At Trump trial, Stormy Daniels denies lying for money

Photo: Mary Altaffer, Tobias SCHWARZ/Agence France-Presse Stormy Daniels, (right), claims to have had a sexual relationship in 2006 with current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Maggy Donaldson – Agence France-Presse in New York

Published at 11:49 a.m. Updated at 2:38 p.m.

• United States

“You wanted to make more money, didn't you ?”: Donald Trump's defense sought to discredit porn star Stormy Daniels on the second day of a marathon testimony full of tension, at the trial of the former President of the United States in New York.

Already heard for five hours on Tuesday, the actress and director had delivered an unfiltered account of her meeting and the sexual relationship she claims to have had in 2006 with the current Republican presidential candidate , on the sidelines of a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada.

She was questioned for three more hours on Thursday, a tense face-to-face with Donald Trump's lawyer, Susan Necheles, during which she denied having lied and sought to enrich herself with this story.

The sexual relationship, denied by Donald Trump, is at the heart of the matter, because it is to remain silent, ten years later, at the very end of the 2016 presidential campaign, on this episode, that the actress received $130,000. A sum paid by Donald Trump's ex-lawyer, Michael Cohen, as part of a confidentiality agreement.

The former American president, the first in history to appear in criminal proceedings, is on trial for concealing the reimbursement of sums to his lawyer in the accounts of his holding company, the Trump Organization. He is appearing for 34 offenses of accounting falsification which could earn him a conviction and in theory up to a prison sentence.

Since April 15, Donald Trump, 77, has had to sit in the Manhattan courtroom almost every day and listen silently to the proceedings, an obligation that prevents him from campaigning as he pleases.

This trial in New York is likely to be the only one to go to trial before the November 5 election, among the four criminal cases in which he is charged.

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“Frankenstein”

When he arrived in court Thursday, he denounced a “Frankenstein” case that “no one understands.”

Then, inside the courtroom with its dated wooden furniture and white neon chandeliers, Susan Necheles sought to push Stormy Daniels to her limits, portraying her as a woman hungry for money .

“You threatened to harm President Trump politically if he didn’t give you money for this story ?,” the lawyer questioned, while Donald Trump sat across the table 'actress.

“You wanted to make money ?”, “you wanted to make more money, didn’t you ?”, she insisted, arguing that after negotiating a confidentiality agreement with Donald Trump, she told everything in a book, Full disclosure(“Full Disclosure”), which would have earned him $800,000 according to the defense. Between the two, the whole affair was revealed by the Wall Street Journal, in 2018.

“I chose safety,” Stormy Daniels replied. “The best solution was to protect my story with a written record, so my family would not be in danger,” she added of the initial agreement.

The duel continued in a tense atmosphere. “You have also acted in and directed more than 150 pornographic films […] so you have a lot of experience in the art of making phony sexual relations real,” said the lawyer.

“I didn’t need to write that one,” Stormy Daniels retorted.

“Unbalanced Report”

On Tuesday, the actress held nothing back about her 2006 meeting with the real estate mogul: from the “silk or satin pajamas” he wore in his hotel suite, to secrets about his wife — “ we don’t sleep in the same room” — right down to the fact that he hadn’t used a condom.

Stormy Daniels also described how she felt when she came out of the bathroom and found the 60-year-old billionaire waiting for her on her bed. “I felt the blood leave my hands,” she said. If she did not feel threatened, she assures that the intention of the businessman “was quite clear” and that the “balance of power was unbalanced”.

“Because he was supposedly in a t-shirt and boxers, you were so upset that he wanted to have sex with him that you couldn't refuse ?,” the lawyer further questioned, before clearly saying: “you made it all up, didn’t you ?”.

Stormy Daniels maintained his version. When her cross-examination ended at midday, she walked out of the room, looking defiant, without looking at Donald Trump.