Former porn actress Stormy Daniels shared details about her sexual contact with Trump. He, in turn, raged in and out of court – and the judge admonished everyone.
“Prosecution calls out Stormy Daniels.” With these words, the most memorable witness interview to date in the trial against Donald Trump began on Tuesday morning. The focus was on the woman who received a payment of $130,000 shortly before the 2016 presidential election in order to keep quiet about a possible affair with Donald Trump.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, thinks about Trump these days, revealed this afternoon during cross-examination with Trump's defense attorney Susan Necheles.
“Am I right that you hate President Trump,” the lawyer wanted to know.
Stormy Daniels: “Yes.”
Necheles: “You want him to go to prison?”
Daniels: “I want him to be held accountable.”
During the nearly five hours of questioning by the prosecution and defense, Daniels revealed details about sexual intercourse with Donald Trump, the judge admonished all sides, Trump raged and the former president's lawyers tried to crash the trial. Five lessons from the 13th day of negotiations.
Stormy Daniels exposes Donald Trump with sex details
When Trump and Daniels met at a 2006 golf tournament at Lake Tahoe, he was 60 and a married real estate mogul; She's a porn actress and at 27, not even half her age. The entrepreneur invited her to dinner in his hotel suite, Daniels testified in court. When he opened the door, Trump was wearing satin pajamas.
The two are said to have talked for around two hours. Trump wanted to know from Daniels whether she was regularly tested for sexually transmitted diseases and whether she slept with the other actors off camera. He also showed Daniels a picture of his wife Melania and assured her that they would not sleep in the same room. At that moment, Trump leaned over to his defense lawyers in the courtroom and said something – the New York Times claims to have recognized that he had commented on the statement with the word “bullshit”.
The now 45-year-old said she found Trump on the bed after she went to the toilet. He was only wearing boxer shorts and a T-shirt. Daniels recalled thinking, “What did I misunderstand to get to this point?” Trump ultimately blocked her path, but not in a threatening way. Afterwards the two slept together. She didn't say no to Donald Trump “because I didn't say anything at all.” Nevertheless, there would have been a “power imbalance”. Trump did not wear a condom and the sexual intercourse was over quickly, Daniels testified.
The defense repeatedly objected to this part of the questioning, but Judge Juan Merchan mostly upheld it. But by then the statements about the 45th President of the United States and the possible next president had long been out in the world and were running on news tickers and live blogs around the world. Donald Trump was exposed.
The Trump lawyers wanted to collapse the case
Chief prosecutor Todd Blanche was beside himself when he returned to the courtroom after lunch. Judge Juan Merchan had adjourned the hearing immediately after Daniel's sex statements were heard. Everyone in the room, it seemed, had to collect themselves afterwards. Blanche argued that many of Daniels' statements were prejudicial. The jury is presented with an image of Trump that makes a fair trial impossible. Blanche wanted the judge to classify the trial as flawed; such a “mistrial” would have led to it being canceled. The jury would have been dismissed and the entire trial would have had to start over. That would hardly be realistic in the coming weeks or months.
In the civil trial a few weeks ago, Trump's defenders had tried several times to cancel the trial, but failed. Merchan decided to make a sequel.
The judge criticizes everyone: the prosecutor, the witness and the defendant
The judge was anything but happy with how the trial had gone that morning. He agreed with the defense “that there were things that would have been better left unsaid” and that the witness was “difficult to control.” He ordered the prosecution to take action against Stormy Daniels. She should answer the questions briefly and concisely. She had previously reported anecdotes and details, some of which were extensive, but which had little relevance to the process. Ultimately, it's not about the question of whether Trump and Daniels had sex, but about a money payment ten years later that Trump is said to have misrepresented in order not to harm himself during the election campaign. Merchan warned prosecutor Susan Hoffinger, who was questioning Daniels, not to press too hard on the details of the witness' statements.
Merchan was also angry about Donald Trump's behavior – again. During a break, he called in chief attorney Blanche and complained that Trump was “audibly swearing.” This could potentially intimidate Daniels. This emerges from the minutes that the court always publishes the evening after a day of hearings. The conversation could not be heard in the courtroom itself.
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“I understand that your client is upset at this moment,” Merchan said, “but he is audibly cursing and shaking his head.” Blanche assured the judge he would talk to Trump.
Trump was already raging before it started
The former president was furious not only during the trial, but before it. On “Truth Social” Trump complained in a post at 7:30 a.m. that he only found out at short notice who would testify in court today. Trump wrote that his lawyers had no time to prepare, only to then complain about the “corrupt” judge.
Trump had intimidated witnesses in recent weeks and received several fines totaling $10,000. The judge even threatened him with a temporary stay in prison if Trump didn't stop. Now the names of the witnesses are no longer communicated at an early stage in order to better protect them from the ex-president. Trump ignored his own role in his contribution. However, the message was only online for a few minutes, after which it was deleted – the reasons for which remained unclear.
The defense wants to portray Stormy Daniels as a liar
The defense's ultimate goal is to undermine Stormy Daniels' credibility. Susan Necheles, Trump's lawyer, wanted to prove to the witness that she had contradicted herself in public statements. In particular, a written statement from 2018 played an important role, in which Daniels denied having an affair with Trump. Daniels countered that this statement was false and that she was unable to express herself otherwise at the time due to the confidentiality agreement she had signed.
During questioning by prosecutors, Daniels testified that a man ambushed her and her young daughter in a parking lot in 2011. The person told her at the time that she should no longer comment publicly about her encounter with Donald Trump in 2006. Daniels stated that she felt this was a threat. Trump lawyer Susan Necheles spoke about an “alleged incident.” Daniels immediately intervened: “It wasn't an alleged incident. It was an incident that actually happened and I told a lot of people about it.” Necheles wanted to know why Daniels had not informed the father of her child about the incident. The accusation was clear: Daniels had fabricated the incident.
When Donald Trump appeared before the cameras in court late this afternoon, New York time, he said it had been a “great day” and that the prosecution's allegations were “falling apart.” However, this view hardly stands up to reality. The cross-examination of Stormy Daniels is scheduled to continue on Thursday. The public prosecutor's office has also announced that it wants to ask further questions. Trump will then have to be back in the dock.
