A lawyer who was involved in the negotiations pushed back on prosecutors’ claims on May 2.
A lawyer who was involved in the negotiations for agreements between former President Donald Trump and two women pushed back on prosecutors’ claims that it was a “hush-money” payment during a court appearance on May 2.
Keith Davidson, who negotiated agreements related to adult performer Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, and model Karen McDougal, disputed Manhattan prosecutor Joshua Steinglass’s language.
“It wasn’t a ‘payout’ and it wasn’t ‘hush money.’ It was consideration in a civil settlement,” Mr. Davidson, who was called in as a witness, said on May 2.
“Would you use the phrase hush money to describe the money that was paid to your client by Donald Trump?” Mr. Steinglass asked.
“I would never use that word,” Mr. Davidson said.
Mr. Steinglass asked him what word he would use instead.
“Consideration,” Mr. Davidson said in response, adding that it was like a contract in which one pays to have one’s lawn mowed.
Trump attorney Emil Bove pressed Mr. Davidson on his understanding of extortion law, grilling him about previous instances in which he solicited money to suppress embarrassing stories, including one involving wrestler Hulk Hogan.
Mr. Bove suggested to the witness that by the time he negotiated the payments for Ms. McDougal and Ms. Clifford, he would have been “pretty well versed in coming right up to the line without committing extortion.”
“I had familiarized myself with the law,” Mr. Davidson replied.
The Trump attorney also elicited testimony from Mr. Davidson that he’d never had any interactions with President Trump, only his former lawyer and possible witness Michael Cohen.
The lawyer testified that he never met President Trump and that he had never been in the same room as him until he began testifying in court on April 30.
He further said he was unfamiliar with the Trump Organization’s record-keeping practices but that he did receive some emails from Mr. Cohen’s company email address. Any impressions he had of the former president came through others, the lawyer testified.
Mr. Bove appeared to be underscoring the defense’s points that President Trump was removed from the negotiations and that Mr. Cohen was handling the payment matters on his own, and that his testimony isn’t relevant to the charges at hand.
