Porn actress and director Stormy Daniels leaves the court in Manhattan, New York, where she testified at the trial of former United States President Donald Trump (AFP / Charly TRIBALLEAU)
“You wanted to make more money, didn’t you?”: Donald Trump’s defense sought to discredit porn star Stormy Daniels on Thursday during the second day of her marathon and tension-filled trial testimony 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.
– “Protect my story” –
Donald Trump and one of his lawyers (right) Susan Necheles, in court in New York, May 9, 2024 (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / POOL)
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.
“You were threatening political harm to President Trump if he didn’t give you money for this story?” asked Susan Necheles.
“I chose safety,” replied Stormy Daniels, under the eyes of Donald Trump. “The best solution was to protect my story with a written record, so that my family would not be in danger,” she added.
“You wanted to make more money, didn’t you?” insisted the lawyer, arguing that after the confidentiality agreement, the actress had still told everything in a book which would have brought in $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. “You have also acted in and directed more than 150 pornographic films (…) so you have a lot of experience in the art of making fake sexual relations real,” provoked the lawyer.
“I didn’t need to write that one,” Stormy Daniels retorted.
– “You invented everything” –
Former US President Donald Trump during a break in his trial, in New York court, May 9, 2024 (POOL / ANGELA WEISS)
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. “I felt the blood leave my hands,” she said. If she says she did not feel threatened, she assures 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 you that you couldn’t refuse?”, the lawyer questioned again, before clearly say: “you invented everything, didn’t you?”.
Stormy Daniels maintained her version. When her cross-examination ended, she left the room defiantly, walking past Donald Trump without looking at him.
– “Answer” –
Actress and pornographic film director Stormy Daniels leaves the court in Manhattan, New York, where she testified at the trial of Donald Trump (AFP / Charly TRIBALLEAU)
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.
“He must be able to respond to the American people,” argued Todd Blanche. The judge refused.
Upon leaving the courtroom, the 77-year-old candidate, who must silently attend the debates every day, again denounced the “corrupt judge” and complained of not being able to campaign normally.
Three other witnesses followed 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 White House , 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.
