In a combative cross-examination Thursday, Stormy Daniels battled the previous president’s legal professionals as they attacked her account of a sexual encounter with Donald J. Trump in a Nevada lodge.
Susan Necheles, a lawyer defending Mr. Trump in his legal trial, spent nearly three hours delving into Ms. Daniels’s recollections of that 2006 night time in Lake Tahoe, in addition to suggesting that Ms. Daniels’s need to inform her story was motivated solely by cash. Ultimately, Ms. Necheles went straight to the purpose.
“You made all this up, proper?” she requested.
Ms. Daniels responded forcefully: “No.”
On the conclusion of the day, Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, requested Justice Juan M. Merchan whether or not he would modify a gag order to let Mr. Trump reply publicly to Ms. Daniels’s testimony. The choose denied the request and Mr. Trump’s second movement this week for a mistrial.
The previous president is accused of falsifying enterprise data to cover a $130,000 cost to Ms. Daniels simply earlier than the 2016 election, a cost meant to silence her story. Mr. Trump, 77, has denied the costs and says he didn’t have intercourse with Ms. Daniels. If convicted, he may face jail or probation.
Listed below are 5 takeaways from Mr. Trump’s 14th day on trial.
Trump’s legal professionals tried to become profitable a motive.
Ms. Necheles repeatedly attacked Ms. Daniels, a former porn star, for making an attempt to monetize her story about Mr. Trump with a ebook, a tour of strip golf equipment and merchandise like a $40 devotional candle depicting herself as a saint.
However Mr. Trump himself has spent a long time preaching the glories of wealth, in books and on “The Apprentice,” and has peddled an array of Trump-branded merchandise. Ms. Daniels had a easy response when requested about selling her branded merchandise on-line.
“Not in contrast to Mr. Trump,” she mentioned.
The protection did get Ms. Daniels to concede that she had made cash from the scandal. However she flatly denied Ms. Necheles’s assertion that she was threatening to harm Mr. Trump politically “if he didn’t provide the cash.”
The protection probed for inconsistencies with blended outcomes.
Mr. Trump’s authorized staff leaned into inconsistencies in Daniels’ testimony, typically falling flat.
One explicit tangent was Ms. Necheles’s lengthy try to get Ms. Daniels to confess a discrepancy between her testimony that she had not eaten with Mr. Trump that night time in Lake Tahoe and statements to reporters that that they had dinner.
Ms. Daniels brushed the excellence apart. “It was supper time within the room,” she mentioned, including that having dinner with somebody “doesn’t essentially imply you must put meals in your mouth.”
At one other second, Ms. Necheles accused Ms. Daniels of mendacity about particulars of the night time within the lodge room: “Your story has utterly modified, hasn’t it?”
“You’re making an attempt to make me say that it has modified, but it surely hasn’t,” Ms. Daniels retorted.
Insults flew, however Daniels, extra assured, stood her floor.
Ms. Daniels had shaky moments Tuesday, however grew to become steadier the longer her testimony continued, providing sharp responses Thursday throughout cross-examination.
At one level, Ms. Necheles turned to Ms. Daniels and in a reference to her porn motion pictures mentioned, “You’ve got loads of expertise in making phony tales about intercourse seem like actual.” Regardless of being momentarily shocked, Ms. Daniels responded “the intercourse within the movies may be very a lot actual, identical to what occurred to me in that room.”
Later, after Ms. Necheles implied that Ms. Daniels had made up her story of a liaison with Trump, Ms. Daniels mentioned that had she invented it, “I’d have written it to be lots higher.”
A number of folks within the courtroom laughed. Mr. Trump glowered.
Prosecutors introduced out Daniels’s vulnerability.
Ms. Daniels testified for greater than seven hours, displaying nerves, defiance and flashes of humor. However she additionally talked about concern. She mentioned she needed to rent safety and take precautions due to her daughter.
Her voice appeared small when she addressed on-line posts the place folks referred to as her a “harlot.” And he or she choked up when saying that going public had been a destructive expertise total.
When Ms. Daniels stepped down from the stand Thursday afternoon, Mr. Trump stared at a monitor, not glancing up as she walked by.
Testimony included type phrases about Mr. Trump.
Thursday’s final witness was Madeleine Westerhout, Trump’s former White Home government assistant, who supplied a have a look at the Oval Workplace’s interior workings — together with a contact listing that included celebrities and media figures like Invoice O’Reilly — and amusing habits, like Mr. Trump’s tendency towards exclamation factors in on-line posts.
Ms. Westerhout spoke extra flatteringly of Mr. Trump than maybe some other witness, breaking down in tears, earlier than describing him as a superb president and an excellent boss. “I don’t suppose he was handled pretty,” she mentioned.
She additionally spoke of Mr. Trump’s shut relationship with Michael D. Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer, and mentioned she generally noticed Mr. Trump signal checks in his workplace by hand. These checks and Mr. Cohen, who is predicted to testify later this month, are central to the prosecution’s case. Ms. Westerhout’s testimony will proceed on Friday.
