On Thursday, Trump returned to a Manhattan court for his criminal trial connected to hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. To refresh, he is facing 35 felony counts.
Here are key takeaways from Thursday’s court action:
1. Tabloid publisher David Pecker of the National Enquirer knew ‘catch and kill’ payments to ensure stories never saw the light of day was a violation of federal election laws.
2. Pecker testified that Trump was not worried in the slightest about his family learning of his alleged affair with Stormy Daniels. He said Trump showed no concern about the potential damage his family would receive after enduring his alleged extramarital affairs asserted by both Karen McDougal and Daniels.
3. Prosecutors say Trump has continuously violated gag orders. Judge Juan Merchan barred Trump from speaking publicly or on social media about individuals involved in the case.
The judge will be ruling on allegations that Trump violated the gag order at least 10 times.
4. On Thursday, the Defense began their cross-examination of Pecker by Emil Bove.
A CNN Poll conducted by SSRS found that just 13% nationwide feel Donald Trump is being treated the same as other criminal defendants. A majority of the nation was divided over whether Trump is being treated more harshly (34%) or more leniently (34%) than other defendants. Only 44% of Americans believe that the jury will make a fair verdict, and 56% are more skeptical that a fair result will happen.
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