{"id":2234083,"date":"2024-04-30T20:08:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-01T00:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-trial-stormy-daniels-lawyer-testifies-on-dealings-with-hostile-michael-cohen\/"},"modified":"2024-04-30T20:10:08","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T00:10:08","slug":"trump-trial-stormy-daniels-lawyer-testifies-on-dealings-with-hostile-michael-cohen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-trial-stormy-daniels-lawyer-testifies-on-dealings-with-hostile-michael-cohen\/","title":{"rendered":"Stormy Daniels&#8217; lawyer testifies about interactions with hostile Michael Cohen in Trump trial"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-trial-stormy-daniels-lawyer-testifies-on-dealings-with-hostile-michael-cohen%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2234083&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A lawyer \u2064testified in Donald Trump&#8217;s New\u200c York trial about negotiating deals in 2016 to silence women alleging affairs with Trump. Keith Davidson detailed his challenging interactions with Michael Cohen and American Media, Inc., in \u200cthe trial. AMI&#8217;s involvement in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/if-big-tech-isnt-regulated-before-2024-the-election-will-be-rigged-again\/\" title=\"If Big Tech Isn\u2019t Regulated Before 2024, The Election Will Be Rigged Again\">suppressing negative stories<\/a> about Trump in 2016 was \u2064also a focus, with Cohen&#8217;s actions and Davidson&#8217;s efforts highlighted. The lawyer&#8217;s testimony in Donald Trump&#8217;s New York trial shed light on deals made\u2062 in 2016 to \u200csilence women accusing Trump of affairs. \u2063Keith Davidson revealed his struggles with \u200dMichael Cohen and American \u2064Media, Inc. The focus \u200dwas on AMI&#8217;s role in suppressing negative Trump stories, emphasizing Cohen&#8217;s \u200dinvolvement and Davidson&#8217;s challenges.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A lawyer testified in former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Donald Trump\">Donald Trump<\/a>\u2018s trial in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/new-york\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"New York\">New York<\/a> on Tuesday about his experiences negotiating deals in 2016 to silence two women who claimed they had affairs with Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Keith Davidson, a Los Angeles-based attorney known for his work with nondisclosure agreements, spoke about his frustrating interactions with Michael Cohen, Trump\u2019s former attorney, as well as the tense conversations he had while working with tabloid company American Media, Inc., which owned the <em>National Enquirer<\/em>, according to live details of Davidson\u2019s testimony <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/politics\/live-news\/trump-hush-money-trial-04-30-24\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>reported<\/a> by CNN.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors have alleged that AMI was involved in a scheme with Trump and Cohen to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-middle-kingdoms-media-blitz\/\" title=\"The Middle Kingdom\u2019s Media Blitz\">bury negative stories<\/a> about him in 2016 to help Trump\u2019s election prospects.<\/p>\n<p>Davidson was involved in negotiating with AMI and Cohen over payments to kill stories from porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal about their alleged romantic trysts with Trump in the lead-up to Election Day.<\/p>\n<p>Davidson testified that he first interacted with Cohen in 2011 when he sent a warning letter to a blog featuring claims about Daniels\u2019s alleged relations with Trump. Davidson said Cohen had an aggressive demeanor.<\/p>\n<p>Davidson said he was \u201cmet with a hostile barrage of insults and insinuations and allegations, and that went on for quite a while\u201d when he spoke to Cohen on the phone, adding that Cohen was not accusing him of anything.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was just screaming,\u201d Davidson added, prompting Trump\u2019s attorney Todd Blanche to smile during Davidson\u2019s testimony.<\/p>\n<p>Cohen, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg\u2019s star witness, would later plead guilty to several charges in 2018 that included arranging hush money payments to Daniels and McDougal. Trump\u2019s attorneys have indicated that they plan to highlight that Cohen has also pleaded guilty to perjury-related crimes, including lying to a bank and to Congress, and that he is therefore untrustworthy.<\/p>\n<p>Davidson testified that he was forced to deal with Cohen once again in 2016 after AMI decided it did not want to publish a story about Daniels. The decision led Cohen to pay Daniels $130,000 himself to prevent her from going public with her claims about Trump.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn essence, Michael Cohen stepped into AMI\u2019s shoes,\u201d Davidson said.<\/p>\n<p>Davidson testified about how he and Daniels\u2019 manager at the time joked about how negotiating a deal for Daniels would be easy aside from the need to correspond with Cohen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll you have to do is talk to that a**hole Cohen,\u201d Davidson recalled Daniels\u2019s manager telling him.<\/p>\n<p>Davidson also recalled how Cohen was late paying Daniels, leading Davidson to tell him at the time, \u201cI don\u2019t believe a word really that you say.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGoddammit, what do you expect me to do? My guy [Trump] is in five different states today,\u201d Cohen replied, according to evidence presented at the trial.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think you can tell by these emails I was sending him there was a great level of frustration by me and my client,\u201d Davidson told the court.<\/p>\n<p>McDougal was paid directly by AMI rather than by Cohen despite Cohen\u2019s tangential interest in ensuring McDougal\u2019s claims about Trump did not become public before Election Day.<\/p>\n<p>Davidson took her on as a client and agreed to help her negotiate with media outlets in June 2016, he testified.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors presented evidence of Davidson texting <em>National Enquirer<\/em> editor Dylan Howard at the time, \u201cI have a blockbuster trump story.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Davidson also testified about how he was pitching a deal to ABC at the same time as the <em>National Enquirer<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the time, as is often the case with negotiations, I was trying to play two entities off of each other,\u201d which, Davidson said, would \u201ccreate a sense of urgency, if you will.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors have described AMI\u2019s practice of paying for rights to stories and then opting not to publish the stories as a \u201ccatch-and-kill\u201d scheme and that, in Trump\u2019s case, amounted to an illegal conspiracy to swing the 2016 election in Trump\u2019s favor. Defense attorneys have said that nothing about suppressing the unflattering stories was illegal and that AMI helped many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ilhan-omar-other-leftists-distract-from-capitol-attack-by-focusing-on-gun-control-and-racism\/\" title=\"Ilhan Omar, Other Leftists, Distract From Capitol Attack By Focusing On Gun Control And Racism\">high-profile figures<\/a> in the same manner, not just Trump. <\/p>\n<p>Davidson spoke about the tense dealings with Howard, the <em>National Enquirer<\/em> editor, saying they became \u201cfrustrating\u201d and that, to his dismay, he had been advised to call Cohen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t particularly like dealing with him, and that\u2019s why I was trying like hell to avoid talking to him,\u201d Davidson testified of Cohen.<\/p>\n<p>AMI eventually agreed to pay McDougal $150,000, and Davidson testified that he received 45% of those funds.<\/p>\n<p>Asked by prosecutors about why the <em>National Enquirer<\/em> did not run the story, Davidson testified that he was told by the tabloid that \u201cthey were trying to build Karen into a brand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd second was more of an unspoken understanding that there was a close affiliation between David Pecker and Donald Trump and that AMI would not run this story or any story related to Karen and Donald Trump because it would tend to hurt Donald Trump,\u201d Davidson said.<\/p>\n<p>Davidson has not finished testifying, and he is expected to retake the stand when court resumes later this week.<\/p>\n<p>Trump was present for the trial and accompanied for the first time by one of his family members, his son Eric, according to reports from the courtroom.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>At the start of Tuesday\u2019s proceedings, Merchan also announced that he found Trump in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nycourts.gov\/LegacyPDFS\/press\/PDFs\/D.O.motion4contempt-FINAL.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>contempt<\/a> of court for nine posts he made on social media that he said violated a gag order in the case. Merchan fined Trump $1,000 per post, but he lamented that state law prevented him from fining Trump more and threatened jail for future violations.<\/p>\n<p>Merchan does not hold trial on Wednesdays, but on Thursday, the day will begin with a hearing on four other social media posts of Trump\u2019s that prosecutors claim violated the gag order.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Trump&#8217;s trial, a lawyer shared insights on negotiating silence deals with two women alleging affairs with him in 2016. Keith Davidson, recognized for handling nondisclosure agreements, recounted challenges dealing with Michael Cohen, Trump&#8217;s ex-associate, during the proceedings in New York on Tuesday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":2234084,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP23069710633387-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2234083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP23069710633387-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2234083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2234083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2234083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2234084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2234083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2234083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2234083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}