On the 7th (local time), the former adult film star, who is the key witness in the criminal trial over former U.S. President Donald Trump’s ‘hush money’ allegations of receiving the actual payment, testified in court about her encounter with Trump and the hush money payment. Trump’s lawyer requested the judge to declare a mistrial as the explicit description of Daniels’ testimony was prejudicial, but it was not accepted.
The New York Times (NYT) and other media outlets reported that Stormy Daniels appeared as a witness in the Manhattan Criminal Court, where Trump’s criminal trial is taking place.
Trump was put on trial on charges of manipulating company records after paying $130,000 through his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen to prevent Daniels from revealing their past sexual relationship just before the 2016 election.
Daniels testified that in 2006, she was invited to dinner in Trump’s hotel suite after a golf tournament near Lake Tahoe, a tourist attraction in the western U.S., and subsequently had a sexual relationship with him. The alleged sexual encounter took place about a year after Trump married Melania. Daniels noted that Trump offered her a role on his popular reality TV show The Apprentice that night, telling her not to care about the fact that he was married.
Daniels denied that the negotiation with Cohen to keep silent about the sexual encounter was about money, and said she didn’t even receive the money on time due to Cohen and Trump.
According to the NYT, Trump maintained a sour face as Daniels testified just a few meters away from him, occasionally whispering something to his lawyer or shaking his head. Trump has consistently denied a sexual encounter with Daniels.
Trump’s lawyer requested the judge to declare a mistrial as the explicit description of Daniels’ testimony was prejudicial, but it was not accepted.
Meanwhile, Judge Juan Merchan in charge of the case explained the background of rejecting the request for a mistrial, saying that although Daniels’ words were irritating, some of her testimony was better than leaving it unsaid. Trump posted a furious message on his social media account before the trial began, claiming his lawyer wasn’t even given time to prepare for Daniels’ witness appearance, but deleted it about 30 minutes later.