Westerhout texted Hicks on 3/20/18 the day McDougal sued AMI and Pecker:

“Hey- the President wants to know if you called David Pecker again?” Hicks on the Stormy payment: It was the day after Michael told the NYT that he made the payment without Trump’s knowledge and Trump said he spoke to Michael and Michael had paid this woman to protect him from a false allegation and Michael had done it to protect him and had not told him anything about it. I had known Cohen for three and a half years, I didn't know Michael to be an especially charitable person, he is the kind of person who takes credit, Trump thought it was generous of him to do and he appreciated the loyalty.

Hope Hicks has returned to the witness stand.

[Remember: we recess at 3:45 pm today] Trump's eyes are open.

Katie's Sidebar: It's all about the timeline.

Hope Hicks, one of Trump's closest aides who was omnipresent during the operative timeframes and events in this case, provides compelling testimony from the witness stand about the impact on the Trump Campaign of the release of the Access Hollywood tape and the WSJ article exposing the Trump affair with Karen McDougal & the payment to her. Context is key: the Access Hollywood tape is released October 7, 2016. The presidential election was to take place on November 8th. Damn close in time.

Per Hicks, the campaign panics. The "consensus" in the Trump campaign was "the tape was devastating and this was a crisis."

Now, the prosecution moves to a line of questioning about Karen McDougal:

Q: When did you first hear the name Karen McDougal?”

Hicks: on Nov. 4, 2016, when a WSJ reporter, Michael Rothfeld, contacted her to ask about McDougal and AMI. Stormy was mentioned in that story, and Hicks had “heard of her in one other context.” In November 2015, Trump and some of the guys on the plane were discussing a celebrity golf tournament at which Stormy was present with another attendee.

Hicks testifies that she was on Trump’s plane when she received the WSJ email about McDougal just as they were landing. Hicks: I forwarded the WSJ email to Jared Kushner to let him know about it and to see if he could speak to the publisher of the WSJ to buy a little extra time. I think he said he wasn’t going to be able to reach Rupert so I called Michael Cohen because he had a relationship with Pecker, and I believe I called Mr. Pecker’s office as well to see if he knew anything about it.

Hope Hicks testifies, under oath, that she does not remember being in the August 2015 meeting (w/Pecker, Trump, and Cohen) and but says it is certainly possible.

She does, however, remember participating in phone calls with them both, including after the National Enquirer published a piece about Ben Carson and “medical malpractice.” Hicks remembers Trump praising the reporting and telling Pecker it was “Pulitzer worthy;” she remembers a similar call after the Enquirer ran a story about Ted Cruz’s father and Lee Harvey Oswald. She remembers Trump praising Pecker for “great reporting.” Re. the Access Hollywood tape-

Hicks: The afternoon of Oct 2nd, I received a call from the Washington Post asking for comment. I was in my office on the 14th floor of Trump Tower.

COLANGELO: Who did you report to as press secretary?
HICKS: I reported to Mr. Trump.

COLANGELO: How often did you speak to him as press secretary?
HICKS: Every day, over the phone and in person. COLANGELO: How involved was he in media & the press aspects of the campaign?
HICKS: “He was very involved”, he was responsible, he knew what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it and we followed in his lead, the messages focused on the agenda.

HICKS: “WE WERE ALL JUST FOLLOWING HIS LEAD”

NEW: Hope Hicks has now been called by the prosecution. Before she even takes the stand, Bove pops up to object and the lawyers approach the bench for a sidebar.

The prosecution now calls GEORGIA LONGSTREET, who is a paralegal in the Manhattan DA's Office. Longstreet worked on Trump's case for about a year and a half, identifying public material involving the case including social media posts, reviewing and saving news articles, etc.

Resuming the cross of Doug Daus (the tech expert) now by Emil Bove, Trump's lawyer. Bove asking Daus about what the defense claims is an issue with the chain of custody: Michael Cohen, delivered the phones to (now-retired) Manhattan DA's Office Investigator, Jeremy Rosenberg, and then 4 days later it was delivered to Daus’s unit.

Sidenote: Rosenberg retired from the DA's Office after he was removed from this case because of concerns over his relationship with Michael Cohen.

It’s Day 11 of Trump’s NY election interference trial.

When the day begins at 9:30 am, Manhattan DA’s Office tech expert, Doug Daus (pronounced “Doss”), will be back on the witness stand for his continued cross-examination by Emil Bove, one of Trump’s lawyers. Side note: it’s chilly this morning. Yesterday it was so mild.

I'm backkkk!!! If you, like me, were out of pocket for the last couple of hours, here's what you missed in the Trump trial:

BOVE: Let’s talk about your relationship with Mcihael Cohen, you continued talking to him after Stormy settlement.
DAVIDSON: I would speak with him and correspond with him, he would send me clients Davidson admitted that Cohen referred a client to him who did not pay. He also admits he had a client named Shera Bechard, who alleged that she had a sexual relationship with Elliott Broidy, who was represented by Cohen. They negotiated a settlement agreement between Bechard and Broidy.

Katie's Sidebar: Broidy was the finance chair of the RNC who also pleaded guilty to acting as an unregistered foreign agent working for Chinese and Malaysian interests. He was eventually pardoned by Trump in January of 2021.

Now, Davidson is being cross-examined by Emil Bove, defense atty for Trump. Bove beginning his cross by establishing that Davidson doesn't know Trump personally and didn't have first-hand, personal knowledge as to why Cohen and AMI were doing what they did re. Daniels and McDougal.

On 1/10/2018, Davidson received a comment call from WSJ shortly before that day, seeking a comment on "any interaction between Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump." Davidson testifies that Cohen urged him to prepare a written denial for Stormy to sign. Davidson prepared this one:

pdfs.nycourts.gov/PeopleVs.DTrum…

Keith Davidson is back on the witness stand. The prosecution renewing their line of questioning with Davidson reviewing emails with Michael Cohen and Dylan Howard.

It's Day 10 of Donald Trump's NY election interference trial.

Today, he's joined (again) by Boris Epshteyn, who is fresh off his indictment in Arizona last week for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in that state. Judge Merchan has taken the bench. The first order of business should be the contempt hearing for Trump's latest round of gag order violations.

Katie's Sidebar:

Tomorrow, Thursday, May 2, will be Day 10 of Trump's NY election interference trial. Keith Davidson, former atty for Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, will be back on the witness stand for the continuation of his Direct Examination by the Prosecution.

But, before the jury returns at 10 a.m. ET, Judge Merchan will conduct his second contempt hearing for Trump's alleged violations of the gag order at 9:30 a.m. ET. There are 4 alleged new violations:

(1) 4/22 outside of the courtroom in the hallway: Trump repeatedly called Michael Cohen a liar and claimed that he got indicted for paying a legal invoice submitted by Cohen.

(2) 4/22 interview on Real America's Voice: Trump complained that the "jury was picked so fast — 95% democrats. The area's mostly all democrat. You think of it as a — just a purely democrat area. It's a very unfair situation that I can tell you."

(3) 4/23 interview on an ABC news affiliate in Pennsylvania: Trump attacked Michael Cohen and his credibility. Trump also talking about David Pecker testifying.

(4) 4/25 at a Manhattan press event: Trump commented on Pecker's ongoing testimony: "He's been very nice. I mean, he's been — David's been very nice. A nice guy."

So the settlement agreement between Stormy and Trump required that the $130K be funded by 10/14/16, but that deadline came and went w/o any payment made.

Davidson on 10/17/16 emailed Cohen at his address with a subject line of "PP v. DD: Important." In the email Davidson warns Cohen that Stormy will cancel the agreement "if no funds are received by the close of business today."

Davidson testifies that he sent the email because the funding deadline had passed with a series of excuses for not paying.Trumporg.com Davidson then testifies that when he told Cohen how dissatisfied Stormy and her rep were with the delays and the excuses, Cohen responded: "Goddamn it; I'll just do it myself."

Steinglass: "Did you ever believe that Michael Cohen would be the ultimate source of the funds?"
Davidson: "Never prior to the funding, no."

Now, the prosecution moves on to a new line of questioning with Keith Davidson about his other client Stormy Daniels. Per Davidson, a woman named Gina Rodriguez referred Stormy to him. Gina was a talent manager and Stormy was considered to be "talent."

Trial has resumed in Judge Merchan's courtroom in downtown Manhattan with Keith Davidson, former attorney for Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels back on the stand for his continued Direct Examination by the Manhattan DA's Office. Note: Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, is also present in the courtroom. Trump's longtime trusted senior adviser to his campaign, Susie Wiles, has also been present since this morning.

Now, the prosecution calls Keith Davidson, who was Karen McDougal’s attorney, as well as Stormy Daniels’ attorney. Davidson owns a law firm: Davidson and Associates, which focuses on civil litigation like personal injury cases and media cases.

Todd Blanche cross-examines Gary Farro.

Blanche attacks him for meeting with the DA's Office - 2x last month and 1x last year. Farro also went to D.C. 2x in 2018-2019 to meet with federal investigators.

Farro advises that First Republic previously paid for his lawyer. Now, Flagstar, a division of Chase, is paying for it. Farro tells the jury: “If the [Michael Cohen] had told me that this would be a shell corporation, the account would not have been opened.”