By MICHAEL R. SISAK, JAKE OFFENHARTZ, JENNIFER PELTZ and COLLEEN LONG (Associated Press)
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s defense attorneys questioned Stormy Daniels on the payment central to the ex-president’s hush money trial, asking why she took $130,000 to keep quiet about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump instead of going public.
“Why didn’t you do that?” attorney Susan Necheles asked, wondering why Daniels didn’t go through with her plan to hold a news conference and tell reporters about the 2006 encounter, which Trump denies ever happened.
“Because we were running out of time,” Daniels responded.
Necheles asked if she meant that she was running out of time to use the claim to make money.
“To get the story out,” Daniels countered. The negotiations took place in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign, a crucial point in the case against Trump because prosecutors argue that he and his allies suppressed potentially damaging stories in an illegal effort to sway the November results. Trump denies any wrongdoing.
Daniels returned for more testimony Thursday, avoiding eye contact with the former president as she entered the Manhattan courtroom and walked to the witness stand.
Trump’s lawyers have tried to portray the adult film actress as a dishonest and extortionist who is attempting to bring down Trump after profiting from her story about him.
Turning to Daniels’ career in adult films, Necheles asked: “You have a lot of experience in making fake stories about sex seem real?”
“The sex in those films is real, just like the sex in that room,” Daniels replied. “The character themes might be different, but the sex is very real. That’s why it’s pornography, not a B movie.”
Daniels was first called as a witness on Tuesday, describing their 2006 encounter in explicit detail.
Trump scowled and shook his head as Daniels described their alleged sexual encounter after meeting at a celebrity golf outing at Lake Tahoe, where sponsors included the adult film studio where she worked. At one point, the judge told defense lawyers in a private conversation that he could hear Trump “cursing audibly.”
Daniels earlier testified that while she wasn’t physically threatened, she felt a “power imbalance” as Trump stood between her and the door in his hotel bedroom and made advances.
When asked if she felt pressured to have sex with him, she reiterated Thursday that he didn’t drug her or physically threaten her. But, she said, “My own insecurities, in that moment, kept me from saying no.”
As Necheles continued comparing Daniels’ testimony with past interviews, the witness insisted, “My story hasn’t changed.”
“You’re trying to make me say that it changed, but it hasn’t changed at all,” she said.
Her testimony has been an extraordinary moment in what could be the only legal case against the expected Republican presidential candidate to be decided in court before voters choose in November whether to re-elect him. Trump has declared his innocence and portrays himself as a victim of a justice system influenced by politics that is trying to prevent him from serving another term.
While negotiating a confidentiality agreement with Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen, Daniels was also speaking with other journalists as a “backup” plan, she stated on Thursday. Necheles accused her of not sharing the story with reporters because she wouldn’t be paid for it.
“It would have been better for you to receive money, correct?” Necheles asked.
Daniels expressed that she was mainly interested in making her story known and ensuring her family’s safety.
“The better option was to protect my story with a documented trail so that my family wouldn’t be harmed,” Daniels replied.
Meanwhile, as the possibility of jail approaches over Trump's repeated violations of a gag order, his lawyers are contesting the judge’s order and seeking a quick decision from an appeals court. If the court refuses to lift the gag order, Trump’s legal team wants permission to appeal to the state’s highest court.
“Here we are after two and a half weeks, and I think you’ll see some very revealing things today,” Trump stated outside the court.
In the courtroom, Necheles went through the finer details of the confidentiality agreement, asking Daniels to confirm that she agreed to highlighted parts. Daniels responded in brief one-word answers, “Yes,” and added: “I signed this only based on what my lawyers suggested.”
Trump is accused of 34 counts of altering internal Trump Organization business records. The charges relate to items such as invoices and checks that were considered legitimate expenses in Trump Organization records. Prosecutors say the payments were largely reimbursements to Cohen for the $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels.
Testimony thus far has made it clear that at the time of the payment to Daniels, Trump and his campaign were reeling from the October 2016 release of the previously unseen 2005 “Access Hollywood” video in which he bragged about grabbing women’s private parts without their consent.
Prosecutors have argued that the public uproar over the “Access Hollywood” tape accelerated Cohen’s payment to prevent Daniels from making her claims public, which could further harm Trump among female voters.
Trump’s legal team has tried to demonstrate that Trump was attempting to protect his reputation and family — not his campaign — by shielding them from embarrassing stories about his personal life.
