The defense will continue questioning tabloid publisher David Pecker as the historic trial of the former US president continues.
Testimony is set to begin the fourth day in the New York trial of former United States President Donald Trump over secret payments to an adult film star.
Trump's lawyers will continue to question former tabloid publisher David Pecker on Friday, who spent three days detailing how he struck a deal with Trump to “catch and kill” negative stories to try to help the ex-president's 2016 White House campaign.
US prosecutors spent days trying to piece together a broader pattern of Trump's efforts to illegally influence this year's election.
Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business documents related to payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
The charges relate to the alleged mislabeling of installments Trump paid to his lawyer Michael Cohen, who paid Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence over an alleged sexual encounter with Trump. The former president denied that the affair took place.
In order for a felony charge to stick, prosecutors must convince a jury that the false information was made with the intent to commit or cover up another crime. They primarily focused on what they called “election fraud, pure and simple.”
Trump's defense team argued that he had done nothing illegal to justify the felony charges.
In the first part of Thursday's cross-examination, Trump's lawyer tried to paint “catch and kill” deals for negative stories related to prominent figures as “standard operating procedure.”
Pecker said similar deals were made with Rahm Emanuel, former President Barack Obama's chief of staff, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former governor of California.
Earlier, prosecutors focused on how Pecker agreed to be the “eyes and ears” of the Trump campaign.
During the questioning, Pecker said Trump never mentioned concerns about his family when discussing efforts to suppress claims about an alleged affair between model Karen McDougal and Daniels.
It seemed aimed at undermining the central tenant of Trump's defense: that he was trying to stop the personal injury allegations from going public, but not trying to influence the election.
Prosecutors were also awaiting a ruling from Judge Juan Merchan on whether Trump violated a partial gag order in the case that prevents him from publicly discussing those involved in the lawsuit.
They laid out 10 such alleged violations on Tuesday, and prosecutors said Thursday that Trump has committed four more since then.
They called for Trump to be reprimanded for the breach.
