Trump trial: Judge rebukes Michael Cohen ahead of expected testimony Monday

Former President Trump was in court on Day 15 of his criminal trial in New York.

Last Updated: May 9, 2024, 11:27 AM EDT

Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York City, where he is facing felony charges related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. It marks the first time in history that a former U.S. president has been tried on criminal charges.

Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.

Apr 22, 5:51 am

What to know about the hush money case

May 09, 2024, 11:26 AM EDT

'It hasn't changed,' Daniels says of her story

Defense attorney Susan Necheles is continuing to try to find inconsistencies in the stories Daniels has previously told about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump, but Daniels, on the stand, has remained steadfast.

"Your story has completely changed, hasn't it?" Necheles asked her at one point.

"No!" Daniels shouted into the microphone. "Not at all. You are trying to make me say that it changed, but it hasn't changed."

Several jurors, watching the exchange, looked like they were watching a tennis match, with their heads and eyes shifting back and forth.

The judge subsequently called for the mid-morning break.

As Necheles returned to the defense table, Trump gave her a pat on the waist, seemingly in approval. She nodded back to him.

Daniels smiled at prosecutors as she left the stand.

May 09, 2024, 11:14 AM EDT

Defense questions Daniels about feeling lightheaded

In Susan Necheles' first sustained effort to call into question Stormy Daniels' story of the alleged sexual encounter, which her client has steadfastly denied for years, the defense attorney turned to the details of what happened when Daniels says she exited the bathroom of Trump's suite and saw Trump in his underwear.

Necheles attempted to cast doubt on Daniels' account of feeling light-headed -- highlighting her experience working with naked men in the adult film industry.

"But according to you, seeing a man on a bed in a T-shirt and boxer shorts was so upsetting that you got light-headed, the blood left your hands and feet, and you almost fainted?" Necheles asked.

Daniels responded by highlighting Trump's age, telling jurors she did not expect to find Trump undressed, and emphasizing the power imbalance in the room.

May 09, 2024, 11:05 AM EDT

Defense asks Daniels if she and Trump ate dinner

Defense attorney Susan Necheles pressed Daniels on whether she and Trump had dinner during their time in his suite.

According to Necheles, Daniels told InTouch magazine in 2011 and Anderson Cooper in 2018 that she "had dinner" with Trump.

During Daniels' testimony on Tuesday, Daniels said she never ate food during the interaction with Trump.

"I maintain that I didn't see any food," Daniels said today. "My story is the same ... it was dinner, but we never got any food."

Daniels alleged that Necheles was cherry-picking her past statements to falsely suggest her testimony was inconsistent.

"You are showing me one sentence of an entire conservation," Daniels told Necheles.

"Your words don't mean what you say, do they?" Necheles said.

Daniels' posture during this exchange belied her confrontational tone with Necheles. She reclined in her seat, leaning slightly on her right elbow in a relaxed way. Her body was oriented toward the jury even as her face and eyes were turned to Necheles, periodically using hand gestures to emphasize a point.

Trump, meanwhile, remained sitting back in his chair, listening to much of Daniels' testimony with his eyes closed.

May 09, 2024, 10:56 AM EDT

Defense presses Daniels on details of her story

Defense attorney Susan Necheles turned her focus to the alleged sexual encounter between Trump and Stormy Daniels in 2006.

Necheles recounted the details of the golf tournament where Daniels said she and Trump met in Lake Tahoe, California, asking Daniels to confirm each part of the story.

Necheles homed in on an apparent inconsistency between Daniels' testimony on Tuesday and her description of the encounter to InTouch magazine in 2011.

"This is a totally different story than you told in 2011?" Necheles said.

"No," Daniels responded.

According to Necheles, Daniels told InTouch that Trump kept looking at her when they first met on the golf course and that he offered to take her out to dinner.

On Tuesday, Daniels testified that her interaction with Trump on the course was brief and said that Trump's bodyguard extended the dinner invite on behalf of Trump.

"It is an abbreviated entertaining version of the event," Daniels said of the InTouch depiction of events. "It is minus some details."

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