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Watch secret call recordings and rally videos used as evidence in the Trump trial

The list of witnesses in the criminal trial against Donald Trump is getting longer, and the list of evidence is even longer.

The former president is on trial on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal hush-money payments from former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, which prosecutors say was an illegal campaign contribution.

When the court dismissed Friday, the second week of testimony, the jury heard from nine people. Some held the position for just a few hours, others for days. Some said they were involved in the 2016 deals to keep porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal from speaking about their alleged affairs with Trump. (He denies the allegations).

New York courts generally do not allow audio or video recordings in the courtroom. However, due to “unprecedented public interest” in the case, officials decided to release transcripts and evidence online to provide insight into what the jury sees and hears.

Here are some key pieces of evidence the jury saw last week in the first criminal trial of a former president in U.S. history.

More from the courthouse: Icy temperatures and colorful characters

Video of Trump at a rally in North Carolina

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Jury showed excerpts from Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign in the hush money trial

Prosecutors presented jury evidence released by Manhattan Criminal Court in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including comments the former president made at a campaign rally in 2016.

Who provided the evidence: Prosecution. As they lay out in their opening arguments, prosecutors are trying to show that Trump personally authorized the hush-money payments to influence the election and concealed the payments in his business filings.

Related witness: Robert Browning, executive director of the C-SPAN archives, and Hope Hicks, former Trump adviser.

Transcript: Prosecutors presented excerpts from the North Carolina rally as well as two other videos of Trump at rallies and a press conference. One, dated October 22, 2016, showed Trump saying that women had lied when they came forward, and the other praised Cohen for being a good lawyer at his firm. Browning confirmed their origins. Hicks watched the video and acknowledged that Trump was concerned that reports of his behavior toward women could harm his reputation with voters.

Transcript excerpt: “I have no idea who these women are … now, many, many years later, false accusers are suddenly emerging, less than a month before one of the most important elections in our country's history,” Trump said in Greensboro, North Carolina videos. “These are all terrible lies, all fabrications, and we cannot allow them to change the most important election in our lives. If 5% of people think it's true, and maybe 10% think – we don't do it, then we don't do it.” Gemini.”

Secretly recorded phone call between Michael Cohen and Donald Trump

Who provided the evidence?: Accusation. This recording was teased in opening arguments because they hope the jury will believe it shows Cohen and Trump discussing hush money payments.

Related witness: Computer forensic analyst Douglas Daus

Transcript: Prosecutors appeared to suspect that the “David” mentioned in the recording referred to David Pecker, the former head of the National Enquirer's parent company, who had already testified about his involvement in the hush-money deals. Under cross-examination and resentencing, Daus testified he found no evidence of tampering but agreed with the defense that the jury had to trust Cohen to some extent.

Transcript excerpt: “I need to set up a company to transmit all this information about our friend David,” Cohen said, adding that he had discussed it with former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg. “So what do we have to pay for it? Fifty-one?” Trump asked.

The prosecution also provided a transcript of the secretly recorded call.

Secretly recorded phone call between Cohen and Davidson

Who provided the evidence: Defense.

Associated witness: Keith Davidson, the lawyer who represented Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal in their hush-money deals.

Transcript: Emil Bove, a Trump man, questioned Davidson about previous deals he had worked on that might have raised extortion concerns. He appeared to use the same line of questioning regarding the Stormy Daniels deal, suggesting that the 2016 election was used as leverage for the hush money deal.

Transcript excerpt: “Hypothetically speaking … sometimes people get settler's remorse,” Davidson said in the call, which he said was likely about Daniels. “People think, 'Hey, I need to get this case resolved as quickly as possible before that date is set, because after that date I have no influence.'”

Stormy Daniels' rejection statement

Fact check: Trump Falsely Represents Stormy Daniels' Letter as New in Truth Social Post

Who provided the evidence: Prosecution.

Associated witness: Keith Davidson, the lawyer who represented Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal in their hush-money deals.

Transcript: Davidson said that denial and another statement made to the Wall Street Journal weeks earlier were both “technically” true when you get down to the meaning of each word. In the statement, Daniels denied “an alleged sexual relationship” with Trump. Davidson didn't believe anyone suggested there was a “relationship” between Daniels and Trump, he said on the witness stand.

“I think it's technically true,” Davidson testified, previously saying that a denial like this needs to be taken “word for word.”

Contributor: Aysha Bagchi

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