At Donald Trump’s trial, Stormy Daniels faced particularly tough cross-examination

UNITED STATES – A tense face-to-face with Donald Trump’s lawyer. While former porn actress Stormy Daniels came to testify on Tuesday about the conditions of her meeting and the sexual relationship she claims to have had in 2006 with the former American president, this Thursday, May 9, the time was under cross-examination during Donald Trump’s trial in New York.

By all means, Donald Trump’s defense therefore sought to discredit the forty-year-old. Heard for five hours on Tuesday, Stormy Daniels was this time questioned for three hours in an atmosphere as electric as ever. The opportunity for her to defend herself from having lied about this supposed sexual relationship and about having enriched herself thanks to this affair with the man who subsequently became the 45th president of the United States.

“I chose security,” Daniels defends himself

The American billionaire’s lawyer, Susan Necheles, thus sought to push Stormy Daniels to her limits, portraying her as a woman hungry for money. “You threatened political harm to President Trump if he didn’t give you money for this story? »asked the lawyer, while Donald Trump sat opposite the actress.

“You wanted to make money? », “you wanted to make more money, didn’t you?” »she insisted, arguing that after negotiating a confidentiality agreement with Donald Trump, she told everything in the book Full disclosure, which would have earned him $800,000 according to the defense. But between the two, the whole affair had been revealed by the Wall Street Journal in 2018.

“I chose safety”Stormy Daniels simply replied. “The best solution was to protect my story with a written record, so that my family would not be in danger”she added of the initial agreement.

Their duel continued like this in a tense atmosphere. “You have also acted in and directed over 150 pornographic films (…) so you have a lot of experience in the art of making phony sex real”launched the lawyer. “I didn’t need to write that one”retorted Stormy Daniels.

A file “Frankenstein” for Trump

The subject of sexual relations therefore returned to the heart of the debates, although it had already been widely mentioned on Tuesday by Stormy Daniels, who had hidden nothing about her meeting in 2006 with the real estate mogul. Although she assured that she had not felt threatened, she argued that the businessman’s intention “was quite clear” and that the “balance of power was unbalanced”.

“Because he was supposedly in a t-shirt and boxers, you were so upset that he wanted to have sex with him that you couldn’t refuse? »also questioned the lawyer, before clearly saying: “you made it all up, didn’t you?” ». But Stormy Daniels maintained her version. And when her cross-examination ended, she left the room, looking defiant, without ever meeting Donald Trump’s eyes.

It must be said that this supposed sexual relationship, denied by Donald Trump, is at the heart of the matter, because it is to remain silent, ten years later, at the very end of the 2016 presidential campaign, on this episode, that the actress had received $130,000. A sum paid by Donald Trump’s ex-lawyer as part of a confidentiality agreement.

For his part, the current Republican candidate for the American presidential election particularly stood out at the start of the hearing when he denounced a file “Frankenstein” that ” no one understand “. Tried under criminal law for concealing the reimbursement of sums to his lawyer in the accounts of his holding company, the Trump Organization, Donald Trump is appearing for 34 offenses of accounting falsification which could earn him a conviction. With a possible prison sentence at stake.

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