NEW YORK—After a three-day weekend, the fifth official day of testimony in the People of New York v. Donald J. Trump began with presiding Judge Juan Merchan holding the former president in contempt of court after he defied gag orders. Merchan found that former President Trump defied gag orders for a total of nine times recognized by the court.
Trump was fined $9,000 ($1,000 per violation) and threatened with jail time if he continued to defy the court's orders.
Trump resumed criticizing the trial. "It’s totally unconstitutional," Trump said outside of the courtroom this afternoon, reports NBC News Digital.
During the trial, the jury heard testimony from attorney Keith Davidson. Davidson represented adult star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in arranging the hush money deals with Trump's fixer and personal attorney Michael Cohen and with American Media Inc., the company that published National Enquirer under David Pecker.
In a direct examination by the prosecution, Davidson revealed more details regarding the scheme to "catch-and-kill" the story that Daniels and Trump had an affair in 2006.
Davidson explained that Daniels and Trump were identified by pseudonyms in the settlement to pay the hush money. Daniels was referred to as "Peggy Peterson," and Trump was "David Dennison." This was a strategy to ensure confidentiality of the agreeing parties; it is, in fact, a common tactic to choose "P" and "D" pseudonyms in a scenario such as this one when a risk of legal action exists, representing the potential Plaintiff and Defendant in the possible case.
Cohen's banker, Gary Farro, continued to testify today, as well. Farro told the jury that Michael Cohen created a shell company and a bank account to funnel money from Trump's coffers to an account that would ultimately be used to compensate Stormy Daniels for her silence. The shell company, called Essential Consultants, and the bank account for the firm would have received extra scrutiny if Farro knew the account would be used in potential electioneering and pay-offs to a well-known actress in the adult entertainment industry, he testified.
The evidence presented by the prosecutors shows a statement in which Essential Consultants wired $130,000, the promised sum to Stormy Daniels for her silence, to bank accounts managed by Davidson. He accepted the funds on behalf of Stormy Daniels and disbursed them to her. Reportedly, Cohen was delayed in wiring the funds to Davidson. Davidson also testified that he negotiated the deal between David Pecker of the National Enquirer and Karen McDougal for the rights to her story alleging an affair with Trump from 2006 to 2007.
The prosecution also subpoenaed deposition records pertaining to the civil trial brought against Trump, who lost, by critically acclaimed advice columnist E. Jean Carroll. Carroll sued the former president for defamation in a federal district court. Carroll accused Trump of rape but argued she was defamed when Trump criticized her by openly denying it and dragging her through the mud for years. A judgment against Trump in favor of Carroll's claims was about $83.3 million. A federal appeals court recently affirmed the district court's judgment.
