NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump wished his wife, former first lady Melania Trump, a happy birthday on Friday as he entered a Manhattan courthouse for another day of his hush money trial.
Mr. Trump said he would fly to their home in Florida to be with her after the first week of his trial concludes for the weekend.
“I’ll be going there this evening after this case finishes up — this horrible, unconstitutional case,” he said.
Defense lawyers on Friday planned to continue cross-examining David Pecker, the former tabloid executive who testified that he helped the Trump campaign capture and kill unflattering stories about Mr. Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Lawyer Emil Bove on Thursday raised questions about Mr. Pecker’s recollection of events in 2015 and 2016 and said suppressing news stories was a common practice.
Prosecutors say former Trump attorney Michael Cohen and Mr. Trump criminally concealed a payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels through a series of checks and business entries that misled banks and triggered election and tax offenses.
Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records and says the case is designed to thwart his presidential campaign. He also denies having a sexual encounter with Ms. Daniels in 2006, as she alleges.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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