Former President Trump’s unprecedented criminal trial culminated Tuesday with the long-awaited sordid testimony of adult film actress Stormy Daniels, prompting a mistrial motion and a reprimand from the judge.
President Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 charges of first-degree falsification of business records. The charges stem from a years-long investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
The charges relate to alleged payments made before the 2016 presidential election to keep Daniels quiet about an alleged affair with President Trump in 2006.
This courtroom sketch shows former President Trump watching as witness Stormy Daniels takes the stand during a criminal trial in New York City on May 7, 2024. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg must convince a jury that Trump not only falsified business records related to the alleged hush-money payments, but did so in furtherance of another crime. . It is conspiracy to promote or obstruct an election, which is a felony.
New York vs. Trump: Judge denies motion for hearing in Daniels testimony amid storm
Falsification of business records and conspiracy to promote or prevent an election are misdemeanors in and of themselves.
Here are the top five moments that happened in court on Tuesday.
Stormy Daniels takes the stand after judge approves prosecutors’ questions about alleged sexual contact
Trump’s lawyers opposed prosecutors’ plan to investigate the “full scope” of Trump’s alleged sexual encounters with porn actresses.
Mr. Trump’s team insisted there was no need to provide details, and also cited Mr. Daniels’s initial denials of contact in 2018, raising questions about Mr. Daniels’ credibility.
“We will not go into the details of the genitals,” prosecutors told Judge Juan Melchan.
Mr. Machan sided with the prosecution, and Mr. Daniels immediately took the stand.
Daniels’ real name is Stephanie Clifford, but she told prosecutors she prefers to be called Stormy Daniels. She grew up in a low-income family in Louisiana and was raised by her mother after her parents divorced, she said.
This courtroom sketch shows Stormy Daniels being questioned by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger during former President Trump’s criminal trial in New York City on May 7, 2024. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
Daniels testified that she began doing erotic dancing for money at age 17 and began modeling nude for magazines at age 21. She said she then went to California as an extra in an adult film and was offered an adult film contract when she was 23 years old.
The adult film actress testified that she met President Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe in July 2006. At the time, she said, she had a contract with Wicked Pictures, which was a sponsor and was participating in the tournament.
“It was a very brief encounter…the players came in…we were introduced to all the players who came…it was a very brief encounter,” Daniels said on the witness stand.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked what Mr. Daniels discussed with Mr. Trump. Daniels said it’s no big deal. She was introduced as the director, and she said President Trump told her, “You must be a smart person.”
Bragg, the prosecutor who led the investigation of Stormy Daniels in the Trump trial, donates to Joe Biden (Democratic Party)
Daniels said she was aware of Trump’s reality show, “The Apprentice,” and had appeared in cameos and commercials. She was 27 at the time and knew that President Trump, who was 60 at the time, was “probably as old or as old as my father.”
She said she saw President Trump in the gift room, made sure he got her a copy of the movie “Three Wishes,” and they talked a little. She said someone came back and asked if she wanted to have dinner with President Trump.
Ms. Daniels said she discussed inviting her to dinner with her then-publicist, and that the publicist joked, “I think you should go…what could possibly go wrong?” I remembered.
A publicist hinted it would be good for Daniels’ career, the performer said.
She then testified in detail about her alleged sexual encounter with President Trump in a hotel room.
Judge tells prosecutors to follow Stormy Daniels’ testimony, warns witness will give ‘unnecessary’ details
After a short morning break and Daniels’ testimony interrupted, Marchan told prosecutors that they had gone into too much detail in questioning her.
The judge asked Manhattan prosecutor Hoffinger to move forward, saying there was “no need to go into this detail.”
This courtroom sketch shows Penguin Random House executive Sally Franklin testifying at former President Trump’s criminal trial in New York City on May 7, 2024. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
Before the break, prosecutors asked Daniels to detail his alleged meeting with President Trump in a Lake Tahoe hotel room. Daniels said Trump invited her to dinner after meeting her at the beginning of the convention.
Daniels claims she had a sexual relationship with Trump in 2006 and was paid $130,000 by Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen in 2016 to hide the story from the media. .
President Trump has denied having an affair. Daniels initially denied having an affair, but changed her story in 2018.
Trump’s attorney files a motion for miscarriage of justice.the judge denies
After lunch, Trump’s lawyers moved for a mistrial during Daniels’ testimony.
Defense attorney Todd Blanche told Marchand after the court’s lunch break that Daniels’ testimony Tuesday morning was prejudicial.
Marchand said the miscarriage of justice was unwarranted and that he was doing everything he could to control the witnesses, including personally challenging Daniels’ testimony.
“I agree that some of these things might have been better left unsaid,” Marchand said.
Blanche said prosecutors were trying to prime the jury with Daniels’ testimony, including evidence that Daniels said was unimportant. Blanche said Daniels has been trying to sell his story of alleged consensual sexual contact since 2016, which she said is damaging testimony and evidence.
Former President Trump stands outside the courtroom during his criminal trial in New York City on May 7, 2024. (Reuters/David Delgado/Pool)
Defense attorneys said Daniels’ testimony on Tuesday was about “consent and risk,” which “is not the story she was selling in 2016.” He also said Daniels testified about her consent and that such testimony “makes it impossible to go back.” Blanche said the defense said: “She objected as much as she could, but she was able to say what she wanted to say.”
He also questioned how the defense camp can “build back from this” in a way that is “fair” to President Trump.
NY V Former President Trump to resume trial after prison threat, says trial will last at least two more weeks
“We believe there should be a miscarriage of justice,” he said. “Otherwise, we believe this witness’s testimony would be excluded and extremely limited.”
Blanche said Daniels’ macabre and explosive testimony had “nothing to do with this case” and was “totally unrelated.”
He also said Daniels’ statements amounted to “highly prejudicial testimony” and “there is a high risk that the jury will lose focus on the conduct charged.”
But Hoffinger said the defense was fully briefed on Daniels’ testimony in pretrial motions and argued that Daniels’ testimony was evidence of Trump’s intentions. Hoffinger said the defense’s attacks on Daniels’ credibility are “baseless.”
During a break, the former president and 2024 Republican presidential candidate posted on his Truth Social account without naming Daniels.
He posted, “The prosecutors who have not opened a case are going too far.” “Miss Trial!”
Stormy Daniels admits she wanted to spread her story to ‘make money’
Under cross-examination by Trump’s attorney Susan Necheres, Daniels acknowledged that his story was worth a significant amount of money in 2016.
Asked if Mr. Daniels had tried to extort money from Mr. Trump, Mr. Daniels replied, “That’s not true.”
The adult film star testified that she saw 2016 as an opportunity to get her story out there and profit financially.
For the first time, Daniels admitted that she wanted to “spread the word and make money.” She was ultimately paid $130,000 by former Trump lawyer Cohen.
Daniels published a book called “Full Disclosure” at the end of 2018.
President Trump abides by gag order, won’t mention Stormy Daniels in post-court remarks
Trump told reporters outside the courtroom that he spent hours listening to Daniels make vile claims on stage about the alleged sexual encounter, which Daniels denies.
Marchand imposed a gag order on the former president, which he ruled Trump violated at least 10 times.
Trump is prohibited from speaking about potential witnesses, about the lawyers in the case other than Mr. Bragg, or about court officials, DA officials or their families.
NY V Trump: Judge suggests prison sentence for ‘possibly next president’ for future gag order violations
On Monday, Trump was fined an additional $1,000, bringing the total fine for violating the gag order to $10,000.
Marchand threatened President Trump with prison time for future violations.
“The last thing I want to think about is prison,” Marchand said Monday. “you [the] Former president, and possibly the next president. ”
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Former President Trump speaks to the media alongside attorney Todd Blanche as his criminal trial continues in New York City on May 7, 2024. (Reuters/David Delgado/Pool)
Following Daniels’ testimony, President Trump did not name Stormy Daniels or refer to her testimony, in compliance with the gag order.
“Today was a very important day. It was very clear that their case was completely destroyed,” President Trump said.
“They have nothing in their books and records, and even things that should have little to do with this case are just a disaster for Soros-backed prosecutors,” he continued.
“This whole incident is just a disaster,” President Trump said.
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President Trump lamented that the court case has prevented the Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election from participating in campaign activities.
“I’m stuck here. I’m not in Georgia, I’m not in New Hampshire, I’m in Wisconsin and all these different states that we wanted to go to. And we can’t be there. ‘Cause we’re stuck in this court case that everyone knows is a hoax,” he said.
Fox News Digital’s Maria Paronich and Brianna Herlihy contributed reporting.
