NEW YORK — The jury weighing former President Donald Trump’s fate in his hush money trial asked the court Wednesday to read back testimony from tabloid executive David Pecker and former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen about a key meeting at Trump Tower in August 2015.

The request was the first signal to come out of the deliberations room. It came shortly before 3 p.m., or about four hours into deliberations, including the lunch hour.

A bell buzzed in the courtroom, signaling the jury needed something and prompting state Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan to read the four-part request from the jury aloud.

Jurors also wanted to hear testimony about Mr. Pecker’s call to Mr. Trump during an investor meeting and testimony about Mr. Pecker’s handling of the life rights to Playboy model Karen McDougal’s story about an alleged affair with Mr. Trump.

It is not clear why the jury wanted to hear the testimony again, but it could signal the panel is taking a deep dive into the evidence instead of reaching a snap decision.

Prosecutors say Mr. Trump, Mr. Cohen and Mr. Pecker attended an August 2015 meeting at Trump Tower in which they decided to use Mr. Pecker’s National Enquirer to promote flattering stories about Mr Trump and suppress negative ones as he geared up his 2016 presidential campaign.

They said the strategy resulted in payoffs to people within unflattering stories about Mr. Trump as the 2016 election neared, including $130,000 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The indictment accuses Mr. Trump of illegally concealing the payment through reimbursement checks to Mr. Cohen that were logged as legal expenses.

The defense said efforts to manipulate news coverage around an election are normal and that other people have paid nondisclosure money, which is perfectly legal. They said Mr. Trump thought he was paying legal fees when he cut the checks to Mr. Cohen in 2017.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, say it was all an illegal scheme with an intent to violate election laws, including caps on campaign contributions.

The Trump Tower meeting is a building block in the prosecutors’ theory because they believe the payments schemes were designed to boost Mr Trump’s election chances, and not to protect Mr. Trump’s family or brand as the defense argued.

• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.