Thread by @AnnaBower

Good morning from 100 Centre Street in Manhattan, where Donald Trump’s criminal trial on 34 felony counts is set to resume.

I’m here to cover the trial for @lawfare.

Follow this thread for updates 🧵👇 ⬇️

When we left court on Friday, Gary Farro—a former managing director at First Republic Bank—was on the stand.

First Republic plays a role in the story bc Cohen allegedly wired the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels using First Republic. 

Catch up: lawfaremedia.org/article/standa…

While we wait for things to get started at 9:30 ET, some color from The Line:

A group of Trump supporters chant “USA” in front of the Manhattan criminal courthouse.

It’s a small group—maybe a few dozen people.

Justice Merchan announces his ruling on the People's motion to hold Trump in contempt of court for gag order violations.

The court finds met people have met burden as to nine violations of the gag order. Trump fined $1000 for each violation.

“Let’s get the witness please.”

We pick up with the testimony of Gary Farro, the banking executive who worked with Michael Cohen on setting up the accounts at issue in this trial.

Farro now retakes the stand, still looking more like a bouncer than a banker. He's a burly guy.

Rebecca Mangold, for the prosecution, starts by displaying paperwork Cohen filled out to open a First Republic bank account for Essentials LLC--a business that Cohen indicated was for real estate consulting purposes.

Farro testifies that Cohen never indicated that the account would be used to make a payment on behalf of a political candidate. Nor did he say that it would be used to pay an adult film star.

The account would have received additional scrutiny if the bank was aware of either.

Now the prosecution turns to documents that show how Cohen allegedly funded the Essentials LLC account that he then used to pay Daniels.

According to the email exhibits, Cohen asked First Republic to fund the account using funds from his home equity line of credit.

On Oct. 26, 2016, the emails show, First Republic transferred $131,000 from Cohen’s HELOC account to the Essential Consultants LLC account. The next day, Cohen filled out a wire authorization form to transfer $130,000 to an account held by Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, Keith Davidson.

The wire transfer form prompted Cohen to indicate the purpose of the transfer. Cohen wrote “retainer” in response to that question--as if the funds were being paid to retain an attorney for services, not to pay an adult film star for a media story.

No further questions from the prosecution, Mangold announces.

“Any cross?” Merchan asks.

Todd Blache makes his way to the lectern to cross examine Farro on behalf of Trump.

To begin, Blanche asks Farro a series of questions about the occasions on which he has met with prosecutors. Farro says he met with state prosecutors a few times. But he’s also met with federal prosecutors in Washington, DC on two separate occasions in 2018 or 2019.

Blanche turns to the subject of Michael Cohen.

Farro first met Cohen at Trump Tower, when Farro's boss introduced them. Cohen was a "challenging" client, Farro says.

Farro was selected to work w/ Cohen bc he had a reputation for being "firm" with difficult clients.

Blanche displays bank forms showing Cohen's description of the Essentials LLC account. It describes Essentials LLC as a real estate consulting company.

Farro says he didn't have concerns w/ Cohen's description of Essentials LLC bc it seemed consistent w/ his usual business.

And Cohen never told you that the deal he was doing was for the Trump Organization? No, he didn't Farro replies.

Farro says that, based on his conversations with Cohen, he understood that Cohen did some business that was separate from his work for the Trump Organization.

Farro testifies that in March of 2017 he received a "bounce back" email from Cohen saying that he had accepted a position as Trump’s personal lawyer. The email was the first time Farro learned that Cohen had left the Trump Org to serve as the then President’s personal attorney.

Blanche: You testified that all of the Essentials LLC transactions occurred within a 24 hour period. But the speed of that transaction is not unusual, right?

Right, Farro says. Doing things quickly is one reason clients come to us.

My point is, Blanche continues, nothing about the way this account was open or funded raised any red flags? Farro says, no, not based on the answers that we were given on the banking forms at the time.

The parties are done with their direct examination and cross examination.

Farro, the banker who looks like a bouncer, bounces.

It's a good time to take our morning break, Justice Merchan tells the jurors.

Once they're gone, the parties discuss proposed exhibit redactions.

Meanwhile, Justice Merchan's written order holding Trump in contempt of court is out.

Merchan suggests that he would impose a higher financial penalty if he could--and warns Trump that jail may be a "necessary" punishment for future violations.

Read: s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2462…

Back in court, the parties are arguing about whether the prosecution should be allowed to introduce evidence of Trump using intimidation and pressure campaigns against certain witnesses--specifically, Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels.

The prosecution believes that the defense opened the door to the introduction of such evidence when they claimed in opening statements that Cohen was "previously loyal" but later changed his tune and made the decision to blame Trump for his problems. Same vis-a-vis Daniels.

Merchan asks the prosecution when they need a ruling.

Matthew Coangelo, on behalf of the DA's office, says that it would help them plan the rest of the case if Merchan rules by Thursday.

This suggests Cohen or Daniels could begin testifying as soon as Thursday/Friday.

And we're back.

But first, Merchan wants to go over scheduling matters. One of the jurors asked whether court will be in session on May 24--the day before Memorial Day. The juror has a flight that day, so court will not be in session, Merchan announces. Also no court May 17.

Now we're ready for the next witness.

"The people call Dr. Robert Browning."

Browning is an older man with a slight drawl. He's here from Tippecanoe, Indiana. He's the executive director of the archives for C-SPAN, the television network. He's testifying under subpoena.

Browning talks about the record keeping practices of C-SPAN and his efforts to locate documents responsive to a subpoena served on C-SPAN.

Browning, it seems, is a documents witness. The prosecution needs him to authenticate certain videos to get them admitted into evidence.

The prosecution plays portions of videos produced by C-SPAN in response to a document subpoena. There are four clips from various speeches delivered by Trump. Three involve Trump saying things like “I have no idea who these woman are”...“The stories are total fiction..."

The fourth video is a clip of Trump talking about Michael Cohen, who he describes as a "friend" and talented lawyer.

No further questions for Browning.

Next up: The People call Phillip Thompson…

Like Farro, he's bald and has a bit of a bouncer look.

He works for Esquire Deposition Solutions, a court reporting company.

Spoiler alert: This guy is almost certainly a documents witness, too.

Thompson explains things like what a deposition is, what discovery is, and so on.

Thompson says his company was subpoenaed to produce a transcript and video of Trump's deposition in the E. Jean Carroll case, which they produced to the DA's office.

Mangold plays clips from the deposition after it's admitted into evidence.

In one, Trump confirms his Truth Social handle. In another, he says he has been married to Melania since 2005. And in another, he confirms that he's familiar w/ the Access Hollywood tape.

And now, after several witnesses who were put on the stand primarily to introduce documents into evidence...we've got a fact witness!

It's Keith Davidson, the attorney who represented Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels.

Davidson wears a navy tie and suit. He's a 53-year-old attorney and he currently owns his own law firm, called Davidson & Associates.

Davidson is here under subpoena. He testified to the grand jury in this case and received immunity, which was granted as a matter of law.

Davidson talks about his relationship w/ Dylan Howard, the former content editor of AMI and editor-in-chief of the National Enquirer. Davidson has known him for well over a decade. Around 2015-2017, the nature of their relationship was “professional acquaintances” & “friends.”

Davidson would call Howard on occasion if any of his clients ended up in the tabloids. Davidson says he “rarely” negotiated for the sale of client stories to the tabloids. Davidson and Howard spoke “often” and he’s still in touch with him “somewhat.”

As for Davidson's relationship with Michael Cohen? Davidson first met Cohen in 2011, when a blog published an article about one of his clients and Donald Trump.

As a result, Davidson met Cohen. The client in question, Davidson says, was Stephanie Clifford (AKA Stormy Daniels).

Do you know somebody named Karen McDougal? Joshua Steinglass asks on behalf of the prosecution.

She was a client of mine, Davidson replies. He began representing her in 2016 regarding her personal interactions with Donald Trump.

The prosecution displays text messages from June 2016 between Davidson and Howard.

"I have a blockbuster Trump story," Davidson texted Howard.

“Talk 1st thing. I will get you more than anyone for it, you know why…” Howard replied.

Later that month, Davidson set up a meeting between himself, Howard, McDougal, and others.

The meeting was akin to a "proffer session," in which McDougal would tell her story so AMI could gauge its interest. McDougal alleged that she had had a romantic affair with Donald Trump.

A deal with AMI didn’t immediately materialize, Davidson says.

The next month, in July 2016, Howard messaged Davidson, telling him that they should talk about "DT" tomorrow.

"I think this is the entree for me to go back to them.”

"Better be quick," Davidson replied.

Davidson explain some of the context to these messages. During that time, Davidson says, he had been negotiating w/ ABC news on Karen McDougal’s behalf. They were interested in acquiring the story. And Davidson was using that interest to reel in a deal w/ AMI.

The prosecution displays text from Davidson to Howard dated July 22, 2016.

“Don’t forget about Cohen," he wrote. "Time is of the essence. The girl is being cornered by the estrogen mafia.”

Davidson says that he used "regrettable” phrase bc she was abt to reach a deal w/ ABC.

Davidson began to negotiate terms of a potential AMI deal for McDougal.

At the time, Davidson says, McDougal preferred an AMI deal over a deal with ABC bc she had a desire not to tell her story about an affair with Donald Trump.

This is a good time to take a break, the always-punctual Justice Merchan says now.

And with that, we're on lunch break. Davidson's testimony will resume around 2:15 ET.

Don’t worry, there’s no Sad Soup for lunch today.

It’s Taco Tuesday for @lawfare’s New York bureau.

And you know what? @lawfare couldn’t have Taco Tuesday without your help.

You can support our Trump Trials coverage here: givebutter.com/c/trumptrials

I'm back in overflow waiting for the trial to resume.

While we wait, a correction on something I tweeted out earlier: It's Eric Trump, not Don Jr., who joined his father in the courtroom today. My apologies for the mistake -- it's hard to see him on the overflow TV monitor.

Trump has returned to his seat in courtroom 1530.

Keith Davidson is back on the stand.

Here we go!

Prosecutors display messages between Davidson and Howard in July 2016.

"She’ll get more out of a deal with AMI than ABC," Howard wrote to Davidson. "I need this to happen," he followed up.

Davidson interpreted it as Howard wanting the deal between McDougal and AMI to happen.

On Aug. 2, 2016, Davidson and Howard continued to negotiate regarding the potential deal for McDougal's story with AMI. Davidson told Howard that McDougal would accept the deal if he could get AMI to agree to pay $150,000.

In early August, Davidson and Howard reached an informal agreement on the deal points for the purchase of McDougal's story. But when AMI's general counsel, Cameron Stracher, sent a written agreement over, it didn’t resemble the deal that Davidson had worked out with Howard.

On Aug. 5, 2016, Howard texted Davidson: "Ok we are paying."

Davidson replied to Howard "I told Cohen this never would've happened without you."

"He’s hopeless," Howard said, referring to Cohen. "Oh well, another one done."

Davidson says that after the deal closed with AMI, he called Michael Cohen. He let him know that the deal involving Cohen's client--Donald Trump--had closed. He told Cohen that the deal would not have happened without him. Cohen was "pleased," Davidson testifies.

Steinglass displays the contract between Karen McDougal and AMI, effective Aug. 5, 2016.

It granted McDougal's limited life rights related to a particular subject matter--affairs she had w/ any then married man--to AMI. Davidson understood the married man to be Donald Trump.

Why did you think AMI wanted to purchase a story it didn't intend to print?

One reason given, Davidson says, is that they were trying to build Karen McDougal into a brand and didn't want to "diminish" her brand.

But there was an unspoken understanding that there was a close relationship between AMI and Trump, Davidson continues. And that the story would hurt Donald Trump.

Steinglass: And when you say "hurt Donald Trump," you mean hurt his campaign?

Davidson: Yes.

Steinglass now turns to the subject of Stormy Daniels.

Davidson says he has also represented Daniels as a client. An entertainment talent manager, Gina Rodriguez, referred Daniels to him.

Davidson first met Daniels after a blog published a 2011 story suggesting that Daniels and Trump had some sort of "physical interaction."

During that time, Davidson dealt mainly w/ Stormy Daniels's manager, Gina Rodriguez.

Cohen had called Rodriguez after the blog story. He was a "jerk" and threatened to sue.

Rodriguez asked Davidson to help. He spoke to Cohen, who answered w/ a barrage of "abuse." Once Cohen stopped screaming, Davidson told Cohen that Daniels also wanted the story taken down.

Davidson sent cease and desist letter for Daniels, and was ultimately successful in securing "the client's objective"--i.e., in getting the story taken down.

There was little interest in the Stormy Daniels story in the intervening years, Davidson says, but that changed after the Access Hollywood tape was released about one month before the election.

On the day the tape published, Davidson texted Howard: "Trump is fucked."

Around that time, Daniels' manager, Gina Rodriguez, went directly to Dylan Howard to negotiate a deal for AMI to buy Daniels' Trump story. But AMI backed out of the deal, so Howard told Rodriguez to work with Michael Cohen directly on a deal.

Davidson eventually became involved because Rodriguez refused to deal with Cohen. She called Davidson and asked him to negotiate a deal with Cohen on Daniels behalf. He initially resisted until Howard intervened.

“The moral of the story is that no one wanted to talk to Cohen.”

Rodriguez persuaded Davidson to get involved. It’ll be the easiest deal you’ll ever make in your life, she told him.

Davidson chuckles as he recalls this moment, nearly a decade later and as a witness in the criminal trial of a former President.

And so Davidson called “that asshole Cohen” to negotiate a deal for the purchase of Daniels’ story. Davidson says he believed Cohen was working on Trump's behalf.

Davidson says that as a part of the agreement reached with Cohen, neither he nor Daniels were allowed to keep a copy of the "Side Letter Agreement"--the document that identified the parties to the agreement (i.e., Daniels and Trump.) This was unusual, Davidson observes.

After the $130,000 agreement was finalized, Davidson says that Cohen missed the first deadline to send payment.

Cohen told Davidson that he didn't send payment because his office was "for all purposes" closed for Yom Kippur.

As Cohen failed to send payment, Davidson threatened to cancel the deal if the funds weren't received.

Cohen continued to make excuses. He said the computers were down, that he hadn't received emails, etc.

When Davidson expressed frustration, Cohen responded “God damnit, what do you expect me to do, my guy is in 4 or 5 different states today….” Davidson understood that to mean that he Trump was busy campaigning and Cohen hadn't yet been able to get approval to spend money on the deal.

Ultimately, Cohen said “God damnit, I’ll just do it myself," according to Davidson. Davidson understood that to mean that Cohen would not seek authority to to fund the deal.

Did you ever believe Cohen would be the ultimate source of the funds?
Davidson: Never prior to funding it.
Where did you understand the money to be coming from?
Davidson: From Donald Trump or some corporate affiliation of the Trump Organization.

During this time, Davidson had conversations with Dylan Howard about Cohen's failure to fund the deal.

What did you think was really happening with the delays? Steinglass asks.

I thought he was kicking the can down the road until after the election, Davidson replies.

After an afternoon break, we're back.

Did Cohen tell you who he represented? Steinglass asks.

Every single time I talked to Cohen he leaned on his close affiliation with Trump, Davidson says. I don’t know if it was ever explicitly stated..but he leaned on it very strongly.

Did you have an understanding about who would ultimately be paying for the deal?

I had an "assumption" that it was Trump, Davidson says. Steinglass tries to elicit the basis for Davidson's assumption, but there's a flurry of objections from the defense, which Merchan sustains.

To what did you attribute the lack of funding of the deal at this point? Frugality, Davidson replies.

Whose frugality?...This question prompts more objections from the defense, and the parties make their way to the bench for a sidebar conference.

Steinglass displays an Oct. 18, 2016 text exchange between Howard and Davidson. This was after the Daniels deal fell through bc Cohen failed to pay.

"All because Trump is tight," Howard wrote. "I reckon that trump impersonator I hired has more cash," he continued.

Later that month, there was an effort to "resurrect" the Stormy Daniels deal.

Howard convinced Davidson to try again. On Oct. 26, 2016, he again sent Cohen an email containing wiring instructions for the payment to Daniels.

On Oct. 26, Cohen called Davidson to say that he got the instructions and that the funds would go through. Davidson didn't believe him, so Cohen forwarded him an email from First Republic Bank in which a bank employee indicated that funds had been transferred to Cohen's account.

The email didn't mean much to Davidson at the time, he recalls, because all it showed was that Cohen had funds in a bank account; not that he had taken steps to wire those funds to Davidson/Daniels.

We're going to end there for the day, Justice Merchan announces.

He reads the usual instructions to the jurors before they depart: Don't Google the case. Don't talk about the case with anyone else. And so on.

I'll see you Thursday at 10 am, Merchan says before wrapping up.

Court will resume on Thursday morning.

In the meantime, Ben Wittes and I will discuss what occurred in court today at 5:30 PM ET!

Join us:

Thanks to all who followed along for another day in the criminal trial of a former President.

I’ll be back on Thursday.

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