Ex-attorney for Daniels, McDougal says clients wanted to revive careers — and he never saw Trump’s signature on agreement

The New York criminal case against former President Donald Trump continued Thursday with a hearing on additional alleged gag order violations and testimony from the prosecution's witness attorney, Keith Davidson. Davidson previously represented porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, both of whom allegedly had an affair with Trump.

Davidson testified that he never saw a copy of the so-called hush money agreement between "David Dennison," allegedly Donald Trump, and "Peggy Peterson," allegedly Stormy Daniels, that was actually signed by Trump. He saw only an agreement signed by Cohen, allegedly on Trump's behalf.

Additionally, Davidson noted that there was a side agreement that did use the parties' real names. That agreement listed Peggy Peterson as Stephanie Gregory Clifford, Daniels' legal name. However, it read, "David Dennison a.k.a." followed by a blank line.

According to prosecutor Joshua Steinglass, the side agreement did include Trump's name, but Davidson admittedly was the one who handwrote it. Davidson noted that he has never met Trump and had never even been in the same room as him until these court proceedings.

Davidson claimed that he received a call from Cohen after Trump won the 2016 presidential election, expressing frustration and anger that he was "not going to Washington" with Trump "after everything I've done for that f**king guy."

"That f**king guy is not even paying me the $130,000 back," Cohen allegedly stated, according to Davidson. The money referred to the payment Cohen sent to Daniels for the alleged agreement between Trump and her.

According to Davidson, per the agreement, Cohen instructed him to tell the Wall Street Journal that the allegation of an affair between Daniels and Trump was not true.

Davidson made a statement to the WSJ in 2018 on behalf of Daniels that read, "I am saying with complete clarity that this is absolutely false."

The attorney rejected the corporate media's use of the terms "hush money" and "payout."

"It wasn't a 'payout,' and it wasn't 'hush money.' It was consideration in a civil settlement," Davidson argued.

He noted that Daniels made plans to appear on Jimmy Kimmel's show despite the settlement agreement because she wanted to "talk about her life and reinvigorate her career."

Trump's lawyer, Emil Bove, played a recording of Davidson telling Cohen that Daniels wanted the money "more than you could ever imagine."

Davidson went on to say in the recording, "If [Trump] loses this election, and he's going to lose, we all lose all f***ing leverage. ... This case is worth zero."

Davidson testified that like Daniels, former Playboy model McDougal was also attempting to revive her career.

According to Davidson, McDougal said selling her story of having an alleged affair with Trump to the National Enquirer was her "dream deal." He stated the contract between the tabloid and McDougal promised her a monthly column on aging and fitness in Star and OK magazines.

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