Trump lawyer suggests hush money payment was extortion

FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump attends a campaign event in Waukesha, Wisconsin, U.S. May 1, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A lawyer for Donald Trump sought on Thursday to portray the hush money payment at the center of his criminal trial as extortion, questioning a lawyer involved in the deal about his cash-for-dirt negotiations with other celebrities.

Defense attorney Emil Bove's questioning of the lawyer Keith Davidson hinted at a strategy by Trump's legal team to undermine the credibility of prosecution witnesses in the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president.