The porn actress Stormy Danielswho allegedly had an affair with him former president Donald Trump in 2006, described this Tuesday on the stand, in the criminal trialas They had sexual relations “without a condom”along with a series of other scandalous intimate details.
Daniels, who appeared in the New York Criminal Court Dressed in casual black clothing and glasses of the same color, she appeared relaxed during her testimony, but the stenographers had to call her attention on several occasions to make her speak more slowly.
The actress reported that He met Trump at a golf tournament event in 2006., when he was 59 years old and she was 27; and that the politician described her as “intelligent” because she, in addition to being a porn actress, director and screenwriter.
After that meeting, Trump’s bodyguard asked for his phone number.
That same day Daniels went to the mogul’s hotel room, which he described as “seven times bigger than his apartment,” and said that Trump received her in satin pajamassomething that surprised her, so she asked him to change, which he quickly did.
Sitting in the same room, according to Daniels, They talked for about two hours. about various topics, such as how many times Daniels had to be tested to see if he had sexual diseases in her work as an actress, and the possibility of her appearing on Trump’s television show.
They also talked about Trump’s family, and he He confessed that he did not sleep in the same room as his wife, Melania..
THREAT OF WHIPING AND UNDERWEAR
At one point in the conversation, Daniels got tired of Trump being so “arrogant and pompous” in their responses, and He threatened to spank him on the butt with a magazine. in which he was on the cover, which he ended up doing.
Shortly after those statements, the trial stopped for a break, and when the jury and Daniels were out of the courtroom, The judge told prosecutors they did not need to go into so much detail.
When Daniels returned to the stand, he said he went to the bathroom at one point and, When he came out, Trump was already lying on the bed suggestively in his underwear.
Daniels indicated that, although She was not drugged or drank alcohol, she could not remember “how she ended up there”, but she did have condomless sex with Trump.
“I never said ‘no,’ because I never said anything,” the actress recalled.
Daniels also said that he later saw Trump again on several occasions and that on one occasion he tried to have sex againbut nothing happened because she told him that she was on her period, and That was the last time they saw each other in person..
Nevertheless, They talked on the phone about the possibility of appearing on his television show on several occasions, something that never materialized..
“DIFFICULT TO CONTROL” WITNESS
Daniels further said that hates Trump and wants him to go to jail if convicted. He responded like this when the defense asked him about publications of that nature that he had uploaded to his social networks.
After these statements, Trump’s defense tried to force a mistrial due to the explicit nature of the sexual statements, and the Judge Juan M. Merchan He agreed that prosecutors should not have asked some of the questions, but did not consider that this merited invalidating the process.
Merchan also noted that the actress, screenwriter and director of adult films is a “difficult to control” witness. During his testimony, the magistrate himself had to ask him to focus on answering the questions without giving details that were not relevant.
Trump listened to the statements, looking ahead with a frown and, after the lunch break, as has been the case in recent weeks, He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for long periods of time..
Trump risks prison sentences if it is proven that he falsified accounting information to hide the payment of 130 thousand dollars with which he sought to silence Stormy Daniels when he was a candidate in 2016. (Photo: EFE)
DEFENSE HAS RAISED ALLEGED EXTORTION
Over the course of the several weeks of the process – the first of its kind against a former president – the Daniels’ former lawyer, Keith Davidsonsaid he negotiated a payment of 130 thousand dollars in 2016 -in the middle of the presidential campaign- to maintain Daniels’ silence about that affair with the magnate in 2006.
The intermediary in that negotiation was Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and right-hand manwho is now expected to be one of the Prosecutor’s star witnesses.
For its part, Trump’s defense has hinted to the jury that this payment could be considered extortion by the actress and her lawyer.
However, Daniels said today that money was not the reason he agreed to the deal, and that he wanted a deal done quickly because she was worried about a threat she receivedan ultimatum that the defense tried to deny by pointing to inconsistencies in Daniels’ testimony over recent years.
The defense repeatedly tried to paint the actress as a liar driven by greed, using excerpts from an autobiographical book in which Daniels tells her story with a different version of events.
The Republican candidate in this year’s presidential election faces 34 chargesamong them that of falsifying business documents to help cover up this extramarital affair with Danielsand if convicted he could face several years in prison.
This process will resume on Thursday, as Judge Merchan has decreed that Wednesdays will serve as a pause.
TRIAL POSTPONED OVER CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS
In parallel to this, the Judge Aileen Cannon indefinitely postponed the date of Florida trial against Trump for the criminal case of mishandling of confidential documents found in his possession after leaving the White House.
The start was scheduled for May 20, but today’s decision makes trial highly unlikely to take place before November presidential election.
In her order, the judge argued that prior litigation, including disagreements over how classified information is used during trial, should be resolved.
He notes that due to “the myriad of pre-trial issues” pending resolution, “it would be imprudent and inconsistent” to consider the various motions filed by the parties closed.
Cannon, who was nominated in 2020 by Trump, also scheduled additional hearings on pending matters between May and July..
The lawyers of the former president, who faces a total of four criminal cases in the United Stateshad requested that the trial be delayed until August, while the Prosecutor’s Office requested that it be sooner.
Trump has argued that going to trial in the weeks before the November election would amount to political interference because otherwise he should be campaigning.
RETENTION OF CLASSIFIED MATERIAL
The former Republican president faces court in Florida for having taken classified material to his mansion in Mar-a-Lago when he left the White House in January 2021.
In the same case, the Republican candidate faces charges of deliberate obstruction and retention of official documents related to US Security, which are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Last April, Cannon refused to dismiss charges against the two co-defendants in the case, Waltine Nauta and Carlos de Oliveirapersonal assistant and manager of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property, respectively.
Nauta and De Oliveira pleaded not guilty last August to obstruction of justice charges related to alleged attempts to delete surveillance images at the former president’s residence.
Trump must respond to a total of 91 criminal charges distributed in four criminal casesamong others the derivative of assault on the Capitolwhen his supporters, when they tried to disrupt the legislative process to certify Biden’s victory in 2020.
