Trump Trial Resumes with Banker Testimony on Stormy Daniels Payment

The New York criminal trial for Donald Trump resumes on Tuesday with further testimony from a banker who collaborated with his former lawyer Michael Cohen in relation to the $130,000 payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels. The charge against Trump involves allegations of falsifying business records as part of an alleged scheme intended to influence the 2016 presidential election. Witnesses including David Pecker and Rhona Graff have already testified during proceedings at state Supreme Court last week, where Judge Juan Merchan warned Trump several times for potentially violating a gag order on multiple occasions by commenting on jurors and possible witnesses involved in the case. The trial is expected to continue for six weeks with Cohen’s role as personal lawyer to Trump under scrutiny over his handling of Daniels’ story, which he paid $130,000 for through a shell company before reimbursing it via monthly checks falsely labeled as legal fees in 2017. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has accused Cohen and the former president of breaking New York’s penal code by committing fraud to conceal illicit activity during Trump’s campaign, although both men deny any wrongdoing.