Testimony ends for the day in Trump hush money trial

David Pecker spent the morning taking the jury through the machinations of Karen McDougal's “catch and kill” deal.

As a reminder, McDougal is a model and actress who said she had a monthslong affair with Donald Trump in 2006 and was paid $150,000 to keep quiet about it by the National Enquirer. Trump has denied the allegations.

Here’s how Pecker's explanation went:

Pecker has testified for an hour and 27 minutes so far Thursday. The Stormy Daniels allegations have not come up.

The judge is back on the bench. We're now going to discuss the disputed exhibits. Steinglass handed the judge a binder with the exhibits.

Prosecutors are back in the courtroom, and Trump has returned to his seat.

He's chatting with his attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove and gesturing with his hands while they listen on beside him.

Trump is now walking out of the courtroom for the break.

He didn't speak in hallway as he left. However, he did give a thumbs up when a reporter asked, "Mr. Trump, how's it going today?"

Court is now taking a break. Merchan says they'll address evidentiary issues when they return.

Pecker testified that in October, the agreement was off, adding that he said, "I am not going forward, I want you to rip up the agreement."

Pecker said that Cohen was furious. "He was very angry, very upset. Screaming at me basically," Pecker said.

According to Pecker, Cohen told him on the phone, "The boss is going to be very angry with you" 

"I said I'm sorry, I'm not going forward. The deal is off," Pecker said he told Cohen, adding that he said "I am very concerned."

Pecker testified that at the end of the conversation, he said, "Are you going to rip it up or not?" and Cohen said "I'll take care of it."

Pecker, speaking about the transaction, testifies that he assumed Michael Cohen was being reimbursed "by the Trump Organization or Donald Trump."

In regards to this contract, Pecker says he signed on behalf of the "assignor" and Cohen signed as the "assignee." The document, which was assigning the rights to McDougal’s story, was dated September 30, 2016 — but the agreement was never executed, Pecker says.

Pecker is saying he asked a consultant to work with Cohen on the McDougal reimbursement.

Pecker informed Cohen of this and made the introduction. Pecker is saying he put the consultant in touch with Cohen, and that he said he created a company called Resolution Consultants to bill it.

At this point, Judge Juan Merchan gave the jury an instruction that the document was accepted into evidence for the fact that it was created, but that jurors should not consider the truth of what it says.

Steinglass asks if its fair that Pecker used the consultant as a middleman and it was objected to by the defense. The judge sustained.

"I used Daniel Rodstein (sp) because I did not want to have a payment received in the AMI finance department from the Trump Organization or Michael Cohen," Pecker said, referring to the consultant.

Steinglass asked, "Why not?"

Steinglass is having Pecker read the invoice item, which says the money was billed for a "flat fee" for advisory services.

Pecker says that's not what the $125,000 invoice was for — it was for the lifetime rights to Karen McDougal's story.

The prosecutor is showing an invoice that was prepared for the reimbursement. Pecker is explaining why the invoice is prepared by Investor Advisory Services, a company owned by a former AMI employee who became a consultant.

Pecker is explaining he used this outside service for large reimbursements, because he had "difficult experiences" within the company where his finance department would tell tabloid editors about expenses, like flying a celebrity in a private jet.

Pecker says he told the consultant, "I don’t want to have a check from the Trump Organization going through American Media."