Search
Items tagged with: KarenMcDougal
#HopeHicks is then shown a copy of her email forwarding the message to to “campaign leadership.” The email went to, among other people, Kellyanne Conway & Steve Bannon.
In it, she says: “Need to hear the tape to be sure,” & “Deny, deny, deny.” She describes it to prosecutor Colangelo as a “reflex.”
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics #NodFarter #GagOrder #StormyDaniels #KarenMcDougal
#HopeHicks continues flattering her old boss, saying that the #TrumpOrganization was big & successful, but run “like a small family business.” Because of that, she says, “Everybody that works there in some sense reports to Mr. Trump.”
This is good for prosecutors showing #Trump personally ran his affairs; Hicks can come off as praising him while simultaneously harming him.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #StormyDaniels #KarenMcDougal
Prosecutor #Colangelo begins questioning #HopeHicks about participating in key meetings.
Hicks acknowledges that she was frequently involved, going in & out of Trump’s office.
Hicks calls #Trump “a very good multitasker & a very hard worker.” 💨🍑
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #StormyDaniels #KarenMcDougal
Blanche implies that someone else is writing Trump’s social media posts, the ones Trump posts under his handle on a website that he routinely tells people is the “true voice of America.” lol 😂
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #StormyDaniels #KarenMcDougal
Longstreet’s testimony, including a description of the #WaybackMachine, which archives old online postings, is a good primer on #socialmedia basics, for folks who need it, may be necessary for some #jurors, I think during voir dire one said they used a flip phone & had never “seen a podcast”
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #StormyDaniels #KarenMcDougal
During this technical dry testimony, #Trump again appears to be sleeping.
Trump tried to spin this Thurs afternoon in a post to Truth Social:
“I simply close my beautiful blue eyes, sometimes, listen intensely, and take it ALL in!!!”
However, SEVERAL people in his world have confirmed privately that he has been sleeping in court.
.#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics #NodFarter #GagOrder #StormyDaniels #KarenMcDougal
Custodial witness Doug Daus forensic analyst is sworn back in to continue testimony.
Jury returns.
Questioning resumes.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics #NodFarter #GagOrder #StormyDaniels #KarenMcDougal
After Justice #Merchan explained #Trump’s freedom to speak as a #witness, he concluded, “please let your attorney know” if you have any more questions. Note that Todd #Blanche, the lead defense #lawyer, nodded along when Trump made the comments in question outside the courtroom yesterday.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics #NodFarter #GagOrder #StormyDaniels #KarenMcDougal
Reminder — each day’s complete court transcript is being posted on the NY courts website.
Direct link to the #TrumpTrial transcripts:
https://pdfs.nycourts.gov/PeopleVs.DTrump-71543/transcripts/
#criminal #law #Trump #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics #NodFarter #GagOrder #StormyDaniels #KarenMcDougal
Today’s #TrumpTrial testimony 🧵
Friday, 3 May, 2024
Custodial witness, Doug Daus, a forensic analyst in the Manhattan DA’s office will continue to testify about obtaining audio from the phones of #MichaelCohen, #Trump’s former fixer.
Yesterday’s 🧵: https://masto.ai/@Nonilex/112371669216262634
#criminal #law #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics #NodFarter #GagOrder #StormyDaniels #KarenMcDougal
#TrumpTrial 🧵 Thurs, May 2charges are falsifying business records to hide #HushMoney payments in lead up to 2016 election to #influence electorate
just one Trump supporter at the courthouse draped in a Trump flag.
#StormyDaniels's lawyer, #KeithDavidson, to return to stand. He negotiated the hush-money payment at the center of the case, & is expected to lay out details of the deal.
#criminal #law #Trump #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #KarenMcDougal
👀 #MichaelCohen says he talked to #AllenWeisselberg, who was the #TrumpOrganization's CFO. Cohen references “the financing,” & #Trump interjects, “What financing?”
The call related to the #HushMoney deal made w/ #KarenMcDougal.
#Jurors are hearing Trump in the OvalOffice discussing a hush-money payment.
#criminal #law #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #TrumpTrial
#Steinglass finished questioning #KeithDavidson in an abrupt conclusion. Before he finished, Steinglass asked Davidson if he had any stake in the outcome of the trial. Davidson said that he did not.
#Trump's lawyer Emil #Bove on #CrossExamination of Davidson, fmr #StormyDaniels & #KarenMcDougal lawyer.
Bove begins by establishing that Davidson has not met Trump.
#criminal #law #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #TrumpTrial
Davidson’s testimony on Tues ended w/how he had started to doubt #MichaelCohen would pay the $130k.
Before the day ended, Davidson said Cohen forwarded him an email from First Republic Bank vouching for his solvency.
In addition to #StormyDaniels, Davidson represented #KarenMcDougal, a Playboy model who had a year-long affair w/ #Trump. McDougal also received #HushMoney —$150k from the parent company of The #NationalEnquirer.
#criminal #law #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
#TrumpTrial 🧵 Thurs, May 2
charges are falsifying business records to hide #HushMoney payments in lead up to 2016 election to #influence electorate
just one Trump supporter at the courthouse draped in a Trump flag.
#StormyDaniels's lawyer, #KeithDavidson, to return to stand. He negotiated the hush-money payment at the center of the case, & is expected to lay out details of the deal.
#criminal #law #Trump #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #KarenMcDougal
#KeithDavidson stressed that #KarenMcDougal did not want to go public in telling her story, & he said that the competing deal w/ABC would have forced her to tell it.
Her goals were to rejuvenate her career, make money, & avoid becoming “the scarlet letter,”.
“Was AMI attractive because she would not actually have to tell her story?” Steinglass asked.
Davidson said, “That was one of her stated goals.”
#Trump #TrumpTrial #criminal #law
In texts between #DylanHoward, the editor of The #NationalEnquirer, & #KeithDavidson, Davidson tells Howard, that #KarenMcDougal’s story “should be told” & Howard responds “I agree.” The NE, as the jurors know, had no intention of telling the story — instead it sought to bury it. So not only does this evidence remind us of David Pecker’s testimony last week, it also helps prosecutors double down on the idea that The NE was involved in a secret plot to help #Trump.
The text messages are damning. Jurors already know the basics of #KarenMcDougal’s account of an affair w/ #Trump. But now they are seeing it corroborated in texts, right after they were reminded Trump was married to Melania at the time.
Prosecutors are stitching their case together w/lots of different types of evidence.
Davidson is testifying about his agreement w/ #KarenMcDougal, a fmr Playboy model.
Davidson’s contract w/McDougal consisted of an agreement to either make a claim against #Trump, negotiate a confidentiality agreement w/ Trump, sell her life rights as related to her story of an affair w/ Trump, promote herself in an “exclusive” press opportunity, or some or all of the above.
Prosecutors call #KeithDavidson, who negotiated 2 deals before the 2016 election that paid women from Trump’s past in exchange for their silence about sexual or romantic relationships w/him. He was a lawyer to #StormyDaniels during the #HushMoney transaction. He also represented #KarenMcDougal, a former Playboy model who was paid $150k by The #NationalEnquirer’s parent company for the rights to her story about a 10-month affair w/ #Trump starting in 2006.
During his testimony, #KeithDavidson had to explain another text he sent to #DylanHoward where, in reference to the deal The #NationalEnquirer was making w/the fmr #KarenMcDougal, Davidson wrote:
“Throw in an ambassadorship for me. I’m thinking Isle of Man.”
Davidson said the text was a joke that referenced #Trump's campaign. Pressed further by the prosecutor, Joshua Steinglass, he added that he understood that getting McDougal a deal would help Trump’s candidacy.
“I wanted to protect my company, I wanted to protect myself & I wanted also to protect Donald Trump,” #Pecker said.
Pecker was asked whether he believed #Trump was concerned that his wife or family would find out. But Pecker suggested that Trump’s concerns were electoral, not personal.
Pecker testified to at least 2X when Trump asked after #KarenMcDougal, referring to her at a Trump Tower meeting as “our girl.” He also asked about her during a meeting at the #WhiteHouse.
#Pecker suggested that #MichaelCohen buy #StormyDaniels's story, leading to the #HushMoney deal, repayments & records at issue.
The prosecution’s discussion of the deal w/ #KarenMcDougal —brokered in summer 2016— demonstrated that the payment was part of a #conspiracy to #influence that year’s #election.
Pecker said that McDougal’s payment was disguised as a contract for services, to avoid violating #CampaignFinance #laws.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #ElectionInterference #CatchAndKill
#Pecker testified that as part of the #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #AMI paid #KarenMcDougal $150k for her story, w/no intention of ever publishing it.
Pecker expected repayment from #Trump. He asked #MichaelCohen who would handle it, & Cohen responded, “The boss will take care of it.”
Because Pecker had such a hard time getting Trump to pay, he was unwilling to buy the 3rd story: #StormyDaniels’s.
“I am not a bank,” Pecker recalled saying.
On his 3rd day of testimony, #Pecker, the fmr #NationalEnquirer publisher, described his involvement in the #CatchAndKill of the stories of 2 women who claimed to have had sex w/ #Trump: #KarenMcDougal, a Playboy model, & #StormyDaniels, the porn star whose 2016 #HushMoney payoff forms the basis of the #criminal case.
#Republicans — 3 who went on to work in the #Trump admin, while the 4th, #Comey, would eventually become one of Trump's chief adversaries. #Pecker, escorted by #Kushner, walked into that #shitshow & was then asked about #KarenMcDougal by the then president-elect.
Pecker testifies that in front of Comey [#WITNESSES!], the head of the #FBI, Trump thanked him for purchasing the stories - & likely committing AT LEAST 1 #CRIME in the process, as Pecker well knew.
"I wanted to protect my company, I wanted to protect myself & I wanted also to protect Donald Trump,” Pecker testifies.
#Pecker reiterates the importance of keeping #KarenMcDougal's story quiet, in a comment that relates directly to the prosecution's argument that he & #Trump conspired to aid his #election.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#Pecker, #MichaelCohen & others frequently contacted each other on the encrypted messaging app #Signal.
Prosecution showed #jurors this article, which 1st revealed #NationalEnquirer's $150k payment to #KarenMcDougal. It was published 4 days before the 2016 #election & introduced the term #CatchAndKill.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
http://www.wsj.com/articles/national-enquirer-shielded-donald-trump-from-playboy-models-affair-allegation-1478309380
Prosecutor #Steinglass wrapped up questions about #KarenMcDougal by asking #Pecker about a contentious exchange w/ #MichaelCohen, in which Pecker got concerned about the potentially #unlawful implications of the deal.
Cohen was upset & screamed: "The boss is going to be very angry at you."
Pecker — thoroughly anxious then - was firm.
“The deal is off," Pecker recalled telling him. Pecker concluded by saying that he was never paid for the McDougal deal & there was a 20-min break.
#MichaelCohen, who was then #Trump's #fixer, would later set up a similarly named company, #EssentialConsultants, to #payoff #StormyDaniels.
Lots of evidence per the disguised monetary transactions related to the #KarenMcDougal deal. But most of the #jurors are still paying close attention, turning their heads from the prosecutor, Joshua #Steinglass, to the #witness, #Pecker, & back again.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #GagOrder #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#DanielRotstein, the man #Pecker used in an ultimately failed effort to secretly obtain reimbursement for the #KarenMcDougal deal, was his own #fixer of sorts. Pecker had long used him to deliver the news that employees would be fired, to the point that Rotstein became known at Pecker's company as "Dr.
Death."
David Pecker is describing #MichaelCohen's creation of a #ShellCompany, #ResolutionConsultants, to reimburse Pecker for his #payoff to McDougal.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial
We still haven't reached the payment from which the #criminal charges themselves ultimately stem. But #Pecker's testimony about the #KarenMcDougal deal is important for the prosecution's argument about #Trump's intent: They argue that he was seeking to win the election through illegal means & the specifics of the McDougal deal help to bolster that argument.
#law #TrumpTrial #GagOrder #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#Pecker is now describing Trump's interest in obtaining boxes of material regarding #KarenMcDougal, saying that #Trump was worried about what would happen if Pecker got "hit by a bus" or his company was sold. Trump "did not want someone else to potentially publish those stories."
Pecker testifies that he was expecting to be paid back for the $150k he sent to Karen McDougal. This is a very important bridge to the third & final #HushMoney deal.
#Steinglass drills into a critical element of the prosecution's case: that these payments to #KarenMcDougal were made to #influence the #election.
#Pecker confidently identifies exhibits that corroborate his story about McDougal.
Pecker admits straightforwardly that he didn't "want this story to embarrass Mr. Trump or embarrass or hurt the campaign."
The testimony neatly establishes that #Trump knowingly violated #CampaignFinance laws.
"This is a very, very large purchase," #Pecker says of paying $150k to #KarenMcDougal.
Prosecution introduces invoices & vouchers showing the payments to McDougal.
#Steinglass, prosecutor, is walking Pecker through a pretty extensive set of exchanges w/ #MichaelCohen & then transactions to create a payment voucher for McDougal's lawyer.
There's a sense of anxiety around all that was taking place to try to justify this payment internally & to placate #Trump's team.
Despite #Pecker's assertions that he structured the deal w/ #KarenMcDougal to avoid violating #CampaignFinance #law, his company later admitted doing just that in its 2018 non-prosecution agreement w/ federal prosecutors.
The #jurors are carefully looking at screens on which the evidence - the contract, text exchanges - is being displayed.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #GagOrder #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#Pecker's last few minutes of testimony were key. He said that his company had disguised the #HushMoney payment to #KarenMcDougal as a deal for services she would perform for #AMI.
This is important for the prosecution's case:
They have to show that the #conspiracy that they accuse #Trump of participating in to win the 2016 election was conducted through "unlawful means." Pecker just indicated that it was.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #ElectionInterference
The deal went above & beyond for #KarenMcDougal & included the hiring of ghostwriters to pen her stories.
#Pecker says that the contract was intended to stipulate that McDougal would perform "services" for #AMI, that there was a basis for the $150k she was receiving.
Pecker is asked if The #NationalEnquirer had any intention to publish McDougal's story. Pecker is blunt: "No, we did not."
This is pure #CatchAndKill.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#Pecker is openly admitting to his involvement in the #CatchAndKill scheme & is doing so quite candidly.
Pecker is now detailing the agreement #AMI, #Nationa Enquirer's parent company, struck w/ #KarenMcDougal. The contract guaranteed she would be put on 2 magazine covers & that the company would have the right to publish fitness columns by her. It's worth noting how bizarre this set-up was. It wasn't just buying her story — it was also giving her work w/AMI.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
In addition to $150k for her lifetime rights, #Pecker says that #KarenMcDougal had a number of other requests, including being able to write for celebrity magazines, appearing on the cover of health & fitness magazines, & starting her own fitness clothing line & beauty product line. She also wanted to work as a red-carpet anchor.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #GagOrder #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney