Donald Trump Hush Money Trial: New Witnesses Brought In as Defense Tries To Discredit One of Them

The Donald Trump hush money trial continued in New York with the cross-examination of prosecution witness David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer and former close friend of the former president, while prosecutors brought in new witnesses.

Pecker's explosive testimony shed some light on Donald Trump's efforts to squash any negative stories about him while he was first running for president in 2016, as well as the former president's deal with Pecker to write positive articles about Trump while also writing negative articles about his opponents, including Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Hillary Clinton.

During the defense's cross-examination of Pecker, Trump's lawyers tried to discredit his testimony by trying to poke holes in his claim about the deal happening on August 2015. Trump lawyers pointed out that Pecher had been making negative stories about Clinton long before the deal.

According to the Associated Press, it was Trump attorney Emil Bove who questioned Pecker on the stand and he pointed out several inconsistencies in Pecker's testimony, including Pecker testifying that Trump thanked him during a White House visit in 2017 for his help burying two stories. Bove noted that Pecker previously told federal authorities that "Trump did not express any gratitude to him during the meeting."

However, Pecker stuck to his testimony, telling Bove, "I know what the truth is," before acknowledging that he "had not previously sought out stories and worked the company's sources on behalf of a presidential candidate or allowed political fixers close access to internal decision-making."

Pecker noted that the National Enquirer only did this for one candidate, his friend Donald Trump.

Prosecutors Introduce 2 New Witnesses in Donald Trump Hush Money Trial

After Pecker's cross-examination, prosecutors called in their next witness, Donald Trump's former executive assistant who once served as a senior executive at the Trump Organization for decades. Rhona Graff. She was responsible for handling his phone calls and schedule, as well as engaging with those coming and going from meetings.

Under oath, Graff testified that she maintained a list of Trump's contacts and told the jury that the list did indeed include former Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels, whom Trump was accused of paying off to hide his affairs with them while running for the presidency in 2016.

According to CBS News, Graff also stated that she had a "vague recollection" of seeing Stormy Daniels in the "reception area of the 26th floor" of Trump Tower.

Michael Cohen's Banker Also Testified During the Donald Trump Hush Money Trial

The second witness prosecutors brought in to testify that day was Gary Farro, who served as Michael Cohen's banker, according to NBC News.

Farro testified that he helped Cohen d set up the home equity line of credit that the then-Trump attorney used to pay Stormy Daniels. However, the day ended and his testimony was soon paused and he will continue his testimony on Tuesday.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: 'Direct evidence': David Pecker testimony links Trump to hush money payment - MSNBC