As Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial enters its third week, new witnesses will appear and the judge will weigh a request to hold him in contempt for violating his gag order.
Donald J. Trump is accused of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened to derail his 2016 campaign.Credit…Dave Sanders for The New York Times
As Donald J. Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial enters a third and crucial week, new witnesses will shed light on a hush-money deal struck in the final days of his 2016 presidential campaign. The judge will also weigh a request to hold the former president in contempt.
Mr. Trump, the first former president to face criminal prosecution, is accused of falsifying records to cover up the hush-money payment, which was made to a porn star, Stormy Daniels. The $130,000 payment — made by Mr. Trump’s fixer, Michael D. Cohen — silenced Ms. Daniels’s story of a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump.
The judge presiding over the case, Juan M. Merchan, is expected to rule as soon as Tuesday on the prosecution’s request that he hold Mr. Trump in contempt for repeatedly violating a gag order barring the former president from attacking witnesses, prosecutors and jurors. The prosecutors requested a $1,000 fine for each of Mr. Trump’s 10 statements that they say ran afoul of the order — including attacks on Ms. Daniels and Mr. Cohen, as well as the jury.
Also on Tuesday, prosecutors are expected to wrap up their questioning of Gary Farro, a banker who helped Mr. Cohen open the account that he used to pay Ms. Daniels. Mr. Trump’s lawyers will then cross-examine Mr. Farro.
Once Mr. Farro completes his testimony, the prosecutors might delve deeper into how the hush-money deal was made. One potential witness who was involved in the deal is Keith Davidson, the lawyer who represented Ms. Daniels and negotiated the payout with Mr. Cohen.
Other potential witnesses include Mr. Cohen, Ms. Daniels and Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for Mr. Trump during the 2016 campaign and in the White House.
Although Ms. Hicks was not directly involved in the hush-money deal, she would be able to speak to the chaotic events leading up to the payment, including the release of the infamous “Access Hollywood” recording, in which Mr. Trump bragged about grabbing women’s genitals, and which upended Mr. Trump’s campaign.
Mr. Trump, who is again the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has pleaded not guilty and denied that he had sex with Ms. Daniels. If convicted, he could face probation or up to four years in prison.
Here’s what else to know about the trial:
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Prosecutors charged Mr. Trump with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records — charges that stem from the way Mr. Trump reimbursed Mr. Cohen for the hush money. In internal records, Mr. Trump’s company classified the repayment to Mr. Cohen as legal expenses, citing a retainer agreement. Prosecutors say there were no such expenses or retainer agreement.
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The third week of Mr. Trump’s trial will be a short one. Court was not in session on Monday and the trial will be dark again on Wednesday, as it is every Wednesday.
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Last week, the first that featured testimony, was dominated by David Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer, who spent four days on the stand. Mr. Pecker, a longtime associate of the former president, detailed his efforts to safeguard Mr. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. He spoke at length about a “catch-and-kill” scheme that he said he had entered into with Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen during a 2015 meeting at Trump Tower, in which he purchased the rights to unsavory stories he had no intention of running to prevent them from gaining publicity.
