Former porn star Stormy Daniels concluded her testimony on Thursday in the criminal hush money trial of Donald Trump, during which the former president’s defense attorney performed an aggressive cross-examination in an attempt to undercut her credibility.
Daniels also testified on Tuesday, recounting in detail a sexual encounter she had with Trump in 2006. That incident sits at the heart of the case as prosecutors seek to prove that Trump falsified business documents in order to cover up $130,000 in payments, buying Daniels’ silence ahead of the 2016 election to ensure that it wouldn’t sink his campaign.
In total, Daniels was on the stand for more than seven hours. At times Daniels pushed back and sparred with Trump’s defense attorney’s efforts to discredit her story. At one point, when presented with hate comments she received online, Daniels was quiet and noted that the comments read in court were tame compared to others she’d seen. Her testimony was followed by Rebecca Manochio, a junior bookkeeper at The Trump Organization, Tracey Menzies, a vice president at HarperCollins Publishers and Madeleine Westerhout, a former assistant to Trump in the White House.
Here are some key takeaways from Daniels’ second day on the stand, as defense attorney Susan Necheles attempted to paint her as a liar, an opportunist and an extortionist, according to courthouse press pool reports.
‘You’re trying to trick me’ – Daniels pushes back against suggestions her story changed over time
Throughout the morning, Necheles said Daniels had changed her story since the 2006 hotel room encounter with Trump. The defense attorney questioned Daniels’ memory of the food at the meeting, the involvement of the bodyguard and retellings to various media outlets. An annoyed Daniels pushed back and accused Necheles of “trying to trick me into saying something that’s not entirely true.”
Necheles also asked Daniels repeatedly if she lied about having an affair with Trump, which Daniels denied. Variations of this question were asked throughout the cross-examination Thursday and at one point Necheles implied Daniels made up the story about having sex with Trump.
Daniels responded: “If that story were untrue, I would have written it to be a lot better.”
‘The better alternative was for you to get money, right?’ – The prosecution alleges Daniels ‘capitalized’ on her story
Necheles said Daniels benefited financially by publicly admitting to an affair with Trump, but Daniels countered it wasn’t the reason she came forward.
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“Nobody would ever want to publicly say that. I wanted to publicly defend myself,” the adult film actress said.
Necheles argued that Daniels “capitalized” by appearances on 60 Minutes, CNN and The View. She also signed a $800,000 book contract, did a strip club tour called “Make America Horny Again” and made an appearance on the reality show “The Surreal Life.”
Daniels argued that her then-attorney, Michael Avenatti, arranged her appearances.
At one point, Daniels said she was negotiating selling her story to Slate as a “backup plan” in case her nondisclosure agreement with Trump attorney Michael Cohen fell through. While Daniels said she wanted the story out to protect her family’s safety, Necheles accused her of refusing to share the story with the press because she wouldn’t get compensated for it.
“The better alternative was for you to get money, right?” the prosecutor asked.
“The better alternative was to get my story protected with a paper trail so that my family didn’t get hurt,” Daniels replied.
‘You’re putting words in my mouth’ – Off-color tweets took center stage
Necheles referenced several of Daniels’ tweets, including one where she said she would be “the best person to flush the orange turd down.” She asked Daniels if she wanted to be instrumental in putting Trump in jail.
“I don’t see instrumental or jail anywhere in that. You’re putting words in my mouth,” Daniels responded.
The defense also introduced tweets where Daniels shared a link to her website, which sells items like a “Saint of Indictments” candle and “Team Stormy” shirts. Necheles said Daniels was “shilling” merch.
“Not unlike Mr. Trump,” Daniels responded.
