Trump hush money trial live updates: Witness testimony to resume

Trump attorney Todd Blanche asks whether Michael Cohen ever mentioned he was opening a shell company.

“I don’t open shell corporations,” Farro says.

If a client had told him that his LLC was a shell corporation, with “no business behind them, it would give me pause, quite frankly.”

The judge also suggests that Trump’s relatively easy ability to pay his fines could make the threat of more severe sanctions necessary:

“While $1,000 may suffice in most instances to protect the dignity of the judicial system to compel respect for its mandates and to punish the offender for disobeying a court order, it unfortunately will not achieve the desired result in those instances where the contemnor can easily afford such a fine.

“In those circumstances, it would be preferable if the court could impose a fine more commensurate with the wealth of the contemnor. In some cases that might be a $2,500 fine, in other cases it might be a fine of $150,000. Because this Court is not cloaked with such discretion, it must therefore consider whether in some instances, jail may be a necessary punishment.”

Farro says Cohen never indicated to the bank what the transfer was for. If he mentioned it was for payments to an adult film star, it would’ve raised flags, and the bank would have performed “enhanced due diligence”.

Asked whether it would have been possible that it wouldn’t have been approved, Farro says yes because it “would be considered a reputational risk”.

That’s it for the prosecution’s direct examination of Farro.

Todd Blanche is up for Trump. It’s the first time he’s questioned a witness.

The wire transfer order drawn up for the bank to Stormy Daniels’ attorney Keith Davidson notes that the purpose is for a “retainer”.

Farro: “To ensure we’re not doing anything that we don’t want to do.”

Gary Farro is back on the stand, where we’re looking through emails between Michael Cohen and representatives from First Republic Bank, to confirm his transfer of $130,000.

We see emails exchanged between Cohen’s Trump Organization address confirming the drawdown of home equity line funds to his shell company account.

Justice Juan Merchan says he won’t hold the trial on 17 May to allow Donald Trump to attend his son Barron’s high school graduation.

And then immediately fined Mr Trump $9,000 for violating the trial’s gag order.

The judge found that the people had met the burden of proof on nine of the first ten violations of the gag order.