Trump trial highlights: DA alleges Trump led 'cook the books' scheme to hide 'porn star payoff'

Hours after an agreement was reached at a hearing this morning on the $175 million bond in Trump’s New York civil fraud trial, the former president went on a rant complaining about Judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over the civil case.

"He had no idea what he did in the trial. He charged hundreds of millions of dollars on something where I’m totally innocent," Trump told reporters after exiting the courtroom.

"But if you look at what happened today, Judge Engoron should not have done that charge, he should have gone to the business division where they have complex business trials. But actually it should have never been brought because I didn’t overestimate it," he added.

Speaking to cameras outside the courtroom, Trump railed against the prosecutors for indicting him over a "legal expense" and he attacked Michael Cohen, which he's barred from doing by the judge's gag order.

"It’s a case as to bookkeeping which is a very minor thing in terms of the law, in terms of all the violent crime," he said. "This is a case in which you pay a lawyer and they call it a legal expense in the books."

"I got indicted for that," Trump said.

Trump said that the things Cohen got in trouble for "had nothing to do with me."

"He represented a lot of people over the years but they take this payment and they call it a legal expense... and this is what I got indicted over," he said.

The trial concluded at 12:42 p.m. — leaving early to allow an alternate juror to make an emergency dental appointment.

Trump lawyer Emil Bove said the defense objected to testimony from David Pecker about Dylan Howard and asked that it be struck from the record.

“We objected to some testimony about the whereabouts of Mr. Howard,” Bove said.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said it's admissible and it could be foundational and goes to witness availability.

Merchan has excused jurors for the rest of the day.

Jurors departed the courtroom at 12:25 p.m.

David Pecker said that he was familiar with Dylan Howard, the former editor-in-chief of the National Enquirer and chief content officer at AMI.

Pecker said Howard reported directly to him and said his job was "to make sure we got the most exclusive and current content.”

This line of questioning suggested that Howard will not testify himself.

Trump's longtime pal David Pecker admitted that the National Enquirer paid for some of its scoops.

“We used checkbook journalism and we paid for stories,” Pecker, former publisher of the supermarket tabloid, testified. “I gave a number to the editors that they could not spend more than $10,000 to investigate, produce or publish a story.” 

Trump is now more alert, paying attention and is leaning into the defense table. He's speaking with his lawyer Emil Bove in an animated way.

His eyes are wide open and he's looking in Pecker's direction.

David Pecker, a Trump ally who is expected to testify during the trial, was the CEO of the National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc. (AMI). He played a key role in the alleged scheme behind the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels in an effort to cover up the affair she claims she had with Trump before the 2016 election (Trump has repeatedly denied her allegations).

Pecker, a longtime friend of Trump, helped cover up potentially damaging stories about him. Prosecutors said Pecker and Michael Cohen had met with Trump at the Trump Tower in 2015 to discuss how Pecker could help suppress negative stories about Trump’s relationships with women. They allegedly discussed an instance involving Daniels, who was paid $130,000 by Cohen to not speak to media outlets about her alleged affair with Trump.

Pecker in 2018 was granted immunity by federal prosecutors in their investigation into Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection to hush money payments issued to women he said he made under Trump’s direction, after he spoke with prosecutors about Cohen’s payment to Daniels.

AMI in 2018 had admitted to paying $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal to silence her over an alleged affair she had with Trump before the 2016 election. Trump has denied having an affair with McDougal.

The prosecution has called David Pecker to the stand.

Pecker, wearing a yellow tie, with gray-and-white hair combed back, enters the courtroom from a side door.

Pecker is 72, he says. He is married, he says. Been married 36 years, he says.

Blanche wrapped up his opening statement by trying to appeal to the jury as New Yorkers.

“Listen, use your common sense," he said. "We’re New Yorkers, it’s why we’re here.” 

Blanche reminded the panel members that they assured the court they could put aside the fact that Trump was once president and is now running again.

"We trust you will base it on what you hear in this courtroom and it will be a very swift not guilty verdict," he said.

In other Trump legal news, an agreement was reached this morning at the $175 million bond hearing in the Trump New York civil fraud case.

Chris Kise, Trump’s attorney said, they agreed with New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office to maintain the Schwab account in cash. Knight will have exclusive control of the account, and shall not trade or withdraw the account for any purpose other than to satisfy the condition of the bond.

Kise said that they will provide a monthly account statement to the attorney general’s office and that they will revise the pledge and control agreement so that it cannot be amended without the court approval.

Kise said that the parties will submit a stipulation that will memorialize this by Thursday.

Blanche concluded after 35 minutes and 10 seconds.

At the conclusion, the court took a 10-minute recess.

Blanche said that Daniels, though identifying her by her legal name Stephanie Clifford, is "biased against President Trump."

Blanche said that Trump met her in 2006 when he was running "The Apprentice" TV show, and he was looking for contestants. He said that she saw her chance to make a lot of money in 2016, $130,000 by making the allegations about having a sexual encounter with Trump.

“I’m going to say something else about her testimony, and this is important: It doesn’t matter," he told the jury. “Her testimony, while salacious, does not matter."

Blanche said Trump believed the catch-and-kill agreements were lawful because they were made with the involvement of lawyers.

But through an earlier court ruling, Merchan expressly barred Trump from using this diluted “advice of counsel” defense, holding Trump could not protect certain communications from discovery under the attorney-client privilege while, at the same time, telling jurors that Trump believed his actions were lawful because lawyers were involved on both sides.

As Blanche moves through his opening statement, Trump is watching the jurors — occasionally moving his eyes to Blanche.

It’s hard to detect from the closed-circuit camera trained on his table. But from behind, you can see that angle of his profile shows he has been focused on the jury box for portions of the statement.

Trump’s mouth is drawn in a serious expression that betrays no emotion.

Blanche accused Cohen of lying in a courtroom previously, presumably referencing Cohen’s plea to tax evasion charges, which he has since recanted and said he did only to spare his family.

Merchan summoned the lawyers back to the bench after Blanche said that Cohen has “testified under oath and lied.” 

Merchan sustained an objection from Colangelo.

Blanche leaned next into calling Cohen's credibility into question.

“He has talked extensively about his desire to see President Trump go to prison," Blanche said. “Last night, 12 hours ago, Mr. Cohen on a public forum said that he had a mental excitement about this trial and his testimony.”

He said that Cohen's goal is "getting President Trump."

Blanche added that Cohen has testified under oath and lied.

Blanche’s job as a defense lawyer here isn’t to tell a neat story in the same way as the prosecution — it’s to raise doubt, poke holes and plant questions in the jury’s mind.

We see this on full display today by not disputing the payoff Daniels received. Instead, the defense simply says Trump did nothing wrong. But he doesn’t (yet) tackle how the alleged scheme was first hatched in 2015. He jumps to 2017 and the Cohen reimbursement checks — that’s an easier part of the timeline for the defense side.

Merchan has asked the lawyers to approach the bench after prosecutors raised a fourth objection to a portion of Blanche’s opening statement.

There were about a dozen lawyers, between the two sides, huddled around Merchan.

“I have a spoiler alert: There’s nothing wrong with trying to influence an election," Blanche said in his opening statement. "It’s called democracy."

Prosecutors objected to Blanche saying that a nondisclosure agreement is “not illegal.” Merchan sustained.

Blanche rephrased and said it is “perfectly legal.” Prosecution objected again. Merchan overruled and let Blanche continue.

Blanche argued that Trump wasn't involved in covering up the payments.

"President Trump had nothing to do, had nothing to do with the invoice, with the check being generated, or with the entry on the ledger," he said.

Blanche is trying to find any hole he can poke in the prosecution's case and starts by pointing out the dates when the events occurred.

Calling the events "pre-Covid," Blanche emphasized that some of the discussions dated back to 2015.

Prosecutors would not have been able to bring the case until after 2021, because Trump was largely shielded from prosecution while he was president.

Blanche moved away from his lectern and the microphone to get a clearer look from the jury as he noted that Trump paid Cohen $420,000, rather than $130,000, trying to cast doubt on the prosecution’s argument that it was a repayment for the Daniels nondisclosure agreement.

“Would a frugal businessman … would a man who pinches pennies” repay a $130,000 debt to the tune of $420,000, Blanche told the jury.

“This was not a payback.”

While making the case for his client’s innocence, Blanche attempted to humanize the former president in the defense’s opening statement.

Trump is a husband, a father, "a man just like me,” he said.

The former president's lead lawyer began his opening statement by saying that Trump did not commit any crimes.

Blanche said that the DA's office should have never brought the case. He said that Trump is presumed innocent and tells the jury that they will find him not guilty.

Trump's lawyer said that the jury has seen Trump for years. "He’s in some ways larger than life. But he’s also here in this courtroom, doing what any of us would do. Defending himself.”

He added that they will refer to Trump as President Trump because he earned that as the 45th president.

"We will call him President Trump out of respect," Blanche said. “It’s the office he’s running for right now, as the Republican nominee ... he’s also a man, he’s a husband, he’s a father and just like me.”

Colangelo said Trump was a "frugal businessman" but didn't count coins when it came to covering up his alleged affairs.

Prosecutors will produce evidence to show that Trump “was a very frugal businessman, believed in pinching pennies," he said. "He believed in watching every dollar. He believed in negotiating every bill. It’s all over all of the books he’s written.”

But, Colangelo said, "When it came time to pay Michael Cohen back for the catch and kill deal, you’ll see he didn’t negotiate it down. He doubled it.”

This, the prosecutor said, shows "just how important it was to him to hide the true nature” of the payments.

Colangelo told the jury that Cohen's testimony during the trial will be backed up by emails, text messages, phone logs and business documents.

“And it will be backed up by Donald Trump’s own words on tape, in social media posts, in his own books, and in videos of his own speeches," he said.

Colangelo finished his opening statement, speaking for 45 minutes and 30 seconds.

The jury watched, he was seeming to hold their attention.

Trump lawyer Blanche is up next.

Colangelo said jurors can expect to hear a lot about Cohen’s backstory as Trump’s fixer.

“You will learn, and we will be very up front about it, the fact that Michael Cohen like other witnesses in this trial, has made mistakes in his past,” he said.

The prosecution is going to great lengths to echo Trump’s own language in accusing him of committing crimes to steal an election — election integrity, fraud and the like.

Toward the conclusion of his statement, Colangelo called the alleged scheme “an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of a presidential election” and pointed to “the steps that Donald Trump took to conceal that illegal election fraud.”

Colangelo said that the Trump Organization was not in the business of paying people twice.

He said the scheme showed how important it was to hide the payment and the overall election conspiracy. He said Trump agreed to pay Cohen back in monthly installments over 2017 with 12 $35,000 payments; and Cohen would send a bogus invoice to make it seem like they were for legal services.

“That was a double lie,” Colangelo said. “There was no retainer agreement.”

“It was instead what they thought was a clever way to pay Cohen back without being too obvious about it,” he said.

Listening to the prosecution’s story this morning, it’s striking to think how differently things might have turned out if federal prosecutors had charged Trump originally in connection with a campaign-related violation. They couldn’t at the time — they charged Cohen because Trump was president and the Justice Department has a policy of not charging a sitting president.

Instead, prosecutors here in New York have charged him with falsifying business records after the fact. The hurdle for prosecutors now is the timeline in their story. How would “cooking the books” in 2017, as they say, after nearly all of the damning facts had already been exposed by tons of reporting, hide anything from voters?

Colangelo says a second catch-and-kill scheme was hatched to cover up Trump's alleged affair with former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal.

"The defendant desperately did not want this information about Karen McDougal to become public because he was concerned about the election,” Colangelo said of Trump.

Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, will testify that Trump met with him after the election to thank him for dealing with the stories about women claiming to have had an affair with him, Colangelo said.

He then noted that Trump brought Pecker to the White House the following year to further show his appreciation.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said that another woman, adult actress Stormy Daniels, came forward before the election with an encounter she said she had with Trump while he was married.

He said that Cohen learned about the allegations and discussed it with Trump, who didn't want the story to come out, saying that it would be devastating to the campaign.

Colangelo said that Cohen came up with a deal to buy her story with a nondisclosure agreement and she agreed not to disclose her story for $130,000. Trump wanted to delay payment for as long as possible but ultimately he agreed to the payoff.

They eventually agreed that Cohen would create a shell company to transfer the money and Cohen confirmed that Trump would reimburse him, the prosecutor said. Colangelo said that on Oct. 27, 2016, Cohen wired $130,000 to Daniels' lawyers.

Colangelo is trying to make the case about why the jury should get from hush money payment to document fraud.

Trump Org. couldn't write a check with "Reimbursement for porn star payoff" on the memo line, Colangelo says.

"So they agreed to cook the books” and make it look like the repayment was actually income," he said.

Merchan is watching the prosecution’s opening statement closely, but his eyes are going back and forth — pingpong style — between Colangelo and the jurors. He’s rocking gently in his chair with his chin between his thumb and forefinger.

Colangelo promised that jurors will hear the defendant's "own voice on a tape" in the alleged scheme to silence women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump.

Colangelo just quoted Trump from the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape that came out in October 2016, just weeks before the election, to the jury.

Colangelo quoted Trump saying that he could grab women by the "p----."

He said that those were Trump’s words one month before Election Day and that “the impact of that video on the campaign was immediate and explosive." Merchan ruled that prosecutors can’t play the tape.

Colangelo explained that Pecker and Cohen learned about a former Trump Tower doorman who was trying to sell information about Trump having a child out of wedlock.

He said Pecker contacted Cohen immediately and Cohen told Trump who told him to take care of it. They then negotiated a $30,000 agreement to buy the story, he said.

Colangelo argued that Pecker was not acting as a publisher, but as a co-conspirator.

Trump lawyers Blanche and Susan Necheles have turned their seats toward Colangelo as he delivers the prosecution’s opening statement. While Trump continues to face forward with hooded eyes, his lawyer Emil Bove is seen taking notes, looking down in his lap.

Blanche, who does not appear to be taking notes, is also watching the jury as Colangelo continues to deliver his opening statement.

Colangelo explained Cohen and Pecker’s alleged roles in the hush money scheme.

“Cohen’s job really was to take care of problems for the defendant," he said. “He was Trump’s fixer.”

Colangelo said that together, the two conspired to influence the outcome of the 2016 election and that Pecker would act as eyes and ears for Trump. Pecker's job was to gather information that could be harmful and report that to Cohen, he said.

Colangelo, in his opening statement, said Trump starting paying back Cohen for making the hush money payments after winning the White House.

"After the election, the defendant then reimbursed Cohen for that payment through a series of monthly checks all of which were processed through the defendant’s company, the Trump Organization," he said.

Merchan urged jurors not to read or listen to any accounts of the hush money case on the radio or the internet. He also instructed jurors to not conduct research on the case at the library, via Google or any other news source.

Merchan stressed that decisions made by jurors must be based solely on evidence presented in the courtroom.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo says in his opening statement, “This case is about criminal conspiracy.”

Laying out the prosecution's case in the courtroom for the first time, he described a conspiracy between Trump and Cohen.

He argued that Trump tried to corrupt the 2016 election.

“Then, he covered up that criminal conspiracy by lying in his New York business records over and over and over again," Colangelo said.

The opening statements are beginning.

Trump's eyes are shut and across the aisle, Bragg is catching a glimpse of the former president from his seat in the front row of the gallery.

Merchan read the jury instructions aloud and explained the stages of the trial. 

He reminded jurors of the basic principles of the law and said that, at the conclusion of the case, he will remind them that the law applies to the crime and that prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt.

Merchan also explained the role of a court reporter, before going on to tell jurors, “What I say is not evidence.”

“You must decide this case on the evidence,” he said.

“What the lawyers say at any time is not evidence,” the judge added.

Merchan said that if Trump takes the stand, prosecutors can bring up six determinations in four separate proceedings:

The jury is being brought into the room and seated, for the first time, as a group.

It does not appear that there are any of Trump’s family members present in the courtroom this morning.

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is in the courtroom.

Merchan said that the court received a call from juror 9 who expressed concern about media attention. After a meeting with the juror and lawyers for both sides, the judge announced, however, that the juror will remain on the jury.

Merchan said alternate juror 6 would be able to make an emergency dentist appointment at 3 p.m. for a toothache. But the appointment was moved up to 1:20 p.m., prompting the judge to tell her that the court would conclude at 12:30 p.m. today.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said the prosecution’s opening statement would be about 40 minutes and Blanche said the defense's would be about 25 minutes.

Trump has covered tens of millions of dollars in legal fees from his leadership PAC, Save America. But a new fundraising report filed over the weekend shows that the revenue stream might be drying up.

Save America started April with just $4.1 million in the bank as the group has paid almost $60 million in legal fees since the start of last year (the majority to firms related to his various trials). But there's a bigger warning sign in the filings for Trump.

Shortly before announcing his presidential bid in 2022, Save America sent the top pro-Trump super PAC, MAGA Inc., $60 million to be used to boost his candidacy from the outside. But amid the former president's legal crunch, MAGA Inc. has been slowly refunding that donation, providing an important injection of funds into Save America as it pays Trump's legal fees. (Note: Virtually all of the money Save America raised last month came from a refund.)

The new filings show that MAGA Inc. has refunded all but $2.8 million of that $60 million donation. So, Trump will need to find new ways to fund his legal defense, as there appears to be no sign those expenses are going away anytime soon.

The judge is on the bench and trial has begun for the day.

Trump's lawyers will work to try to undermine Michael Cohen's credibility.

The charges against Trump stem from an investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office into an alleged “catch and kill” scheme to bury negative stories about Trump before the 2016 presidential election in a bid to influence the outcome.

According to prosecutors, several people participated in the scheme, which involved paying people off to buy their silence and covering up the payments in Trump’s business records.

Here are the key people in the case who will come up during the trial, potentially as witnesses.

A group of protesters is demonstrating outside the courthouse. Some are holding signs. One says, "Election interference is a crime."

"Slept with a porn star. Screwed the voters," another says, with a photo of Trump's face.

Another has images of dictators and then Trump's face saying that they all believe they're above the law.

Trump arrived at the courthouse at 8:52 a.m.

In an overnight post on his Truth Social platform, Trump blasted Bragg while complaining about the case.

"The Corrupt Soros Funded District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, who has totally lost control of Violent Crime in New York, says that the payment of money to a lawyer, for legal services rendered, should not be referred to in a Ledger as LEGAL EXPENSE," he wrote. "What other term would be more appropriate??? Believe it or not, this is the pretext under which I was Indicted, and that Legal Scholars and Experts CANNOT BELIEVE."

Trump also repeated his claims of the hush money trial being part of an effort to interfere with his presidential campaign.

"It is also the perfect Crooked Joe Biden NARRATIVE — To be STUCK in a courtroom, and not be allowed to campaign for President of the United States!" he wrote.

• Day 1, April 15: On the first day of the New York hush money trial, Trump argued that the criminal justice system is being weaponized against him and repeatedly claimed that the prosecution is engaging in “election interference” amid his re-election campaign. Trump sat at the defense trial as the court worked to eliminate jurors who said they could not be fair and impartial in the case — at least 50 out of 96 of the first batch of prospective jurors were excused for that reason.

All 12 jurors, plus an alternate, were selected to serve on the jury last week after they made it clear to both sides that they could render a fair and impartial verdict.

Prosecutors and the defense team whittled down a pool of nearly 200 people to 12 jurors and an alternate after grilling them on their personal history, political views, social media posts and ability to remain impartial despite any opinions they might have about the polarizing former president.

Read the full story here.

A source with direct knowledge of the situation tells NBC News that David Pecker will be the first witness for the prosecution beginning today. This source says that due to the Sandoval hearing, opening statements and the gag order hearing tomorrow, they don’t expect the cross-examination of Pecker to happen until Thursday.

Prosecutors have said that Pecker, the longtime former publisher of the National Enquirer, is a central figure in the alleged coverup scheme and the architect of the “catch and kill” plots.

Opening statements are set to begin this morning at 9:30 a.m. ET in the case of the People of the State of New York versus Donald Trump, the first criminal trial of a former president.

Attorneys on both sides will present their opening statements after the judge delivers instructions to the 12-person jury and six alternates.

Read the full story here.