Former President Donald Trump's motorcade has arrived at the Manhattan courthouse where ex-tabloid executive David Pecker is expected to return to the stand to continue his testimony in the hush money trial.
Day 8 of Trump New York hush money trial
By CNN's Kara Scannell, Lauren Del Valle and Jeremy Herb in the courthouse
Updated 6:31 p.m. ET, April 26, 2024
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Trump has arrived at Manhattan courthouse for 4th day of testimony in his hush money trial
Trump is also facing charges in 3 other criminal cases
From CNN’s Devan Cole, Amy O'Kruk and Curt Merrill
The hush money criminal trial against former President Donald Trump is one of four criminal cases he faces while juggling his presidential campaign.
The former president faces at least 88 charges over the four criminal indictments in Georgia, New York, Washington, DC, and Florida. Trump has pleaded not guilty to every charge in these cases.
Here's a recap of each case:
- Hush money: Trump was first indicted in March 2023 by the Manhattan district attorney on state charges related to a hush-money payment to an adult film star in 2016. Prosecutors allege Trump was part of an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election. Further, they allege he was part of an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, including the $130,000 payment.
- Classified documents: Trump was indicted in June 2023 by a federal grand jury in Miami for taking classified national defense documents from the White House after he left office and resisting the government’s attempts to retrieve the materials. The National Archives said in early 2022 that at least 15 boxes of White House records were recovered from the estate, including some that were classified. The charges were brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
- Federal election interference: Smith separately charged the former president last August with four crimes over his efforts to reverse the 2020 election results. The indictment alleges Trump and a co-conspirator "attempted to exploit the violence and chaos at the Capitol by calling lawmakers to convince them ... to delay the certification" of the election. That case is currently on hold as the Supreme Court weighs Trump’s claims of presidential immunity in the matter. The court held a hearing on the issue of immunity today. Now the clock starts ticking. Every day the court doesn’t issue a decision will play into Trump’s strategy of delay, jeopardizing the likelihood that Smith can bring his case to trial before the November election.
- Fulton County: State prosecutors in Georgia brought a similar election subversion case against Trump and others. An Atlanta-based grand jury on August 14, 2023, indicted Trump and 18 others on state charges stemming from their alleged efforts to overturn the former president’s 2020 electoral defeat. A trial date has not yet been set in that case.
Read more about the four criminal cases Trump faces.
Trump is on his way to court
Former President Donald Trump's motorcade is en route to the Manhattan courthouse where ex-tabloid executive David Pecker is expected to return to the stand to continue his testimony in the hush money trial.
Pecker, who has over the past three days been laying out the foundation for the district attorney's case against the former president, will continue to be cross-examined by the defense.
The defense so far has been trying to poke holes at Pecker's memory of events and establishing that these practices long predated the run up to election.
CNN's Kristina Sgueglia contributed reporting to this post.
The prosecution finished its direct questioning of David Pecker on Thursday. Here's a recap
From CNN's Lauren del Valle, Jeremy Herb, and Nicki Brown
Prosecutors finished their direct questioning of David Pecker Thursday afternoon. He testified for just about six hours over three days for the prosecution.
Pecker, who is the former publisher of the National Enquirer, continued to give details of the repercussions of the “catch-and-kill” schemes to help Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Here’s a recap of his testimony on Thursday:
- Pecker testified that Trump inquired about Playboy playmate Karen McDougal twice in settings where she wasn’t immediately relevant. Pecker paid to kill a story about an alleged affair between Trump and McDougal just a few months before the 2016 election. "How's Karen doing?” Pecker said Trump asked during a dinner at the White House in 2017. Pecker said he told him she’s doing well and “she’s quiet.”
- He testified about his August 2017 meeting with McDougal and her attorney Keith Davidson to make sure the National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc., was holding up their end of the agreement with her. Pecker also described talking to White House staffers Hope Hicks and Sarah Huckabee Sanders about amending the agreement with McDougal.
- When McDougal filed a lawsuit against AMI, Pecker settled and gave her lifetime rights back, he testified. Pecker says that Trump was skeptical of the idea.
- Pecker also testified about his deal with the Southern District of New York in 2018 to avoid being charged with campaign violations over the payment to McDougal. He cooperated and signed the non-prosecution agreement. He also confirmed he signed a cooperation agreement with the Manhattan district attorney’s office in 2019 that gave him immunity.
- Pecker says he hasn’t spoken to Trump since February 2019 but still considers him a friend.
- Pecker said after conversations with Michael Cohen and Trump he negotiated to buy McDougal’s story for $150,000 five months before the election. Pecker said he believed he would be reimbursed by the Trump Organization or Trump himself, but ultimately never was.
- He testified that he had concerns about the legality of paying to kill a story concerning a political candidate. He also said that he knew at the time the deal with McDougal was illegal and he wouldn’t have entered into it if it wasn’t for Trump’s benefit.
- Pecker said he intended to kill McDougal's story so it did not hurt Trump’s campaign. He also said he was aware that corporations making campaign expenditures in coordination with a campaign without disclosing them was unlawful.
- Stormy Daniels was "trying to sell a story that she had a sexual relationship with Donald Trump,” Pecker testified. When he told Cohen that AMI was not going to buy the story, Cohen told Pecker that Trump would be furious with him, he said. Pecker testified he later learned Cohen had paid Daniels out of his own funds.
- At the end of a 2017 meeting, Pecker said Trump thanked him for “handling the McDougal situation.” Pecker said he assumed Trump was worried that stories would impact his campaign because in conversations with Cohen and the former president, Trump’s family was never mentioned.
Key things to know about Trump's legal team as the defense cross-examines David Pecker
From CNN Staff
Trump's legal team is led by Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, two former federal prosecutors from New York, and Susan Necheles, a veteran criminal defense lawyer with deep experience in New York and with appearing before Judge Juan Merchan.
Here are the key things to know about Trump's legal team:
- Necheles represented Trump’s business at its tax fraud trial in 2022. The company was convicted.
- Blanche has worked as a prosecutor and defense attorney at two large law firms, according to his website. He says that during his career as a defense attorney, he got the criminal indictment against Trump’s 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort dismissed prior to trial and achieved an “unexpectedly positive result in the politically charged prosecution by the SDNY against Igor Fruman, an associate of Rudy Giuliani.” Fruman was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for his role in a scheme to funnel Russian money into US elections.
- Bove was the co-chief of the national security unit at the US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York. In a statement to CNN in September 2023, Blanche said that Bove is “an expert in white collar and CIPA-related litigation.��
- Kendra Wharton, a white collar defense lawyer who has experience practicing in Washington, DC, was also added to the former president’s legal team. She is a "brilliant lawyer" and "clients have trusted her for years," Blanche said in the 2023 statement.
Few people think Trump is being treated the same as other criminal defendants, poll finds
From CNN's Jennifer Agiesta, CNN Polling Director
As the first criminal prosecution of a former American president began, just 13% nationwide feel Donald Trump is being treated the same as other criminal defendants, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.
Most of the country was divided over whether he is being treated more harshly (34%) or more leniently (34%) than other defendants.
The poll, which began fielding a few days after the trial’s jury selection phase kicked off April 15, finds only 44% of Americans express confidence that the jury chosen for the case will be able to reach a fair verdict, while 56% more skeptical that a fair outcome is in the cards. More see Trump’s behavior during the trial thus far as inappropriate (42%) than appropriate (25%), with about a third saying they haven’t heard enough to say.
About three-quarters of voters currently backing Trump against President Joe Biden in the 2024 election say they will stick with him even if he is convicted of a crime, while 24% of Trump’s backers say a conviction might cause them to reconsider their support.
Read more about the poll.
Here are the takeaways from Thursday's hush money trial proceedings
From CNN's Jeremy Herb, Lauren del Valle, Kara Scannell, Nicki Brown and Brynn Gingras
Former American Media Inc. chairman David Pecker took jurors in Donald Trump’s hush money case inside how he paid for Karen McDougal’s story to keep her quiet about her alleged affair with Trump – and how his decision not to pay for Stormy Daniels’ story led to Michael Cohen ultimately paying for it.
Prosecutors on Thursday wrapped up their direct testimony with Pecker, who was on the stand for three days describing in detail how he worked with Trump and Cohen to buy up damaging stories about Trump throughout the 2016 campaign.
His testimony laid the foundation for the rest of the Manhattan district attorney’s case against Trump that focuses on the payment to Daniels.
Here are the takeaways from Thursday in the hush money trial:
- Pecker details payment conversations: Pecker’s testimony included the nuts and bolts of how AMI paid McDougal on Trump’s behalf, Pecker’s private conversations with Trump about the catch-and-kill deal and the fallout when her story became public.
- Trump wanted to be elsewhere: Trump’s attorneys had asked for his appearance Thursday to be waived so he could attend the Supreme Court arguments on presidential immunity. The judge denied that request.
- Pecker agrees in cross-examination that suppressing stories was "standard operating procedure": Trump’s attorney Emil Bove cross-examined Pecker for about an hour. Quizzing Pecker with rapid-fire leading questions, Bove got the witness to confirm to the jury that Trump’s symbiotic relationship with Pecker and his tabloids was not unusual and long pre-dated Trump’s run for office. Pecker confirmed source agreements like the ones used to suppress stories from McDougal and former Trump Tower doorman Dino Sajudin are “standard operating procedure” for AMI to give the company control of how the information might be released, if at all.
- Trump’s attorney asks Pecker about tactics National Enquirer used for other celebrities: Bove’s cross-examination of Pecker elicited testimony about other celebrities whom Pecker had purchased stories about so they wouldn’t be published, offering a fascinating glimpse into the celebrity tabloid world while he was chairman of the publisher of the National Enquirer. Trump’s attorney sought to establish with Pecker that AMI used “checkbook journalism” to control narratives in the press and fostered mutually beneficial relationships with several celebrities – not just Trump.
David Pecker will continue to testify today. Read up on the stages of Trump's hush money criminal trial
From CNN's Lauren del Valle, Jhasua Razo and Gillian Roberts
Former President Donald Trump’s first criminal trial is expected to take six to eight weeks from start to finish.
This trial, related to a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016, is the first of four ongoing criminal cases that are expected to head to trial for the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee.
Where we are now in the case: Prosecutors are presenting their case by presenting evidence through witness testimony and exhibits. Defense attorneys can cross examine the prosecution’s witnesses and typically aim to discredit their testimony.
Trump's attorneys will continue their cross-examination of the prosecution’s first witnesses, David Pecker, today.
Read more about the stages of the trial, and what they mean here.
Analysis: Two Trump courtroom dramas could help shape the tone of a future presidency
From CNN's Stephen Collinson
A wild day of often outlandish legal arguments and tabloid tales could not obscure the stakes for the country.
Only Donald Trump could conjure a two-city legal spectacle that gave equal billing to the deepest thoughts of George Washington and a former National Enquirer publisher known for lurid celebrity scandals and dubious UFO sightings.
The former president was the epicenter of attention Thursday during key testimony from media magnate David Pecker at his first criminal trial in New York and, in absentia, at a US Supreme Court hearing devoted to his audacious claims that the president should have total, king-like immunity from prosecution.
Legal arguments and references spanned two-and-a-half centuries, stretching back to how the founders envisaged the presidency to Trump’s alleged attempts to sway the 2016 and 2020 elections through nefarious means.
But while evidence harked back to the past, the implications of both cases weigh heavily on the future — given their capacity to shape November’s election, a possible second Trump administration and the presidency itself for eons to come.