Porn star returns to witness stand
Stormy Daniels returned to the witness stand on Thursday at Donald Trump’s historic hush money trial for another round of tough grilling by attorneys for the former president.
The X-rated film actress, who claims to have had sex with the married Trump in 2006, spent nearly five hours testifying on Tuesday, recounting the incident in often explicit detail as the mogul glared steps away.
Trump, 77, is accused of falsifying business records to reimburse his lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a $130 000 (R2.4 million) payment to Daniels on the eve of the 2016 presidential election, when the story could have proved politically fatal.
The courtroom face-off between Daniels and Trump is taking place six months before the November election, when the Republican hopeful will try to defeat Democratic President Joe Biden.
Speaking rapidly – prompting the judge to tell her to slow down several times – Daniels has already walked the New York jury through the one-night stand she said she had with Trump at a celebrity golf tournament.
She described his pyjamas, his boxer shorts, the sexual position and that he did not wear a condom. And while she was “not threatened verbally or physically” she said she “felt ashamed I didn’t stop it, didn’t say no.”
Trump has denied having sex with Daniels and his lawyers on Tuesday asked the judge for a mistrial on the grounds her testimony was “extremely prejudicial” in what is essentially a financial records and election-related case. Judge Juan Merchan denied the mistrial request.
Speaking to reporters on his way into court on Thursday, Trump called it a “Frankenstein” case. “It’s not a recognisable crime that any of us have seen,” he said. “This is a prosecutor making it up as he goes along.”
Merchan has imposed a gag order on Trump prohibiting him from publicly attacking witnesses and the ex-president – who has traded insults with Daniels for years – did not comment directly on her testimony.
Trump said on Thursday that his side had filed an appeal against the gag order in an appellate court, but gave no further details.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump complained about the gag order saying his “Constitutional Right to Free Speech” had been “unfairly taken” away.
“It is hard to sit back and listen to lies and false statements be made against you knowing that if you respond, even in the most modest fashion, you are told by a Corrupt and Highly Conflicted Judge that you will be put in prison,” he said.
Daniels was being aggressively cross-examined by one of Trump’s attorneys, Susan Necheles, when court wrapped up on Tuesday and was back in the firing line on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Trump’s legal team was able to punch some holes in Daniels’ account. Under questioning, Daniels admitted that she had not always told the truth about the encounter, and acknowledged that she has refused to pay Trump a judgment of more than $500 000 stemming from a failed defamation lawsuit.
Necheles also asked Daniels on Thursday why she let Cohen buy her silence, when she had previously testified she wanted to go public with her story.
Daniels said she ultimately agreed to the non-disclosure agreement rather than tell her story not because of the payout, but because of safety concerns.
“The better alternative was to get my story protected with a paper trail,” Daniels testified. Publishing the story would have put “a target on my back, and my family’s,” she said.
Cape Times