Jurors are smiling as Davidson explains the "WTF" text (2024)

"It’s a signal of exasperation," Keith Davidson said when asked to explain the "WTF" text.

Davidson said he wasn't watching Kimmel at the time and was learning this allfor the first time from Michael Cohen in these texts.

Some of the jurors were smiling as Davidson explained the text message and what he meant by "WTF."

Remember:The jury is comprised of 12 seated jurors, along with six alternate jurors. Read about them here.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is now showing a series of texts from then-Trump attorney Michael Cohen on the evening of January 30, 2018, when Stormy Daniels appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

During the interview, Kimmel repeatedly tried to pin Daniels down on whether or not the signature on her January 30 statement denying an affair with Donald Trump was actually her signature.

"She just denied the letter," Cohen wrote to Davidson, according to the texts shown in court. "Claiming it’s not her signature."

"You said she did it in front of you," he added.

"She did. Impossible – she posted it on her own Twitter page," Davidson responded.

"They showed her signature and she claimed it was not hers on Kimmel," Cohen responded.

Keith Davidson digs in on this statement of Stormy Daniels denying an affair with Donald Trump.

"I think it's technically true," he says.

Asked how that is true, Davidson says, "Because I don’t think that anyone had ever alleged that there was a relationship between Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump. I believe a relationship is an ongoing interaction."

Davidson says he would give the same explanation as earlier for why he does not believe Daniels was paid "hush money" in the agreement.

Keith Davidson is now explaining there was "another statement" that was prepared for Stormy Daniels and released on January 30, 2018.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is showing the statement now. "I am denying this affair because it never happened," Daniels said in the statement.

Davidson says he wrote the statement while in the Marylin Monroe suite at the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. He was there with Daniels, her publicist Gina Rodriquez and hair and makeup artists.

The "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" team put Daniels up in the hotel before she went on the show, Davidson says.

Keith Davidson is now going through texts from January 30, 2018, after a news article was published and he was receiving "hundreds" of calls from reporters.

“She’s stating she authored it & she released it of her own volition," Davidson texted Cohen about Stormy Daniels. Davidson explains that Cohen had requested another statement from Daniels on the day she appeared on Jimmy Kimmel and he wanted to know whether she was going to release it.

On January 26, 2018, then-Trump attorney Michael Cohen texted Davidson to ask why Stormy Daniels was going on Jimmy Kimmel's late night show after that year's State of the Union, according to messages shown in court.

"Idk I was pissed. She said this is her shot. I’m meeting with her this weekend to prep her and get the statement," Davidson responded.

Davidson says in court that this was a tough spot for Daniels. She was hamstrung by the settlement agreement with Trump.

Cohen said at the time that she could speak publicly with restrictions but, "She wanted to talk about her life and reinvigorate her career," Davidson explains.

Later on January 17, Michael Cohen texted Keith Davidson about Stormy Daniels:

Davidson responded, "100%"

Davidson reiterates on the stand that this was a part of Cohen's "pants on fire" stage where he'd run around planning things, but then when he'd run them up the flagpole, plans would change.

"Thanks pal," Cohen responded to Davidson.

"Just no interviews or statements unless through you," he said in another text the evening of January 17.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said Trump’s then-fixer Michael Cohen was in a "pants on fire moment" with Stormy Daniels' story percolating in the media.

Cohen texted Davidson on January 17 saying he had tentatively booked Daniels on Hannity's Fox show that night.

"I have her tentatively scheduled for Hannity tonight. Call me after your trial," Cohen said.

She did not appear on his show, however, Davidson said.

Davidson said that he understood at that point that Cohen felt that Daniels going on Hannity would somehow help him and Trump, "with the understanding that she would further deny the interaction."

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is asking Keith Davidson a series of questions around the phrase hush money.

"Would you use the phrase hush money to describe the money that was paid to your client by Donald Trump?" he asks.

"I would never use that word," Davidson says.

Steinglass asks him what's the word he would use.

"Consideration," Davidson says, explaining earlier that it was like a contact where someone pays you $5 to mow their lawn.