The third week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial draws to a close Friday after jurors heard the dramatic, if not downright seamy, account of porn actor Stormy Daniels, while prosecutors gear up for their most crucial witness: Michael Cohen, Trump's former attorney.
Information from Eyewitness News, ABC News and the Associated PressThe third week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial draws to a close Friday after jurors heard the dramatic, if not downright seamy, account of porn actor Stormy Daniels, while prosecutors gear up for their most crucial witness: Michael Cohen, Trump's former attorney.
During combative cross-examination, Trump's lawyers sought to paint Daniels as a liar and extortionist who's trying to take down the former president after drawing money and fame from her claims. Trump attorney Susan Necheles pressed Daniels on why she accepted the payout to keep quiet instead of going public, and the two women traded barbs over what Necheles said were inconsistencies in Daniels' story over the years.
After signing the checks, Westerhout said Trump would give them back to her and she'd sent them back to the Trump Organization using a prelabeled FedEx envelope. She recalled, in testimony, the tape "rattling RNC leadership" and that "there were conversations about how it would be possible to replace him as the candidate if it came to that."
Those passages discuss how he values "loyalty above everything else," punished a "disloyal" person by going "out of my way to make her life miserable" and espoused as a motto: "Always get even. When somebody screws you, screw them back in spades."Following roughly four minutes of cross-examination after a lunch break Thursday afternoon, Rebecca Manochio finished giving testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial.
Stormy Daniels testified Thursday that she never spoke with Donald Trump about the $130,000 hush money payment she received from Michael Cohen and had no knowledge of whether Trump was aware of or involved in the transaction. Daniels went on to say that she knew the charges involved business records, but when asked if she knew anything about Trump's business records, she acknowledged: "I know nothing about his business records. No. Why would I?"Before a morning break in Donald Trump's hush money trial, Stormy Daniels pushed back on suggestions by the defense that her story about their alleged sexual encounter has changed over time.
Daniels insisted it has not. "You're trying to make me say that it changed, but it hasn't changed at all."Defense lawyer Susan Necheles tried to show during cross-examination on Thursday that details from Stormy Daniels' story of meeting Donald Trump in 2006 have changed over time, pointing to a 2011 interview in which she said the two talked "before, during and after" dinner in his hotel room, though she testified earlier this week that they never got any food.
Amid questions about the financial arrangements for her documentary, Daniels accused Necheles of "trying to trick me into saying something that's not entirely true." Trump spent much of the first hour of testimony leaning back in his seat and staring straight ahead, nodding at times as his attorney called jurors' attention to social media posts by Daniels insulting him.
The former president's attorneys aggressively sought to poke holes in Daniels' credibility during cross-examination, accusing the porn actor of trying to extort Trump and rehearsing her testimony - two assertions she forcefully denied. The defense also made a failed attempt to have a mistrial declared, arguing that Daniels' morning testimony had "nothing to do with this case and is extremely prejudicial."Court in Donald Trump's hush money case has adjourned for the day.
Daniels went on to give an interview to Anderson Cooper on "60 Minutes" and wrote a book, "Full Disclosure," about her life, career and her alleged encounter with Trump. "The probative value of the evidence is evident," Merchan said, adding that her testimony "is inextricably intertwined with narrative of events and is necessary background for the jury."The prosecution in Donald Trump's hush money trial defended witness Stormy Daniels testimony after defense attorneys asked for a mistrial following a lunch break on Tuesday.
Hoffinger also disputed the defense's contention that much of Daniels' testimony was at odds with her prior statements. "This is not a new account," Hoffinger said.Donald Trump's lawyers asked for a mistrial in his hush money case following testimony before the lunch break from porn actor Stormy Daniels that they say ran afoul of rules established for her taking the witness stand.
A post published to Trump's Truth Social account just before court resumed read: "THE PROSECUTION, WHICH HAS NO CASE, HAS GONE TOO FAR. MISTRIAL!"Mayor says NYC jail system will be ready if it has to house former president Daniels said she had no intent of approaching Michael Cohen or Donald Trump to have them purchase her story about her encounter with Trump. "My motivation wasn't money, it was to get the story out," she testified before the lunch break.
Daniels testified that when she was approached with Cohen's $130,000 offer: "I didn't care about the amount, I just wanted to get it done."Stormy Daniels last saw Donald Trump in June 2007 at his bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel, she testified on Tuesday. In her 2018 book "Full Disclosure," Daniels wrote that Trump had told her that actress Roma Downey - the wife of show producer Mark Burnett - had objected to her being on the program.Stormy Daniels said Tuesday that Donald Trump's bodyguard called her the day after the encounter in the hotel suite to tell her that Trump wanted to see her again, and she agreed to meet him in a bar or club in her hotel.
"He said, 'Oh it was great, let's get together again honey bunch,'" Daniels continued. "I just wanted to leave."Trump has denied having sex with Daniels.After talking with Donald Trump in his hotel suite for about two hours, Stormy Daniels testified, she went to use the bathroom. When she was finished, she said, she found Trump sitting on the bed wearing boxer shorts and a T-shirt.
Daniels said Trump told her: "I thought we were getting somewhere, we're talking. I thought you were serious about what you wanted. If you ever want to get out of that trailer park - I was offended because I never lived in a trailer park."Before a morning break in Donald Trump's criminal trial, Stormy Daniels testified that she and Trump spoke for about two hours in his hotel suite before they were supposed to go to dinner.
Daniels said she saw the bodyguard, Keith Schiller, outside the door and exchanged pleasantries with him before going inside. Daniels testified that after Trump changed, the two of them sat down at a dining room table in the penthouse. He started asking her about her childhood and her career - probing questions about the production of adult films, how much of them is scripted versus improv, whether performers have unions and how testing for sexually transmitted diseases works in the industry.
Daniels' testimony quickly shifted to the celebrity golf outing in Lake Tahoe where she met Trump in 2006. Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger led off by asking Daniels about her upbringing in Louisiana. Daniels talked about having grown up poor and wanting to become a veterinarian. Among the excerpts: "If you don't know every aspect of what you're doing, down to the paper clips, you're setting yourself up for some unwanted surprises," and "for many years, I've said that if someone screws you, screw them back."
Apparently upon learning of her appearance, Trump posted an angry message on Truth Social that his lawyers had "no time" to prepare. "I thought they were going to be finished today. And they want to do three more weeks in jujitsu and play right into the judges," Trump complained. "The judges are happy about doing three more weeks."
With the introduction of People's exhibit 34, a check with Donald Trump's signature, the jury has now seen all 34 allegedly falsified invoices, ledger entries and checks, concluding the direct testimony of Trump Organization staffer Deborah Tarasoff. According to Steinglass, Longstreet would testify about some additional social media posts from Trump, and text messages between National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard and Stormy Daniels' agent Gina Rodriguez.
Prosecutors showed the checks Monday as they questioned Deborah Tarasoff, the Trump Organization accounts payable supervisor who processed the payments. As prosecutor Christopher Conroy and Tarasoff plodded through a series of checks, stubs and vouchers related to the Cohen payments, Trump gestured at the tabletop monitor displaying the documents and briefly whispered with defense attorney Emil Bove.
It's his second time behind bars. The ex-chief financial officer served 100 days last year for dodging taxes on $1.7 million in company perks, including a rent-free Manhattan apartment and luxury cars. He was also ordered to pay $1 million as part of Trump's civil fraud judgment. McConney, who left with $500,000 in severance, went on to testify tearfully last fall at the civil fraud trial of Trump, the company and key executives. The ex-controller said he'd been worn out by his entanglement in a litany of Trump-related investigations and legal proceedings.
The gag order bars Trump from making comments about the jurors, key witnesses and some others connected to the criminal trial.Judge Juan Merchan found Monday that former President Donald Trump violated the gag order an additional and held him in contempt.Merchan said that the $1,000 dollar fines per violation "are not serving as a deterrent" and threatened to jail Trump moving forward.
Blanche noted that the defense took particular issue with penalties for what are known as reposts - instances where Donald Trump shared someone else's post with his followers.Hicks describes Trump's emotions in wake of 'Access Hollywood' leak
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