Manhattan, United States

Donald Trump, after a day slamming his democrat rival Joe Biden in campaign rallies, returned to court on Thursday (May 2) for his hush-money trial.

Advertisment

Day 10 of the trial saw Trump and his team allege that the hush money was nothing short of "extortion".

Here are the key takeaways from Day 10 of Donald Trump's hush money trial.

Extortion, he said: Dragging Keith Davidson through the mud

Advertisment

Trump's lawyers, as per CNN, alleged that porn Star Stormy Daniels' former lawyer Davidson has a long history of extracting money from celebrities while going "up to the line without committing extortion."

Also read | Trump blasts Biden, says 'every single thing he touches turns to sh**,' pledges world peace

In an apparent attempt to undermine his credibility as a witness, Trump's attorney Emil Bove alleged Davidson had made alleged efforts to seek cash from Hulk Hogan in exchange for a sex tape involving the former pro wrestler. Names like Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen and Tila Tequila were also mentioned.

Advertisment

"You were pretty well-versed in getting right up to the line without committing extortion, right?" Bove asked. However, the allegations were denied by Davidson.

More fines? Another gag order trial

Prosecutors are alleging that Trump, even after the $9000 fine he faced for violating a gag order, has once again flouted the order.

The gag order, as per Reuters, prohibits him from making public comments about jurors, witnesses, and families of the judge and prosecutors if those statements are meant to interfere with the case.

Prosecutors slammed Trump for violating the order four more times and are seeking another $4000 fine. They cited four instances, including one where Trump during an interview alleged that the jury was on purpose picked from a heavily Democratic area.

Also read | Amid 'rigging' allegations, Trump refuses to dismiss possibility of violence if he loses 2024 elections

However, Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche told the judge "I’m making an argument that he didn’t," violate the gag order.

To which, presiding Judge Juan Merchan responded, "Well, I'm not agreeing with that argument".

Secret phone calls

The jury was made privy to a series of calls between Michael Cohen and Davidson. The calls were secretly recorded in 2018.

In one, Cohen, Trump's former fixer, could be heard telling Davidson about the Daniels deal, "I can't even tell you how many times he said to me, 'You know, I hate the fact that we did it.' And my comment to him was 'but every person that you've spoken to told you it was the right move'."

In another recording, Davidson can be heard telling Cohen that porn star Stormy Daniels wanted the $13,000 payment "more than you could ever imagine," because she feared Trump would lose the 2016 elections and her story would be "worth zero."

Hush money or non-disclosure agreement 

Davidson also confirmed that Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, signed a non-disclosure agreement with Trump to keep quiet about a 2006 sexual encounter.

However, he said he would not describe the payment as hush money and stated that "It was consideration in a civil settlement agreement."

'What have we done?': Recounting election day, 2016

Jurors also saw screenshots of texts between Davidson and Dylan Howard, the editor of the National Enquirer. In one instance, a text from Davidson said, "What have we done?" while Howard replied with "Oh my God."

"This was sort of gallows humour. There was an understanding that our activities in some way may have assisted the presidential campaign of Donald Trump," Davidson testified.

Additionally, he made a point to mention that Trump's former fixer Cohen, who was experiencing feelings of "despondency" and "depression" after the election, would frequently reach out to him through phone calls.

He claimed that Cohen told him that Trump never paid him and that he was never going to get reimbursed for his $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels.

"He said something to the effect of, 'Jesus Christ, can you f**king believe I'm not going to Washington, after everything I've done for that f**king guy? I can't believe I'm not going to Washington. I've saved that guy's ass so many times, you don't even know'."

(With inputs from agencies)