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 Michael M. Santiago/GettyThe third week of Donald Trump's hush-money trial will come to a close on Friday after a second week of bombshell testimony about what prosecutors claim was a scheme to bury salacious, damaging stories about him in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.
The Manhattan courtroom on Thursday heard more from Keith Davidson, a lawyer who represented porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal—both of whom claimed to have had sexual liaisons with Trump (which he denies). Jurors heard about Davidson's shock when he realized that he may have contributed to the success of Trump's first bid for the White House, sending a dramatic election night text to Dylan Howard, the then-editor of the National Enquirer, reading: "What have we done?"
"Oh my God," replied Howard, who participated in the so-called "catch and kill" scheme at the Enquirer to shut down embarrassing stories about Trump. When asked in court what the exchange meant, Davidson explained that the pair had an understanding that "our activities may have in some way assisted the presidential campaign of Donald Trump."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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 Doug Mills/GettyDonald Trump tried—and failed—to lure the judge overseeing his New York criminal trial into the position of greenlighting his angry screeds to ensure they don't violate a gag order that seeks to stop him from continuing to intimidate witnesses and jurors.
The move came after Trump got slapped with $9,000 in fines and a warning of a potential stay in the slammer on Tuesday, then had to fend off the risk of an additional $4,000 in penalties Thursday morning.
After a trial lunch break, the former president's legal team approached New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan with a curious request: If Trump keeps getting into hot water for sharing news stories about the trial but still theoretically has a First Amendment right to speak about the case in general terms, would the judge be willing to review and OK posts before he makes them?
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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