New York: Adult film star Stormy Daniels became the centre of attention when she claimed that she had sex with him two times in 2006 to get out of the "trailer park" and that he had paid her to "hush" the matter. Almost two decades later, Daniels testified against the Republican contender for the upcoming election before a New York jury in a landmark case that marked the first criminal conviction against a former US President.
Trump was found guilty of all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election and paying hush money payments to the adult film star, including covering up his reimbursement to former lawyer Michael Cohen for a $130,000 payment to Daniels to buy her silence before the 2016 election about the alleged sexual encounter. Daniels became a crucial witness for the prosecutions, as noted by her sharp wit and confidence during cross-examination.
Trump denounced the trial as 'rigged' and said he was innocent, while asserting that the real verdict was going to be November 5, the day of the presidential election. His remarks as Republicans from all corners of the US came out in his support, and his admirers threatened to riot over the conviction. A sentencing would be announced in a hearing on July 11, which is unlikely to impede his presidential bid.
What did Daniels say?
Daniels 45, testified in vivid detail about her sexual encounter with Trump, which happened when he was married to his third wife Melania, in a hotel penthouse in Nevada after the two met at a celebrity golf tournament. She said Trump invited her to his hotel suite for dinner, and during their conversation he suggested she appear on his reality television show, "The Apprentice." She said she went to the bathroom at one point, and emerged to find Trump on the bed in his boxer shorts.
"He said ... 'I thought you were serious about what you wanted. If you ever want to get out of that trailer park,'" Daniels recounted. She said she "blacked out" and did not remember how she got into bed with her clothes off, but emphasised that she had not consumed any drugs or alcohol. Daniels made it very clear she did not enjoy the sex, but also did not turn down Trump's advances.
The trial witnessed probing questions that seemed to undermine Daniels' credibility, including when defence lawyer Susan Necheles sought to draw a parallel between her work writing and directing porn films and her story of the encounter with Trump. "If that story was untrue, I would have written it to be a lot better," Daniels replied.
Who is Stormy Daniels?
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, said she grew up with a single, neglectful mother in Louisiana on a low income. She said she graduated in the top 10 per cent of her high school class, edited the school newspaper, and was accepted to a university in Texas to study veterinary medicine, but could not afford to attend.
She worked as an exotic dancer on the weekends at the age of 17 to support herself, and later moved on to nude modelling and adult films, becoming one of the youngest female porn directors, she said. Daniels won many industry awards and landed roles in TV shows and films like "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up."
After receiving the payoff, Daniels testified that it was the best of her life, as she was writing and directing successful films, riding horses, and raising her daughter to be a straight-A student. However, things quickly soured into "chaos" when the Wall Street Journal in 2018 published an article revealing the alleged tryst and payoff. "It blew my cover," she told prosecutor Susan Hoffinger. "We were ostracized from her playgroups, from the riding stable."
Trump's lawyers sought to portray Daniels as having benefited from the publicity that resulted from the story of the alleged encounter, part of an effort to lay the groundwork to argue that she lied to make money. They displayed for jurors merchandise on her website, including a candle with her picture reading "Stormy, Saint of Indictments," and showed jurors posters from the "Make America Horny Again" strip club tour she went on after news of the alleged encounter broke.
How was Trump convicted?
Daniels' testimony was crucial in the hush money trial against Trump. His former fixer Michael Cohen, who said he paid the hush money out of his own pocket, also testified against the former President as a star prosecution witness. Cohen spent more than a year in prison for crimes including a violation of federal election campaign finance laws with the payment to Daniels.
Cohen testified at the trial in New York state criminal court in Manhattan that the reimbursement payments were falsely labeled as legal retainer fees in Trump’s family real estate company’s books. That testimony - coupled with evidence such as bank records, emails and a surreptitious recording of Trump speaking about a hush money payment - culminated in the 12-member jury finding Trump guilty of criminal charges.
The case is widely viewed as less consequential than the other three criminal cases Trump faces on charges over efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democratic President Joe Biden and his retention of sensitive government documents after leaving the White House in 2021. Trump has pleaded not guilty in the other three cases, which are unlikely to reach juries before his November 5 election rematch with Biden.
(with inputs from agencies)
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