Trump's lawyer presses Stormy Daniels at trial on request for money

Stormy Daniels retook the witness stand on Thursday at Donald Trump's criminal trial where the former U.S. president's defense lawyer pressed the porn star about why she sought money to tell her story of their 2006 sexual encounter.

Stormy Daniels retook the witness stand on Thursday at Donald Trump's criminal trial where the former U.S. president's defense lawyer pressed the porn star about why she sought money to tell her story of their 2006 sexual encounter. Daniels' unflattering account of sex with Trump riveted jurors on Tuesday and served to remind U.S. voters of the more lurid aspects of his 2017-2021 presidency as he campaigns to win back the White House this year.

A Republican, Trump has argued the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president is a politically motivated attempt to interfere with his campaign. Trump lawyer Susan Necheles resumed her cross-examination of Daniels on Thursday with combative questioning about inconsistencies in her account about why she let a lawyer for Trump buy her silence before the 2016 election even though she had previously said she wanted to go public with her story.

Daniels said she ultimately agreed to be paid to enter into a non-disclosure agreement rather than tell her story not because of the payout, but because of safety concerns. "The better alternative was to get my story protected with a paper trail," Daniels testified. Publishing the story would have put "a target on my back, and my family's," she said.

On Tuesday, Trump's legal team was able to punch some holes in Daniels' account. Under questioning, Daniels admitted that she had not always told the truth about the encounter, and acknowledged that she has refused to pay Trump a judgment of more than $500,000 stemming from a failed defamation lawsuit.

Trump is charged with falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to Daniels to keep quiet during his 2016 presidential bid. He has pleaded not guilty and denies ever having sex with Daniels. Prosecutors say Trump's efforts to obscure the paper trail corrupted the 2016 election by preventing voters from learning about a story that might have informed their vote.

In one sense, Daniels' testimony is peripheral to the case, and it may not matter much to voters who have already heard other stories of Trump's alleged sexual misbehavior. Trump's lawyers argued as much on Tuesday when they unsuccessfully sought a mistrial, saying that she had "inflamed" the jury with unnecessary details like claiming that Trump did not use a condom.

Daniels' testimony clearly frustrated Trump, who at one point appeared to call it "bullshit," drawing a warning about witness intimidation from Justice Juan Merchan. Merchan has fined Trump $10,000 for talking about jurors and witnesses in the trial and warned that further violations of a gag order that is in place could land him in jail.

The case is widely seen as the least consequential of the four criminal prosecutions Trump faces. But the chances of the other three going to trial before the Nov. 5 election are growing more distant. One federal case in Washington that accuses Trump of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden has been held up for months by the Supreme Court.

A federal case in Florida that accuses him of mishandling classified documents has been delayed indefinitely as the judge, appointed by Trump, considers legal objections by his lawyers. A state case in Georgia that accuses Trump of election interference likewise is on hold as an appeals court considers whether the prosecutor improperly had a romantic affair with another lawyer who is no longer on the case.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)