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Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial has resumed at Manhattan Criminal Court following Wednesday’s recess, with the porn star Stormy Daniels back on the witness stand facing more cross-examination from the defendant’s lawyers.
Ms Daniels appeared on Tuesday to regale jurors with her account of how she met Mr Trump, the infamous sexual encounter she says they had in July 2006 and the events leading up to the 2016 presidential election.
After lunch on Tuesday, the defence moved for a mistrial citing Ms Daniels’ “prejudicial” evidence, which was denied by Judge Juan Merchan.
As cross-examination began, the witness was confronted about whether she “hates” Mr Trump and wants to see him in jail – to which she replied she wants to see him held accountable for his actions.
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Elsewhere, Mr Trump spent his day off from court hosting an event at Mar-a-Lago for people who bought his superhero NFTs, rather than hitting the campaign trail, and attacked Joe Biden on Truth Social over escalating events in the Middle East, once again insisting the war in Gaza would never have happened if he had remained president.
Alex Woodward is covering Mr Trump’s trial in Manhattan and will be providing regular updates on proceedings.
Daniels agrees that she has appeared in over 200 sex films – “including comps,” she says, turning to the court reporter to annunciate. “Comp-i-la-tions.”
“This was your career for over 20 years, writing, acting, and directing sex films,” Necheles asks.
“You have a lot of experience making phoney stories about sex appear real, right?”
“Wow,” Daniels says, pausing to laugh. “That’s not how I would put it. … The sex in those films is very much real just like in that hotel room.”
She adds: “If that story was untrue, I would’ve written it better.”
Necheles is trying to make Daniels look foolish by grilling her about her TV shows and podcasts about the paranormal, that she is making money by telling people she can communicate with ghosts, and that she lived in a haunted house in New Orleans.
She had claimed that a ghost attacked her boyfriend, but “isn’t it you who attacked your boyfriend?”
Objection. Sustained.
“We talked about this,” Judge Merchan says.
“Didn’t your boyfriend question your sanity?”
Objection. Sustained.
Necheles is accusing Daniels of using Trump and his indictment to make money.
Another tweet is shown:
We see a “Stormy Saint of Indictments” candle. Necheles accuses her of taking credit for getting Trump indicted.
“I got President Trump indicted?” Daniels says, hand to her chest.
Aren’t you bragging [that you did]?
“I think it’s funny that a store made those for me to sell.”
And you make $40 on those?
“No, I actually make $7.”
Necheles is trying to argue that Daniels has said that she would be “instrumental” in putting Trump in jail.
“Show me where I said will be instrumental in putting Trump in jail,” she fires back.
Necheles pulls up a tweet, where Daniels replies to someone who wrote: “Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels aka THE HUMAN TOILET are their star witnesses”.
“Exactly! Making me the best person to flush the orange turd down,” Daniels replied to the post.
“Pretty sure that it’s hyperbole, if someone calls me a toilet, that I can flush somebody,” Daniels says, smirking throughout this exchange. “I’m also not a toilet.”
“I’m asking you what you mean when you said orange turd,” Necheles says, suggesting she meant “President Trump.”
“I absolutely meant Mr Trump,” Daniels says. She accuses Necheles of trying to put words in her mouth, “because it doesn’t say being instrumental” to jailing Trump.
Necheles suggests that Daniels’ 60 Minutes interview generated her publicity to land a book deal so she could make money telling her story about Trump.
“I sold my life story, yes,” she says.
Necheles is bringing up her “Make America Horny Again” strip club tour.
“I did not name that tour and I fought it tooth and nail,” she says. Contracts were already in place for that tour before she wrote the book.
Necheles brings up a flyer with a photo of them from the golf tournament. It has the tagline “HE SAW HER LIVE. YOU CAN TOO!”
“I never reposted anything with this photo,” Daniels says. “I never used that [Make America Horny Again] tagline. I hated it.”
Necheles: “You were selling yourself to people who hated President Trump, as someone who could get President Trump indicted?”
“These are strip club patrons who are fans of my work,” Daniels says.
In 2018, Trump wasn’t running for election and was concerned for his family, Necheles says.
“I never mentioned anything about his family
Necheles: “And you understood that he is concerned about protecting his brand and his image, right?”
“I wouldn’t know what he wanted to protect … He never expressed concern about his brand.”
The court is now shown the non-disclosure agreement between Trump and Daniels (under pseudonyms David Dennison and Peggy Peterson), followed by the Wall Street Journal article breaking news of the arrangement on 12 January 2018, and then the 10 January 2018 statement of denial of a “sexual and/or romantic affair” with Trump signed by Stormy Daniels.
Daniels says: “To be clear I did not write this. I signed it. … It was given to me and I was told to sign it.”
And then the second statement of denial from 30 January 2018.
Trump hosts dinner for people who bought his NFTs on day away from hush money trial
Amelia Neath has this report on how the defendant chose to spend his precious recess day yesterday after complaining endlessly that the trial was stopping him from visiting battleground states to campaign.
Davidson, on the call, accuses her of “basically yelling and screaming and calling me a pussy.”
“I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he comes out and says, you know what, Stormy Daniels, she wanted this money more than you can ever imagine. I remember hearing her on the phone saying, you fucking Keith Davidson. You better settled this God damn story. Because if he loses this election, and he’s going to lose, if he loses this election we lose all fucking leverage [and] this case is worth zero.”
Does she remember screaming at him?
“No, I do not actually. I never yelled at him.”
Daniels corrects Necheles, that the phone call is what Gina Rodriguez’s boyfriend was saying, not her. This is not the first time that the defense has attributed these remarks to the wrong person because Davidson’s remarks aren’t that clear out of context.
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