On the third week of Donald Trump's criminal hush-money trial, the prosecution called to the stand lawyer Keith Davidson who brokered a hush money deal with porn star Stormy Daniels
Trump is accused of trying to cover up a $130,000 (£104,500) payment to Daniels before he won the 2016 election, which prosecutors say was election interference
Davidson testified he spoke with the National Enquirer's editor about how things could get worse for Trump if Daniels spoke
Davidson also advised Playboy model Karen McDougal on her alleged ''romantic affair'' with Trump and talked to the Enquirer about selling her story
Earlier, Judge Merchan fined Trump a total of $9,000 for breaching a gag order and being in contempt of court
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records and denies any sexual encounter with Daniels
That's it for the BBC at the Trump trial today.
Return to the BBC on Thursday - court takes a break tomorrow - for our continued coverage of the Trump criminal trial.
We'll bring you the latest from inside and outside the courtroom.
This page was edited by Phil McCausland in New York City.
Brandon Livesay and Kayla Epstein reported from the courtroom to bring you the latest.
Cheers!
It was a long day in court, but prosecutors used their time to question four different witnesses.
Here's what happened in case you missed it:
Nada Tawfik
Reporting from New York
Image source, Getty ImagesKeith Davidson’s testimony gave jurors more insight into Michael Cohen’s personality.
He was referred to as a jerk and someone who people didn’t particularly want to deal with.
Might these unflattering descriptions undermine the Manhattan District Attorney’s star witness? Well prosecutors typically want to bring out the bad stuff before the other side can.
Jurors also are getting a look at how far Michael Cohen was willing to go for Donald Trump at the time, a loyal lieutenant if you will, years before he ultimately cooperated with investigators.
And don’t discount the power of those brief video clips where Trump called women making claims against him liars and where he called Michael Cohen a very talented lawyer and a great friend.
Prosecutors are hoping those discredit Trump.
Court will resume at 9:30 local time (14:30 BST) on Thursday, with a contempt of court hearing regarding Trump's gag order violations.
Trump was ordered to pay a $9,000 fine, but prosecutors will likely want to discuss his continued abuse of the gag order. It requires him to refrain from attacking witnesses, members of the jury and others involved in the case.
Jurors are scheduled to be seated at 10:00, which is when Davidson's testimony will continue.
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
Davidson's testimony provides an important piece of the puzzle for the Manhattan DA's case.
Prosecutors are trying to portray this case as truly about election fraud, alleging Mr Trump was conspiring to influence the outcome of the 2016 election by keeping negative stories from the public.
They have argued Mr Trump was desperate to bury Ms Daniel’s story in the aftermath of the Access Hollywood tape, because an allegation of a sexual encounter with an adult film star could have further doomed his presidential bid.
Today, Davidson gave them an important piece of evidence - or at least, his texts did.
He had texted Dylan Howard that Daniels' story would put the "final nail in the coffin" for the campaign.
Howard also viewed Trump as ruined. It shows that they knew how bad Daniels' story could be for the campaign.
Image source, EPACourt closed for the day, and the former president seemed angry and frustrated when he spoke to the press outside.
"This is a trial that is nonsense," he said.
He claimed that Justice Merchan was "totally conflicted" and "rushing this case" - and he also took shots at the judges involved in cases he recently lost. .
The presumptive Republican nominee also expressed his outrage that he wasn't able to be out on the campaign trail.
"It’s a joke. I’m sitting here and that’s what they want," he said.
Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court
Before court wrapped for the day, it was clear that getting the Stormy Daniels hush-money cash from Michael Cohen was a drama for Keith Davidson.
The court was shown an email from Davidson to Cohen on 26 October 2016 that included wiring instructions.
He sent this because of "Cohen's repeated assertion that he didn't have my wiring instructions", despite Davidson saying that he did.
"Michael Cohen had called me and said, 'hey everything is a-ok'. We got everything that we need. And you know, we are sending you the money.'"
"I told him that I didn't believe him. And he forwarded this email to me."
The court is shown an email from First Republic Bank that showed Cohen had the funds available.
Jonathan Csapo
Reporting outside the courtroom
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton just held an impromptu press conference in the park.
He said he wanted to be here to support Donald Trump. He said he can relate to the former president, since Paxton faced his own "sham" trial earlier this year.
The Texas politician faced impeachment after he requested $3.3 million in taxpayer money to settle a lawsuit with whistleblowers from his office.
Paxton also settled a felony securities fraud case last month. He agreed to pay $300,000 in restitution for misleading investors, and he committed to completing 100 hours of community service and 15 hours of legal ethics traning.
When asked if he would be attending the trial further, Paxton replied he has a day job to get back to.
He said he was most surprised that the Trump legal team was not objecting more to hearsay, and he spoke to them about it.
Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court
We've hit a snag here with several objections from Trump's legal team.
They don't like the way the prosecution is asking questions to Keith Davidson about who paid the hush-money.
The judge agrees, and sustains several objections.
We have also had two sidebars with the judge and both legal teams, where they've gathered at the front of the courtroom and talked at length.
Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court
Image source, Getty ImagesThe close relationship between Michael Cohen and Donald Trump is now being discussed.
"It was part of his identity, and he let you know it every opportunity he could that he was working for Donald Trump," Keith Davidson says of Cohen.
Cohen was once Trump's personal lawyer and adviser, one of his closest allies. T
hat relationship later imploded, and the two men have a history of verbal attacks on one another since their falling out.
Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court
Court is back from the afternoon break.
Donald Trump is sitting between two of his lawyers, glancing at two screens that are once again showing text messages.
Image source, ReutersKen Paxton entering the courtroom
Trump has his son Eric in the audience, but he also is joined by a few other friends as well.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is seated in the front row, a few seats to the left of Eric Trump.
The younger Trump is seated next to Susie Wiles, a Republican operative who is reportedly acting as a politicial guide through the former president's multiple trials.
Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court
Keith Davidson says he did not believe Michael Cohen’s excuses for failure to fork over the payment.
“I thought he was trying to kick the can down the road until after the election,” Davidson tells the court.
And on that note, the court will go on an afternoon break.
Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court
We now see an email from Keith Davidson to Michael Cohen that says his client deemed the agreement “cancelled”.
The email also says he will no longer represent Daniels.
Davidson tells the court he wrote this so Cohen would no longer call him.
He says this email is where “push came to shove” and that “this deal is over”.
”I said to both Cohen and my client, I’m out.”
Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court
Image source, ReutersWe’re now hearing how there was conflict between Cohen and Donald Trump about getting the cash paid to Stormy Daniels.
“I called him and said Michael.. this is a very bad situation. I don’t believe, really, a word that you’re saying,” Davidson says.
Cohen then responded: “He said ‘my guy is in (expletive) five states today,’” inferring it’s been hard to get hold of his boss to make the payment.
Davidson says his impression was Cohen did not have the authority to “fund the deal” without Trump.
Cohen also demanded that only he retained a copy of the $130,000 agreement with Stormy Daniels, Davidson tells the court.
He says that is very unusual.
Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court
David Dennison is the name used for Donald Trump in the Stormy Daniels hush-money deal.
Keith Davidson says he came up with the name for Trump to ensure confidentiality.
And how did he come up with the name?
It turns out David Dennison was on a high school hockey team with Davidson.
He’s not too happy with Davidson either, the court hears.
Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court
Image source, Getty ImagesAMI “washed their hands of the deal” with Stormy Daniels and “handed it off to Michael Cohen”, according to Keith Davidson.
Davidson tells the court he was approached by a colleague that told him she had the “easiest deal” he would ever see, and he just had to deal with that “asshole” (meaning Michael Cohen).
He snorts with a bit of a laugh as he tells the court that it would be the easiest deal of his life.
Clearly it’s not looking so easy from the witness stand.
Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court
Keith Davidson says the moral of the story with the latest series of text messages just shown to court is “no-one wanted to talk to Cohen”.
It’s been a rough day for Michael Cohen today, despite him not even being here.
Multiple witnesses have described him as being someone they hated dealing with. He was even referenced as “some jerk” in evidence shown to the jury.
Cohen will be a key witness in this trial, but we don’t yet know when he will testify.
Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court
In a message that contained an expletive, Keith Davidson told tabloid editor Dylan Howard that Trump was ruined after the release of the Access Hollywood tape.
“Wave the white flag,” Howard responded.
Davidson says the pair talked about how it could get a lot worse for Trump if Stormy Daniels talked.
This line of questioning from the prosecution is attempting to push the narrative that the Stormy Daniels story could have seriously harmed Trump’s political ambitions if it was made public so close to the Access Hollywood tape.
Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court
This is a fascinating but sordid display of how these tabloid stories are shopped and sold.
Keith Davidson says the appetite for Stormy Daniels’ story had died off, but resurfaced around the time of the Access Hollywood tape.
Davidson explains the tape as a hot mic moment that recorded statements from Donald Trump and Billy Bush that were “troublesome”.
“Before Access Hollywood tape there was very little interest” in the Stormy Daniels story, he says.
He said interest “reached a crescendo” after the Access Hollywood tape.