Former porn actress Stormy Daniels testified on Tuesday in the trial against former President Donald Trump over the cover-up of a hush money payment before the 2016 election. The 45-year-old, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, said she had a sex affair with Trump in 2006 and described this encounter in the penthouse suite of a hotel, sometimes in great detail. Trump denies the affair.
In her testimony, Clifford described Trump's pajamas, his boxer shorts, his position during sex and that he did not use a condom. The former president, who wants to run again against incumbent Joe Biden in the November presidential election, listened to her descriptions in silence and with a stone face.
Clifford entered the courtroom in New York's Manhattan district that morning in a black pants suit and sat on the witness stand – opposite Trump and his legal team and to the left of the jury.
After a few questions about her childhood in Louisiana and her work as a stripper and porn actress, Clifford said she met Trump at a celebrity golf tournament. She was 27 years old at the time and Trump was “probably older than my father.” An employee of Trump's security service brought her an invitation to dinner. She hesitated at first, but then agreed.
Trump received her in the penthouse suite of his hotel wearing “silk or satin pajamas, which I immediately made fun of,” Clifford said. “I asked, 'Does Mr. Hefner know that you stole his pajamas?'” she said, referring to a popular getup by “Playbock” founder Hugh Hefner.
Trump, who was already married to his wife Melania at the time, changed clothes and talked to her about porn films. He was “very interested in business things,” Clifford said. He also suggested that she appear on his television show “The Apprentice.” She went to the toilet briefly – when she came back, Trump was lying on the bed in his boxer shorts and T-shirt.
She was “terrified,” Clifford reported. His intention was “pretty clear.” They then had brief sex with each other on the bed – in the “missionary position” and without a condom. Trump “did not threaten her verbally or physically,” Clifford said. But there was a “power imbalance” between them and she “didn’t say no.”
She then met with Trump several times, but broke off contact when it became clear to her that nothing would come of her appearance on “The Apprentice.”
After Trump ran for president, her agent Gina Rodriguez suggested selling her story and contacted attorney Keith Davidson. “My motivation was not money, but to make my story public,” Clifford said.
Before the 2016 presidential election, she signed a non-disclosure agreement negotiated by Davidson and Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and received $130,000 (around 122,000 euros) for it. “I couldn’t tell my story and he couldn’t tell the story,” Clifford said.
Before the testimony, Trump's lawyers unsuccessfully objected to Clifford testifying about “sexual acts” in the trial. Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger responded that details could be left out, but it was important to establish “that there was a sexual act and how she felt about it.” Judge Juan Merchan also rejected a request to dismiss the case.
The historic first criminal trial against a former US president began in mid-April. Trump is accused of falsifying business documents to keep the hush money payment to Clifford secret.
