Trump fraud trial LIVE: Ex-president awaits blockbuster verdict as hush money court date set

Anna Bower of Lawfare explains: “In a filing, Mike Roman’s counsel, Ashleigh Merchant, said that she expected Bradley to refute a key claim made by Willis and Wade: That their relationship did not begin until after he was appointed as special prosecutor.”

As we await the verdict in Trump’s New York case today, here’s Oliver O’Connell on what the affair has revealed about the former president’s real estate empire.

Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner revealed this week that he has no intention of serving in a second administration should his wife’s father beat Joe Biden in November, insisting he is committed to his business ventures instead.

“Nothing in my life has gone according to the plans I’ve set, and that’s been the only consistent thing,” Kushner told an Axios event in Miami, stressing that he’s “very clear” about his preference for focusing on his private equity firm “at this phase” in his life.

Kushner was a senior adviser in his father-in-law’s administration but transitioned to the financial sector after leaving the White House in January 2021, founding a Florida investment firm called Affinity Partners.

Preferring family life “out of the spotlight”, Kushner insisted he is committed to “my investors, to my firm, to my employees, to my partners, and that’s what I’m planning to do.”

On Trump’s prospects, he said, “I think that the team around him is maybe the best he’s had,” adding that a second administration would have a greater “level of competence and professionalism” than last time.

Judge Scott McAfee has called a recess while the court waits for witness Terrence Bradley to arrive.

Mr Bradley was Nathan Wade’s former law partner and was briefly on the stand yesterday. There is some debate as to whether he can testify due to attorney-client privilege.

Well, he would wouldn’t he?

Here’s Andrew Feinberg on retaliation-as-policy.

The second day of the disqualification hearing of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s disqualification hearing has kicked off in Georgia.

Ms Willis was expected to be back on the witness stand but the state announced it had no further questions as proceedings got underway. Attorneys are currently debating who will be on the stand next.

Here’s what happened yesterday:

Never a bad time to ask this question these days.

John Bowden offers this answer.

Very much enjoying himself, Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen told Erin Burnett on CNN’s OutFront that he is confident his estranged ex-boss is in big trouble over the payout to Stormy Daniels.

“I believe, based upon the information that I know, and based upon, not just the documentary evidence but the corroborating testimony from so many people, I believe that he will be found guilty on all charges,” Cohen said.

“I would say, at best, it would be a four-week case,” he added, describing it as “very simple”.

Cohen has been subpoenaed to testify in the case and predicted it would be less “fun” for him, explaining: “They get personal, they get nasty.”

Donald Trump will face a criminal trial in New York next month on nearly three dozen charges of falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels at the onset of his 2016 presidential campaign.

The former president will stand trial on 25 March, what will likely be the first trial among the four criminal cases against him and the first criminal trial against any current or former president.

With Trump in attendance, New York Judge Juan Merchan held a pretrial hearing on Thursday to affirm the former president’s previously scheduled court date and rejected his attorneys’ attempts to dismiss the case altogether.

Alex Woodward filed this report from Lower Manhattan on Thursday.