Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers tried to pierce Stormy Daniels credibility and motive Thursday was full of inconsistencies and driven by a desire to harm the adult film actor as someone who reenacted the alleged sex.
On the stand in Manhattan criminal court in New York, Trump’s attorney Susan Necheles asked Daniels whether he had made “a lot of money” from his story over the years, making deals worth a million dollars or more. He also took shots at Daniels in the various ways he described the encounter in the magazine and in prime-time interviews, as well as in the courtroom.
Daniels pushed back, saying that while he made a living speaking out against Trump, “I wasn’t selling myself to anybody.”
Daniels’ story is the main component The prosecution’s hush money case against Trump. The bid to silence him in the waning days of the 2016 presidential race came as Trump feared he could not withstand more damage after a recording of him talking about the inappropriate “grabbing” of women who threatened to undermine his campaign candidacy.
Trump has been charged in 34 states with falsifying business records that prosecutors allege were used to hide payments to Daniels. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. She also denied having a relationship with Daniels.
Here’s what you missed on Day 14 of the criminal trial.
The defense calls Daniels’ account a fabrication
Necheles told Daniels when she recounted her meeting with Trump in 2006, various details such as how she felt lightheaded, Daniels did not include in media interviews.
On Thursday, Trump’s lawyer, Necheles, asked Daniels more than two dozen times about his account, which he presented as a fabrication used to extract money at a sensitive time for Trump. Necheles said Daniels “wanted to cash in” on the attention and even made it the “centerpiece” of his 2018 book.
“You were threatening If President Trump hadn’t paid you, you’d be trying to hurt him politically by telling this story, right?” Necheles asked.
He also pointed to Daniels merchandise for sale online, including a $40 “Stormy Saint of Accusations” candle and a “Stormy Daniels Political Power” comic book. Necheles then noted that Daniels celebrated Trump’s indictment by tweeting about pouring champagne on the same day. “I was doing my job,” Daniels replied.
The defense also suggested that prosecutors tried to shape Daniels’ testimony before he made his first appearance Tuesday. Necheles asked him if he had to add some details at their insistence and from his book.
Trump’s attorneys tried throughout the trial to portray certain witnesses as selectively emphasizing facts to help the Manhattan district attorney’s case.
“There’s nothing wrong with detail,” Daniels said Thursday.
“My story never changed,” he said.
Another Trump attorney, Todd Blanche, cited Daniels’ wild testimony about the alleged encounter with Trump as he renewed the motion for a mistrial, arguing that Daniels’ description of the “power imbalance” between himself and Trump was biased. he did not feel physically threatened, and when he remembered the “slash” with a rolled-up magazine.
“None of this is information that goes into motive,” Blanche said.
The judge did not grant the motion for a mistrial. He also rejected a defense request to loosen the rules on the gag order against Trump.
Three new witnesses
Two new witnesses who worked for Trump took the stand Thursday to be subpoenaed: a Trump Organization employee and a former Trump White House executive assistant.
Both gave convincing accounts of Trump’s micro-management of his affairs, such as signing off on his $6,000 annual dues to the golf club and writing “FINE OK” on the invoice for it.
Former White House aide Madeleine Westerhout described Trump’s habits, including how he likes to keep his Oval Office desk clean for meetings and uses the dining room as a “work office.” There, he said, he would “work, read, review documents,” noting that while he kept things organized, he had a lot of documents.
“I found that he always knew where things were,” Westerhout said. He said he “likes paper documents” and, as far as he knows, has no email address.
Westerhout left the White House after making disparaging remarks about Trump’s family during a meeting with reporters. his comments were made public. Unlike Daniels, Westerhout spoke candidly about Trump, portraying a family man who cared deeply for his wife, Melania Trump.
Taking the stand Thursday, Trump Organization employee Rebecca Manochio testified about how the background checks were conducted both during Trump’s time in office and before. He described putting together checks with his invoices for Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg to sign, something he continued to do after Trump took office. Manochio said he required Trump’s signature on some checks and recalled sending only one at least once.
Trump took notes and looked ahead as Manochio told the court about once a week he would send checks by FedEx for Trump to sign at the White House. He then mailed the checks that Westerhout would handle at the White House.
The third new witness of the day – HarperCollins executive Tracey Menzies – testified to the accuracy of parts of the book “Think Big: Make It Happen in Business and Life” published by Trump’s company.
A passage included in the court transcript focused on Trump’s call for “loyalty above all else” at the Trump Organization and claims he “went out of my way” to make a woman’s life “miserable.” very unfaithful.”
Tweets, paper trails and record keeping
Westerhout described Trump’s process of using Twitter, now X, while in the White House. He said that apart from Trump, in 2017, only the deputy head of the administration, Dan Scavino, had access to the president’s account, and that Trump has a different style.
“There were certain words he liked to capitalize … and he liked to use exclamation points,” Westerhout said. “I think he liked to use the Oxford comma.”
He also recalled how Michael Cohen met with Trump at the White House, but did not specifically recall seeing him there. This meeting is the main event in the story of the prosecutor’s office about the election interference plan.
Westerhout called Trump detail-oriented, and said he prefers to sign documents himself, using a Sharpie or Pentel marker. He said he would hand-sign each check in Trump’s office and return it to him in a folder.
Trump signed a lot of material while being questioned by Westerhout, Necheles.
He also talked about a text message he sent to Trump’s top aide, Hope Hicks: “Hey, the president wants to know if you called David Packer again?”
Packer, a former publisher of the National Enquirer, testified about his role in a scheme to “catch and kill” stories potentially damaging to Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, including an account by former Playboy model Karen McDougal. A month-long relationship with Trump that began nearly a decade before the election.
After the jury left the courtroom Thursday, Trump’s attorney, Blanche, noted that the DA’s office had informed her that prosecutors would not call McDougall to testify any further.