Hello hello, back again in Manhattan criminal court, well outside of it right now, for the trial of Donald Trump on the Manhattan DA’s falsifying business records charges, aka, the hush money case. 
Out of all the criminal cases against Trump, this one gets a lot of flak compared with the Jan. 6th action in DC, the classified documents case in Florida and the RICO thing in Georgia.
But no matter, Trump is accused of falsifying docs, with the help of his former atty Michael Cohen and ex-Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg (currently in Rikers) to cover up $130k in hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels for keeping quiet about their alleged affair.
There are a couple other allegations in the case, including a payoff over a purported affair with Playboy model Karen McDougal, but it’s important to remember that all of the charges are related to the Stormy Daniels thing.
Today we're expecting to hear more from David Pecker, the former head of AMI which published the National Enquirer at the time. Prosecutors say he was part of a conspiracy to keep candidate Trump protected from negative news in 2016, e.g., an affair with a porn star.
But first, it wouldn't be a Trump trial without a gag order and allegations that Trump violated it. Justice Juan Merchan is expected to hold a hearing this morning on whether Trump should be found in contempt for running afoul of his order.
Prosecutors say Trump disobeyed the order several times by lashing out at Cohen and others in recent days. Under New York's law, Justice Merchan can fine Trump up to $1,000 per violation of the gag order, as the DA has asked, or put the former president in jail — or both.
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