Ex-attorney for Daniels and McDougal testifies in Trump trial

The jury is now seeing texts that Keith Davidson sent to former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard.

The first text is sent June 7, 2016.

Davidson explains he reached out concerning the alleged interaction between Karen McDougal and Donald Trump.

Davidson testifies it was meant to be an "entree or teaser" to let Howard know he had a good story.

He also testifies, "I don't know if I had a clear understanding at the time," but said he understood former American Media CEO David Pecker and Trump were friends and that AMI — the parent company of the National Enquirer — had endorsed Trump.

The jury is shown a portion of the retainer agreement that explains the scope of the work.

Keith Davidson says he won't get into his discussions with Karen McDougal about this agreement, but he says that the paragraph above authorized him to negotiate with media outlets on his client's behalf.

Keith Davidson is now on the stand. He was the lawyer who was at the center of the so-called hush money agreements with Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal.

The lawyer helped negotiate the deals to silence Daniels and McDougal over their alleged encounters with Donald Trump. Davidson said in an interview with CNN in 2018 that he’d spoken with Michael Cohen on several occasions about the two women.

Davidson also said he called Cohen in the late summer of 2016 to inform him that he’d settled a case involving Playboy model McDougal. McDougal sold the rights to her story to American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer, for $150,000 and other perks. Davidson said he informed Cohen of the deal as “a professional courtesy.”

During his testimony last week, David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, testified about his communications with Davidson throughout the process of negotiating the payments.

CNN's Scott Glover and Sara Sidner contributed reporting to this post.

Keith Davidson was shown an email he sent to former Playboy model Karen McDougal saying, "Great seeing you today. I’ve already started on your case.”

The email also contained a retainer agreement and was dated June 15, 2016.

Keith Davidson said he represented Karen McDougal in 2016 to provide her advice of counsel about her rights about a personal interaction she had with Donald Trump.

Davidson said McDougal became his client because they were reintroduced by her former brother-in-law.

Keith Davidson is being asked if knows Karen McDougal.

"She was a client of mine," he said, adding that he met her 25 years ago when she was dating his friend.

Davidson is McDougal's former attorney.

Trump just wrote a note on a notepad and handed it to his attorney Emil Bove. Bove wrote something and handed it back to Trump.

Former President Donald Trump has been accused of taking part in an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election and an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, which included a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to hide an affair. Trump has denied the affair.

Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, received a $130,000 payment just days before the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors allege Trump disguised the transaction as a legal payment and falsified business records numerous times to “promote his candidacy.” Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records. He has pleaded not guilty.

Daniels shared in a documentary released in March that she accepted the payment to keep her one-night stand with Trump in 2006 from becoming public to protect her husband and daughter.

Meanwhile, Karen McDougal is a model and actress who has said she had a monthslong affair with Trump in 2006. She was paid $150,000 to keep quiet about it by the National Enquirer, according to prosecutors. Trump has denied the affair.

While the hush money trial is focused on the hush money deal involving Daniels, prosecutors have used the alleged McDougal payoff as evidence the schemes were aimed at protecting Trump's electoral chances.

See a full timeline of key moments in the case.

Michael Cohen was working on Donald Trump's behalf when they interacted over the Stormy Daniels' blog post, Keith Davidson testified.

Davidson was given a thumb drive in court with emails and attachments from his law firm's servers.