may support the protection. However prosecutors can also be hoping that airing them will take away their sting, immunizing the jury towards damaging data.
They’ve launched Mr. Cohen in phases: First, although remarks from individuals who know him, then along with his voice and his image. In coming weeks, Mr. Cohen himself is anticipated to testify. By that point, he could also be a recognized amount for jurors — considered one of whom has mentioned he listens to Mr. Cohen’s podcast.
Mr. Trump himself has frequently attacked Mr. Cohen in remarks and on-line posts which were mentioned at two totally different gag-order hearings, considered one of which resulted in a contempt-of-court advantageous of $9,000 and a warning of jail time if he endured.
On Thursday morning, the choose, Juan M. Merchan, heard arguments about 4 extra statements that prosecutors say violate the order, together with remarks within the hallway outdoors the courtroom, the place Mr. Trump has taken to attacking the case and Democrats he feels are behind it. The choose didn’t instantly rule.
Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, has complained vociferously in regards to the trial, saying it’s taking him off the marketing campaign path and baselessly suggesting that President Biden orchestrated the prosecution. Different targets have included the Manhattan district legal professional, Alvin L. Bragg, who introduced the case, and Justice Merchan.
Nonetheless, Mr. Trump’s demeanor in Justice Merchan’s courtroom has been totally different than in different current trials, the place he has had outbursts and even stormed out. Mr. Trump has been largely subdued, typically sitting along with his eyes closed as testimony unspools. At some factors, he has appeared to go to sleep.
In a put up on Reality Social on Thursday afternoon, Mr. Trump denied falling asleep. “I merely shut my stunning blue eyes, generally, hear intensely, and take it ALL in!!!,” he wrote.
In his questioning of Mr. Davidson on Thursday, Mr. Bove, the protection lawyer, identified that the witness had by no means met or interacted with Mr. Trump.
“Actually, all the things that you already know about President Trump got here from both TV or Michael Cohen?” he requested. Mr. Davidson conceded he had no private interactions with Mr. Trump.
However prosecutors argue that Mr. Davidson didn’t should know Mr. Trump to know the significance of the hush-money fee in his bid for the White Home.
Prosecutors requested Mr. Davidson to elucidate a textual content change proper after Election Day in 2016 with Dylan Howard, a prime editor at The Nationwide Enquirer who had helped dealer the deal amongst Mr. Cohen, Mr. Davidson and Ms. Daniels.
“What have we completed?” Mr. Davidson requested the editor.
Michael Gold, Kate Christobek, Michael Rothfeld, Alan Feuer, Wesley Parnell and Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.
