Trump trial: Stormy Daniels tells (almost) all about alleged sexual encounter with Trump
Donald Trump watched Stormy Daniels testify on Day 13 of his hush money trial.
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.
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Daniels says 'fear' motivated her to shop story
Stormy Daniels testified that she initially authorized her agent Gina Rodriguez to shop around her story in 2016.
"My motivation wasn't money," Daniels said. "It was to get the story out."
But then, after the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape came out, she learned that then-Trump attorney Michael Cohen was interested in purchasing her story -- by way of a settlement or nondisclosure agreement -- "which was the best thing that could've happened ... because then I'd be safe and the story wouldn't come out," Daniels testified.
"It was motivated out of fear, not money," Daniels said, adding that her financial situation at the time was the "best it's ever been."
"Why didn't you ask for more money?" Hoffinger asked about Michael Cohen's $130,000 offer.
"Because I didn't care about the money," Daniels said.
Daniels, on the witness stand, then reviewed the contract she signed to sell her story in exchange for her silence.
Asked if she signed it, she said, "Yes."
But Daniels affirmed earlier testimony that she wasn't paid the money on time.
"No, it was late. I didn't know why it was late, he just kept making excuses," she said of Cohen.
Daniels said she became concerned when Cohen delayed the payment, and she worried that if she didn't get the payment before the election, she might never get it -- "because he (Trump) had gotten what he wanted and it goes all the way back to me not being safe," she said.
Asked what she understood the payment arrangement to be, she answered, "Trump to Cohen, Cohen to Davidson," referring to then-attorney Keith Davidson.
Court subsequently recessed for lunch, with Daniels scheduled to return to the stand after the break.
Daniels says man threatened her not to discuss Trump
Stormy Daniels told jurors that she did an interview with "InTouch" in 2011 about her interactions with Trump.
In June 2011, she said a man approached her in the parking lot of a Mommy-and-Me class in Las Vegas.
According to Daniels, the man "threatened" her not to continue telling her story about her "encounter with Trump."
Daniels said she did not report the encounter to police.
"He told me not to say anything at all, and I was scared," Daniels said, appearing to get choked up during this testimony.
Daniels testified that this exchange, in part, prompted her to want to take down a blog post in 2011 that alleged she had had a sexual encounter with Trump.
Jurors earlier heard about the blog post during the testimony of Daniels' then-attorney Keith Davidson, who sent a cease-and-desist letter to the blog to get the post removed.
Daniels says Trump again made advances
Daniels also testified that Trump made sexual advances toward her during a meeting in Hollywood, California.
"He kept trying to make sexual advances," Daniels said. "Scooting closer, giving me compliments," but she rebuffed him.
"Did he tell you to keep it confidential?" the prosecutor asked.
"Absolutely not," Daniels responded.
At no time during any of their encounters, Daniels testified, did Trump seem concerned about getting caught or his wife finding out.
Daniels said that was the last time she saw Trump in person.
As she left, she said, Trump told her, "'Want to get together again. I miss you.' You know, the usual."
Since that in-person encounter, Daniels said she got a few more phone calls from Trump, who at one point told her that she could not go on "The Apprentice."
During their last call, Daniels said that Trump apologized after another adult film star appeared on "The Apprentice." Daniels said she did not care.
She testified that her life in the years following her encounters with Trump were “amazing.”
She told jurors that she got a raise, directed more films, broke into mainstream film with feature film castings, became a decorated equestrian, and had a child.
Daniels recalls meeting Karen McDougal at 2007 Trump party
Stormy Daniels said she saw Trump again in January 2007 at a Hollywood party celebrating the launch of Trump Vodka.
She recalled meeting a number of Trump's friends, including a woman named Karen. It turned out to be Karen McDougal, whose allegations of an affair were bought and buried by the National Enquirer before the 2016 election, publisher David Pecker testified earlier at trial.
"Did you know her last name then?" prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked.
"No," Daniels said, telling jurors she later learned her name was Karen McDougal.
Hoffinger asked Daniels about visiting Trump in Trump Tower -- an interaction Trump assistant Rhona Graff testified about earlier in the trial.
Daniels described the meeting as "rushed" and "very, very brief."
"It was very brief. He was very busy," Daniels said. "It was very sort of rushed."
When asked if Trump was worried about people seeing her in Trump Tower, Daniels said no.
"Oh, no. He introduced me to everyone," Daniels said. "He just seemed busy."
Trump was 'cursing audibly' during Daniels' testimony
Former President Trump was "cursing audibly" at one point during today's direct examination of Stormy Daniels, according to a transcript of a sidebar conversation that was released following court.
"I understand that your client is upset at this point, but he is cursing audibly, and he is shaking his head visually and that's contemptuous.
It has the potential to intimidate the witness and the jury can see that," Judge Juan Merchan told Trump's attorney during the sidebar, according to the transcript.
"I will talk to him," said Trump attorney Todd Blanche.
"So, I am speaking to you here at the bench because I don't want to embarrass him," Merchan said. "You need to speak to him. I won't tolerate that."
"I will talk to him," Blanche replied.
Following a subsequent break, reporters heard Judge Merchan ask Blanche whether he had spoken to his client, but at the time it wasn't clear what the judge was referring to.
Daniels' testimony included a graphic description of her alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006.