1/ Good morning from the Manhattan criminal courthouse, where we’re gearing up for Day 6 of the Trump criminal trial. I joined @USATODAY’s The Excerpt to recap opening statements and the rest of Day 5. You can listen here: art19.com/shows/5-things…
2/ In the courtroom and still waiting for the prosecution and Trump defense teams to arrive. Wondering what it's like in the courtroom? Many U.S. newsrooms, and some foreign outlets, have each been given one reserved seat in the main courtroom now that jury selection is over. ...
3/ ... Other reporters can line up for seats in an overflow room that has a live stream of proceedings.
After going through security, reporter seating starts a few rows back from the defense and prosecution teams. We can't use cell phones in the main courtroom, but ...
After going through security, reporter seating starts a few rows back from the defense and prosecution teams. We can't use cell phones in the main courtroom, but ...
4/ ... we are allowed to use laptops. The courtroom looks and feels old, with wood paneling lining the lower half of the walls and imperfect temperature control.
5/ Still waiting for the defense and prosecution to arrive for today's 9:30am proceedings. The jury was told to arrive by 11:30am because Judge Juan Merchan will be holding a hearing beforehand over whether Trump has violated Merchan's gag order.
6/ According to prosecutors, Trump has violated that gag order at least 10 times, including by posting about witnesses and about the jury. Trump's legal team has pushed back against that claim. Prosecutors want Trump fined and warned future violations could mean jail time.
7/ I'll keep posting here when I can, but you can also following along to live updates today from me, @KinseyCrowley, and a team of reporters in the @USATODAY Network: usatoday.com/story/news/pol…
8/ We've taken a break in proceedings. The jury is scheduled to hear witness testimony starting at 11:30 am ET. Judge Merchan said he will rule later on whether Trump has violated the gag order and will be held in contempt, but it's not looking good for Trump. ...
9/ ... After Trump defense lawyer Todd Blanche said his client has been careful to abide by the judge's orders, Merchan shot back: "Mr. Blanche, you're losing all credibility."
10/ Former media executive David Pecker has been testifying since the late morning. What have we heard? Pecker described meeting Donald Trump at the Mar-a-Lago Club around 1988 or 1989. They had a "great relationship" over the years.
11/ Pecker said Trump was helpful in introducing Pecker to other media people, and Trump's "The Apprentice" TV show helped Pecker's magazines. The magazine audience followed Trump "religiously."
12/ Pecker described Trump as "very detail-oriented," a "micromanager," and "very frugal." He said before Trump declared his 2016 presidential candidacy, Pecker told Trump a poll showed 80% of The National Enquirer (readers?) would want him to run.
13/ Trump later cited that poll in an interview with Matt Lauer on The Today Show, according to Pecker.
14/ Pecker said that he had a meeting with Donald Trump and Michael Cohen and agreed to notify Cohen of any women selling stories on Trump. He also agreed to run positive stories on Trump and negative stories on Trump's political opponents.
15/ Pecker said he promised to be "eyes and ears" and, if he heard something negative about Trump or that a woman was selling a story, he would notify Michael Cohen, as Pecker said he had done over several years. Cohen would then have the stories killed, Pecker testified.
16/ Cohen would plant stories in The National Enquirer by calling Pecker and saying, "We would like" for you to run a negative article on a political opponent, Pecker testified.
17/ The prosecution showed jurors examples of what those allegedly planted stories looked like. The headline of one stated: 'TED CRUZ SEX SCANDAL – 5 SECRET MISTRESSES'
18/ 'The boss will be very pleased'; Biggest story 'since the death of Elvis Presley'; 'Anytime you do anything like this, it always gets out' ...
19/ ... Proceedings appear to have wrapped and reporters are waiting to be released from the courtroom. But you can catch up on my latest updates here: usatoday.com/story/news/pol…
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
