Stormy Daniels ‘likely’ called as witness in Trump hush-money trial, lawyer says – live | Donald Trump trials

“Probably” is that Stormy Danielsadult film star, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, will be called to testify today, her attorney told The Associated Press.

The $130,000 payment to Daniels is at the center of that lawsuit.

Trump said earlier Tuesday that he was “recently told” who Tuesday’s witness would be and complained that he should have been given more notice, the Associated Press reported.

Three key takeaways from Monday

Hugo Lowell

Donald TrumpA New York criminal trial entered a new phase Monday as prosecutors tackled the alleged falsification of business records to cover up secret payments to Stormy Danielshaving previously called witnesses who described a plot to kill the story.

Three main takeaways for the day:

• Prosecutors argued that Cohen’s “expenses” were not processed as expenses

• Trump claims “legal fees” is a drop-down label, not a sham

• Trump warned of jail time for further violations of the order

For more information on these points, you can read the full story below:

Good morning and welcome to our live broadcast on Donald Trumpthe criminal trial against his payment of secret money to an adult movie star Stormy Daniels.

The case resumed yesterday after a weekend recess. It was another busy day with a stern warning from the referee, Juan Mercan, that further violations of an order barring Trump from making inflammatory comments outside of court about witnesses, jurors and others closely related to the case could lead to jail time.

The $1,000 fine imposed on Monday marks the second since the trial began last month Trump is penalized for violating the order. He was fined $9,000 last week, $1,000 for each of the nine violations.

“It looks like the $1,000 fines are does not serve as a deterrent. Therefore, going forward, this court will have to consider a prison sentence,” Murchan said before jurors were brought into the courtroom.

The first witness called this week was Jeffrey McConneyformer Trump Organization comptroller and senior vice president.

Through McConney’s testimony, the prosecution sought to prove that Trump had intimate knowledge of the companies’ personal and financial affairs — and that the payments to Michael Cohen were unusual for his boss.

Next was Deborah Tarasoff, who works for the Trump Organization as an Accounts Payable Supervisor. Tarasov’s time on the bench seemed to show just how intertwined Trump is with his underlings. Cohen, she said, worked next to her and then elsewhere on the 26th floor of Trump Tower, his company’s nerve center.

Here is a brief summary of their testimony from yesterday:

• Deborah Tarasovformer Trump Organization accountant testifies Trump personally signed checks to reimburse his ‘fixer’ Michael Cohenwho made the adult movie star payment Stormy Daniels that is at the heart of this case. Showing that Trump signed them chips counters the defense’s claim that Trump was detached from the transactions.

• Tarasov was taken through a series of checks to Cohen, which she cut, then sent to Trump for his signature while the former president was in the White House. The goal appeared to be to give the jury a clear understanding of the regular practices at the company and how the payment of money to Daniels deviated from normal procedures to the point of illegality.

• Jeffrey McConneythe retired controller and senior vice president of the Trump Organization, was pressed by prosecutors about the company’s accounting and reporting procedures, focusing on the argument that Trump had full control over his personal and company finances and authorized and was aware of the purpose of the payment to Daniels.

• Trump’s lawyer Emile Beauvais led McConey to admit that he never spoke to Trump about the payments to Cohen and was never directed to record the payments in a certain way or incorrectly.

• Bove suggested there was no tampering, in part because of the narrow way the Trump Organization payments had to be recorded, using a drop-down menu of an “antiquated” software recording system.

• McConney also acknowledged that Cohen was Trump’s personal attorney and said he always recorded payments to the attorneys as “legal expenses” on the ledger during his more than 36 years with the company.

of Donald Trump criminal trial for paying secret money to an adult film star Stormy Daniels continues Tuesday — and it could take at least another two weeks for prosecutors to finish presenting their case.

Trump complained about it as he left. Repeating previous false claims, he insisted the trial was merely a ruse to keep the presumptive GOP presidential nominee “out of the campaign.”

“I thought they were going to end today,” Trump said. “The judge is so happy with another two or three weeks because everyone wants to keep me out of the campaign. That’s all, interference in elections”.

Trump will have to be careful what he says after he was fined another $1,000 on Monday for violating an order barring him from attacking witnesses, jurors and other key people involved in the trial.

It was the 10th time he had been charged with a crime and the judge, Juan Mercan, warned him once again that he could face jail time for continued violations.