Former Trump executive assistant Madeleine Westerhout leaves the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse on May 9, 2024 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | getty images
Prosecutors said Friday they plan to call only two more witnesses Donald Trump‘s criminal case, and they may rest their case by the end of next week.
One of those final two witnesses will be Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, who is reportedly expected to begin testifying on Monday.
Cohen’s hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels in late 2016 are at the center of a landmark lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Late in the day, Trump’s lawyers complained to Judge Juan Marchan that Cohen is regularly insulting his former boss on social media, but the former president is prohibited from responding because of a gag order that protects Trump from the lawsuit. Prevents people from talking about witnesses.
“It’s becoming more and more of a problem every day that President Trump is not allowed to respond,” defense attorney Todd Blanch told Judge Juan Merchan after the jury left for the day.
Lead prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said the district attorney’s office has asked Cohen and other witnesses not to talk about the ongoing trial. But ultimately, they cannot control the speech of witnesses.
Merchan asked prosecutors to explain to Cohen that the judge was asking him to refrain from discussing the case publicly. Steinglass said he would pass the message on to Cohen.
Former US President Donald Trump walks to speak to the press at the end of the day of his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments related to extramarital affairs at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse in New York City on May 9, 2024.
Angela Weiss | via reuters
Merchan had already rejected Trump’s request on Thursday to modify the gag order so that the former president could publicly attack porn star Stormy Daniels after she testified.
Explaining his reasoning for denying the request, Marchan said, “My concern is to protect the integrity of the proceedings as a whole.”
Marchen has already held Trump in contempt of court 10 times for violating the gag order.
Trump’s Oval Office calls and schedule
Friday’s testimony featured Madeleine Westerhout, a former top Oval Office operations aide who provided close insight into Trump’s operations at the White House.
Westerhout testified that Trump was “very upset” when the $130,000 payment to Daniels first became a major news story in 2018.
“The whole situation was very unpleasant,” Westerhout said during cross-examination by Trump’s lawyer.
Westerhout said he spoke to Trump at the time about Daniels, who he says she had sex with at a celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe in 2006.
“Trump was very upset by it,” Westerhout recalled.
“My understanding is that he knew it would be detrimental to his family,” he said. At the time the alleged one-night stand occurred, Trump was married to his wife, Melania Trump.
Defense lawyers have tried to undermine the prosecution’s argument in the case, saying the hush money payment to Daniels was to help Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
They argue that Trump was also worried about what effect the sex story would have on his wife and children.
On Thursday, Westerhout testified about Trump’s work habits at the White House, and he confirmed a list of high-profile contacts he compiled for Trump in 2017. Contact list included “SNL” producers Lorne Michaelsnfl quarterback tom brady And tennis great Serena Williams.
Ex-tabloid publisher David Pecker and Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, were also listed. The two men are at the center of Manhattan prosecutors’ case, which accuses Trump of falsifying business records regarding hush money payments as part of a scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Westerhout painted a glowing portrait of Trump, praising his work ethic and his relationship with his wife. She cried while describing her condition was fired from his job After criticizing Trump’s family members at a dinner with reporters in 2019.
Her portrayal of Trump as a devoted husband stands in stark contrast to the testimony of Daniels, who graphically detailed her sexual relationship with Trump in seven hours of testimony on Thursday.