Prosecutors move deeper into Trump's orbit as testimony in hush money trial enters a third week

Prosecutors successful Donald Trump’s hush wealth proceedings are moving deeper into his orbit pursuing an inside-the-room relationship astir the erstwhile president’s absorption to a politically damaging signaling that surfaced successful the last weeks of the 2016 campaign

NEW YORK -- Prosecutors successful Donald Trump's hush wealth proceedings are moving deeper into his orbit pursuing an inside-the-room relationship astir the erstwhile president's absorption to a politically damaging signaling that surfaced successful the last weeks of the 2016 campaign.

Hope Hicks, a erstwhile White House authoritative and for years a apical aide, is by acold the closest Trump subordinate to person taken the witnesser basal successful the Manhattan trial.

Her grounds Friday was designed to springiness jurors an insider's presumption of a chaotic and pivotal agelong successful the campaign, erstwhile a 2005 signaling showing Trump talking astir grabbing women without their support was made nationalist and erstwhile helium and his allies sought to forestall the merchandise of different perchance embarrassing stories. That effort, prosecutors say, included hush wealth payments to a porn histrion and Playboy exemplary who some person said they had intersexual encounters with Trump earlier helium entered politics.

“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 said of the “Access Hollywood” recording, archetypal revealed successful an October 2016 Washington Post story. “This was a damaging development.”

The proceedings enters its 3rd week of grounds Monday with prosecutors gathering toward their prima witness, Michael Cohen, Trump's erstwhile lawyer and idiosyncratic fixer who pleaded blameworthy to national charges related to the hush wealth payments. Cohen is expected to acquisition a bruising cross-examination from defence attorneys seeking to undermine his credibility with jurors.

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying concern records successful transportation with payments made to stifle perchance embarrassing stories. Prosecutors accidental Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, reimbursed Cohen for payments to porn histrion Stormy Daniels and gave Cohen bonuses and other payments. Prosecutors allege that those transactions were falsely logged successful institution records arsenic ineligible expenses.

Trump has pleaded not blameworthy and denied intersexual encounters with immoderate of the women, arsenic good arsenic immoderate wrongdoing.

So far, jurors person heard from witnesses including a tabloid mag steadfast and Trump person who bought the rights to respective sordid tales astir Trump to forestall them from coming retired and a Los Angeles lawyer who negotiated hush wealth deals connected behalf of some Daniels and Playboy exemplary Karen McDougal.

Trump's lawyers person tried to spot distant astatine the prosecution's mentation of the lawsuit and the credibility of immoderate witnesses. They've raised questions during cross-examinations astir whether Trump was perchance a people of extortion, forced to put payouts to suppress harmful stories and spare his household embarrassment and pain. Prosecutors support the payments were astir preserving his governmental viability arsenic helium sought the presidency.

The lawsuit is 1 of 4 Trump prosecutions and perchance the lone 1 that volition scope proceedings earlier the November election. Other felony indictments complaint him with plotting to subvert the 2020 statesmanlike predetermination aft helium mislaid to Democrat Joe Biden and illegally hoarding classified documents aft helium near the White House.

____

Tucker reported from Washington.