Donald Trump and pornographic actress Stormy Daniels allegedly had a sexual relationship in 2006, which the former president of the United States allegedly tried to cover up by paying her $130,000.
âYou wanted to make more money, didnât you?â: Donald Trump’s defense sought to discredit, Thursday, May 9, porn star Stormy Daniels during the second day of her marathon and tension-filled testimony at the trial of the former President of the United States in New York. Already heard for five hours on Tuesday, the actress and director had delivered an unfiltered account of her meeting and the sexual relationship she claims to have had in 2006 with the current Republican presidential candidate, on the sidelines of a tournament celebrity golf course in Nevada.
She was questioned again for three hours on Thursday, a tense face-to-face with Donald Trump’s lawyer, Susan Necheles, during which she denied having lied to enrich herself with this story. The sexual relationship, denied by Donald Trump, is at the heart of the affair, because it was to keep quiet about this episode that the actress received $130,000 at the very end of the campaign for the 2016 presidential election, won by the Republican against Hillary Clinton. A sum paid by Donald Trump’s ex-lawyer, Michael Cohen, as part of a confidentiality agreement.
The former American president is on trial for 34 crimes of accounting falsification for concealing the reimbursement of sums to the lawyer in the accounts of his holding company, the Trump Organization. He risks up to a prison sentence, in the middle of the presidential campaign.
âI chose safetyâ
Inside the courtroom with its dated wooden furniture and white neon chandeliers, Susan Necheles sought to push Stormy Daniels to her limits, portraying her as a woman hungry for money. âYou were threatening political harm to President Trump if he didnât give you money for this story?âasked Susan Necheles. âI chose securityâreplied Stormy Daniels, under the eyes of Donald Trump. âThe best solution was to protect my story with a written record, so that my family would not be in dangerâshe added.
âYou wanted to make more money, didnât you?â, insisted the lawyer, arguing that after the confidentiality agreement, the actress had still told everything in a book which would have earned her $800,000 according to the defense. Between the two, the whole affair was revealed by the Wall Street Journal in 2018. The duel continued, in a tense atmosphere. âYou have also acted in and directed over 150 pornographic films (…) so you have a lot of experience in the art of making phony sex realâprovoked the lawyer. âI didnât need to write that oneâStormy Daniels retorted.
âUnbalancedâ balance of power
On Tuesday, the actress made no secret of her 2006 encounter with the real estate mogul, right down to the fact that he allegedly didn’t use a condom. She also described her feelings when she found, coming out of the bathroom, the 60-year-old billionaire waiting for her on his bed. âI felt the blood drain from my hands.â, she blurted. If she says she did not feel threatened, she assures that the businessman’s intention âwas quite clearâ and that the âbalance of power was unbalancedâ.
âBecause he was supposedly in a t-shirt and boxers, you were so upset that he wanted to have sex with you that you couldn’t refuse?âquestioned the lawyer again, before clearly saying: âYou made it all up, didnât you?â. Stormy Daniels maintained her version. When her cross-examination ended, she left the room defiantly, walking past Donald Trump without looking at him.
âResponding to the American Peopleâ
For the second time this week, Donald Trump’s lawyers requested, in vain, the cancellation of the prosecution. They also asked Judge Juan Merchan to relax his ban on speaking about witnesses, to allow him to respond directly to Stormy Daniels’ account. âHe must be able to respond to the American peopleâ, argued Todd Blanche. The judge refused.
Upon leaving the courtroom, the 77-year-old candidate, who must silently attend the debates every day, once again denounced the âcorrupt judgeâ and complained of not being able to campaign normally. Three other witnesses appeared on Thursday: an employee of the accounting department of the Trump Organization, an editor working for the publishing house that published one of Donald Trump’s books, then one of his direct assistants at the House. Blanche, Madeleine Westerhout.
The trial, which continues Friday and is expected to last several more weeks, is all the more important because it risks being the only one to be held before the November 5 election, among the four criminal cases in which Donald Trump is indicted.