Trump hush money case: Trial to focus on core documents.

On Friday, April 26th, the eighth day of the Trump hush money case trial came to a close. David Pecker, former publisher of the National Enquirer, took the stand for the fourth consecutive day. Now, the jury has three days to ponder the testimony they have heard during the trial.

After over 10 hours of testimony spanning four days, Pecker finally stepped down from the witness stand. The former American tabloid publisher detailed in court how he assisted Trump in suppressing scandalous reports in 2016 and attacking his competitors.

In the afternoon on Friday, prosecutor subpoenaed Rhona Graff, who used to be an assistant to Trump at the Trump Organization for over 30 years.

She quickly left the witness stand, and the prosecution then called a banker to testify, marking a shift towards the core documents pertaining to the charges against Trump.

Here are some key points from Friday’s trial:

The prosecution has weaved a colorful narrative for the Trump hush money case: a tabloid publisher suppressing Trump’s affairs with models, a disbarred lawyer orchestrating the hush money scheme to silence a porn star.

However, Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records. Therefore, the trial will ultimately focus on a large number of documents.

In the afternoon on Friday, a banker from First Republic Bank testified as the third witness.

Jurors saw records of shell companies and corresponding bank accounts created by Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, in Delaware. One account was allegedly set up to pay off Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, to buy the rights to her extramarital affair story with Trump.

McDougal claims to have had affairs with Trump in 2006 and 2007.

But this transaction never took place. According to the banker’s testimony, the account was ultimately never funded.

The records provided by banker Farro showed that Cohen then opened another account for Essential Consultants about two weeks later, which was used to pay hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels to prevent her from discussing her alleged one-night stand with Trump in 2006.

Trump denies both extramarital affairs.

Court will not be in session on Monday, and Farro is expected to continue testifying on the next Tuesday.

Pecker, publisher of the National Enquirer under AMI Group, told the jury that he informed Trump and his former lawyer Cohen that he would be the “eyes and ears” for the campaign and would notify Cohen if he heard any negative reports about Trump, so they could “kill” the story.

Pecker claimed that he purchased McDougal’s story rights about her affair with Trump and chose not to report it to suppress the story. This is known as a “catch-and-kill” tactic.

He is believed to be a crucial witness supporting the prosecutor’s argument that Trump tried to illegally influence the 2016 election by suppressing negative reports on his personal life.

On the last day of Pecker’s testimony, Trump’s lawyers tried to point out a series of contradictions to weaken his testimony in court.

In court, Trump’s lawyer Bove repeatedly asked Pecker if his testimony was “mistaken.”

Each time, Bove attempted to emphasize the inconsistencies between Pecker’s recent testimony to prosecutors earlier this week and what he told investigators years ago during interviews.

One example was when Bove pointed out that in a 2018 FBI interview note, agents wrote that Pecker testified Trump did not thank him or AMI during a meeting at Trump Tower on January 6, 2017.

But earlier this week, Pecker testified that Trump thanked him for killing two stories during the campaign.

Pecker disputed the FBI’s notes but admitted that his current testimony does not align with them.

Under questioning, Pecker also acknowledged that the term “catch-and-kill” was not mentioned during his meeting with Cohen.

Rhona Graff, who served as Trump’s assistant for 34 years, testified for less than an hour.

Graff, who handled Trump’s contacts and schedules at Trump Tower, saw the contact entries for Daniels and McDougal within the Trump Organization’s system. Graff said she entered the information for Trump.

Daniels’ contact entry only listed a phone number. McDougal’s contact entry included a phone number, email address, and two addresses.

Graff also testified that she saw Daniels at Trump Tower once.

During cross-examination, Trump’s lawyer Necheles asked Graff if Daniels went to Trump’s office to discuss the reality show “Celebrity Apprentice.” Trump produced and hosted the show.

“I vaguely remember hearing him say that she might be an interesting contestant on the show,” Graff said.

Despite being a prosecution witness, Graff said in court that her time working at Trump Tower was filled with daily changes and excitement. She said, “It was a very stimulating, exciting, and captivating place.”

Pecker testified that he has been friends with Trump since the 1980s and hailed Trump as his “mentor” earlier this week.

He also described Trump as “extremely knowledgeable,” “very detail-oriented,” and having a “very cautious and frugal” approach to money.

As a final question, Bove asked Pecker if he believed Trump cared about his family. Pecker responded, “I certainly believe so.”

Graff no longer works for Trump, but she gave a positive assessment of her experience at the Trump Organization.

When asked if Trump respected her, Graff said, “If he didn’t respect me, I don’t think I would have worked there for 34 years.”

Trump smiled upon hearing this.

The first two witnesses subpoenaed by the prosecution still had a friendly attitude towards Trump.

However, other upcoming witnesses, like Cohen and Daniels, have a more hostile view towards Trump. Especially Cohen, who has been attacking Trump on social media in the weeks leading up to the trial.