The defense is attacking Stormy Daniels’ credibility as she returns to the witness stand in Trump’s hush money trial

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 credibility of the porn actor’s salacious testimony about their alleged sexual encounter and the money she was paid for her silence.

The former president’s trial begins with defense attorneys questioning Daniels. Its account is central to prosecutors’ case accusing Trump of illegally influencing 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’ testimony was an extraordinary moment in what may be the only criminal case against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, who will go to trial 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.

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 at the time of paying Daniels, Trump and his campaign were shaken by the October 2016 release of never-before-released 2005 “Access Hollywood” footage in which he bragged about grabbing women’s genitals to grab them without touching them 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.