Porn star Stormy Daniels claims sexual encounter with Trump in New York hush money trial • Nebraska Examiner

WASHINGTON – Adult film star Stormy Daniels told a jury in Manhattan on Tuesday about his meeting with Donald Trump in a penthouse suite in 2006, where he told the actress not to worry about his wife and said just before they had sex, she reminds him of his daughter.

The testimony, reported by journalists in the courtroom, detailed an intimate physical encounter with a former president now facing charges in New York for falsifying records of hush money payments to the actress and director. Trump is the first former president to be prosecuted.

Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for 2024, denies the encounter.

Daniels was called to the witness stand in the fourth week of the trial as prosecutors seek to prove that Trump covered up a $130,000 payment to silence the star during his 2016 presidential campaign.

The former president is facing 34 felony charges for allegedly concealing payments reimbursed to his former lawyer Michael Cohen as “legal fees.” The Trump Organization ultimately paid Cohen $420,000 in taxes and a bonus.

Book publisher testifies

The trial opened on Tuesday with a brief appearance by witness Sally Franklin. Franklin is an executive and editor at Penguin Random House, the publisher of some of Trump’s books, including “Trump: How to Get Rich” and “Trump: Think Like a Billionaire.”

Prosecutors led jurors through excerpts from Trump’s books, including portions in which Trump claims he always signed checks personally and that he carefully tracked the money going in and out of the Trump Organization.

On Monday, the jury heard from both a former and current Trump Organization financial employee about the payments to Cohen. Prosecutors used the deposition to show jurors financial records, including the 11 checks signed by Trump personally.

The New York case is the first of four criminal charges against Trump to reach the trial stage. The likelihood that the other cases will go to trial before the November election further diminished Tuesday when a federal district judge in Florida indefinitely postponed the scheduled May 20 trial date in Trump’s classified documents case.

“My motivation wasn’t money”

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, testified for several hours, telling the jury about a reluctant sexual encounter with Trump and several public meetings with him in the following months when he was considering a possible appearance for her on the NBC series “The Apprentice” message to reporters at the courthouse.

New York does not allow video or audio recordings in the courtroom, but does provide public transcripts of the proceedings.

Journalists reported that Judge Juan Merchan became increasingly annoyed with Daniels’ long and detailed testimony, at times reprimanding her and telling her to stick with the questions. Merchan accepted the objections of Trump’s team and at times raised objections himself.

The actress described meeting Trump in 2006 at a golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, where she was promoting Wicked Pictures, an adult film company.

Daniels initially declined a dinner invitation, but then agreed to meet Trump for dinner in his luxury hotel suite. Daniels testified that Trump answered the door in silk pajamas and she asked him to change.

After dinner, Daniels testified, she was shocked that Trump had stripped down to his underwear and then positioned himself between her and the door as she tried to leave, according to reporters at the courthouse.

She testified that she didn’t say no “because I didn’t say anything.”

Daniels said she stopped taking Trump’s calls in 2007 after he couldn’t guarantee her an appearance on the NBC show.

In the years that followed, her story appeared on an obscure website and Daniels said that in 2011 she was approached by a man who threatened her and told her to keep quiet about the encounter.

Daniels testified that her publicist tried unsuccessfully to sell her story after Trump announced his presidential candidacy in 2015. However, interest only grew in October 2016, when an Access Hollywood video surfaced in which Trump brags that his fame allows him to grab women’s genitals.

“My motivation wasn’t money. It was about bringing the story to light,” she said, according to reporters at the courthouse.

Trump and Cohen contacted Daniels’ publicist, Gina Rodriguez, to buy their story, after which Daniels said she concluded that silence was the safest option for her and her family.

Daniels ultimately received $96,000 of the $130,000 payment after her manager and attorney racked up fees, she testified.

A failed attempt

Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche requested a mistrial Tuesday afternoon, arguing that Daniels’ testimony went beyond what was necessary for the case.

Blanche particularly objected to Daniels describing on the witness stand her feelings about the alleged affair and her claim that Trump did not wear a condom.

While Merchan told the defense that some things “would have been better left unsaid,” he rejected the motion for a mistrial.

Daniels returned to the witness stand in the afternoon as Trump’s lawyer, Susan Necheles, sought to discredit her by accusing her of making “a lot of money” from her story, according to reporters at the courthouse.

Necheles also questioned Daniels about the 2011 encounter with the man who she said threatened her. At the time, Daniels was in a parking lot with her baby on her way to a “Mommy and Me” class.

Necheles questioned the veracity of the story, saying, according to reporters at the courthouse, “Your daughter’s life was in danger and you didn’t tell her father.” Daniels said she kept the story and the parking lot encounter a secret from her husband.

The cross-examination continues

In another attempt to undermine Daniels’ statement, Necheles questioned why the porn star decided to sell her story in 2016 after being so afraid of threats.

Necheles said Daniels saw an “opportunity to make money,” to which Daniels replied, “I saw the opportunity to get the story out. “I didn’t put a price tag on it,” according to reporters at the courthouse.

Merchan dismissed the jury at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Trump’s team is expected to continue cross-examination on Wednesday.

In response to Daniels’ statement, Trump posted in all caps on his Truth Social platform Tuesday afternoon: “THE CHARGE THAT HAS NO CASE HAS GONE TOO FAR. MISTRIAL!”

According to media reports, the post followed an earlier one that had since been deleted. The earlier post expressed anger that Daniels was unexpectedly called to the stand.

Trump was fined $1,000 on Monday for again violating his gag order, which bars him from posting about witnesses. The former president was fined on April 30 for nine additional violations of the gag order.