Trump Hush Money Trial: Defense Lawyers Attack Stormy Daniels’ Credibility

NEW YORK (AP) — Stormy Daniels will return to the witness stand Thursday in Donald Trump’s hush money trial as the defense seeks to undermine the porn actor’s credibility suggestive testimony about her alleged sexual encounter and the money she was paid to keep quiet.

The former president’s trial begins with defense attorneys questioning Daniels. whose account is the key to prosecutors’ case accusing Trump of plotting to illegally influence the 2016 presidential campaign by suppressing unflattering stories about him.

Trump watched in the courtroom Tuesday as Daniels described for hours on Tuesday an unexpected sexual encounter she said she had in 2006. Trump denies they ever had sex. But a decade later, Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen paid her to remain silent in the final weeks of the presidential campaign.

Daniels’ statement was an extraordinary moment that could be the only one Criminal proceedings against the presumptive Republican presidential candidate go to court before voters decide in November whether to send him back to the White House. Trump has pleaded not guilty, denies any wrongdoing and portrays himself as a victim of a politically charged justice system that is trying to deny him another term.

Trump’s lawyers have sought to portray Daniels as a liar and extortionist who is trying to topple the former president after gaining money and fame from her story about him. Daniels paused at times in the face of pointed questions and forcefully denied the idea that she had tried to blackmail Trump.

“Am I correct that you hate President Trump?” defense attorney Susan Necheles asked Daniels.

“Yes,” she confirmed.

Trump frowned and shook his head as Daniels described much of their alleged sexual encounter after she met Trump at a 2006 celebrity golf outing in Lake Tahoe, whose sponsors included the adult film studio where she worked. At one point, the judge told defense attorneys during a sideline conversation — out of earshot of the jury and the public — that he could hear Trump “audibly swearing.”

“I’m speaking to you here on the bench because I don’t want to embarrass him,” Judge Juan M. Merchan told Trump’s lawyers, according to a transcript of the proceedings.

A refresher on the key players and witnesses in the Trump hush money trial

For the first time in the trial, the defense on Tuesday pushed for a mistrial over Daniels’ extensive testimony, calling it “extremely prejudicial.” The judge denied the request, blaming the defense in part for not objecting more forcefully to her testimony to prevent her from providing more detail than she should have.

Trump is accused of falsifying internal business documents of the Trump Organization in 34 cases. The allegations stem from things like invoices and checks that were considered legal fees in the Trump Organization’s records, although prosecutors say the payments were largely reimbursements to Cohen for the $130,000 hush-money payment to Daniels .

Testimony to date has made it clear that Trump and his campaign were suffering from the law’s publication in October 2016 at the time of the payment to Daniels Never-before-seen footage from 2005’s Access Hollywood in which he bragged about grabbing women’s genitals without their permission.

Prosecutors have argued that the political firestorm surrounding the “Access Hollywood” video prompted Cohen to pay Daniels to stop her from going public with her claims, which could further harm Trump in the eyes of female voters.

Trump’s lawyers have tried to show that Trump wanted to protect his reputation and his family – not his campaign – by shielding them from embarrassing stories about his personal life.