Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York, where he faces criminal charges similar to the 2016 secret payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. This is the first time in history that a former U. S. president has been tried on criminal charges.
Last April, Trump pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment accusing him of falsifying business records to conceal the reimbursement of a secret payment his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, had made to Daniels to improve his electoral chances in the 2016 presidential election. election.
READ MORE: Here’s what you want to know about this landmark case.
“Good morning, everybody,” Judge Juan Merchán said at the start of the proceedings. “Hello, Mr. Trump. “
Trump did not respond audibly. The former president is sitting slumped at the defense table between defense attorneys Emil Bove and Todd Blanche.
Merchan announced that the contempt hearing scheduled for next Wednesday, similar to the four new violations of the limited gag order alleged by prosecutors, has been moved to Thursday at 9:30 a. m. m. ET.
Defense attorney Emil Bove resumed cross-examination of former National Enquirer editor David Pecker.
Before entering the courtroom for today’s proceedings, former President Donald Trump spoke to reporters and reiterated his claims that Judge Juan Merchan is a “high-conflict judge” overseeing a “rigged trial. “
Trump also expressed displeasure at the persistence of blood in the courtroom on a 50-degree day in lower Manhattan.
“So they gave us another day of hearings in an icy courtroom, there’s not a lot of blood in there,” he said. “I think it was on purpose. It doesn’t look like they were to raise the temperature. It shouldn’t. ” It won’t be that complicated. But we have an icy courtroom, and that’s fine. “
-Kelsey Walsh and Mike Pappano of ABC News
Defense attorney Emil Bove is expected to continue his questioning of former National Enquirer editor David Pecker this morning on the eighth day of former President Donald Trump’s secret trial.
On Thursday, in direct questioning, Pecker detailed his publication’s “catch and kill” deal with Trump, explaining how his publication paid $150,000 to Karen McDougal, Playboy-style, for the exclusive rights to her story about an alleged year-long relationship she had with Trump. He then kept it a secret so that it wouldn’t “upset Mr. Trump, embarrass or damage the campaign. “
During Bove’s cross-examination, Pecker said there was “nothing wrong” with such deals, and that they were “standard operating procedure” for publications like his, referring to several politicians — including Rep. Rahm Emanuel and Arnold Schwarzenegger — for whom he had latched on and stories murdered.
Former President Trump, leaving the courtroom at the end of the seventh day of his trial, called the day’s court proceedings “stunning. “
In particular, he made comments about this morning’s Supreme Court hearing on his request for presidential immunity in his federal election interference case, which Trump was forced to miss due to his criminal trial.
“I heard the assembly quite amazing. The judges were up to the task,” Trump said.
-Kelsey Walsh and Mike Pappano of ABC News
Prosecutors are now talking about what they see as additional violations of the gag order imposed on former President Trump.
Since they broached the matter this week, Trump has violated the gag order seven times, prosecutors alleged.
“This is ridiculous, it has to stop,” they said.
Prosecutors have said they would like to discuss the seven new positions at the hearing on the case scheduled for next week.
“We ask you to convict the defendant of contempt,” they said.
But they indicated they could ask for harsher penalties than monetary sanctions, saying “they are still your options. “
Trump’s lawyer, Emil Bove, responded by saying the messages “identify that there were planned violations. “