Madeleine Westerhout, former Trump executive assistant, leaves Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on May 9, 2024.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Prosecutors said Friday they plan to call just two more witnesses in Donald Trump’s criminal trial and could rest their case by the end of next week.
One of those final two witnesses will be Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, who is reportedly expected to begin testifying on Monday.
Cohen’s late 2016 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels is at the center of the landmark trial in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Late in the day, Trump’s lawyers complained to Judge Juan Mercant that Cohen regularly insults his former boss on social media, but the former president is barred from responding because of a gag order barring Trump from speaking about witnesses in the trial.
“It’s becoming a problem every day that President Trump is not allowed to answer,” defense attorney Todd Blanch told Judge Juan Mercan after jurors retired.
Lead prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said the prosecutor’s office has asked Cohen and other witnesses not to talk about the ongoing trial. But in the end, they cannot control the speech of the witnesses.
Merchan told prosecutors to explain to Cohen that the judge is asking him to refrain from discussing the case publicly. Steinglass said he would pass the message on to Cohen.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump walks to address the press at the end of the day of his trial for allegedly concealing hush money payments related to extramarital affairs, in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, May 9, 2024.
Angela Weiss | Via Reuters
Merchan already rejected a request by Trump on Thursday to review the gag order so the former president could publicly attack porn star Stormy Daniels after she finished her testimony.
“My concern is protecting the integrity of the process as a whole,” Merchan said, explaining his reasoning for denying the request.
Merchan has already held Trump in contempt 10 times for violating the gag order.
Trump’s Oval Office calls and schedules
Friday’s testimony included Madeleine Westerhout, a former top Oval Office official who had an up-close view of how Trump operated in the White House.
Westerhout testified that Trump was “very upset” when the $130,000 payment to Daniels first made headlines in 2018.
“The whole situation was very unpleasant,” Westerhout said during cross-examination by a Trump lawyer.
Westerhout said she spoke with Trump at the time about Daniels, who she says had sex with Trump in 2006 at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe.
Trump “was very upset about it,” Westerhout recalled.
“I understand that he knew it would be bad for his family,” he said. Trump was married to his wife, Melania Trump, at the time the alleged one-night stand took place.
Defense attorneys sought to undermine the prosecution’s argument in the case, saying the hush money payment to Daniels was intended to help Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
They claim Trump was also worried about how the sex story would affect his wife and children.
On Thursday, Westerhout testified about Trump’s work habits at the White House and confirmed a high-profile contact list compiled for Trump in 2017. The contact list included “SNL” producer Lorne MichaelsNFL quarterback Tom Brady and tennis great Serena Williams.
The list also includes former tabloid publisher David Packer and former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. The two men are at the center of the Manhattan prosecutors’ case in which Trump is accused of falsifying business records about hush money payments as part of a scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Westerhout painted a flattering portrait of Trump, praising his work ethic and his relationship with his wife. She cried describing what it was like she was fired from her job in 2019 after criticizing members of the Trump family at a dinner with reporters.
Her portrayal of Trump as a devoted husband contrasted with testimony from Daniels, who vividly described her sexual encounter with Trump during seven hours of testimony Thursday.