NEW YORK, USA – Stormy Daniels, the adult film star linked to a hush-money scandal involving the former president, on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, took the stand to testify in Donald Trump‘s ongoing criminal trial.
The trial, which centers on allegations that Trump and his associates conspired to silence Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election, saw Daniels provide nearly four hours of testimony on Tuesday, with plans to return Thursday.
Daniels detailed a 2006 encounter with Trump at a celebrity golf event in Lake Tahoe, where she was led to believe they would have dinner.
Instead, she found Trump in his penthouse wearing “silk or satin pyjamas,” and later, in just boxers and a T-shirt, which led to an unexpected sexual encounter.
“I just thought: oh my God, what did I misread to get here?” Daniels remarked during her testimony, describing the situation as a “jump scare.”
Throughout the encounter, Daniels said Trump made various personal remarks, comparing her to his daughter Ivanka Trump and discussing his then-wife, Melania Trump.
After the encounter, Trump allegedly tried to lure Daniels with the prospect of appearing on his TV show, The Apprentice.
The legal proceedings took a contentious turn after Daniels’s testimony, with Trump’s defense team demanding a mistrial over what they described as “prejudicial and irrelevant comments.”
The request was denied by the judge, emphasising the defense should have raised more objections during the testimony.
Under cross-examination, Daniels admitted her disdain for Trump, rooted in a legal defeat where Trump won a significant amount in attorney’s fees.
“Am I correct in that you hate President Trump?” asked Trump attorney Susan Necheles. “Yes,” Daniels confirmed, adding, “I want him to be held accountable.”
The trial also included testimony from Sally Franklin, an executive at Penguin Random House, who read excerpts from Trump’s books as part of the prosecution’s strategy to frame his character and past statements.
As the trial continues, the focus remains on how Daniels’s allegations and the subsequent legal battles shape the narrative surrounding Trump’s actions during the 2016 election campaign.
Daniels’s testimony highlighted not only the alleged incidents but also the intense legal and personal battles that have persisted long after the alleged events took place.
