Trump lawyer suggests hush money payment was extortion
NEW YORK, (Reuters) - A lawyer for Donald Trump sought yesterday to portray the hush money payment at the center of his criminal trial as extortion, questioning a lawyer involved in the deal about his cash-for-dirt negotiations with other celebrities.
Defense attorney Emil Bove's questioning of the lawyer Keith Davidson hinted at a strategy by Trump's legal team to undermine the credibility of prosecution witnesses in the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president.
Trump stands accused of trying to hide a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies Daniels' assertion they had sex.
After Davidson testified that, as then-lawyer for Daniels, he arranged the $130,000 payment with Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen, Bove asked about Davidson's alleged efforts to seek cash from Hulk Hogan in exchange for a sex tape involving the former pro wrestler.
He also asked Davidson about attempts to trade embarrassing information for cash from celebrities including actor Charlie Sheen and reality TV star Tila Tequila.
“You were pretty well-versed in getting right up to the line without committing extortion, right?” Bove asked. Davidson denied ever committing extortion.
Trump's lawyers are likely to take a similar tack with other expected witnesses including Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, and Cohen, who has served prison time for his role in the payment scheme.
Davidson confirmed Daniels signed a non-disclosure agreement with Trump to keep quiet about a 2006 sexual encounter, but said he would not describe the payment as hush money. "It was consideration in a civil settlement agreement," he said.
Davidson said the forceful denial he helped Daniels craft when the payment was revealed in 2018 did not amount to a lie because it referred to a "romantic sexual" relationship rather than a one-off sexual encounter.
“You have to go through it word by word, and I think if you did so, it would technically be true with an extremely fine reading,” Davidson said.