Trump faces prospect of additional sanctions in hush money trial as key witness resumes testimony

NEW YORK -- NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump faces the imaginable of further sanctions successful his hush wealth proceedings arsenic helium returns to tribunal Thursday for different contempt proceeding followed by grounds from a lawyer who represented 2 women who person said they had intersexual encounters with the erstwhile president.

The grounds from lawyer Keith Davidson is seen arsenic a captious gathering artifact for the prosecution's lawsuit that Trump and his allies schemed to hide unflattering stories successful the run-up to the 2016 statesmanlike election. He is 1 of aggregate cardinal players expected to beryllium called to the basal successful beforehand of prosecutors' prima witness, Michael Cohen, Trump's erstwhile lawyer and idiosyncratic fixer.

Prosecutors are seeking $1,000 fines for each of 4 comments by Trump that they accidental violated a judge's gag bid barring him from attacking witnesses, jurors and others intimately connected to the case. Such a punishment would beryllium connected apical of a $9,000 good that Judge Juan M. Merchan imposed connected Tuesday related to 9 abstracted gag bid violations that helium found.

It was not instantly wide erstwhile Merchan mightiness regularisation connected the petition for caller sanctions, but the imaginable of further punishment underscores the challenges Trump the statesmanlike campaigner is facing successful adjusting to the relation of transgression suspect taxable to rigid courtroom protocol that helium does not control. It besides remains to beryllium seen whether immoderate rebuke from the tribunal volition pb Trump to set his behaviour fixed the run way payment helium believes helium derives from coating the lawsuit arsenic politically motivated.

During a one-day interruption from the proceedings connected Wednesday, Trump kept up his condemnation of the case, though stopped abbreviated of comments that mightiness tally afoul of the gag order.

“There is nary crime," helium told supporters successful Waukesha, Wisconsin. “I person a crooked judge, is simply a wholly conflicted judge.”

The trial, present successful its 2nd week of testimony, has exposed the underbelly of tabloid journalism practices and the protections, for a price, afforded to Trump during his palmy tally for president successful 2016.

The lawsuit concerns hush wealth paid to squelch embarrassing stories, including from a porn histrion and a erstwhile Playboy model, and reimbursements by Trump that prosecutors accidental were intentionally fraudulent and designed to conceal the existent intent of the payments and to interfere successful the election.

The erstwhile steadfast of the National Enquirer, David Pecker, testified past week that helium offered to beryllium the “eyes and ears” of the Trump run and described successful item his relation successful purchasing a sordid communicative from a New York City doorman that was aboriginal determined to not beryllium existent arsenic good arsenic accusations of an extramarital matter with erstwhile Playboy exemplary Karen McDougal.

The extremity was to forestall the stories from getting out, a interest that was particularly pointed successful the aftermath of the disclosure of a 2005 “Access Hollywood” signaling successful which helium was heard describing grabbing women without their permission.

A abstracted $130,000 outgo was made by Cohen, Trump's erstwhile lawyer and idiosyncratic fixer, to porn histrion Stormy Daniels, to forestall her claims of a 2006 intersexual brushwood with Trump from surfacing.

Trump’s institution past reimbursed Cohen and logged the payments to him arsenic ineligible expenses, prosecutors person said successful charging the erstwhile president with 34 felony counts of falsifying concern records — a complaint punishable by up to 4 years successful prison.

Returning to the basal Thursday volition beryllium Keith Davidson, a lawyer who represented some Daniels and McDougal successful their negotiations with the National Enquirer and Cohen.

He testified that helium arranged a gathering astatine his Los Angeles bureau during the summertime of 2016 to spot whether the tabloid’s genitor institution American Media, Inc. was funny successful McDougal’s story. At first, they demurred, saying she “lacked documentary grounds of the interaction,” Davidson testified.

But the tabloid astatine Pecker's behest yet bought the rights, and Davidson testified that helium understood — and McDougal preferred — it would ne'er beryllium published. One crushed for that, helium said, is that determination was an “unspoken affiliation” betwixt Pecker and Trump and a tendency by the institution that owned the Enquirer to not people stories that would wounded Trump.

The greeting volition statesman with different gag bid hearing. The 4 statements astatine contented were made by Trump earlier Merchan warned connected Tuesday that further violations could effect successful jailhouse time.

They see comments to reporters and successful interviews assailing Cohen's integrity.