by Donald Trump’s criminal trial entered a new phase on Tuesday with testimony from Stormy Daniels, an adult film star at the center of a hush-money scandal, who told jurors they had a sexual relationship in 2006 that left her anxious and ashamed.
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“My hands were shaking so bad I had a hard time getting dressed,” said Daniels, who told jurors she went to Trump’s Lake Tahoe hotel room thinking they were having dinner after a meeting there.
The two had met earlier that day at a celebrity golf game across town; Daniels was there for Wicked Pictures, the company she worked for at the time, who was a sponsor.
“The players would come around, you would stay in the hole that had your company logo on it, [you’d] give them water or towels,” she said.
They didn’t discuss much, but Daniels’ boss told Trump that she was also a director. Trump, she recalled, said she would have to be smart enough to direct movies and not just act in them. They ran into each other again at a room where event sponsors had set up tables with free merchandise.
“He remembered us from the golf course – he remembered me specifically, that I was ‘the smart one’.” At one point, one of Trump’s bodyguards came over and told Daniels he wanted her to join him for dinner. She said no.
Daniels said she didn’t think about the invitation again until later, when a company dinner was scheduled that she didn’t want to attend. Daniels’ colleague told her she should take Trump up on his invitation.
“He’ll make a great story, he’s a businessman, what could go wrong, that’s what he said to me,” Daniels recalled. He thought it might be good for her career too.
She coordinated with Trump’s bodyguard and was directed to his hotel across the city, and told to take a separate elevator to the penthouse. “He was wearing silk or satin pajamas which I immediately teased him about, and said does Mr. Hefner know you stole his pajamas?” Daniels said, referring to the late pornographer and Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.
“I told him to go change and he had to.”
Since it was still early, they decided to chat for a while before getting dinner. Trump repeatedly grilled Daniels on her time in the adult industry, including: “What about testing? Are you worried about an STD?
He asked if she had been tested. “Yes, of course, and I also volunteered,” she said.
“He asked me, oh well, have you ever had a bad test, I said I can’t show you my whole record,” Daniels said.
She said there was also a very brief discussion about Melania, Trump’s wife, in which he said they slept in separate rooms. Daniels said she had to use the restroom at some point, because she had gotten several bottles of water. Trump came into the bedroom of the suite, and he was on the bed in his boxers and T-shirt.
“At first I was shocked, like a jump scare,” Daniels said. “I just thought: Oh my God, what did I misread to get here? The intention is quite clear if someone is stripped down to their underwear and on the bed.”
She tried to joke and leave, but he stood up between her and the door. “At some point, were you getting out of bed having sex with him?” asked prosecutor Susan Hoffinger. “Yes.”
During their conversation in the hotel, they discussed The Apprentice. Daniels added that there was no way she would be allowed on network television because of her status in the adult industry. He rejected this idea, he then appeared to compare Daniels to his daughter, Ivanka Trump: “You remind me of my daughter. She’s smart and blonde and beautiful and people underestimate her too.”
Daniels, wearing a black top and black-framed glasses, gave her testimony in a rapid fire of words, so much so that she was repeatedly asked to slow down, giving the impression of nervousness. At one point, Daniels sipped water from a plastic cup.
When Daniels first took the stand, Trump leaned back in his chair with a passive look on his face.
Prosecutors allege that Trump, his then-lawyer Michael Cohen and tabloid honcho David Pecker conspired in 2015 to bury stories that could hinder his Republican presidential bid. Cohen allegedly stopped a $130,000 cash payment to Daniels less than two weeks before the 2016 presidential election, to keep her from going public about her alleged sexual relationship with Trump.
Cohen transferred money to Daniels’ lawyer through a limited liability company he formed specifically for the transaction, called Essential Consulting LLC. He allegedly did so through an LLC so it wouldn’t be traced back to him and, therefore, Trump.
Trump has been accused of falsifying business records in connection with repaying Cohen. Prosecutors allege that Trump falsely listed these reimbursements as legal services in business documents.
Daniels’ testimony came one day after Judge Juan Merchan warned that Trump could face prison if he continues to violate a gag order.
Monday’s proceedings — which included testimony from Deborah Tarasoff, the Trump Organization’s accounts payable supervisor, and Jeffrey McConney, the company’s former governor — were overshadowed by Merchan finding Trump in criminal contempt for the 10th time before they even took the stand.
Merchan’s decision comes just days after he found Trump in criminal contempt, and was fined $9,000, compared to other comments that violated the order barring him from discussing trial witnesses or jurors.
“So, as much as I don’t want to impose a custodial sanction, I want you to understand that I will, if necessary and appropriate.”
McConney and Tarasoff’s testimony sought to put Trump at the center of his company and personal finances — to undermine any defense argument that he was not in charge of paying bills.
Daniels’ testimony, on the heels of McConney and the Tarasoffs’ time in court, and Merchan’s warning make for a difficult week for the defense. Before Daniels’ testimony resumed after a lunch break, one of Trump’s lawyers, Todd Blanche, asked Merchan to throw out the case because of extraneous details in her comments.
“We move for a mistrial based on the evidence this morning,” Blanche said. “There’s no way we’re going to drop that stone.”
He noted how Daniels described feeling “blacked out” and said Trump did not use a condom.
“Besides pure shame,” Blanche told Merchan, these details only “inflamed the jury”.
“I agree that there are probably some things that would be [left] better not said,” said Merchan. “In fairness to the people, I think your witness was a bit difficult to control” but still, details came in that shouldn’t.
Merchan said “I don’t believe we’re at the point” when a mistrial was needed.
