Davidson texted Howard ‘what have we done’ as 2016 election went Trump’s way
Joshua Steinglass is now asking Keith Davidson about a series of exchanges on election night, when it appeared that Donald Trump would win.
“There was an understanding that our activities may have in some way assisted the campaign of Donald Trump,” Keith Davidson said on the stand.
Prosecutors showed his election night texts with Dylan Howard. Davidson wrote “what have we done?” and Howard wrote back “oh my god”.
Key events
Here are some images coming through the newswires:
Sam Levine
Prosecutors just had a bit of a stumble with Keith Davidson, as they questioned him about why he told CNN in 2018 that he believed Michael Cohen paid for the deal with Stormy Daniels.
Davidson had previously testified that he believed Trump would ultimately pay, but as election day neared and the deal was not going through, Cohen said “Fuck it, I’ll do it myself.”
After the election, Cohen spoke to Davidson and bemoaned that he had not been paid back. This is an obstacle for prosecutors because Davidson is not linking Trump to the payments.
Keith Davidson’s direct testimony ends for now with one last query from Joshua Steinglass. “Mr Davidson, do you have any stake in the outcome of this trial?”
“No, not at all,” Davidson said.
Joshua Steinglass is now walking Keith Davidson through texts with Michael Cohen on 31 January 2018 where Trump’s then consigliere was frenetic.
“She just denied the letter,” Cohen said. “Claiming it’s not her signature.”
“You said she did it in front of you,” Cohen also texted.
“She did. Impossible – she posted it on her own Twitter page,” Davidson said.
Cohen then pointed to Stormy Daniels’ appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show.
“They showed her signature and she claimed it was not hers on Kimmel.”
Steinglass asked Davidson: “How did you respond?”
“WTF.”
“I hate to ask, but what does that mean?“ Steinglass asked of the acronym.
“Sort of a signal of exasperation, ‘what the fuck,’” Davidson said.
Trump lawyers likely to use Stormy Daniels’ lawyer’s hush money testimony to their advantage
Hugo Lowell
Donald Trump’s lawyers are likely to seize on Keith Davidson, Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, insisting that he would never characterize the $130,000 payment to Daniels as “hush money” but as “consideration for a settlement agreement” – which sounds legal-related.
Recall that the Manhattan DA’s underlying case is that Trump falsified business records because the $130,000 to Daniels was recorded as legal expenses or legal retainers to Michael Cohen. It is likely that Trump’s lawyers will try to argue “consideration” is a legal expense.
The statement read, “Over the past few weeks, I have been asked countless times to comment on reports of an alleged sexual relationship I had with Donald Trump many, many, many years ago.”
“I’m not denying this affair because I was paid ‘hush money,’” the statement read, adding, “I’m denying this affair because it never happened.”
“I will have no further comment on this matter. Please feel free to check me out on Instagram at @thestormydaniels.”
Again, asked about whether this statement was accurate, Davidson focused on linguistic intricacies. “I think it’s technically true.”
How was this technically true, Joshua Steinglass pressed.
“It’s out,” Michael Cohen texted Keith Davidson on 30 January 2018.
“Apparently there was a news article that had been published. I was receiving hundreds of phone calls at my office,” Davidson said of an account of Stormy Daniels’ and Donald Trump’s affair.
That night, Daniels was supposed to go on Jimmy Kimmel.
He described the drafting of a Daniels’ denial before that appearance. He was in the Marilyn Monroe suite at the Roosevelt Hotel, in Hollywood. “There were makeup artists,” he recalled.
Stormy Daniels’ lawyer says denial of hush money ‘technically correct’
Keith Davidson insisted that her denial was “technically correct.”
“I think you’d have to hone in on the definition of romantic, sexual, and affair,” Davidson said.
“Well, I don’t think that anyone had ever alleged that any interaction between she and Mr Trump was romantic.”
“OK…” Steinglass said with a laugh.
“How about sexual?”
“Well that would be a sexual and/or romantic [affair],” Davidson said.
Steinglass asked about Daniels’ statement that “rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false.”
“How is that technically true,” Steinglass said, later asking, “Would you use the phrase hush money?”
“I would never use that word.”
“And what would be the word that you would use to describe it?”
“Consideration” in a civil settlement, Davidson said.
Sam Levine
Keith Davidson is walking through the January 2018 statement Stormy Daniels gave, denying an affair and is making a tortured argument that if you read it in a highly technical way you could construe the statement to be accurate.
For example, the statement says “I recently became aware that certain news outlets are alleging that I had a sexual and/or romantic affair with Donald Trump”. Davidson is telling the court no one would consider the interaction to be romantic, prompting loud laughter in the overflow room.
Right now, Joshua Steinglass is questioning Keith Davidson on Stormy Daniels’ 2018 denial of an alleged affair with Donald Trump, after news surfaced about the alleged hush money scheme.
Sam Levine
Keith Davidson is describing a December 2016 phone call with Michael Cohen in which Cohen was despondent.
He said something to the effect of “Jesus christ, can you fucking believe I’m not going to Washington? After everything I’ve done for that fucking guy. I can’t believe I’m not going to Washington. I’ve saved that guy’s ass so many times you don’t even know.”
“He said I never even got paid. That fucking guy is not even paying me the $130,000 back.”
“What have we done?” Keith Davidson wrote to Dylan Howard.
He called the phrasing “gallows humor”.
“You refer to [it] as gallows humor, can you explain that a little bit more, what do you mean when you say, ‘what have we done?’”
“I think there was an understanding that this was a text between Dylan Howard and I, and that there was an understanding that … our activities may have in some way assisted the presidential campaign of Donald Trump.”
“And how did Dylan Howard respond to your text?”
“Oh my god.”
“I should ask you the obvious question, who won the election?”
“Donald Trump.”
Davidson texted Howard ‘what have we done’ as 2016 election went Trump’s way
Joshua Steinglass is now asking Keith Davidson about a series of exchanges on election night, when it appeared that Donald Trump would win.
“There was an understanding that our activities may have in some way assisted the campaign of Donald Trump,” Keith Davidson said on the stand.
Prosecutors showed his election night texts with Dylan Howard. Davidson wrote “what have we done?” and Howard wrote back “oh my god”.
Keith Davidson continues testimony in hush-money trial
Right now, on continued direct examination, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is asking Keith Davidson questions about Michael Cohen’s transfer of money to him for the Stormy Daniels payoff.
Recall: Davidson said that Daniels had been growing impatient in early October 2016 when Cohen had not paid up. But, toward the end of the month – several weeks after a hot mic recording emerged where Trump bragged about groping women – Cohen came through.
Steinglass asked Davidson about texts he exchanged with then-National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard about the payment. “Money wired I am told,” Howard said in a 27 October 2016 text to Davidson. Several hours later, Davidson said, “Funds received.”
Steinglass asked whether the funds were wired to Davidson’s escrow account from Essential Consultants (Cohen’s hastily incorporated LLC). He said “Yes.”
Later, Steinglass asked Davidson about more texts he exchanged with Howard after the deal was done. “Unbelievable,” Howard said in one text. To which Davidson replied, “was never really sure…”
“Can I ask you to address the comments that were made about the jury?” Juan Merchan asked shortly thereafter.
“We very much believe this is a political persecution, a political trial,” Todd Blanche said.
As he continued to try making this argument, the judge said, “Did he violate the gag order, that’s all I want to know.”
“I’m making an argument that he didn’t,” Blanche said. Merchan said he was not buying it, and that is why he was asking.
“He spoke about the jury, right?” Merchan asked, adding, “He said the jury was 95% Democrats and the jury had been rushed through.”
Todd Blanche raised the bogeyman of Michael Cohen’s TikTok account.
“As has been reported, because it’s true, Michael Cohen has been going on TikTok, nightly, – literally making money… He actively encourages folks to give him money… His TikTok repeatedly criticizes President Trump,” Blanche said.
“This is not a man who needs protection from the gag order,” he added.
Hugo Lowell
Donald Trump is sitting passively as his lawyer, Todd Blanche, reads out Michael Cohen’s tweets attacking him on Twitter, including Cohen calling him “Von Schitzenpants” and a “petulant defendant” and that he will not donate to Trump’s jail commissary.
Hey Von ShitzInPantz…your attacks of me stink of desperation. We are all hoping that you take the stand in your defense. pic.twitter.com/FVsWbRnNkB
— Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) April 22, 2024
Hugo Lowell
Judge Juan Merchan does not seem particularly impressed by Donald Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche’s contention that the gag order is unfair to Trump because he cannot respond to attacks against Trump by people like Michael Cohen, an expected trial witness protected by the gag order, and media coverage of other trial witnesses’ testimony.
“They’re not defendants in the case. They’re not subject to the gag order,” Merchan says flatly.