Key takeaways from the second week of testimony in Trump’s hush money trial

Former President Donald Trump was back in court this week for three days of testimony in his hush money trial in which he stands accused of election interference by paying adult film star Stormy Daniels to remain quiet about an alleged affair.

Mr Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records, which becomes a felony when it’s done in furtherance of another crime – that being the election interference, according to the prosecution.

While Michael Cohen isn’t on the witness stand yet, he’s still the star of the show. The man who arranged the payment to Ms Daniels and negotiated a tentative deal for former Playboy model Karen McDougal is on the lips of nearly every witness, we see his texts and emails to multiple witnesses, and we even hear his voice on secretly recorded audio collected from his phones. He will soon be a central witness.

Here are the key takeaways from the second week of testimony in Mr Trump’s hush money trial:

Day five of testimony in the Trump trial began on Tuesday morning, with Mr Trump being hit with a $9,000 gag order fine and being granted his request to attend his son Barron’s graduation all before a witness even took the stand.

Jurors then heard from multiple witnesses with a brief stint from Michael Cohen’s banker Gary Farro and attorney Keith Davidson, who previously represented Ms Daniels and Ms McDougal – the two women who allegedly had affairs with Mr Trump.

Trump can attend Barron’s graduation

The first order of business was an announcement by Judge Juan Merchan that, given how jury selection was completed in a week and the trial is moving forward at a good pace, Mr Trump will be allowed to attend his son Barron’s graduation from high school on 17 May.

Gag order ruling and threat