Stormy Daniels tells Trump trial she ‘didn’t care’ about $130,000 hush-money payment – live
Adult film actor tells court all she wanted was for Trump encounter story to remain secret as she had not told her boyfriend
- Daniels testifies she 'didn't care' about $130,000 hush-money amount
- Daniels describes meeting with Trump at Trump Tower
- Judge warns prosecutors to keep Daniels' questioning relevant to the case
- Stormy Daniels says Trump did not ask her to keep their sexual encounter a secret
- Daniels says Trump told her 'let’s get together again, honeybunch' after sexual encounter
- 'I blacked out': Daniels describes 'brief' sexual encounter with Trump
- 'Like a jump scare': Daniels testifies she was 'startled' to see Trump in boxer shorts in bed
- Daniels testifies Trump told her she reminded him of his daughter Ivanka
- Daniels testifies Trump said he and Melania 'don't sleep in the same room'
- Daniels testifies about meeting Trump at celebrity golf tournament
- Daniels identifies Trump in courtroom
- Daniels testifies about her personal biography as prosecutors paint sympathetic portrait
- Stormy Daniels called to the stand
- First witness called
- Judge allows prosecutors to call Stormy Daniels as witness
- Trump attorney asks judge to prohibit Stormy Daniels from testifying about alleged 'sexual act'
- Stormy Daniels ‘likely’ called as witness today, her lawyer tells AP
- Three key takeaways from Monday
- Trump complains about length of trial: 'I thought they would be finished today'
- Case to resume after judge fines Trump and threatens jail time for gag order violations
Daniels testifies she 'didn't care' about $130,000 hush-money amount
Prosecutors elicit more important testimony from Stormy Daniels undercutting another of Donald Trump’s defense claims that he was being extorted by her and her lawyer, Keith Davidson.
Daniels says she didn’t negotiate for more money than $130,000 because she “didn’t care” about the money.
Her financial situation was “the best it had ever been” and all she wanted was the story to remain secret – because she had not told her boyfriend – and just wanted all of it to be over.
No cameras are allowed inside the courtroom during Donald Trump’s hush-money trial, but these courtroom sketches offer a glimpse into today’s proceedings.
The court is breaking for lunch and will resume at 2pm ET.
As Donald Trump left the courtroom just now, he looked around the gallery. He did not seem more dour than normal.
Before the break, the prosecution asked Stormy Daniels about the delay of the $130,000 payment. “Did you get paid the 130,000 on 14 October 2016, as was disclosed in that email?”
Daniels said: “No, it was late.”
“What did you understand for the reason the delay was happening?” Daniels replied:
I didn’t know it was late, he just kept making excuses.
Who? She said Michael Cohen to her lawyer, Keith Davidson.
Daniels testifies she 'didn't care' about $130,000 hush-money amount
Prosecutors elicit more important testimony from Stormy Daniels undercutting another of Donald Trump’s defense claims that he was being extorted by her and her lawyer, Keith Davidson.
Daniels says she didn’t negotiate for more money than $130,000 because she “didn’t care” about the money.
Her financial situation was “the best it had ever been” and all she wanted was the story to remain secret – because she had not told her boyfriend – and just wanted all of it to be over.
Stormy Daniels said she met Donald Trump again in the summer of 2007 in Los Angeles.
Trump “kept trying to make sexual advances, putting his hand on my leg, scooting closer,” she said, NBC reported. Daniels added: “I told him I was on my period".”
She said she stopped taking Trump’s calls after he told her that he couldn’t get her on "The Apprentice”.
Daniels describes meeting with Trump at Trump Tower
Stormy Daniels said that she met with Donald Trump again at the Trump Tower in 2007 after he suggested she visit.
Daniels testified that she went up to his office to meet him and that she also met with his assistant, Rhona Graff, in the lobby area.
She said that during their meeting, Daniels recalled Trump telling her that he was “still working on the Apprentice thing”. She said Trump also offered her tickets to pageants, NBC reported.
Asked if he seemed concerned about others seeing her there, she said:
Oh no, he introduced me to everybody. He just seemed busy.
Stormy Daniels testified that she later attended the launch of Trump Vodka in January 2007 and that she had agreed to meet Donald Trump because the chance to be on The Apprentice was still up in the air.
Daniels said she was introduced by Trump to Karen McDougal at the party. McDougal, a former Playboy model, has said she had an extramarital affair with Trump.
Stormy Daniels testified that she saw Donald Trump the day after their sexual encounter. She said his bodyguard, Keith Schiller, had asked if she would meet him again and that she had agreed because it was in public.
Daniels said she met Trump at a hotel nightclub where he was seated at a table with Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who Trump called “Big Ben”.
She said she spoke with Trump often in the weeks after they met, “sometimes two to three times a week”, and that she would always put him on speaker phone and that “dozens of people” heard her on the phone with him.
Asked why she continued to speak to Trump, she told the jury that her publicist “thought it was a good idea” to continue the conversations about the TV show.
Prosecutors are getting some important testimony from Stormy Daniels undercutting one of Donald Trump’s defense claims – and Jeffrey McConney’s testimony – that he didn’t want the story about their affair to come out, not because of the 2016 election, but because he didn’t want to embarrass his wife Melania.
Asked if he was concerned in July 2006 or summer 2007 about anyone finding out, or if he told her to keep it confidential? “Absolutely not.”
Judge warns prosecutors to keep Daniels' questioning relevant to the case
The judge, Juan Merchan, is clearly unhappy with the Stormy Daniels testimony.
He warned prosecutors before the trial resumed after the morning break that much of her testimony had so far been irrelevant to the case – and at times it has felt like Daniels gossiping for sport, except for when the mood turned serious when she talked about how she came to have sex with Donald Trump.
Still, Judge Merchan on multiple occasions has now admonished Daniels for talking at length about the encounter, often in an unserious manner and at times making faces.
“Just listen to the question and answer the question,” Merchan has instructed her, after sustaining objection after objection from the defense.
Stormy Daniels testified that after she used the restroom attached to the bedroom, Trump had appeared on the bed in boxers and a T-shirt.
Daniels said she tried to sidestep around him, but Trump confronted her standing up in the doorway.
Although not in a threatening manner, Daniels said, Trump told her: “I thought you were serious about what you wanted” when she tried to leave.
Daniels testified that the:
Next thing I know, I was on opposite side of bed from where we had been standing, my clothes and shoes were off, my bra was still on … and we were missionary position...
Her testimony was cut off when Trump’s lawyer, Susan Necheles, objected, which Merchan sustained.
