The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s trial for covering up payments to suppress details of an alleged affair will hear Thursday that the former president has again breached a gag order intended to protect trial participants.The real estate tycoon used his rare day on the stump to remind the public of his preferred image as a confident, seasoned campaigner.
His appearance was a cry far from the grim Manhattan courtroom where he is defending against claims he covered up payments to a porn star before the 2016 presidential election.
The court has heard from an eclectic slate of witnesses including a lawyer who claims he helped the porn star at the heart of the case, Stormy Daniels, sell the story of her alleged affair with Trump.
Trump denies the fling.
Prosecutors allege that Trump made the hush money payment to Daniels to silence her about a 2006 tryst at a celebrity golf tournament that could have potentially derailed his 2016 White House bid.
Trump is the first former US president to face criminal charges, and the trial appears to have deeply frustrated the 77-year-old populist.
For two weeks Trump has sat through hours of sometimes technical testimony, visibly irate with no-nonsense Judge Merchan, who has required him to be present.
Before and after each day’s proceedings, Trump has assailed journalists outside, venting about his legal problems and myriad other issues.
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