Hulk Hogan, hurricanes and a blockbuster recording: A week in review of the Trump hush money trial

WASHINGTON (AP) — Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.

Jurors heard a potentially pivotal piece of evidence — a 2016 recording of Trump discussing a plan to buy a Playboy model’s silence — as well as testimony about the wrestler Hulk Hogan and hurricanes, literal and figurative.

Outside the jury’s presence, Trump was fined for running afoul of a judge’s gag order. Additional sanctions could await the presumptive Republican nominee for president.

A look at some of the highlights from the past week:

A POLITICAL HURRICANE… AND AN ACTUAL ONE

Hope Hicks, a onetime Trump confidant who for years was central in his orbit, described in detail a seminal moment of the 2016 campaign: The Washington Post’s disclosure of a 2005 “Access Hollywood” recording in which Trump boasted about grabbing women’s genitals without their permission.

Hicks acknowledged being “concerned, very concerned” when a reporter reached out to her for comment before breaking the story.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«READ MORE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> READ MORE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Takeaways from the start of week 2 of testimony in Trump’s hush money trial </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Who’s who