Topline
Adult film actress Stormy Daniels will take the stand for a second time Thursday, facing more cross-examination as former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial resumes, after a dramatic day of testimony Tuesday in which Daniels testified about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump—and prompted the ex-president’s lawyers to call for a mistrial.
Key Facts
Daniels will resume testifying when the trial begins at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time, continuing a cross-examination that began after prosecutors questioned her on Tuesday.
The adult film star is a central figure in the trial, in which Trump faces felony charges of falsification of business records after he reimbursed ex-attorney Michael Cohen for a $130,000 payment Cohen made to Daniels before the 2016 election, which was hush money to cover up her allegations of an affair with Trump.
Daniels testified Tuesday about her alleged encounter with Trump in July 2006, when she allegedly had sex with him after meeting him at a celebrity golf tournament, describing his sexual advances as being like a “jump scare” and telling the jury she “left as fast as I could” afterwards, only remaining in touch with him in the ensuing months because she was trying to get a spot on The Apprentice.
Her comments on the stand prompted Trump’s attorneys to ask for a mistrial—which Judge Juan Merchan denied—due to the level of detail that Daniels went into about her encounter with Trump, which Trump’s lawyers claimed was unnecessary and could bias the jury against Trump.
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What To Watch For
It’s unclear how long Daniels’ testimony will last once she takes the stand again on Thursday. The adult film star is the most high profile witness to appear at the trial yet, though the jury still has to hear from a number of other highly anticipated witnesses, which could include Cohen, Trump’s children, ex-attorney Rudy Giuliani and former Trump advisor Steve Bannon. The trial is expected to continue for approximately three more weeks.
Chief Critic
Trump is barred from speaking out against Daniels during the trial due to a gag order that prohibits him from publicly speaking about witnesses, though Merchan did admonish Trump’s lawyer on Tuesday because he said the ex-president was “cursing audibly and … shaking his head visually” during Daniels’ testimony. Trump’s attorneys have protested against Daniels testifying about her encounter with Trump at all, saying ahead of her testimony on Tuesday that they believed it is “irrelevant” and “there is no reason for it to be coming into the case about books and records here.” Trump has long denied Daniels’ affair allegations.
Key Background
Trump faces 34 felony charges for falsification of business records in the Manhattan trial, which is the first of his four criminal cases to go to trial. Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in the days before the 2016 campaign in order to silence her allegations about Trump—paying the money through a shell company out of his own bank account—and Trump then reimbursed Cohen for the payment, along with other expenses, through a series of $35,000 reimbursement checks made throughout 2017. Prosecutors allege those checks were falsely labeled as being for legal payments. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The trial marks the latest twist in the yearslong saga over Daniels’ hush-money payment, which was first widely reported in 2018 while Trump was in the White House. Daniels has long alleged she and Trump had one sexual encounter in July 2006, and testified Tuesday she took the hush money deal out of “fear” the story would come out before the 2016 election and Trump would come after her.
