Hush-money trial live: Trump appears to repeat call for lifting of gag order after Pecker testimony ends – as it happened

Here is a wrap-up of the day’s key events:

• David Pecker, the former National Enquirer publisher and Trump ally, took to the stand in the Manhattan courtroom for a fourth day of testimony.

• Trump’s lawyers continued their cross-examination of Pecker, presenting a granular look into a hush-money scheme that prosecutors allege was meant to sway the 2016 election in Trump’s favor.

• Trump attorney Emil Bove’s questions prompted Pecker to effectively say that coverage beneficial to Trump had been business as usual, as the defense team tried to chip away at the prosecution’s claim that there had been an illicit conspiracy to sway the 2016 election.

• Pecker testified that the Enquirer had run negative stories about the Clintons as part of the effort to help the Trump campaign, agreed to in a meeting in August 2015, as the defense attempted to show that Pecker helped run positive stories about Trump and negative stories about other politicians even before the alleged catch-and-kill scheme.

• Trump’s legal team also appeared to try driving wedges into the notion that Trump’s 2006 affair with Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, had been any real threat to Trump’s reputation. Pecker admitted Trump had not paid him any money directly related to McDougal.

• Rhona Graff, Trump’s longtime executive assistant, was called to the stand on Friday afternoon as the prosecution’s second witness.

• Pecker testified earlier in the week that Graff had often been the conduit for his communications with Trump, routing his calls and summoning him to a January 2017 meeting at Trump Tower in which he and Trump discussed some of the hush-money arrangements at issue in the case.

• Graff testified that contact information for Daniels and McDougal had been in Trump’s contacts. She said Daniels had once been at Trump’s offices in Trump Tower, and that she had assumed Daniels was there to discuss potentially being a contestant on The Apprentice.

• Gary Farro was called as the prosecution’s third witness. Farro works at Flagstar Bank as a private client adviser and was previously at First Republic, which was used by Cohen.

• Prosecutors accused Trump of violating a court-imposed gag order – which bars him from speaking publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, jurors, court staff and their relatives – four more times over the course of the week, bringing the total violations to 14, prosecutors allege.

• Prosecutors said judge Juan Merchan should hold Trump in contempt of court and fine him $1,000 for each violation. Merchan has yet to rule on the alleged violations.

• Nevertheless, in a post written, unusually, in the third person on his Truth Social account, the former president has once again demanded Judge Juan Merchan lift a gag order in his trial on charges of falsifying business documents. “We request that Judge Merchan immediately LIFT THE GAG ORDER, so that President Trump is able to freely state his views, feelings, and policies,” the post said.

That’s it as we wrap up the blog for today. Thank you for following along.

With court ending for today, here’s a look at how David Pecker says he ran negative stories on Hillary Clinton to boost Donald Trump.

The Guardian’s Lauren Aratani and Victoria Bekiempis report:

The testimony of former tabloid publisher David Pecker in Donald Trump’s criminal trial on Friday presented a granular look into a hush-money scheme that prosecutors allege was meant to sway the 2016 election in the real estate mogul’s favor.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Emil Bove’s questions prompted Pecker to in effect say that coverage beneficial to Trump had been business as usual, as the ex-president’s legal team tries to chip away at the prosecution’s claim that there had been an illicit conspiracy to sway the 2016 race.

Pecker was instrumental in coordinating three hush-money payments that were made during the 2016 election campaign to quash negative stories about Trump.

In cross-examination on his fourth day of testimony, Pecker was grilled by Bove about whether he benefited from running positive stories about Trump and negative stories about other politicians even before the alleged catch-and-kill scheme.

Pecker testified that the Enquirer had run negative stories about the Clintons as part of the effort to help the Trump campaign, agreed to in a meeting on August 2015.

For the full story, click here:

26 Apr 202416.31 EDT

Victoria Bekiempis

Farro’s testimony is done for the day, and the jurors have left.

As Trump left the courtroom for the weekend, he seemed to flatten his lips, as if in recognition of an observer.

26 Apr 202416.30 EDT

Victoria Bekiempis

Farro just discussed Cohen’s interest in opening up an account for Essential Consultants LLC, which he claimed was for a real estate consulting business.

While testimony about bank records is most often very dry, observers have had a brief reprieve due to Farro’s sense of humor. “When Mr Cohen called me, I was on the golf course,” Farro said, offering a wry smile. “Very cliche for a banker, I know.”

26 Apr 202416.18 EDT

Victoria Bekiempis

Farro is now talking about Michael Cohen’s establishment of a business bank account for Resolution Consultants LLC.

Farro explained that it hadn’t officially been opened because Cohen hadn’t deposited money in the account.

26 Apr 202416.03 EDT

Donald Trump appears to repeat call for lifting of gag order

Victoria Bekiempis

In a post written, unusually, in the third person on Donald Trump’s Truth Social account, the former president has once again demanded Judge Juan Merchan lift a gag order in his trial on charges of falsifying business documents:

45th President Donald J. Trump is again the Republican Nominee for President of the United States, and is currently dominating in the Polls. However, he is being inundated by the Media with questions because of this Rigged Biden Trial, which President Trump is not allowed to comment on, or answer, because of Judge Juan Merchan’s UNPRECEDENTED AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL Gag Order.

…

We request that Judge Merchan immediately LIFT THE GAG ORDER, so that President Trump is able to freely state his views, feelings, and policies. He is asking for his Constitutional Right to Free Speech. If it is not granted, this again becomes a Rigged Election!

Prosecutors, meanwhile, have alleged that Trump has violated Merchan’s order prohibiting him from speaking publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, jurors, court staff and their relatives 14 times. They’ve asked the judge to hold Trump in contempt, but he has yet to rule on the request.

26 Apr 202415.40 EDT

Victoria Bekiempis

The next witness called to the stand is Gary Farro, who works at Flagstar Bank.

Let’s hear what he has to say.

After Rhona Graff’s testimony, Donald Trump left the courtroom without speaking to reporters gathered in the hallway outside.

Someone from the press shouted a question about why Stormy Daniels had been at Trump Tower, but Trump did not respond.

26 Apr 202415.29 EDT

Trump lawyer questions Graff whether he was distracted while signing checks

Victoria Bekiempis

In her cross-examination of Graff, Susan Necheles appeared to try to set the stage for the defense that Trump might have been distracted while he was signing checks.

Was he multi-tasking when signing checks? Was he on the phone? she asked. “I believe it happened. It wasn’t unusual,” Graff said.

26 Apr 202415.23 EDT

Graff departs witness stand after testimony on Stormy Daniels' relationship with Trump

Victoria Bekiempis

Donald Trump’s former executive assistant Rhona Graff has departed the witness stand after testimony in which she elaborated on how her former boss may have come to know adult film actor Stormy Daniels.

As Graff was walking out of the courtroom, she passed Trump, who stood to greet her. It was unclear what he said to her, but one had the impression that he thanked her. This all happened in front of the jury.

26 Apr 202415.20 EDT

Victoria Bekiempis

Necheles worked hard to downplay Daniels’ presence at Trump Tower.

She asked about the evolution of The Apprentice. “He wanted people who were sort of controversial sometimes, right?” Necheles asked. Did Graff ever get the sense that Daniels was trying out for a slot?

“I vaguely recall hearing … that she was one of the people that may be an interesting contestant on the show,” Graff said.

“And the prosecutor just referred to her as an adult film actress, correct?” Necheles asked.

“Uh, yes,” Graff replied.

Necheles then asked: ”You understood that to mean, colloquially speaking, a porn star?”

“I’d say that’s a good synonym,” Graff replied.

Asked if she’d heard Trump say that Daniels was potentially being considered, Graff replied: “I can’t recall a specific instance where I heard it, it was part of the office chatter.”

“You understood that she was there to discuss being cast for The Apprentice, correct?” Necheles inquired.

“I assumed that,” Graff said.

Susan Necheles, an attorney for Trump, is handling the cross-examination of Graff.

“Was he a good boss?” Necheles asked early on.

“I think that he was fair,” said Graff, who worked for Trump for 34 years. “He was fair and a respectful boss to me … all that time.”

26 Apr 202415.05 EDT

Victoria Bekiempis

Hoffinger also asked Graff about Trump’s email contacts.

Graff said that Karen McDougal’s information was in Trump’s contacts; there was also someone named “Stormy”.

Hoffinger asked whether, on one occasion, she saw Stormy Daniels at Trump Tower.

“I have a vague recollection of seeing her in the reception area on the 26th floor,” she said, adding that to the best of her recollection, this was before the 2016 election.

“When you saw her at Trump Tower, did you know she was an adult film actress?” Hoffinger asked.

”Yes, I did,” Graff replied.

An attorney for Trump then rose to cross-examine Graff.

26 Apr 202415.02 EDT

Victoria Bekiempis

Graff, who was Trump’s longtime executive assistant, said that she is testifying pursuant to a subpoena.

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked whether she had lawyers with her today. Graff said yes. Who was paying for the attorneys, Hoffinger pressed” “The Trump Organization,” Graff said.

And who did she understand to be the current owner of the Trump Organization? “Mr Trump,” Graff replied.

26 Apr 202414.51 EDT

Prosecution calls Trump's longtime assistant Rhona Graff to witness stand

Victoria Bekiempis

David Pecker is now off the witness stand after Donald Trump’s attorneys briefly cross-examined him a second time.

The prosecution has now called its second witness: Rhona Graff, Trump’s longtime executive assistant.

She isn’t in the spotlight much, but New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, did subpoena Graff for testimony two years ago as part of her civil investigation into his business dealings. That case ultimately resulted in a judge issuing a $454m judgment against the former president earlier this year. Here’s more on Graff’s testimony:

26 Apr 202414.38 EDT

Victoria Bekiempis

We’re again discussing David Pecker’s unwillingness to deal with the Stormy Daniel story – and why he nonetheless urged Michael Cohen to snap up her account.

On the stand, Pecker recalled discussing money for payoffs with Cohen. “I said to Michael Cohen, after paying for the doorman and the Karen McDougal story, I wasn’t going to pay anything further and I wasn’t a bank,” Pecker told jurors. He also described, again, his discussions with Dylan Howard when the Stormy Daniels story came to light.

“When he first reach out to you about the story, what did you tell Dylan Howard?” Steinglass asked.

“I told Dylan Howard that there is no possible way would I buy this story for $120,000 and I didn’t want to have anything to do with a porn star.”

Why did he contact Cohen about Daniels?

“Based on our original agreement,” Pecker recalled, “any stories … that would be very embarrassing, I want to communicate that to Michael Cohen right away. If he heard it from somebody else, [Cohen] would go ballistic.”

“But you were still going to fulfil your obligation … so that the campaign could squash it?” Steinglass pressed.

Pecker said yes.