NEW YORK — The twelfth day of Donald Trump‘s New York hush money trial began with the judge threatening the former president with jail time.
Judge Juan Merchan opened proceedings by telling Trump that the $1,000 fines for gag order violations evidently aren’t deterring the former president. “Going forward,” Merchan said, he will have to consider jail for the former president.
It was a dramatic start to a new week of a trial that capped last week with emotional testimony from Trump’s former close confidante, Hope Hicks. Hicks described her initial advice to the 2016 Trump campaign — “Deny, deny, deny” – when a reporter first reached out for comment about the infamous Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump boasted that he kissed women without waiting and grabbed their genitals.
Keep up with USA TODAY’s live updates from inside and outside the Manhattan courtroom:
McConney testifying on Trump approval for invoices
Jeffrey McConney, the Trump Organization’s former financial controller, is testifying about getting Trump’s approval for certain invoices. The purpose of the questions isn’t yet clear, but it could be groundwork for the prosecution’s allegation that Trump was sending checks to Michael Cohen to reimburse him for a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, and was falsely labeling those checks as legal expense payments.
Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide
During opening statements in the trial, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche denied the checks were reimbursements to Cohen for the hush money.
– Aysha Bagchi
More:‘What have we done?’ Stormy Daniels’ lawyer thought hush money helped Trump get elected
Trump held in criminal contempt for 10th gag order violation
In warning Trump this morning that he will be jailed for future gag order violations if it’s both “necessary and appropriate,” Judge Merchan held Trump in criminal contempt a 10th time. That ruling from this morning can be seen on the Manhattan criminal court’s website.
Merchan is holding Trump in criminal contempt for the 10th time based on his comments about the jury during a phone interview with a TV program called, “Just The News, No Noise.”
According to a transcript the prosecution supplied to the court, Trump said during the call:
“But this judge, uh, said that I can’t get away from the trial. You know he’s rushing the trial like crazy. Nobody’s ever seen a thing go like this. That jury was picked so fast — 95% Democrats. The area’s mostly all Democrat. You think of it as a — just a purely Democrat area. It’s a very unfair situation that I can tell you.”
Merchan said he couldn’t find beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump violated the gag order on three other occasions alleged by prosecutors. The judge said two of those alleged violations may constitute protected political speech, while a third may not have constituted a veiled threat against a witness.
– Aysha Bagchi
More:Would cameras in the courtroom change Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial?
Trump Organization is paying for McConney’s lawyer
Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is asking McConney introductory questions. McConney just said he left the Trump Organization in February of 2023. However, he is represented by a lawyer whom the Trump Organization is paying for as he is testifying now, he said. McConney has not had any conversations with Donald Trump himself since retiring, he said.
– Aysha Bagchi
More:Who is Judge Juan Merchan? What to know as Donald Trump’s hush money trial continues
Donald Trump spent Sunday at the Hard Rock Stadium in Florida
Trump was among the list of celebrities who attended the third annual Formula One Miami Grand Prix at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Sunday.
Surrounded by security, he was seen being escorted through the stadium tunnels and at one point, stopped to wave at the media.
−Sudiksha Kochi and Safid Deen
Jeffrey McConney is next prosecution witness
The prosecution has just called Jeffrey McConney to the witness stand. McConney is the former controller for the Trump Organization.
– Aysha Bagchi
Trump will be jailed for future gag order violations ‘if necessary and appropriate,’ judge tells him
Judge Merchan opened proceedings by telling Trump that the $1,000 fines for gag order violations evidently aren’t deterring the former president. Therefore, “going forward,” Merchan said he will have to consider a jail sanction.
Merchan noted Trump is a former president and said, “There are many reasons why incarceration is truly a last resort.” Merchan specifically said he worries, if he jails Trump, about court officers and the Secret Service, as well as about the “broader implications.” Merchan said the “magnitude” of such a decision “is not lost” on him, but Trump’s violations threaten to interfere with the fair administration of justice.
As much as he doesn’t want to impose a “jail sanction,” he wants Trump to know he “will if necessary and appropriate,” Merchan told Trump directly.
– Aysha Bagchi
More:Freezing temps and colorful characters: Trump’s hush money trial from the inside
‘Are you listening Israel?’ Heading into the courtroom, Trump tells Israel he hopes it is ‘getting smart’
Before entering the courtroom Monday, former President Donald Trump noted stories that said Columbia University canceled its graduation ceremony because of protests against Israel on the campus.
Trump quoted news articles saying campaign donors to President Joe Biden were also funding the protesters.
“Are you listening Israel?” Trump asked. “I hope you’re listening Israel. Hope you’re getting smart.”
–Bart Jansen
Trump ignores question about whether he’ll testify
Former President Donald Trump blasted the judge again Monday before entering the courtroom, but ignored a reporter’s question about whether he would testify at his hush money trial.
Trump was also asked whether his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was a liar, one of his common descriptions. But Trump said he couldn’t speak about Cohen because of Judge Juan Merchan’s gag order against commenting on potential witnesses.
“As you know, they’ve taken away my constitutional rights, so I’m not allowed to answer that question,” Trump said.
Reporters in Miami over the weekend asked Trump about the trial, but he said he couldn’t answer them either.
“I have to say I’ve got a gag order,” Trump said. “I can’t speak about it. Never happened before, ever.”
–Bart Jansen
‘Good morning Mr. Trump’
Judge Juan Merchan entered the courtroom at 9:27 a.m. EDT for Day 12 of Donald Trump’s criminal trial. As usual, Merchan said “Good morning” generally to the prosecution and defense teams, and a specific “Good morning, Mr. Trump” to the former president.
– Aysha Bagchi
Trump’s $9,000 gag order fines paid
We are still waiting for Judge Juan Merchan to rule on prosecutors’ allegations that Trump has violated the gag order in this case four additional times. That ruling could come today.
However, Merchan has already ruled Trump violated the order nine times, and on Friday a court spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY that the $9,000 in fines for those violations have been paid.
Merchan held Trump in criminal contempt as part of the earlier gag order ruling, and warned the former president that future violations could mean jail time.
– Aysha Bagchi
What does Trump’s trial schedule look like?
Trump’s hush money trial is expected to last six to eight weeks, according to a media advisory from New York’s Unified Court System. The courtroom normally opens at 9:30 a.m. eastern time, and the court takes off on Wednesday’s.
Judge Juan Merchan ruled Tuesday that court will break on May 17 so Trump can attend his son Barron Trump’s high school graduation, and on May 24 due to a juror scheduling conflict.
— Sudiksha Kochi
When does the Trump trial resume?
The court is expected to reconvene Monday morning at 9:30 a.m., where testimony in Trump’s hush money trial will resume.
Though a witness will take the stand Monday, it is not clear who that person will be.
Last week, former Trump spokesperson Hope Hicks got emotional on the stand as Trump lawyer Emily Bove began asking her questions on cross-examination.
Previous witnesses in the trial includeFormer National Enquirer boss David Pecker and Keith Davidson, a lawyer who previously represented porn starStormy Daniels and model Karen McDougal.
S udiksha KochiTrump Media auditor fined $12 million for ‘massive fraud’: SEC
The accountants for Donald Trump’s media company Truth Social were charged with “massive fraud” and fined millions of dollars, but Trump’s company wasn’t charged with wrongdoing, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.
BF Borgers and its owner, Benjamin Borgers, were charged with fraud that affected 1,500 SEC filings, including those of Trump Media, the SEC said. The company agreed to pay a $12 million civil penalty and Borgers agreed to pay $2 million, and both agreed to stop auditing.
Borgers didn’t properly prepare or maintain audit documentation, fabricated audit planning meetings and sometimes passed off previous audits for current ones, the SEC said.
“Trump Media looks forward to working with new auditing partners,” the company announced in a statement.
–Bart Jansen
Why did Hope Hicks start crying?
Hicks’ emotional breakdown Friday happened soon after Trump lawyer Emil Bove began to ask her introductory questions. It wasn’t clear what caused her emotions. It could have been facing questioning by the lawyer for her former boss, who could be imprisoned if convicted. It could also have been that something in the prosecution’s earlier questions and her responses was sinking in.
Just before Bove started his cross-examination, Hicks said in response to a prosecutor’s question that Trump has asked her how a post-2016 election story about Michael Cohen’s payment to Stormy Daniels “was playing.”
“I think Mr. Trump’s opinion was it was better to be dealing with it now, and that it would have been bad to have that story come out before the election,” Hicks said.
That is significant testimony for the prosecution, which is arguing that Trump committed felonies when he allegedly falsified business records because the purpose of the falsification was to cover up violating campaign finance laws through the $130,000 hush money payment. Trump may argue the payment wasn’t about the election at all, but was instead designed to shield his family from an embarrassing story.
– Aysha Bagchi
What is Trump on trial for?
Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors allege he was covering up unlawfully interfering in the 2016 presidential election through a $130,000 hush money payment from his then-lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, to porn star Stormy Daniels. Daniels says the two had sex shortly after Melania Trump gave birth to Barron Trump, a claim the former president denies.
– Aysha Bagchi
