Stormy Daniels Is Expected to Testify in Trump’s Trial

 

Live Updates: Stormy Daniels Is Expected to Testify in Trump’s Trial

 

Ms. Daniels, who received $130,000 in hush money to keep silent about her story of having had sex with Donald J. Trump, is at the center of the case against him.

 

Updated

May 7, 2024, 9:56 a.m. ET35 minutes ago

35 minutes ago

Jonah E. Bromwich, Ben Protess and Matthew Haag

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/05/07/nyregion/trump-trial-hush-money-stormy-daniels

 

Here’s the latest on the trial.

Testimony in the criminal trial of Donald J. Trump has pivoted from weeks of salacious stories of sex and scandal to focus on the financial transactions at the center of the case. On Tuesday, the testimony is set to shift back, with a major witness expected to take the stand: Stormy Daniels.

 

Ms. Daniels, the porn star who was paid $130,000 in 2016 to stay silent about a sexual encounter she says she had with Mr. Trump a decade earlier, is expected to be the day’s second witness, after Sally Franklin, from Penguin Random House. Ballantine, a Penguin Random House imprint, has published books by Mr. Trump.

 

Ms. Daniels’s testimony would bring full circle one of the earliest scandals that loomed over Mr. Trump’s presidency. Ever since The Wall Street Journal broke the news six years ago that Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, had paid her to keep quiet, her story has changed the course of American politics and laid the groundwork for the first criminal prosecution of an American president.

 

Ms. Daniels, who said she had sex with Mr. Trump in 2006, wanted to go public about her encounter in 2016, but Mr. Cohen made a deal to bury her story before Election Day. The former president is accused of falsifying business records to cover up his reimbursements of Mr. Cohen.

 

On Monday, a current and a former employee in the Trump Organization’s accounting department walked jurors through the dry but crucial financial records that tie Mr. Trump to the reimbursements.

 

Prosecutors are expected to ask Ms. Daniels to testify about the payment, and what led up to it. The jury has already heard from her lawyer during that period, Keith Davidson, who confirmed that he had received the payment from Mr. Cohen.

 

On Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social an angry message saying he had just learned who the next witness would be and that his lawyers had “no time” to prepare. Within 30 minutes, Mr. Trump had removed the post, likely because it risked prosecutors saying it violated his gag order, which bars him from attacking witnesses and others connected to the trial.

 

Here’s what else to know about the trial:

 

Daniels to the stand: Ms. Daniels’s testimony would mark a major moment in the criminal case. Since her interactions with Mr. Trump gained her international fame, Ms. Daniels has engaged in podcasting, sold Stormy-themed merchandise and taken part in ghost-hunting shows. She now lives in Florida. Read more about Ms. Daniels.

 

Denials and serious risk: Mr. Trump, 77, the first American president to face criminal prosecution, has denied the charges and says he did not have sex with Ms. Daniels. If convicted, he could face prison time or probation.

 

More gag-order trouble: The judge in the case, Juan M. Merchan, scolded Mr. Trump again on Monday for further violating a gag order barring him from attacking witnesses, jurors, court staff and others. Justice Merchan fined Mr. Trump $1,000 and said future violations could land Mr. Trump in jail.

 

$420,000 to Cohen: The former fixer made a $130,000 hush-money payment to Ms. Daniels, but the reimbursement to Mr. Cohen by Mr. Trump was far more: $420,000. Read about why in our takeaways from Monday’s testimony.