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Via Kyle Griffin:
More than 128,000 Indiana Republican primary voters cast a ballot for Nikki Haley yesterday — even though #Trump clinched the nomination two months ago.
Haley is on track to win more than 21% of the primary vote.
#Necheles, is seeking to attack #StormyDaniels's overall credibility. But Daniels told a very detailed story earlier about the not exactly consensual sexual encounter w/ #Trump, we’ll see how the #jurors process these attacks. It may very well backfire on the Trump team.
#BelieveSurvivors #criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
Justice #Merchan admonished #StormyDaniels for going off topic & told her to “just answer the questions,” a notable sign of disapproval.
Merchan sustains a defense objection. Susan Hoffinger, the prosecutor, objects, saying that Daniels’s answer was directly responsive to her question. Then, the judge again scolds Daniels, telling her again to keep her answers short & to the point. He then reverses himself & overrules the objection.
Justice #Merchan has repeatedly asked for tighter answers & fewer extraneous details. The judge is sustaining most objections lodged by the defense.
Merchan's visible disapproval may be bad news for the prosecution. #Jurors often take their cues from judges. If the judge seems impatient with a witness, jurors could receive it almost as permission to feel the same way.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #StormyDaniels #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#StormyDaniels said she saw #Trump the next day at the bar in the lobby of the hotel.
“He introduced me as his little friend Stormy to 'Big Ben' the football player," she said, referring to Ben Roethlisberger.
Asked by prosecutor Susan #Hoffinger if Trump would call her, Daniels said he would call her often.
“He would call on average once a week, sometimes 2 to 3 times a week, sometimes not for 3 weeks,” & she would put him on speakerphone but didn't tell him that, she said.
#StormyDaniels said #Trump would call “w/ an update or a nonupdate if he didn’t have one, for 'The Apprentice,'" & that he always called her "honeybunch.”
She said she took the calls bc her publicist thought it was a good idea to continue conversations about the TV show.
Daniels testified that she later attended the launch of Trump Vodka, in Jan of 2007, w/a couple of friends.
She says she was greeted warmly, & tho the meeting was brief, he introduced her to everybody, & they took selfies.
#StormyDaniels says that the 2007 meeting was the last time she saw #Trump in person & that he in no way said that she should keep their encounter secret.
She said that Trump had asked her to go & she decided to attend in hopes of maintaining the relationship because “The chance to be on 'The Apprentice' was still up in the air," adding that it would have been great for her career.
Daniels said that Trump asked to see her again at the Trump Vodka launch, but she lied to him.
#Trump claims he had nothing to do w/ #StormyDaniels, just as he has w/the many women who’ve made claims against him. But the testimony from this line of questioning is that Daniels met w/Trump on multiple occasions, w/dozens of witnesses. Daniels also describes multiple phone calls — some of which had witnesses because Daniels put Trump on speaker phone while her friends were present. The jury has also been shown phone contact logs from Daniels’s phone & from Trump’s asst’s phone.
The testimony firmly puts #StormyDaniels in #Trump’s orbit during a sustained period of time.
Trump has continued to motion to his lawyer #Necheles, who likely will be handling the cross-examination & has been taking notes throughout Daniels's testimony.
Daniels is now talking about an article posted on the website TheDirty in 2011 about her encounter w/Trump. The jurors have already heard from other witnesses about this article, which Daniels said she wanted taken down.
For context, when this issue came up in 2011, #Trump was beginning to talk about running for president in the 2012 #Republican primary. He had been promoting the #birtherism #ConspiracyTheory lie about President #Obama’s, suggesting Obama was an illegitimate president, & was gaining traction in polls [w/ #WhiteSupremacists] as he did.
#criminal #law #StormyDaniels #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#StormyDaniels is testifying that she was not motivated by money, & says she didn’t negotiate the #HushMoney deal because she didn’t care about the figure.
Daniels is asked whether the story she’s told here today about her encounter w/ #Trump is one she would have described to news outlets had she been interviewed then. But the defense objects to the question & the judge sustains it again — Daniels does not answer.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
Susan #Necheles, the #Trump defense lawyer, has lodged objection after objection. Objections are meant to either cut off testimony or have it stricken from the official record. Her rate of success today has been way higher than normal. The judge is accepting her objections & disrupting #StormyDaniels’s testimony.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
The testimony by #StormyDaniels that she did not care about money might be undercut by text messages between her agent at the time, Gina Rodriguez, & the editor of The #NationalEnquirer, w/ the 2 of them bidding back & forth until they got to $120k. The Enquirer’s publisher David #Pecker would not pay saying, “I am not a bank.” Which is how #MichaelCohen ended up taking over the deal.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#StormyDaniels laid out the specifics of the #HushMoney deal. She said that if she were to violate the agreement, it would cost her a $1M every time she did so.
Daniels said she was not paid on time, & she wasn’t sure why. “He just kept making excuses,” she said. At first she said that the “he” in question was #MichaelCohen. But then she clarified that it was #Trump who delayed the payment — specifically, Trump speaking to Cohen, who was speaking to her then-lawyer #KeithDavidson.
#StormyDaniels said that after the resurfacing of the "#AccessHollywood" tape in Oct 2016, she was focused on selling her story & that more people were calling & expressing interest in it.
“Did you have any intention of approaching either Mr. #Trump or #MichaelCohen, his attorney, to have them pay for your story?” prosecutor Susan #Hoffinger asked.
Daniels said no, her motivation wasn't money. She just wanted to get her story out publicly.
#StormyDaniels says she accepted $130k to sign the #NDA even though she understood #Trump was the beneficiary.
In an exchange w/the prosecution, she testified that #MichaelCohen was representing Trump. She said she signed the agreement because she wanted the whole ordeal to be over.
Daniels said that as part of the agreement barring her from telling her story, the 2 couldn't have any contact.
“We had to pretend that we didn’t know each other at all, basically," she testified.
right here is why:
#Trump team moves for a #mistrial based on #StormyDaniels #testimony.
"Testimony was so unduly prejudicial to Trump & the charges in this case..."
Trump atty #Blanche argues that the testimony was overly #prejudicial, & that the State was asking questions “to inflame this jury,” in addition to the “pure embarrassment” factor. He says there’s no way the court can instruct the #jury in a way to “unring this bell.”
It would be a surprise for Justice #Merchan to agree to a #mistrial. But he also exhibited displeasure w/how the testimony was going several times, sustaining multiple objections.
It’s not #StormyDaniels’ fault or prosecutors fault that this was a salacious event, it’s just what happened & goes directly to motive for hiding it.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
Among the issues that Todd #Blanche brings up as he calls for a #mistrial is #StormyDaniels’s testimony that #Trump didn’t wear a condom. He argues that this testimony was deeply #prejudicial to his client — & asked what the jury is supposed to do w/ much of the info they received from Daniels’ testimony.
Prosecutor #Hoffinger argues that Daniels's story is important for #motive (as said) & #intent, to illustrate what Trump didn’t want the public to know before the election.
The jury is not present for these procedural motion hearings. It would be better if they knew Justice Merchan’s ruling & admonition to #Trump #legal team. given that they were present when #Merchan admonished #StormyDaniels & prosecution during the morning #testimony.
Merchan reminds the defense that “the remedy is on cross-examination,” meaning that the defense will be able to make its own case as it questions Daniels.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
Justice #Merchan says that, w/the consent of the defense lawyers, Susan #Hoffinger, the prosecutor, has stepped out to confer w/ #StormyDaniels about keeping her #testimony within the confines set by the judge, & avoiding any “unnecessary” details. [to avoid a fricking mistrial ffs]
Note, when the judge in Trump’s civil fraud trial denied a mistrial, #Trump stormed out of the room.
We could see a #GagOrder violation today if he follows his typical behavior.
#StormyDaniels is back on the stand, jury has returned, trial resumes.
Prosecutors question Daniels regarding the delayed payments from #Trump.
Jurors are re-shown an email from #KeithDavidson to #MichaelCohen:
“Please be advised that my client deems her Settlement Agreement cancelled."
Daniels confirms she signed another days later as Stephanie Clifford.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#StormyDaniels, referring to a #WSJ article that mentioned her while discussing another #HushMoney deal, says she did not comment for the article, honoring the terms of the deal she had reached through her lawyer, #KeithDavidson.
She’s keeping her answers short & to the point.
She testified that her lawyer, #KeithDavidson, received $130k. After he & her manager took fees, she ended up w/about $96k, she says.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference
#StormyDaniels is now being asked about a statement she signed denying having had an affair w/ #Trump, given to her by her lawyer & dated 10 Jan, 2018. This is the same statement that Trump recently posted on Truth Social had been "JUST FOUND."
#Blanche was unable to defend the post last week in the contempt hearing related to Trump's #GagOrder. The statement clearly had not just been found.
Daniels makes it clear that she didn’t want to sign the statement, & that it wasn’t true.
#StormyDaniels testifies that she didn't comment on the WSJ article because of the #NDA.
Prosecutor: "Were you happy just to stay quiet and not say anything"
Daniels: Absolutely.
Daniels says she refused to appear on Fox to deny the affair when #Trump / #MichaelCohen asked her to because, "I didn't want to."
When she planned her appearance on Kimmel, Davidson gave her a statement to sign, it was false.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#StormyDaniels says that once her story became public, her life exploded into “chaos — suddenly I was front & foremost everywhere.” She says that the story “blew her cover,” making her more public than she had been before.
Daniels has talked about the “chaos” that ensued after her allegations about #Trump were made public. She has told reporters she was inundated by threats by Trump supporters, many of which were lurid & graphic, she’s said she feared for her family's safety.
#StormyDaniels testifies that her lawyer, Michael #Avenatti, filed a #defamation claim against #Trump against her wishes. She says she wished he had not done so because she felt it was too risky. (Avenatti, a risk-taker by nature, was sentenced to prison in 2022 for stealing from Daniels.)
Per Jonathon Swan: As Daniels was testifying about her defamation claim against Trump, the former president appeared for a while to be solidly asleep. #NodFarter
#StormyDaniels testifies that she hired Michael #Avenatti after hearing #MichaelCohen talk about the story in public which was upsetting, “because he could talk about it & I couldn’t.”
She then testifies that Cohen filed a temporary restraining order against her, seeking to keep her from speaking.
Daniels says she hired Avenatti to “speak up" for herself, appeared on CNN to get her story out.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
After the #NDA ended, #StormyDaniels wrote her book, "Full Disclosure” because, she says, she wanted her daughter to know why she had done the things she had.
A #Trump post on Truth Social, in which he called Daniels “horseface,” is displayed on the courtroom screens. It’s from March 2023, when the Manhattan DA was preparing to indict Trump in this case. Daniels is now reading the Truth post aloud.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#Trump has long denied #StormyDaniels’s story.
The jury is being asked to weigh his words against hers,
Right now, she is reading aloud the insults Trump uses for her, including “horseface” & “sleaze bag.”
She says the post is false.
Hoffinger, the prosecutor, asks Daniels who she understands Trump to have been calling “horseface.”
Daniels: “Me,” she replies. The same goes for “sleaze bag,” which he also called her in the post.
In #Trump’s social media post, he says he hasn’t seen her since the golf tournament she described earlier & denies having had sex w/her.
#Jurors heard last week from Trump’s former executive assistant, #RhonaGraff, that #StormyDaniels visited Trump Tower in 2007, the year after the golf course event.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
Direct examination is over; next is cross-examination by #Trump atty Susan #Necheles.
Necheles is pushing #StormyDaniels on her testimony about the money. She says that Daniels went into pornography for money, & asks her, again, “You wanted more money, right?”
Daniels retorted: “Don’t we all want to make more money in our jobs?”
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#Necheles moves on to socialmedia posts that #StormyDaniels made about wanting #Trump to be imprisoned, incl one saying that she would “dance down the street” if he was selected to go to jail.
Daniels says “selected” was the wrong word because she knows a person is not selected to go to jail.
Necheles asks Daniels: “Am I correct that you hate President Trump?”
Daniels: “Yes.”
Necheles: “And you want him to go to jail?”
Daniels responds: “I want him to be held accountable.”
Necheles uses an aggressive characterization #StormyDaniels’ defamation suit against #Trump, calling it “frivolous litigation against *President* Trump.”
Prosecutors objected, & Necheles rephrases it as “cases you brought that were dismissed.”
One of the cases Daniels brought against Trump was for publicly calling into question the fact that she was accosted in a Las Vegas parking lot by a man who wanted her to keep silent. The other was an attempt by Daniels to sue her way out of the NDA.
#Necheles continues to push #StormyDaniels on money, bringing up that she previously tweeted that she would not pay #Trump “a penny” even after a federal court ordered her to cover his legal fees as a result of a failed defamation lawsuit. A lawyer for Daniels has said that she does not, in fact, owe him any money.
Jurors finances are likely closer to Daniels's than Trump’s, this may be an argument they are unresponsive to.
Importantly, this cross-examination isn’t addressing the evidence, it’s just an attack on #StormyDaniels’ credibility.
In a “your mama’s so fat” moment, when #Necheles gets Daniels to acknowledge she had mocked #Trump’s looks on Twitter, Daniels replies, “Because he made fun of me first.”
Necheles says that one of them started it, but “you both continued it.”
(One of these people was the president of the United States)
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#Necheles is trying to make #StormyDaniels look like a liar. But many of her questions have to do w/money & Daniels is making it clear that she is not wealthy. So instead of this line of questioning working to impeach her #credibility, as intended, it’s coming off as a lawyer for a very rich person going after someone w/ less money for having less money.
Yes #Trump has exaggerated his wealth for the years, but he still has more money than the vast majority of the country.
#Necheles tries something else, asking whether #StormyDaniels had talked to the lawyer #GloriaAllred about potentially suing #Trump.
Again, Daniels fires back, saying that she also told Allred, “I had sex with Donald Trump.”
[Allred is a prominent women’s rights lawyer — often representing survivors of sexual harassment or assault by powerful men.]
Daniels hasn’t been fased by any of these questions.
#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
#Necheles is still trying to make #StormyDaniels look like a liar by bringing up her book excerpts, making it seem as if she has changed her story of having had sex w/ #Trump.
Daniels continues fighting back & providing more context.
The jurors are paying close attention and the courtroom is, to use the word of the day, tense.
Necheles does get Daniels to say that one thing she described in the book was incorrect, but sticks to other parts of her story.