He was 60. She was 27. What seemed like a fleeting flirtatious episode in 2006 between former US President Donald Trump and former adult film actor Stormy Daniels culminated into a riveting court room drama with the hallmark of the trial being the latter’s explosive testimony in graphic detail.
At the first-ever criminal trial involving a US president, Stormy Daniels took the stand this week, recounting her alleged affair with Donald Trump in explicit detail. The courtroom drama unfolded as Daniels faced rigorous cross-examination from Trump's legal team, but she stuck to her testimony.
The trial, which centres around allegations stemming from an encounter during a 2006 celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, has captured national attention and is poised to impact the upcoming 2024 presidential race, where Trump is the frontrunner. Daniels, now 45, testified for nearly five hours, describing an encounter with Trump, 77, that he has vehemently denied.
Daniels recounted how Trump, clad in silk pajamas, greeted her in a palatial Lake Tahoe hotel suite during the meeting. The atmosphere in the courtroom was charged as she detailed intimate moments, drawing a rebuke from the judge at times for her explicit testimony. The defense also sought a mistrial, the New York Times reported.
Daniels recalled he asked Trump about his wife and he told her not to worry about it, claiming that they didn’t even share a bedroom. At this point, Trump reportedly shook his head and muttered a coherent “bullsh-t” to his lawyers, prompting a private rebuke from the judge, who called it “contemptuous.”
The crux of the trial revolves around accusations that Trump orchestrated a scheme involving falsified business records to cover up the alleged affair, including the $130,000 hush money paid to Daniels just before the 2016 election. Daniels's testimony provided critical insights, asserting that fear, not financial gain, motivated her to speak out.
“My motivation wasn’t money,” she said. “It was motivated out of fear, not money.”
She added that she waited for some time to be out with her story because she had accepted the hush money.
During their encounter at Lake Tahoe, Daniels testified she wanted to leave after a point but Trump, now in boxer shorts, blocked her path but not in a “threatening manner”. She recounted that the sexual encounter was brief and although she never said no, there was a “power imbalance.”
“I was staring up at the ceiling, wondering how I got there,” she told the jury, adding that Trump did not wear a condom, NYT reported.
At the time, Trump was the host for the reality show “The Apprentice”. He was famous and Daniels said she knew that he was “as old or older than my father.”
During cross-examination, Trump's lawyer sought to discredit Daniels, portraying her as an opportunist whose story has evolved over time. Susan Necheles, Trump's legal counsel, highlighted discrepancies in Daniels's past accounts, including claims of threats from a Trump supporter that were not previously disclosed.
Daniels has told her story publicly - to prosecutors, reporters, her friends, in a book – but never with Trump in the room. Trump is accused of engineering the false business records to cover up all traces of their meeting: the hush money, the repayment to his former personal attorney Michael Cohen and their sexual encounter.
Despite intense scrutiny, Daniels maintained her composure, challenging accusations of extortion and standing firm in her assertions.
When Trump’s counsel accused Daniels of extorting money from her client, the latter objected vocally.
“False,” she said.
“That’s what you did, right?” the lawyer persisted.
“False!” Daniels shouted.
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