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Trump hush money trial live updates: Stormy Daniels is set to return to the witness stand
Former President Donald Trump, center, and attorney Susan Necheles, left, attend his trial at Manhattan criminal court on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP)
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Stormy Daniels is expected to return to the witness stand in Donald Trump’s hush money trial for a second day of questioning. Daniels spent hours Tuesday recounting in sometimes graphic detail the alleged 2006 sexual encounter with the former president that she was eventually paid to keep quiet about during the 2016 presidential election.
Daniels’ testimony is a build-up to the prosecution’s star witness Michael Cohen, who arranged the $130,000 payment to Daniels and later went to prison for orchestrating the payments and other charges.
Inside the courtroom where Trump was forced to listen to Stormy Daniels
Defense attorney Susan Necheles, center, cross examines Stormy Daniels, far right, as Donald Trump, left, looks on with Judge Juan Merchan presiding during Trump’s trial in Manhattan criminal court, May 7, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Earlier this week, Donald Trump squirmed and scowled, shook his head and muttered as Stormy Daniels described the unexpected sex she says they had nearly two decades ago, saying she remembered “trying to think of anything other than what was happening.”
Years in the making, the in-person showdown between the former president and the porn actor who has become one of his nemeses happened Tuesday in a New York courtroom that has become the plainspoken stage for the historic spectacle of Trump’s hush money trial, where the gravitas of the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. commander-in-chief butts up against a crass and splashy tale of sex, tabloids and payoffs.
Key takeaways from Stormy Daniels’ Tuesday testimony
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president’s hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006. (AP video by Joe Frederick)(AP produced by Javier Arciga)
Porn actor Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday in the hush money case against Donald Trump and detailed their alleged sexual encounter and the payment she got to keep it quiet.
It’s the biggest spectacle yet in the first criminal trial of a former American president, now in its third week of testimony.
Defense looks to undermine Stormy Daniels’ credibility as she returns to the stand in Trump’s hush money trial
Stormy Daniels testifies in Manhattan criminal court, May 7, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Stormy Daniels will return to the witness stand Thursday in Donald Trump’s hush money trial as the defense tries to undermine the credibility of the porn actor’s salacious testimony about their alleged sexual encounter and the money she was paid to keep quiet.
The trial against the former president kicks back off with defense lawyers questioning Daniels, whose account is key to the prosecutors’ case accusing Trump of scheming to illegally influence the 2016 presidential campaign by suppressing unflattering stories about him.
A refresher on the key players and witnesses in Trump’s hush money trial
The first of Donald Trump’s four criminal trials is underway in New York on April 15. Here is a look at some of the key figures in the case. (AP Video: Ted Shaffrey)
Stormy Daniels is the latest high-profile name to be called up for questioning. Here’s a look at the other witnesses:
- Michael Cohen: Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, he was once a fierce Trump ally, but now he’s a key prosecution witness against his former boss.
- Karen McDougal: A former Playboy model who said she had a 10-month affair with Trump in the mid-2000s.
- David Pecker: The National Enquirer’s former publisher and a longtime Trump friend.
- Hope Hicks: Trump’s former White House communications director and once one of his closest confidants.
▶The Associated Press explains more on who’s who at Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial here.