NEW YORK — Prosecutors will delve into critical banking records when former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial enters its second week, hoping to build on marathon testimony from tabloid executive David Pecker that dominated the first days of the historic case.
Gary Farro, a banking professional, was on the stand Friday describing Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s urgent attempts to set up an LLC — right around the time the lawyer was handling a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to avoid bad press for Mr. Trump near the 2016 election.
Prosecutors will pick up the thread Tuesday after a break over the weekend and Monday.
Mr. Trump is balancing his ordeal in court with his 2024 campaign for the White House. He plans to hold rallies in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and Freeland, Michigan at midweek because his trial isn’t being held on Wednesdays.
Mr. Trump says it would be a perfect time to debate President Biden before their November rematch.
“I’m here, I’m ready, willing and able. And if he wants I’ll be around Monday night, Tuesday night or Wednesday night, we’ll be in Michigan, a state that he’s destroyed because of the auto industry,” Mr. Trump said as he left court on Friday.
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Hours earlier, Mr. Biden was on Howard Stern’s SiriusXM show and for the first time said he plans to debate Mr. Trump.
Prosecutors say Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen concealed payments to Ms. Daniels through a series of checks and business entries that misled banks and were election and tax crimes.
Mr. Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records and says the case is a political effort to thwart his presidential campaign.
He denies having a sexual encounter with Ms. Daniels in 2006, as she alleges, and denies having an affair with Playboy model Karen McDougal, who received a $150,000 payment from Mr. Pecker‘s media company for the rights to her story.
Mr. Pecker testified he agreed in August 2015 to run positive stories about Mr. Trump, a longtime friend, during the 2016 campaign while elevating negative stories about his opponents.
Yet Mr. Pecker, under cross-examination by Mr. Trump’s lawyers, said there was no mention of either the term “catch and kill” at the meeting or of financial payoffs. He also suggested many stories saw the light of day — or did not — as a simple matter of tabloid business.
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The Enquirer began running negative stories about Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, who ultimately faced Mr. Trump in the 2016 presidential election, before the August 2015 meeting.
Mr. Pecker also said he would have published a Trump Tower doorman’s story about Mr. Trump having a child out of wedlock if it were true.
Prosecutors hit back by getting Mr. Pecker to describe the unusual nature of the pre-campaign arrangement with Mr. Trump.
“Is it standard operating procedure for [American Media, Inc.] to be consulting with a presidential candidate’s fixer about amendments to a source agreement?,” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked, referring to Mr. Pecker’s company.
“No,” Mr. Pecker said.
The jury heard from Rhona Graff, a longtime assistant to Mr. Trump at his namesake business.
Ms. Graff recorded contact information for both Ms. McDougal and Ms. Daniels, according to evidence submitted by prosecutors.
She said she “vaguely” remembered seeing Ms. Daniels in the Trump Tower reception area, though the defense argued Ms. Daniels was under consideration to be a contestant on Mr. Trump‘s television show “The Apprentice.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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