The lawyer who helped bury extramarital affair allegations involving former President Donald Trump testified Thursday that on the night Trump won the 2016 presidential election, he texted “What did we do?” to a person who worked with him on the deal. tabloid editor.
Attorney Keith Davidson was asked on the witness stand about the text message, which he sent during Trump’s stunning victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton.
The recipient of the briefing was Dylan Howard, then editor-in-chief of the National Enquirer, who was also involved in the $130,000 hush money paid by the former President’s criminal hush money trial in New York.
“Oh my God,” Howard responded.
Davidson, who represented porn star Stormy Daniels at the time, testified that his text was “some kind of gallows humor.” But he added that both he and Howard understood at the time that “our activities may have aided Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in some way.”
Davidson returned to the witness stand late Thursday morning after Judge Juan Merchant held a second hearing on whether Trump violated the gag order by talking about potential witnesses in the case.
Two days ago, Murchin held Trump in criminal contempt on nine counts for violating a gag order that bars him from discussing jurors, witnesses and others involved in the Manhattan Supreme Court trial.
After the first gag order hearing last week, state prosecutors accused Trump of violating the gag order four times, prompting a judge to schedule a second hearing.
“His comments undermined this proceeding and undermined the administration of justice,” prosecutor Chris Conroy said of Trump on Thursday morning.
Merchin on Tuesday imposed fines of up to $1,000 for each of the nine violations, an amount he acknowledged would be chump change for billionaire Trump.
But the judge also warned Trump that future violations of court orders could land him in jail.
“Because we want to minimize disruption to the proceedings, we are not yet seeking jail time,” Conroy said during Thursday’s hearing.
Merchant did not rule before Davidson resumed his second day of testimony.
The attorney representing Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougall testified Tuesday that he was involved in selling story rights to two women who each claimed they were married to Trump while they were married Have had sexual relations.
The $130,000 payment to Daniels, in particular, was at the center of a historic criminal trial in Manhattan Supreme Court in which Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accused Trump of mislabeling the records as part of a scheme to secretly reimburse then-attorney Michael Cohen, who in 2016 The fee was paid to Daniels shortly before the presidential election. Bragg claimed that Trump illegally tried to influence the election by buying and suppressing harmful information about him.
Republican presidential candidate Trump must appear throughout the trial, which is expected to last six weeks.
This is developing news. Check back throughout the day for updates.