Donald Trump on Monday lost a bid to block testimony from Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels at his upcoming trial on charges stemming from hush money that Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer, paid Daniels, a porn star, before the 2016 election. In another ruling, The infamous “Access Hollywood” video in which Donald Trump bragged about grabbing women sexually without asking permission will not be shown to jurors at the former president’s hush-money criminal trial, a New York judge ruled Monday.
Quick Read
- Donald Trump’s request to prevent testimony from Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels at his hush money trial was denied by a judge.
- Trump argued Cohen might lie again and Daniels would exploit the trial for profit, but the judge found no basis to exclude Cohen’s testimony due to credibility concerns.
- Trump faces charges for allegedly falsifying records to cover up payment reimbursements to Cohen for hush money paid to Daniels regarding a claimed 2006 sexual encounter, which Trump denies.
- The trial’s start date is postponed to at least mid-April due to a dispute over evidence disclosure, with a hearing set for March 25 to decide on a new trial date.
- The “Access Hollywood” tape, where Trump bragged about inappropriate behavior, won’t be shown to jurors, but testimony about it is allowed.
- Trump’s lawyers recently received over 100,000 pages of documents from a previous federal investigation, leading to a request for a three-month trial delay and case dismissal.
- The trial focuses on Trump’s alleged efforts to hide payments to Daniels during the 2016 campaign, with Trump pleading not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records.
- The judge also denied a bid to exclude key witnesses and rejected a request to prevent prosecutors from linking the hush money scheme to the 2016 election or “catch and kill” tactics by the National Enquirer.
- Prosecutors argue the “Access Hollywood” footage and subsequent sexual assault accusations against Trump led to the hush money arrangement with Daniels.
- The judge will later decide on the admissibility of evidence related to sexual assault allegations following the tape’s release, requiring further analysis and arguments from prosecutors.
The Associated Press has the story:
Trump loses bid to block Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels testimony at hush money trial
Newslooks- NEW YORK, (AP) –
Donald Trump on Monday lost a bid to block testimony from Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels at his upcoming trial on charges stemming from hush money that Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer, paid Daniels, a porn star, before the 2016 election.
Trump last month asked Justice Juan Merchan to block their testimony, arguing Cohen had a history of lying and would likely lie again, and that Daniels – whose real name is Stephanie Clifford – would seek to use the trial to monetize her story.
In rejecting Trump’s request to block Cohen’s testimony, Merchan wrote he was unaware of any basis for Trump’s “rationale that a prosecution witness should be kept off the witness stand because his credibility has been called into question.”
The Republican presidential candidate has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up his reimbursement of Cohen for the payment to Daniels for her silence about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump in 2006. Trump denies an encounter.
A trial had initially been scheduled for March 25, but last week was delayed until at least mid-April due to a last-minute dispute over evidence disclosure. Merchan is expected to decide on a new trial date after a March 25 court hearing.
A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office charged Trump last year, declined to comment. Trump’s lawyers also declined to comment.
The case is one of four criminal indictments Trump faces as he prepares for an expected challenge to Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election.
‘Access Hollywood’ tape won’t be played at Donald Trump’s hush-money criminal trial, judge rules
Newslooks- NEW YORK (AP) —
The infamous “Access Hollywood” video in which Donald Trump bragged about grabbing women sexually without asking permission will not be shown to jurors at the former president’s hush-money criminal trial, a New York judge ruled Monday.
Judge Juan M. Merchan said prosecutors can still question witnesses about the tape, which was made public in the final weeks of Trump’s 2016 White House campaign. But “it is not necessary that the tape itself be introduced into evidence or that it be played for the jury,” the judge said.
Merchan issued rulings on the “Access Hollywood” tape and other issues even after deciding last Friday to postpone the trial until at least mid-April to deal with a last-minute evidence dump that Trump’s lawyers said has hampered their ability to prepare their defense.
Merchan scheduled a hearing for March 25, the trial’s original start date, to address that issue.
Trump’s lawyers complained that they only recently started receiving more than 100,000 pages of documents from a previous federal investigation into the matter. They’ve asked for a three-month delay and for the case to be thrown out.
The hush money case centers on allegations that Trump falsified his company’s records to hide the true nature of payments to his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who paid porn actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 during the 2016 presidential campaign to suppress her claims of an extramarital sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.
Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels. His lawyers argue the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses and were not part of any cover-up.
In other rulings Monday, Merchan denied a defense bid to bar Cohen, Daniels and other key prosecution witnesses from testifying.
He also again rejected the defense’s request that prosecutors be barred from arguing that Trump was seeking to improperly influence the 2016 election with the alleged hush-money scheme or that the National Enquirer supermarket tabloid aided in suppressing negative stories about him in a practice known as “catch and kill.”
Prosecutors contend the release of the 2005 “Access Hollywood” footage, followed by a flurry of women coming forward to accuse Trump of sexual assault, hastened his efforts to keep negative stories out of the press, leading to the hush-money arrangement with Daniels.
Trump’s lawyers argued that the “Access Hollywood” video “contains inflammatory and unduly prejudicial evidence that has no place at this trial about documents and accounting practices.”
Merchan said he would reconsider allowing prosecutors to show the tape if Trump’s lawyers were to “open the door” during the trial.
The judge said he would rule later, after further study, on the prosecution’s request to present evidence about the sexual assault allegations that surfaced after the tape was made public.
Before he rules, Merchan said prosecutors will be required to make additional arguments about the evidence’s admissibility so he can better analyze it pursuant to rules governing testimony about so-called “prior bad acts.”
