Attorneys for former President Donald Trump cross-examined pornography actress Stormy Daniels, pressing her to explain her desire to accept the alleged payment and defend the validity of her claims.
New York prosecutors are attempting to prove to a jury that former President Donald Trump was aware of payments made to Daniels by his former attorney Michael Cohen in order to prevent her from publicly claiming she had had an affair with the real estate mogul. Alvin Bragg and his team have claimed the 2016 hush money plot amounted to election interference.
During her second day on the stand, Trump’s defense team pressed Daniels about her acceptance of the $130,000 payment from Cohen. Trump’s defense attorney Susan Necheles played a recording of a phone call where Daniels’ lawyer Keith Davidson told Cohen that Daniels wanted “this money more than you could ever imagine,” according to reporting on X from Law360’s Stewart Bishop.
“Necheles also accused Daniels of changing her story and fabricating her encounter with Trump—taking issue with small details such as whether Daniels and Trump ate dinner or not—prompting Daniels to retort that had she made up her allegations of having sex with Trump, ‘I would have written it to be a lot better,’” reports Forbes.
Daniels was also reportedly asked about the official statement she signed in 2018 stating that she was “denying this affair because it never happened.” Although Daniels went on to deny that she had signed the documents, on the stand in court she affirmed she had signed the denial.
Daniels told prosecutors that she had an affair with Trump in 2006, giving alleged details about the then-businessman’s clothing and behaviors. The defense ultimately asked Judge Juan Merchan to declare a mistrial. The attorneys argued that Daniels's testimony was irrelevant and could prejudice the jury – describing her comments as “the kind of testimony that makes it impossible to come back from.”
Merchan said that Daniels was “difficult to control” and that “some things were better left unsaid” but denied the motion, per Newsweek.
Daniels took the stand on May 7, the day after the former president was fined for the tenth time for violating a gag order issued by Merchan. President Trump said he’d be willing to go to jail over gag order violations, which he maintains are a violation of his First Amendment rights.
Merchan has already fined the presumptive Republican nominee a cumulative $9,000 after finding that Trump’s activities on social media violated the gag order.
The latest $1,000 fine comes after Merchan ruled Trump’s remarks during an April 22 interview with Real America’s Voice once again violated the order. During the interview, Trump speculated that the jury was largely made up of Democrats.
"I find you in criminal contempt for the 10th time," said Merchan, per ABC News. He added that he could sentence the former president to jail if the fines were not a deterrent. Merchan did note the possible jail sentence would “be disruptive to these proceedings.”
“Mr. Trump, last thing I want to do is put you in jail, you are the former president of the United States, and possibly the next president as well," said the judge. “At the end of the day, I have a job to do.”
Ultimately, Merchan only levied punitive damages for one of the four allegations of the gag order that the prosecution had brought against Trump.
Trump’s legal team has repeatedly questioned the constitutionality of the gag order, especially given the ongoing presidential campaign.
"He can't just say no comment repeatedly when he's running for president," said Todd Blanche, an attorney for Trump, per NPR.
After the latest fine, Trump told reporters that “our Constitution is much more important than jail.”
“It’s not even close,” said Trump, per POLITICO. “I’ll do that sacrifice any day.”
“The government just said they want two to three more weeks. That means they want to keep me off the trail for two to three more weeks,” he added.
Merchan’s jail threat appeared to be the biggest moment of the trial on May 6. Jeff McConney, a controller for the Trump Organization, took the stand to answer questions about payments to Cohen allegedly secured to prevent pornography actress Stormy Daniels. McConney testified that Trump was reimbursing Cohen for $130,000 but said he did not know what the money was for. He also said he saw Cohen’s retainer agreement
McConney was the 10th witness called by the prosecution. His testimony was followed by testimony from Deborah Tarasoff, an accounts payable supervisor for the Trump Organization.
