Former President Donald Trump returned to a New York City courtroom Tuesday. His criminal trial continued with a gag order hearing and more witness testimony.

Manhattan

Former President Donald Trump was present in a New York City courtroom, participating in the ongoing proceedings of his criminal trial. The day featured a gag order hearing and further witness testimony.

The trial, currently in its sixth day, opened with Judge Juan Marchand conducting a hearing to evaluate if Trump had breached his gag order through public criticisms of witnesses and posts on Tru Social. Despite accusations from the prosecution, Trump's legal team refuted claims of violating the gag order. The court is considering a request from the prosecution to hold Trump in contempt for these alleged violations.

Key testimony came from David Pecker, ex-publisher of the National Enquirer, focusing on the alleged conspiracy between Pecker, Trump, and Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen. The conspiracy aimed to influence the 2016 presidential election by acquiring and then suppressing negative stories about Trump. Pecker acknowledged the practice of "checkbook journalism" within his tabloid, admitting to paying for stories to then prevent their publication. However, this tactic, according to Pecker, is not inherently illegal.

The trial scrutinizes Trump for purportedly falsifying business records to conceal the illegal payments involved. Legal experts highlight the prosecution's challenge: they must prove that the record falsification was not only a violation but specifically aimed at contravening federal election law. The implications of Pecker's testimony could extend over several days, and the trial adjourned earlier than usual to observe the Passover holiday.



Trump hush money trial continues with witness testimony

We're coming on November 5th, we're coming big. It is day six of former President Donald Trump's hush money trial in New York. Before bringing back the jury, Judge Juan Marchand held a hearing to determine whether or not Trump repeatedly violated his gag order by publicly attacking witnesses and posting on Tru Social. Trump's team denies he broke the order, but prosecutors are asking court to find the former president and hold him in contempt. Meanwhile, the prosecution's first witness, David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, is returning to the stand on Tuesday. Attorneys argue that Pecker, Trump and the former president's then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, conspired to influence the 2016 presidential election by buying negative stories about Trump and suppressing them. On Monday, Pecker confirmed the tabloid used checkbook journalism and often paid for stories. He said he would keep his ears open for bad stories potentially about him and then help to kill them, which is not illegal. They're using him to paint a picture of Trump's general mindset, but it's actually not specific to the case before them. Trump is facing charges he falsified business records to cover up the illegal payments. But experts say prosecutors have a challenging task ahead of them. They're going to have to prove not just that there was a records violation, but also that the purpose of the records violation was to violate federal election law. Pecker will likely be on the stand for a few days. Court is wrapping up early today for the Passover holiday. At Manhattan Criminal Court, I'm Eric Schaun, Fox News.

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