Former President Donald Trump's Manhattan criminal trial suddenly erupted in shouting on Thursday.
Matthew Russell Lee of the Inner City Press reported on X, formerly Twitter, that at one point during the trial on Thursday, Trump's lawyer brought up text messages between Dylan Howard, the former editor-in-chief of the National Inquirer and an unknown relative.
According to Russell Lee, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan said to both the defense and the prosecution that some details of the text messages could be redacted. Trump's lawyer Emil Bove began speaking about the text messages and said, "This is a text message between Dylan Howard and," before he was interrupted by the prosecution.
Newsweek's Katherine Fung, who has been inside the courtroom covering Trump's trial, reported that the prosecution shouted "woah" as they interrupted Bove.
"Sorry, I didn't mean that," Bove said in response.
The context:
On Thursday, Trump appeared in a Manhattan courtroom for the continuation of his ongoing criminal trial brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, for alleged hush money payments made to former adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Last April, the former president was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who said Trump "fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election."
Trump has continued to deny any wrongdoing in the case and was previously placed under a gag order after attacking the daughter of Merchan.
What we know:
Earlier this week, David Pecker, the former chairman, president and CEO of the National Enquirer's parent company, American Media Inc. (AMI), took the stand to testify on his relationship with Trump and a "catch and kill" operation in connection to a story about an alleged relationship between the former president and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Pecker testified on Thursday that AMI owned the sole rights to the story under the agreement, and if McDougal took it elsewhere, she would have to return the $150,000. Steinglass shows an invoice for the $150,000 from McDougal's attorney.
"We didn't want the story to embarrass Mr. Trump or embarrass or hurt the campaign," he says.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's spokesperson via email for comment.
Views:
While speaking to reporters outside of his trial, Trump called Pecker a "nice guy."
"David has been very nice, he's a nice guy," the former president said.
However, Prosecutor Christopher Conroy accused Trump of violating the gag order again on Thursday, which included Trump calling Michael Cohen a "convicted liar" in a TV interview and calling witness David Pecker "nice" during a surprise visit this morning to a Midtown construction site.
What's next:
In addition to Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan, the U.S. Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments on the former president's claims of presidential immunity, in connection to his federal indictment for alleged election interference.
Update, 4/25/24, 1:40 p.m. EST: This story has been updated with further information.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
