NEW YORK (AP) — Stormy Daniels returned to the witness stand Thursday in Donald Trump's hush money trial as the defense sought to undermine the porn actor's credibility. vile testimony about the alleged sexual contact and the money she was paid to keep quiet.
The trial against the former president resumed with defense attorneys questioning Daniels. Whose account is the key? This is in response to prosecutors' claims that President Trump attempted to illegally influence his 2016 presidential campaign by suppressing unflattering stories about him.
What you need to know about Trump's hush money trial:
“As we sit here for the first time in two and a half weeks, some things will become very clear today,” Trump said outside the courtroom.
meanwhile, As the threat of prison looms President Trump's lawyers are fighting a judge's order and seeking a speedy ruling in an appeals court after repeated violations of the gag order. If the court refuses to lift the gag order, Trump's lawyers are seeking permission to appeal to the state high court.
Daniels avoided eye contact with Trump as she walked to the witness stand in a Manhattan courtroom. Her testimony was a special moment in what could have been a unique moment. Criminal case against Republican presidential candidate He should go to trial before voters decide whether to return him to the White House in November. Trump maintains his innocence, denies any wrongdoing, and presents himself as the victim of a politically tainted judicial system bent on denying him another term.
Trump's lawyer Susan Necheres resumed cross-examining Daniels with a series of questions about his 2016 efforts to sell his story about a 2006 sexual encounter with Daniels. He says that never happened.
Daniels described the encounter for several hours Tuesday, sometimes in graphic detail. President Trump denies they ever had sex. A decade later, Trump's then-lawyer Michael Cohen paid her to remain silent during the final weeks of her presidential campaign.
Trump's lawyers are trying to paint Daniels as a liar and extortionist who is trying to extract money and fame from her story and bring down the former president. Ms. Daniels, at times prodded in the face of her pointed questions, forcefully denied the idea that she had tried to blackmail Mr. Trump.
“Are you sure you hate President Trump?” defense attorney Susan Necheres asked Daniels.
“Yes,” she admitted.
Trump grimaces and shakes his head as Daniels describes much of the alleged sexual contact that Daniels had with Trump after they met during a celebrity golf outing at Lake Tahoe in 2006. Her sponsors included the adult film studio where she worked. At one point, the judge told defense attorneys during a sidebar conversation that he could hear Trump “audibly swearing” out of earshot of the jury or the public. .
“I'm telling you in court because I don't want to embarrass him,” Judge Juan M. Marchan told Trump's lawyers, according to court records.
For the first time in the trial, defense attorneys argued Tuesday for a mistrial over Daniels' detailed testimony, calling it “extremely biased.” The judge denied the request, partly blaming her defense for not objecting more vigorously when she was testifying to prevent her from giving more details than necessary. did.
Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying internal business records at the Trump Organization. The charges stem from invoices and checks that were considered legal expenses in Trump Organization records. Prosecutors say the bulk of the payment was to repay Cohen for $130,000 in hush money paid to Daniels.
From previous testimony, at the time of the payment to Daniels, Trump and his campaign published in October 2016. Unreleased 2005 “Access Hollywood” footage In it, he bragged about grabbing a woman's genitals without her permission.
Prosecutors said the political firestorm over the “Access Hollywood” tape could have caused a political firestorm against Mr. Cohen to prevent Mr. Daniels from going public with his claims, which could further hurt Mr. Trump in the eyes of female voters. He claims to have sped up payments.
Mr. Trump's lawyers are trying to show that Mr. Trump is protecting his reputation and family, not his campaign, by shielding them from embarrassing stories about his private life.