NEW YORK (AP) — The first week of testimony at Donald Trump‘s hush money trial was the backdrop for jurors: Manhattan prosecutors portrayed what they said was an illegal scheme to influence the 2016 presidential campaign by burying negative stories. Now prosecutors are working to fill in the details of how they think Trump and his allies pulled it off.
The court will resume Tuesday with Gary Farro, a banker who helped Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen open accounts, including one that Cohen used to buy the silence of a porn performer Stormy Daniels. She alleged a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, which he denies.
The former president and presumptive Republican nominee has, in turn, campaigned outside office hours, but must be in court four days a week during the hearing.
Jurors have heard from two other witnesses so far. Rhona Graff, Trump’s former executive assistant, said she remembered seeing Daniels once in Trump’s office suite in Trump Tower and thought the performer was a potential contestant on one of Trump’s “Apprentice” brand shows. Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker explained how he agreed to serve as the “eyes and ears” of the Trump campaign by helping to quash unflattering rumors and claims about Trump and women.
Through detailed testimony about email exchanges, business transactions and bank accounts, prosecutors form the basis of their argument that Trump is guilty of 34 felonies for falsifying company records in connection with the hush money payments. The prosecution leads to crucial testimony from Cohen himself, who went to federal prison after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations and other crimes. Trump has denied all allegations and has pleaded not guilty.
It is not clear when Cohen will take the stand; the process is expected to take another month or more. And with every moment Trump is in court as the first of his four criminal trials unfolds, he grows increasingly frustrated as the November election draws closer.
“Our country is going to hell and we’re sitting here day in and day out, which is their plan, because they think they might be able to rig an election,” Trump declared in the courthouse hallway last week.
Also this week, Judge Juan M. Merchan could rule on prosecutors’ request to fine Trump for what they say are violations of a silence order that bars him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others involved in the case involved. The judge also held a hearing Thursday on a new series of alleged violations of the gag order.
Prosecutors used Trump’s longtime friend Pecker to engineer a “catch and kill” scheme in which he collected seamy stories about the candidate so that the National Enquirer or Trump’s associates could buy and bury the claims. Pecker described how he paid $180,000 to obtain and listen to stories from a doorman and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. He was not involved in Daniels’ payout, he said. He testified over parts of four days.
Trump says all the stories were false. His lawyers used cross-examination to suggest that Trump was actually involved in an effort to protect his name and his family — and not to influence the outcome of the presidential election.
Farro took the stand for the first time on Friday. While he was a senior managing director at First Republic Bank, he was assigned to work with Trump’s attorney for about three years, in part because of his “ability to deal with individuals who might be a little challenging,” Farro said , adding that he didn’t. Cohen finds it difficult.
Farro explained to jurors the process of helping Cohen create accounts for two limited liability companies — corporate-speak for a business account that protects the person behind the account from liability, debt and other problems. Farro testified that Cohen indicated that the companies, Resolution Consultants LLC and Essential Consultants LLC, would be involved in real estate consulting.
Prosecutors showed emails from jurors in which Cohen described the opening of the Resolution Consultants account as a “major matter.”
Cohen acknowledged when he pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2018 that it was created to send money to American Media, Inc., the Enquirer’s publisher. It was intended as reimbursement for their purchase of McDougal’s story. But the deal never went through.
Farro said that since the account was never funded, it was technically never opened. Instead, Cohen started setting up the Essential Consultants account, which he later used to pay Daniels $130,000.
When asked if Cohen was eager to open the bank accounts, Farro testified, “Every time Michael Cohen spoke to me, he conveyed a sense of urgency.”
Farro told the 12-member panel that the bank’s policy prohibits doing business with entities engaged in “adult entertainment,” including pornography and strip clubs. Trump’s lawyers have not yet had a chance to cross-examine Farro.
___ Long reported from Washington.
