Hulk Hogan, hurricanes and a blockbuster recording: A week in review of the Trump hush money trial

WASHINGTON -- Crucial witnesses took the basal successful the 2nd week of grounds successful Donald Trump's hush wealth trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals astatine the halfway of the lawsuit and a longtime advisor to the erstwhile president.

Jurors heard a perchance pivotal portion of grounds — a 2016 signaling of Trump discussing a program to bargain a Playboy model's soundlessness — arsenic good arsenic grounds astir the wrestler Hulk Hogan and hurricanes, literal and figurative.

Outside the jury's presence, Trump was fined for moving afoul of a judge's gag order. Additional sanctions could await the presumptive Republican nominee for president.

A look astatine immoderate of the highlights from the past week:

Hope Hicks, a onetime Trump confidant who for years was cardinal successful his orbit, described successful item a seminal infinitesimal of the 2016 campaign: The Washington Post's disclosure of a 2005 “Access Hollywood” signaling successful which Trump boasted astir grabbing women's genitals without their permission.

Hicks acknowledged being “concerned, precise concerned” erstwhile a newsman reached retired to her for remark earlier breaking the story.

"I had a bully consciousness to judge this was going to beryllium a monolithic communicative and that it was going to predominate the quality rhythm for the adjacent respective days,” Hicks testified. “This was a damaging development.”

The recording, made nationalist conscionable days earlier a statement with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, is applicable to the lawsuit due to the fact that prosecutors judge it helps explicate the frenetic efforts by Trump and allies successful the campaign's remaining weeks to effort to suppress immoderate further harmful stories that mightiness arise.

In fact, successful the aftermath of the tape’s release, Hicks said she asked Michael Cohen, Trump's then-lawyer and idiosyncratic fixer, to hunt down a rumor of different perchance damaging recording. “There was nary specified portion regardless," Hicks said, “but helium benignant of chased that down for me.”

Regardless, the contiguous interaction of the “Access Hollywood” communicative was truthful intense, Hicks recalled, that it took attraction distant from an existent storm. Hurricane Matthew was dominating the quality rhythm erstwhile Hicks was contacted astir the forthcoming story. That didn't past long.

“The ‘Access Hollywood’ portion pushed the hurricane disconnected the news?” authoritative Matthew Colangelo asked.

“Yes,” Hicks replied.

Trump whitethorn beryllium a transgression defendant, but an constituent of his defence came into presumption this past week erstwhile 1 of his lawyers suggested Trump mightiness really person been a victim.

Attorney Emil Bove implied during a notably tense cross-examination that his lawsuit had been efficaciously targeted for extortion by Keith Davidson, a important witnesser and the lawyer who negotiated hush wealth deals for 2 women, porn histrion Stormy Daniels and Playboy exemplary Karen McDougal, claiming to person had intersexual encounters with Trump. Trump denies it.

Bove name-dropped a gaggle of celebrities helium suggested had been coerced implicit the years into paying Davidson's clients eye-popping sums to suppress harmful videos oregon stories. Among them was histrion Charlie Sheen, whom Bove said Davidson had “extracted sums of wealth from;” Davidson took contented with the connection “extract” but said helium had been progressive successful “valid settlements” with Sheen.

Davidson besides admit that helium had faced an FBI investigation, but was ne'er charged, for allegedly attempting to extort Hogan to caput disconnected the merchandise of the nonrecreational wrestling star’s enactment tape.

By 2016, Bove suggested, Davidson was well-versed successful the conception of squeezing celebrities specified arsenic Trump.

“And you did everything that you could to get arsenic adjacent to that enactment arsenic imaginable successful these negotiations without crossing it, right?” Bove asked.

“I did everything I could to marque definite my activities were lawful,” Davidson replied.

The prosecution's cardinal witness, Cohen, has yet to attest — and Trump mightiness ne'er astatine each — but their voices were played successful the courtroom successful possibly the astir vivid portion of grounds truthful far.

Prosecutors played aloud a September 2016 signaling that Cohen made of himself briefing the then-presidential campaigner connected a program to bargain McDougal's soundlessness with a $150,000 payment. McDougal was prepared to travel guardant with her relationship of an extramarital matter with Trump, a disclosure Trump and his allies were determined to forestall successful the last days of the election.

“What bash we got to wage for this? One-fifty?” Trump tin beryllium heard saying astatine 1 point.

They sermon whether the outgo should beryllium done with currency oregon check. Then the signaling cuts out.

Though the beingness of the signaling surfaced successful the summertime of 2018 and has agelong been known to the public, its disclosure to the assemblage was a melodramatic infinitesimal meant to found that the hush wealth outgo was done with Trump's knowledge.

He appeared visibly irritated arsenic the signaling was played. Jurors seemed riveted.

The signaling was hardly the lone clip Cohen surfaced successful tribunal implicit the past week. When helium did, it was mostly successful a antagonistic light.

Davidson said his instauration to Cohen came successful 2011 erstwhile Davidson was told that helium needed to instrumentality an aggravated telephone from Cohen implicit a blog station related to Daniels and Trump. Davidson said Cohen was described to him by Daniels' endowment manager arsenic “some jerk” who person been “very, precise assertive and threatened to writer me.”

When Davidson called Cohen and introduced himself, “I was conscionable met with, like, a hustle barrage of insults and insinuations and allegations. That went connected for rather a while.”

Davidson besides recounted a memorable telephone speech with Cohen 1 period aft the 2016 predetermination successful which the Trump lawyer sounded “depressed and despondent" and complained astir being passed implicit for a relation successful the caller Trump administration.

“He said thing to the effect of: ‘Jesus Christ. Can you (expletive) judge I’m not going to Washington,’” Davidson described Cohen arsenic saying. “'After everything I’ve done for that (expletive) guy. I can’t judge I’m not going to Washington. I’ve saved that guy’s (expletive) truthful galore times, you don’t adjacent know.'”

The uncharitable characterizations whitethorn assistance Trump's squad successful its efforts to undermine Cohen's credibility. But they could besides assistance prosecutors region themselves from Cohen, subtly indicating to jurors that helium is not a teammate but alternatively idiosyncratic who simply has information.

A broadside contented passim the proceedings is what to bash astir Trump's outside-of-court comments. He repeatedly has maligned witnesses and suggested bias connected the assemblage — each contempt a judge's gag bid meant to barroom him from verbal tirades against cardinal players successful the case.

Trump was assessed a $9,000 good — $1,000 for each of 9 abstracted gag bid violations that the justice identified. Prosecutors aboriginal requested an further $4,000 punishment for what they said were further breaches of the order.

Yet it remains unclear what, if anything, Judge Juan M. Merchan tin bash successful the lawsuit of continued violations. Merchan floated the anticipation of jail, an unprecedented result for a erstwhile American president. That besides would hazard inflaming Trump's basal arsenic helium pursues the presidency and would further upend the 2024 White House race.

Trump's attorneys importune helium needs immoderate leeway to beryllium capable to respond to relentless criticism, including from witnesses, and that his candidacy means he's the taxable of nonstop quality media coverage.

Merchan seemed unpersuaded, but jail, for present astatine least, seems to beryllium nary one's desired outcome.

“Because each of these statements was made earlier the Court held the Defendant successful contempt for violating this bid 9 erstwhile times, and due to the fact that we similar to minimize disruptions to this proceeding, we are not yet seeking jail,” authoritative Chris Conroy said.

“But,” helium added, “the Court’s determination this past Tuesday volition pass the attack we instrumentality to immoderate aboriginal violations.”