Stormy Daniels testifies she had sex with Trump, defense attacks her
credibility
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[May 08, 2024]
By Luc Cohen, Jack Queen and Andy Sullivan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Porn star Stormy Daniels described her 2006
encounter with Donald Trump in unflattering terms at his criminal trial
on Tuesday, testifying she tried not to think about the sex while it
took place and feared it would become public.
For several hours Daniels, 45, offered riveting details on the witness
stand about her encounter with Trump, 77, and the hush money deal she
reached to stay quiet about it ahead of the 2016 election when he won
the White House.
She told jurors that her life descended into "chaos" after the
arrangement was made public in 2018, saying she was ostracized and
harassed at her home.
"Who do you understand Mr. Trump to be referring to as horseface and
sleazebag in this post?" prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked her as she
displayed a social media post by Trump.
"Me," Daniels replied.
Daniels' testimony provided fodder for Trump's lawyers to seek a
mistrial, arguing that details, such as her statement that Trump did not
wear a condom, served no purpose other than to inflame the jury. Justice
Juan Merchan denied that request but agreed that some of her testimony
ran too far afield.
Trump's lawyers attacked her credibility and grilled her about
inconsistent statements she has made over the years about her time with
Trump.
Daniels also conceded that she "hates" Trump and wanted to make money
off her story. Her explanation for why she went public after seven years
of silence and denials also was unclear.
Trump, the Republican candidate for president again this year, did not
react as he watched from the defense table. He has pleaded not guilty to
charges of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 hush money
payment to Daniels and denies having sex with Daniels.
His legal team has suggested that Daniels was angling for a spot on "The
Apprentice," a popular reality TV show then hosted by Trump, a New York
real estate mogul.
Daniels confirmed that she hoped he would cast her on the show following
their encounter.
"This was a very big day, a very revealing day. As you see their case is
totally falling apart," Trump told reporters outside the courtroom at
the end of the day. The trial resumes on Thursday when Daniels will
again take the stand.
'ONLY WAY YOU'RE GETTING OUT OF THE TRAILER PARK'
Daniels said Trump made sexual advances after inviting her to his hotel
suite at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Daniels
testified she grew up as the daughter of a low-income single mother.
She said Trump told her: "This is the only way you're getting out of the
trailer park."
Daniels said she "blacked out" despite consuming no drugs or alcohol
after Trump prevented her from leaving the room by blocking the door.
She said she woke up on the bed with her clothes off.
"I was trying to think about anything other than what was happening
there," Daniels testified.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, said she did not tell
Trump to stop. "I didn't say anything at all," she said. She said she
left the hotel room quickly afterward.
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Adult-film actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels,
speaks as she departs federal court in the Manhattan borough of New
York City, New York, U.S., April 16, 2018. REUTERSLucas Jackson/File
Photo
The Republican politician, who served as president from 2017 to
2021, says the trial is an attempt to hobble his attempt to win back
the White House from Democratic President Joe Biden in a Nov. 5
election.
Wearing a black outfit and black glasses, Daniels testified that she
worked in strip clubs and pornography after a childhood in which her
mother was often gone for days at a time.
SATIN PAJAMAS AND A SPANKING
She said Trump greeted her at his hotel suite wearing satin pajamas.
She said she grew annoyed by Trump's frequent interruptions and
asked him: "Are you always this arrogant and pompous?"
Trump then dared Daniels to spank him with a magazine and she
obliged. “He was much more polite after that,” she said.
"That's bullshit," Trump appeared to say on Tuesday as he watched
from the defendant's table.
The alleged encounter took place while Trump was married to his
current wife Melania.
Daniels said she confided in only a few people about the sex. She
said she saw Trump at public events on several occasions in the
years that followed, but then fell out of touch with him after he
did not put her on "The Apprentice."
Daniels said she was determined to keep the incident private after
being threatened in a parking lot in 2011 but changed her mind
during Trump's 2016 presidential bid, when he faced multiple
accusations of sexual misbehavior.
"My motivation wasn't money, it was to get the story out," she said.
Daniels ultimately negotiated a $130,000 payment with Trump's lawyer
Michael Cohen, and prosecutors say Trump falsified business records
to obscure the fact that he reimbursed Cohen for the payment.
She testified she was eager to collect before the 2016 election
because she was worried he would not pay her if he won.
The case is widely seen as less consequential than three other
criminal prosecutions Trump faces, but it is the only one certain to
go to trial before the election.
The other cases charge Trump with trying to overturn his 2020
presidential defeat and mishandling classified documents after
leaving office. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all three.
In Florida, where Trump is accused of illegally keeping classified
documents, a judge decided to indefinitely postpone the trial on
Tuesday, greatly reducing the odds he will face a jury in the two
federal case before the election.
(Reporting by Jack Queen and Luc Cohen in New York and Andy Sullivan
in Washington; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Howard Goller)
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