Judge admits Stormy Daniels ‘difficult to control’ on witness stand as he denies Trump’s bid for hush money mistrial

U.S. News

By Ben Kochman, Kyle Schnitzer and Priscilla DeGregory

Donald Trump’s bid for a mystery over Stormy Daniels’ salacious testimony Tuesday was denied by the judge — who still noted the former adult film star was a “difficult” witness for prosecutors to control.

Former president’s lawyer Todd Blanche after the lunch break at trial asked Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan to toss the case, claiming Daniels’ testimony about a tryst she allegedly had with Trump in 2006 was “prejudicial” to him.

While Merchan denied the motion, he acknowledged, “there are some things that would have been better left unsaid.”

“I believe that the witness was very difficult to control,” the judge added.

As the ruling came down, Trump, 77, wrote something on a legal pad and pushed the notebook on the defense table, toward Blanche.

The attorney had argued that Daniels’ testimony that there was an “imbalance of power” between her and Trump could “inflame the jury” — and noted that he didn’t have anything to do with the allegations of fudging business records his client faces.

Prosecutors spoke with Daniels — born Stephanie Clifford — outside the courtroom to ensure she stayed “focused” as she summarized her testimony Tuesday afternoon.

Jurors struggled to keep a straight face — at least two of them smirking — when Daniels, 45, earlier Tuesday told the court about rolling up a magazine that had Trump’s face on the cover and spanking him with it.

She also detailed how they had sex in their luxury hotel suite in the “missionary position” during a brief encounter in which the presumptive Republican presidential nominee wasn’t wearing a condom.

During the testimony, Trump’s lawyers repeatedly lodged objections which, Merchan at times granted, warned prosecutors about the “degree of detail” she was going into which was “unnecessary.”