'Whoa!' Prosecution shouts over defense during Trump's hush money trial
Shouting erupted during court proceedings for Donald Trump's New York hush money criminal trial Tuesday, according to a journalist who was present in the courtroom.
The heightened tensions began when Trump's lawyer Matthew Russell mentioned text messages between former National Enquirer editor-in-chief Dylan Howard and an unknown relative, Inner City Press reporter Matthew Russell Lee said in a post to X, pointing out that Judge Juan Merchan told the prosecution and defense some of the contents of the texts messages could be redacted.
Trump lawyer Emil Bove then spoke up, but was quickly interrupted by someone on the prosecution's side, who shouted, "Whoa!" as Bove mentioned a name.
"Sorry, I didn't mean that," Bove said in response to the interruption.
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"I didn't mean to mention a name," Bove clarified, according to Lee's account.
"It's a first-degree relative of Mr. Howard. But it was on an AMI device," the prosecution said.
Trump was in the courtroom Thursday for the continuation of his trial, in which he's accused of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 hush money payment to adult movie star Stormy Daniels in an attempt to cover up an alleged sexual encounter between the two before the 2016 election.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges Trump "fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election."
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
On Thursday, prosecutor Christopher Conroy accused Trump again of violating the gag order imposed on him by Merchan, which came after Trump repeatedly attacked Merchan's daughter, as well as trial witnesses Michael Cohen, who is Trump's former lawyer, and David Pecker, the former CEO of the National Enquirer's parent company.