Donald Trump’s criminal trial resumed Tuesday in a Manhattan courtroom, focusing on the hush-money deal at the center of allegations against the former president.
The day’s first witness was that Cohen, who calls himself Trump’s “fixer,” was accused of paying adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush money during the 2016 presidential campaign. Gary Faro, a banker who worked with Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. She is accused of having had a sexual relationship with President Trump 10 years ago. Trump denies her claims.
Mr. Faro, who was an executive at First Republic Bank in 2016, testified Friday that Mr. Cohen contacted him in mid-October of that year to open a bank account with a fledgling company called Essential Consultants LLC.
Mr. Faro told jurors that Mr. Cohen described his company to the bank as a “real estate consulting firm for the purpose of collecting fees for investment consulting services related to real estate transactions.” Prosecutors characterized it as a shell company set up to hide the source of the funds, which were paid just before Election Day.
Mr. Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records related to Mr. Cohen’s repayment of payments to Mr. Daniels. He pleaded not guilty.
Faro’s testimony is expected to continue throughout Tuesday morning. No court proceedings were held Monday.
It was not immediately clear who would take a stand after Faro. Despite the gag order, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has kept its witness list close to public, citing Trump’s social media posts criticizing potential witnesses Cohen and Daniels.
Prosecutors have asked a judge to hold Trump in criminal contempt for the post, and a hearing on additional gag order violations is scheduled for Thursday. The Manhattan district attorney has already asked the judge presiding over the case, Juan Marchan, to fine Trump and warn him that he could be jailed.
