{"id":2239952,"date":"2024-05-08T10:39:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-08T14:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stormy-danielss-testimony-may-derail-trump-new-york-hush-money-trial\/"},"modified":"2024-05-08T10:44:23","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T14:44:23","slug":"stormy-danielss-testimony-may-derail-trump-new-york-hush-money-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stormy-danielss-testimony-may-derail-trump-new-york-hush-money-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Stormy Daniels&#8217; testimony could disrupt Trump&#8217;s hush money case in New York"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fstormy-danielss-testimony-may-derail-trump-new-york-hush-money-trial%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2239952&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels testified about her alleged affair with Donald Trump in a\u2062 New York hush money trial. Despite her vivid details, little progress was made in proving business falsification crimes. The \u2062prosecution&#8217;s tactics, though dramatic, may have\u2064 backfired.\u200d Trump&#8217;s defense strategy and\u200d Daniels&#8217; credibility became focal points \u2063during the trial, leaving the case&#8217;s\u2063 outcome uncertain.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Pornographic film actress <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/stormy-daniels\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Stormy Daniels<\/a> may have put on a captivating performance for the jury on Tuesday over her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/university-president-fired-after-allegedly-years-long-sexual-affair-with-subordinate\/\" title=\"University President Fired After Allegedly Years-Long Sexual Affair With Subordinate\">alleged sexual affair<\/a> with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Donald Trump<\/a> 18 years ago, but prosecutors made little headway toward proving the business falsification crimes at the heart of the former president\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/new-york\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">New York<\/a> hush money case.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, prosecutors may have hurt their chances of securing a conviction. Daniels spent much of Tuesday providing specific details of the alleged sexual encounter that prompted the $130,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-isis-bride-claims-media-covered-up-affair-with-rep-van-taylor\/\" title=\"Exclusive: \u2018ISIS Bride\u2019 Claims Media Covered Up Affair With Rep Van Taylor\">000 hush money payment<\/a> by former Trump lawyer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/michael-cohen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Michael Cohen<\/a>. The 12-member jury was made privy that, according to Daniels, Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/2994056\/trump-new-york-trial-judge-scolds-prosecutors-stormy-daniels-sex-story\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>didn\u2019t wear a condom when they allegedly had sex<\/a>, that Daniels kept her bra on, and more graphic details.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think this very much was just a sideshow to try and introduce some more salacious and potentially prejudicial facts to try and convince the jury that Trump is a bad person,\u201d Katie Charleston, a California-based former prosecutor, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>As the prosecution elicited the graphic allegations from Daniels, she appeared to shift her characterization of the alleged encounter from a one-night stand to an undesired sexual encounter that left her traumatized. Trump was seen by reporters muttering \u201cbull****\u201d to her claims.<\/p>\n<p>As Trump left the courthouse on Tuesday, he declared it was a \u201cvery big\u201d and \u201cvery revealing\u201d day, noting that the prosecution\u2019s case is \u201ctotally falling apart.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey have nothing on books and records and even something that should bear very little relationship to the case. It\u2019s just a disaster,\u201d Trump said, subtly hinting at the testimony by Daniels, given that his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/unthinkable-president-trump-responds-to-reinstatement-of-gag-order\/\" title=\"Trump calls reinstatement of gag order \"unthinkable.\"\">gag order prevents<\/a> him from referencing her.<\/p>\n<p>Although the prosecution may not have shown compelling evidence to support their primary theory that Trump sought to interfere with the 2016 election by way of a hush money payment, some legal experts contended the lack of a sweeping rebuttal by Trump lawyers may have left him open to scrutiny in the court of public opinion. Trump saw a similar threat to his image during the height of the 2016 campaign after the publication of the <em>Access Hollywood<\/em> tape.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt may not have anything to do [with] the legal charges, which we all agree are extremely weak, but she has accused the former president of the United States of raping her, and she said it under oath,\u201d Berkeley Law School professor John Yoo told Fox News after the court was adjourned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think if you\u2019ve got two days where this is going to be out there, it\u2019s not just having an effect in the courtroom before the juries. It\u2019s going to have an effect in the political world, the public world. I think that the Trump lawyers \u2026 are going to have to come out and try to destroy that story,\u201d Yoon said.<\/p>\n<p>Neama Rahmani, a former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-ag-barr-authorizes-federal-prosecutors-to-pursue-substantial-allegations-of-voting-irregularities-before-2020-election-is-certified\/\" title=\"BREAKING: AG Barr Authorizes Federal Prosecutors to Pursue \"Substantial Allegations\" of Voting Irregularities Before 2020 Election is Certified\">federal prosecutor<\/a>, went as far as to accuse the Trump defense of \u201cbad lawyering,\u201d saying there were many times Trump\u2019s lawyers should\u2019ve raised objections but instead refrained.<\/p>\n<p>The prosecution \u201cmay have created an issue on appeal\u201d by allowing Daniels to testify so graphically, \u201cbut the appeal is not going to be heard until well after the election,\u201d Rahmani said.<\/p>\n<p>None of the details Daniels divulged Tuesday directly involve the criminal allegations against Trump: that he reimbursed his lawyer for the hush money payment and classified that payment improperly as retainer fees. Trump has denied that he and Daniels had a sexual encounter in 2006, and prosecutors are likely seeking her testimony to build credibility with the jury to establish that an encounter that Trump wanted to suppress actually happened.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the first-ever criminal trial against a former president, even said Tuesday morning that he was putting \u201cguardrails\u201d on the prosecution and didn\u2019t want them to delve into Daniels\u2019s more salacious claims, although those limits did not appear to stop such claims from emerging in front of the jury.<\/p>\n<p>Before <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-trial-stormy-daniels-lawyer-balks-at-term-hush-money\/\" title=\"Trump trial: Stormy Daniels attorney rejects the term 'hush money.\">cross-examination began<\/a> for Daniels, Trump attorney Todd Blanche asked Merchan for a mistrial, saying some of the porn star\u2019s testimony was \u201cextraordinarily prejudicial\u201d and that \u201cyou can\u2019t fix it\u201d after jurors heard her claims.<\/p>\n<p>Merchan conceded that the prosecution went beyond what he would like to hear in this case, given that Trump is not on trial for any sexual-related crimes, but he argued that the defense could have raised more objections when prosecutors questioned Daniels.<\/p>\n<p>Once prosecutors concluded their questioning and the proceedings shifted to cross-examination by Trump attorney Susan Necheles, observers in the courtroom noticed a stark change in Daniels\u2019s demeanor. Reporters who were in the room noted Daniels shifted from a peppy posture to a more defensive one when Necheles stood up to question the porn star\u2019s credibility.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Attorney for former President Donald Trump Susan Necheles returns to the courtroom at Manhattan criminal court before his trial in New York on Friday, April 26, 2024. (Michael M. Santiago\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Necheles compelled Daniels to admit her hatred for Trump, which Daniels did, and she additionally pressed Daniels on the fact that the former porn star owes Trump up to $660,000 in legal fees stemming from her unsuccessful defamation litigation against him. The defense attorney also pointed to a 2022 tweet from Daniels in which she said, \u201cI will go to jail before I pay a penny.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIsn\u2019t it true,\u201d Necheles asked, \u201cthat you\u2019re hoping that if President Trump gets convicted, you won\u2019t have to pay him?\u201d Daniels responded that she hopes she doesn\u2019t have to pay back the legal expenses \u201cno matter what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Necheles appeared to portray Daniels as someone who has contempt for the rule of law, given her refusal to pay back the legal fees, and as someone who has shaky inconsistencies in her story about Trump.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Jurors take notes as Stormy Daniels testifies in Manhattan criminal court on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Daniels was also asked by defense attorneys about a parking lot encounter she testified about earlier in the day that she said happened in 2011. Daniels said a man approached her at the time and threatened her infant daughter. Necheles read from Daniels\u2019s book about the encounter and said there was a discrepancy between what she wrote and her testimony on Tuesday. In the book, Daniels wrote that she went to the exercise class, while during testimony, she said she was too scared to participate in the class.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou wrote a book saying you did the class, and now you\u2019re saying you did not do the class,\u201d Necheles noted. Daniels said she did not call people after the alleged incident and did not even inform the child\u2019s father \u2014 adding she first spoke about it publicly during an interview with Anderson Cooper.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour daughter\u2019s life was in jeopardy, and you did not tell her father \u2014 but you went on Anderson Cooper and decided to tell the world?\u201d Necheles asked in an apparent effort to discredit Daniels.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Former President Donald Trump gestures to reporters as he leaves the courtroom during a break in his trial on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (Sarah Yenesel\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The court was adjourned at 4:30 p.m. before Necheles could even begin to draw scrutiny to Daniels\u2019s primary allegation about the sexual encounter she claims to have had with Trump.<\/p>\n<p>As the trial enters the midway point of its third week of testimony, former federal prosecutor Andrew Cherkasky told Fox News that the prosecution is still failing to show evidence of a crime committed by the former president.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think that the jury would take anything away from what happened today other than these are low blows that make no difference to the overall matter,\u201d Cherkasky said. \u201cI don\u2019t think prosecutors are gaining points. In fact, I think that they are losing points in the jury\u2019s mind and quick.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors say the \u201cprimary\u201d crime they are seeking to use to prove a conspiracy is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nysenate.gov\/legislation\/laws\/ELN\/17-152\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Section 17-152<\/a> under New York law, which is conspiracy to promote or prevent an election.\u00a0However, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg did not charge Trump with any election-related offenses. On Monday, two former Trump Organization employees who handled the documentation of Cohen\u2019s payment on business forms suggested that it was former CFO Allen Weisselberg <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/2993557\/trump-trial-witness-testifies-weisselberg-mastermind-behind-cohen-payments\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"who was responsible\">who was responsible<\/a> for setting up the payment arrangement at the heart of the falsified document charges against Trump.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>As for the vulgar and damning testimony Daniels gave about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump at a Lake Tahoe penthouse hotel room 18 years ago, legal experts broadly indicated Trump\u2019s legal team would be wise to take sharp aim at her claims when cross-examination resumes on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Rahmani said the defense will need to strike back at Daniels\u2019s lofty claims, noting that absent a proper rebuttal from the defense, \u201cI don\u2019t know why anyone would believe Trump when he says that the affair didn\u2019t happen\u201d at this point.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stormy Daniels&#8217; compelling testimony on Tuesday regarding her alleged affair with Donald Trump failed to advance the prosecution&#8217;s case in the New York hush money trial. Despite her captivating performance, little progress was made in proving the business falsification crimes central to the former president&#8217;s legal battle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2239953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP24128639554701-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2239952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP24128639554701-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2239952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2239952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2239952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2239953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2239952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2239952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2239952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}