Trump trial: Madeleine Westerhout was questioned

The old White House helps get emotional on the stand

Madeleine Westerhout, former director of Oval Office operations at the White House, became emotional on the stand, making her the second former White House aide to break down in tears during the trial after Hope Hicks did the same last week.

“I very much regret my youthful indiscretion,” she said, explaining that she left the White House after sharing information with reporters at an off-the-record dinner.

Fighting back tears, Westerhout said she had “grown up a lot since then.”

Before joining the Trump administration, Westerhout worked at the Republican National Committee, where she recalled the release of the "Access Hollywood" tape that "rocked" Republican leaders - saying "there were discussions about how it would be possible to replace [Trump] as a candidate if it came to that.

 Westerhout's cross-examination continues Friday morning.

2 witnesses briefly take turns on the stand

After Stormy Daniels finished her testimony and left the stand, prosecutors called two additional witnesses in succession.

Rebecca Manochio, an accountant at the Trump Organization, testified about her role in sending checks for Michael Cohen and others to Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., for his signature. She testified that she first sent them to the home of Trump's bodyguard, Keith Schiller, but then sent them to John McEntee, a Trump White House aide.

Then Tracy Menzies, head of publishing at HarperCollins, read excerpts from Trump's 2007 book, "Think Big: Make It Happen in Business and Life," including: "My motto is : “Always take revenge”. When someone screws you over, screw them over in spades” and “I value loyalty above all else”.

Trial proceeding on time, says Merchan

Judge Merchan told jurors the trial was set to end in six weeks.

Prosecutors had previously suggested they could wrap up their case as early as the end of next week, but said it would most likely wrap up early the following week. The defense will then present its arguments, followed by the state's rebuttal.

The trial schedule could depend on how long lawyers seek to question Michael Cohen, the case's star witness, when he takes the stand.

Trump Trial: Stormy Daniels Crude Testimony

presidential election

A third week of debates concludes Friday at the trial of Donald Trump in New York, marked by the marathon testimony of former pornographic actress Stormy Daniels, beneficiary of the hidden payments which are worth these unprecedented criminal proceedings against a former American president.

The week opened on Monday with a new warning shot from judge Juan Merchan, who after having imposed a series of fines on him for verbally attacking witnesses and jurors, threatened him with prison in the event of recidivism.

The other star witness in this trial, Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who paid the actress $130,000 in the last days of the campaign for the 2016 presidential election, won narrowly by the Republican candidate, could be called to the stand as early as next week. Michael Cohen, who says he acted at his request, turned against his former boss.

In the midst of campaigning against outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden, the Republican candidate is being tried for 34 counts of accounting falsification for concealing the reimbursement of sums to the lawyer in the accounts of his holding company, the Trump Organization. He risks conviction and potentially a prison sentence, with still incalculable consequences on the electorate.

Although the facts are less serious than those with which he is accused in the three other criminal proceedings against him, this trial is all the more important as it could be the only one to be held before the November 5 election.

Only Donald Trump's federal trial in Washington for illicit attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election could still begin before this deadline, provided that the Supreme Court quickly rejects the immunity he claims as a former -president.

- Accountant, editor, assistant -

Like every day, upon his arrival at the Mahattan court on Friday, he denounced a "horrible" trial intended, according to him, to prevent him from campaigning.

Since its opening on April 15, the trial has alternated moments of legal drama and dry, highly technical sequences.

Thus, after the extensive testimony Tuesday and Thursday of Stormy Daniels who recounted in great detail the fleeting sexual relationship she claims to have had with him in 2006, and fought step by step the defense's attempts to discredit her story.

An affair that Donald Trump, then already married to his current wife Melania, categorically denies.

After Stormy Daniels, an employee of the accounting department of the Trump Organization took the stand on Thursday, an editor questioned about the publication of one of the real estate mogul's books, then one of his direct assistants at the House Blanche, Madeleine Westerhout.

Will testify again Friday morning.

One of the challenges of the debates is to determine what Donald Trump knew about these behind-the-scenes negotiations to buy the silence of Stormy Daniels.

If he were elected again, once inaugurated in January 2025, he could order the abandonment of the two federal proceedings against him, in Washington but also in Florida (southeast), where he is being prosecuted for withholding documents. classified after his departure from the White House.

Potentially dangerous situation : Bottom slaps and satin pajamas

dangerous situation

Stormy Daniels testimony,  former porn star, in the Donald Trump trial revealed a potentially dangerous situation

Former US President Donald Trump attends his trial in the Stormy Daniels case at the Criminal Court in Manhattan, New York on May 7, 2024.

Former adult film actress Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday that Donald Trump met her in her pajamas in his hotel room in 2006 and that she "slapped" him there at his request, telling jurors about their alleged sexual encounter, in the first criminal trial targeting a former American president, writes Reuters.

Dressed in a black outfit and wearing dark glasses, Stormy Daniels, now 45, described the potentially dangerous situation related to donald Trump. So, she said she became irritated by Trump's frequent interruptions and asked him: "Are you always so arrogant and cocky?"

The former starlet said Trump "challenged" her to slap him, and she accepted.

"This is bullshit," Trump appeared to say as he watched from the dock.

As of mid-morning, Daniels still had not testified about the sexual act she said took place at that meeting. Her testimony is expected to resume after a break.

Trump, 77, and the Republican presidential nominee in November's election, is accused of falsifying accounting records in order to hide a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels to buy her silence during the election in 2016. He pleaded not guilty and denies having sex with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

"You've got to be the smart one," Trump allegedly told Stormy Daniels

She said she met Trump at a golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, where Trump was competing. Stormy Daniels also claimed that Trump singled her out when an associate mentioned that she directed movies.

"He said, 'Oh, you're directing, so you have to be the smart one,'" Daniels testified.

Acoeding to Stormy Daniels testimony, jurors have found that later that day, Trump's bodyguard approached her and told her the mogul would like her to have dinner with him.

"Hell no," Daniels said when asked about her initial response.

She said she changed her mind after a publicist convinced her the dinner would make a great story.

When she arrived at his hotel suite, Trump greeted her wearing only satin pajamas.

"I said, 'Does Hugh Hefner know you stole his pajamas?'" Daniels recalled telling her, referring to the famous Playboy impresario Hugh Hefner.

Daniels told Trump to change his clothes, and he politely complied, she said.

Trump's reaction in the courtroom

sexual trial

The alleged meeting took place while Trump was married to his current wife, Melania. Trump vehemently denies any sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels.

As Trump reaction related to sexual trial, was "passed" a note to his lawyer on Tuesday and appeared to close his eyes at times as he listened to the former porn star's testimony.

After a short break, Judge Juan Merchan told prosecutors to drop details of the alleged encounter. "The level of detail we go into is simply unnecessary," reasoned the high magistrate.

Merchan had previously ruled that Stormy Daniels was allowed to tell jurors that she had sex with Trump, despite the objections of Trump's legal team.

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger said the testimony was necessary to complete the story and establish Daniels' credibility during testimony in sexual trial.

What the prosecutors say

Trump reaction, who is running for another term in the White House in the Nov. 5 presidential election, has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying accounting documents.

Prosecutors have shown that the former president's signature was on the payments at the heart of the case. They say Trump falsely labeled payments to his lawyer Michael Cohen in 2017 as legal expenses when they were actually reimbursements for a $130,000 payment made to buy Stormy Daniels' silence that Cohen had transferred to her the actress.

Prosecutors say this amounts to an illegal scheme to influence the 2016 election by buying the silence of people with potentially damaging information.

Trump's lawyers suggested that Stormy Daniels was aiming to land a role on Trump's reality show, "The Apprentice." Trump reaction faces jail time if he continues to ignore the judge's restraining order

Daniels testimony has been the target of some of Trump's scathing attacks on social media.

Judge Merchan, who is hearing the case, said some of those posts violated a gag order that bars Trump from talking about witnesses, jurors and others involved in the case if those statements are intended to influence proceedings.

Trump has so far been fined $10,000 for violating the restraining order that prevents him from speaking about witnesses. Merchan warned that Trump could be jailed if he continued his attacks durind sexual trial.

Trump has called the ban a violation of his free speech rights and says the lawsuit is an attempt to hinder his bid to win back the White House.

The former president faces three other criminal charges, but the Stormy Daniels case is the only one that is certain to go to sexual trial before the November election. In the other cases, in which he has also pleaded not guilty, Trump is accused of trying to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election and of improperly handling classified documents after he left office.

Trump's Classified Documents Trial - Dangerous Situation Postponed Indefinitely

dangerous situation

According to a Decision Made by Judge Appointed by Former President,  Dangerous Situation Related to Trump's Classified Documents Trial Was Indefinitely Postponed.

A federal court in Florida postponed on Tuesday for an indefinite period the start of the criminal trial of the former US president Donald Trump in the event that he is accused of negligently using classified documents, informs AFP.

In this criminal trial case, one of the four dangerous situation in which he is concerned, a trial was to be opened on May 20. But the federal judge considered this date to be unsustainable due to the number of preliminary deal requests presented to the court.

Aileen Cannon, magistrate appointed by the former president, did not set a new date. This decision is a setback for Special Prosecutor Jack Smith and makes it highly unlikely that a trial will take place in the case before the November presidential election.

The Republican presidential candidate is currently on criminal trial in New York in another case involving suspicious payments before the 2016 presidential election.

In the Florida case, Donald Trump is being prosecuted along with two of his personal assistants for keeping classified documents at his private residence in Mar-a-Lago after he left the White House in January 2021. He is accused of compromising national security by keeping these classified documents, which included military plans or information and dangerous situation on nuclear weapons, instead of handing them over to the National Archives, as required by law.

Donald Trump is also accused of trying to destroy evidence in this case. The most serious deal charges are punishable by up to ten years in prison.

His lawyers have multiplied their appeals to postpone a trial in this case.

Targeted by four separate criminal proceedings, including the one for which he is appearing at the trial on April 15 in New York, Donald Trump repeatedly denounces a "witch hunt"deal organized by the Democratic administration to remove him from the presidential election race.

If he had been elected again, Donald Trump could, after the inauguration ceremony in January 2025, order the abandonment of the two federal proceedings against him: the case investigated in Florida, as well as the one dirty deal carried out in the capital Washington for accusations of illegal attempts to alter the results of the presidential election won by Joe Biden in 2020.

Clashes between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrators at UCLA University

 pro-Palestinian demonstrators

A Jewish student was notably injured in the head by a pro-Palestinian protester

Clashes broke out on Sunday between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators on the campus of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), reports CNN. Protesters broke through a security barrier intended to separate the two groups, coming face to face, shouting and shoving each other. The incident involved pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in support of an encampment protesting Israel's military campaign in Gaza, and a group of counter-protesters draped in Israeli flags who had set up a video screen and speakers. A Jewish student was notably injured in the head by a pro-Palestinian demonstrator.

Both rallies were authorized by the university, which hired a private security company to separate the two camps. Police in riot gear stood at a distance from the crowd, according to CNN, but university officials said police would only intervene if they believed students were in danger. Mary Osako, vice-chancellor of strategic communications at the university, confirmed in a statement that the demonstrators had "forced" a barrier between the groups and that there had been "physical altercations" between the protesters. “UCLA has a long history of peaceful protests, and we are saddened by the violence that has erupted,” the statement said.

The UCLA campus has become an epicenter of the wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations sweeping American universities. Los Angeles police arrested 93 protesters who refused to dismantle an encampment set up on campus. Students are demanding that the university completely divest from Israel and the companies supporting its operations in Gaza, something UCLA denies.

The incident is the latest in a series of anti-Israel protests that have swept college campuses across the United States. Last week, at least 45 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at Yale University after riot police stormed the campus during a demonstration. Two days earlier, a Jewish student journalist at Yale was stabbed in the eye with a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flag.

Earlier, more than 100 people were arrested by the New York Police Department for unlawful trespassing as law enforcement entered Columbia University to disperse a pro-Palestinian protest that had begun the day before.

Trump Attacks: He Compares Current Administration to Gestapo

Biden Gestapo Administation

Donald Trump has accused the White House leader of being incompetent and corrupt and has compared President Joe Biden's administration to the secret police of Nazi Germany - Gestapo, NBC News reports.

The former president made these comments while discussing his legal troubles, attacking the prosecutors in these cases and lamenting the recent indictments in Arizona of several of his top advisers, along with 11 so-called fake electors from the 2020 election.

"These people are running a Gestapo administration," Trump said, according to the audio recording of the event. "And that's all they have. And that's the only way they think they're going to win, in their opinion."

"Once I was indicted, I said, 'Well, now we have to take the gloves off,'" added Trump, saying Biden is "the worst president in the country's history." "He's extremely incompetent. He's corrupt as hell. He's the Manchurian candidate."

The former president added that he is not too bothered by his legal issues.

"If you care too much, you tend to suffocate. And, in a way, I don't care. It's just that, you know, that's life," he said.

However, he admitted that he was surprised when he was indicted. "Once I was indicted, I said, 'I've just been indicted.' Me. I've been indicted," Trump said.

He also called Jack Smith, the special counsel handling two federal cases against him, a "scumbag" and "nutcase."

Trump made the remarks at his Mar-a-Lago club during a private event attended by hundreds of donors.