- Written by Madeline Halpert
- Report from court
Scandal, hush-money payments, secret recordings and Donald Trump's alleged violation of the gag order took center stage in the 10th day of court.
Cross-examination of Mr. Davidson turned hostile as the defense tried to paint him as a low-life Hollywood profiteer.
He pushed back, arguing that the defense incorrectly used words like “extortion” to describe a valid legal settlement.
“We're both lawyers. I'm not here to play lawyer with you,” the former president's lawyer Emile Bove said Thursday during a particularly heated moment during cross-examination. Ta.
Mr. Bove exposed several celebrity scandals in which Mr. Davidson was allegedly involved in keeping silent, apparently with the purpose of undermining the credibility of witnesses.
Mr. Trump's lawyers asked whether Mr. Davidson had “extracted significant amounts of money” from actor Charlie Sheen and whether he had worked with a “sex tape broker” on behalf of reality star Tila Tequila. There were also topics about actress Lindsay Lohan's visit to a rehab facility and professional wrestler Hulk Hogan's sex tape.
image source, Getty Images
Mr. Davidson repeatedly maintained that the settlement in which he was involved was fair and legal. He also frequently referred to the attorney-client privilege.
Meanwhile, prosecutors called Mr. Davidson and asked him to link Mr. Trump, his former lawyer Michael Cohen, and the $130,000 hush money Mr. Trump paid Mr. Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. Ta.
The former president has pleaded not guilty to 34 charges of falsifying business records to conceal payments. He also denied having sexual contact with Daniels.
Mr Davidson detailed how the payments to Mr Daniels were formed. He was also involved in an earlier deal with the National Enquirer to cover up claims by Playboy model Karen McDougall that she had a romantic relationship with Trump.
The Beverly Hills, Calif.-based attorney stressed that he believes Trump was behind silencing Daniels in October 2016. The lawyer and others appeared to believe hush money agreements with former clients helped Mr. Trump, according to emails and text messages. Only a month later he would be elected president.
“What have we done?” Davidson texted Dylan Howard, editor-in-chief of the National Enquirer, after the results were announced on election night.
Asked to explain the message, Mr Davidson told the court: “There was an understanding that our work may have influenced Donald Trump's presidency in some way.” He may have supported election activities.”
BBC News reporters are in a Manhattan courtroom covering the historic first criminal trial of a former US president. Get the latest information and analysis on the BBC News website and apps, TV, radio and podcasts.
During the second cross-examination, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass played a recording of a phone call between Davidson and Cohen that Cohen had “secretly recorded.”
Cohen said in one recording that Trump told him “I hate you” multiple times.[s] Davidson testified that he was referring to Stormy Daniels' hush money deal.
“But my comment to him is, 'But everyone we talked to said it was the right thing to do,'” Cohen added in the recording.
Toward the end of the day, prosecutors called Douglas Dowse, who works in the high-tech analysis division of the New York County District Attorney's Office.
Mr Daus told the court that he analyzed two mobile phones belonging to Mr Cohen and extracted data and 39,745 contacts. Trump alone contained more than 10 pages of various contact details.
Cohen is expected to testify soon, but the exact timing is unclear.
Judge Juan Melchán is also expected to issue a ruling on Thursday, after prosecutors and defense attorneys argue whether Trump again violated the gag order. He was fined $9,000 for a previous violation.
