In the Donald Trump hush money trial, Keith Davidson, the attorney for Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, returned to the witness stand on Thursday. Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass questioned the Los Angeles-based attorney as he continued his testimony, reliving the 2016 election day. In an interview with Michael Cohen, Davidson disclosed Daniels’ hush money settlement, explaining how Daniels consented to keep quiet in exchange for $130,000.
Davidson stated in court that she stopped trusting Cohen after “delays in funding” that followed the Daniels deal. He disclosed that if there was a breach, there would be a $1 million penalty. Additionally, it was made public that the confidential agreement had both Daniels’ and Trump’s pseudonyms. But the former president never signed the documents.
The events leading up to and following November 18, 2016, when Trump officially won the presidency, were then described by Davidson.In a screen grab of texts between Davidson and National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard, the former said, “What have we done?” and the latter responded, “Oh my God,” which the jurors viewed.
Gallows humour, to put it mildly. As per Davidson’s testimony, there existed a comprehension that our actions might have aided Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. He also mentioned how Cohen called him a lot in the days after the election, describing himself as “despondent” and “depressed”.
“It was a lengthy conversation, and he expressed to me that he was hopeless and depressed, and he used very colourful language regarding that period of his life,” Davidson recounted. He went on to say that Cohen acknowledged Trump had never paid him and that he would never be compensated for the $130,000 he had given Daniels in exchange for hush money.
He said something like, ‘Jesus Christ, can you f**king believe I’m not going to Washington, after everything I’ve done for that f**king guy?'” Davidson responded to Steinglass’s question about whether he could use Cohen’s “colourful language.” It’s unbelievable that I won’t be visiting Washington. You have no idea how many times I’ve saved that guy’s ass,” he said.
