Trump trial live: Hope Hicks details Access Hollywood tape fallous in testimony

Alex Woodward reports from the courthouse in Lower Manhattan:

The emotional moment from Hope Hicks inside a Manhattan criminal court on Friday followed revealing testimony about her damage control in the weeks before Election Day, and her behind-the-scenes public relations efforts to salvage Mr Trump’s campaign while stories about his alleged affairs and vulgar comments about women were piling up.

The firm now faces allegations that they were running a “sham audit mill,” according to CNN.

No allegations of wrongdoing against Trump Media, the owner of Truth Social, were put forward by the commission.

Under questioning by prosecution attorney Matthew Colangelo, Hope Hicks testified that Donald Trump told her that Michael Cohen made the Stormy Daniels transaction on his own.

The former president told her: “Michael felt like it was his job to protect him” and that “he did it in the kindness of his own heart and he didn’t tell anyone about it.”

Mr Trump also said it was better to do it when he did rather than have it come out before the election.

Ms Hicks was asked whether the idea that Cohen would’ve made a $130,00 payment out of the kindness of his own heart was consistent with what she knew about him.

“I’d say that would be out of character for Michael,” she replied.

Judge Juan Merchan overruled objections from the defence team to the line of questioning.

Asked to elaborate, Ms Hicks said: “I didn’t know Michael to be an especially charitable person or a selfless person. [He was] the kind of person who seeks credit.”

By implication, the former Trump aide appeared to make the prosecution’s case against her former boss easier — that Cohen would not have acted alone and instead worked on behalf of Mr Trump, and that action was purposefully taken before the election.

Ms Hicks then began to cry on the witness stand with a break being called so that she might compose herself.

On her return to the stand, Ms Hicks was very critical of Cohen and characterised him as an outsider in Trumpworld often going rogue. She also heaped praise on her former boss.

Judge Juan Merchan has sent the jury home for the weekend.

Defence attorney Todd Blanche is arguing that if Donald Trump testifies and prosecutors question him about the gag order rulings, it would create a “whole sideshow”.

Which… are trial rulings from this trial…

“I agree with Mr Blanche,” Merchan says.

It would be “very, very prejudicial” for a jury in this case to consider rulings from the same judge about the same defendant.

So if Trump does testify, prosecutors will not be allowed to question him about the judge’s gag order rulings.

They will, however, under a previous ruling, be allowed to bring up the civil fraud trial gag order decisions.

The trial resumes at 9.30am on Monday.