Thread by @TylerMcBrien

It’s a gorgeous morning at 100 Centre St (pictured left), where I’ll be covering Lucky Day 13 for Trump’s hush-money-election-interference NY criminal trial for @lawfare

Join me for the ride 🧵⚖️

The press and the public don’t know yet who today’s witness is, but the defendant, who found out yesterday, doesn’t seem too happy about it.

Apparently, Trump has deleted that post from his Truth Social account.

But, AP is reporting that today's witness will be STORMY DANIELS.

Some have wondered why the prosecution would put her on the stand if they don't need to.

Others have suggested that the prosecution may appear to be hiding something if they didn't and that she helps establish the election interference story.

We're about to find out.

At 9:12 p.m., the prosecution enters.

Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass walks in first, followed by co-counsel, Matthew Colangelo, Susan Hoffinger, and Christopher Conroy.

A small phalanx of paralegals and other staff accompany them.

As @AnnaBower has pointed out, though nearly identical in appearance, there's a pretty stark difference between the courtroom and press overflow courtroom next door.

The rules are stricter, the atmosphere tenser, and the wifi much, much spottier.

@AnnaBower At 9:24, Trump, gold tie and blue suit, walks in with an entourage including Eric Trump and his lead defense counsel—Todd Blanche, Emil Bove, and Susan Necheles.

Alina Habba and Boris Epshteyn are also in tow.

The photographers shuffle in and do their thing. The sketch artists are already sketching.

Blanche walks across to the prosecution's taable to whisper something to Steinglass.

The photographers shuffle in and do their thing. The sketch artists are already sketching.

Blanche walks across to the prosecution's taable to whisper something to Steinglass.

At 9:28 a.m., all rise.

Necheles rises to renew Trump's objection to Daniels testifying about any "sexual details," which she says has no relevance and is prejudicial.
By details, Merchan asks, more than just "we had sex"? Yes, Necheles says.

Hoffinger argues that the details of the encounter are important—it's important for the prosecution to establish credibility and the reasons that she did what she did. They've worked hard to omit details that are too salacious, but general details of what occurred are significant

Can you give me a sense? Merchan asks.

How she ended up having a sexual encounter with him, the full convo that occurred in the hotel room, but the sexual act itself will be very basic: no descriptions of genitalia or anything of that nature, Hoffinger says.

"It isn't needed in this case," says Necheles, "This is a case about books and records."

But Merchan is satisfied with what Hoffinger says the prosecution plans to elicit—he agrees that Daniels has credibility issues, and the People establish certain background info

Jury is present and properly seated.

Next witness? A curveball.

People call SALLY FRANKLIN a SVP and Executive Managing Editor at Penguin Random House.

Are she familiar with a book called Trump, How to Get Rich? Yes.

I’m sorry but so far the wifi and my phone hotspot have been abysmal. I’m tweeting when I can.

We now see People’s Exhibit 413—the cover of How to Get Rich: Big deals from the star of The Apprentice—by Trump “with Meredith McIver” and Franklin describes the cover.

We're going page-by-page, now on the copyright page—it was first published 2004.

We turn to exhibit 413A, pg 3 from the book, only two sentences are unredacted:
"I am the chairman and president of the Trump organization. I like saying that because it means a great deal to me."

Another excerpt:
PAY ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS
"If you don't know every aspect of what you're doing, down to the paperclips, you're setting yourself up for some ... surprises."

Another:
SOMETIMES YOU STILL HAVE TO SCREW THEM
"For many years, I've said that if someone screws you, screw them back. When somebody hurts you, just go after them as viciously and violently as you can. As it says in the Bible, an eye for an eye."

413D, another expcerpt, pg203:
"3 p.m., Allen Weisselberg my CFO comes in for a meeting, he's been with me for 30 years and keeps a handle on everything...he runs things beautifully."

Exhibit 414 now, another entry in Trump's oeuvre:
TRUMP: Think Like a Billionaire, Everything You Need to KNow About Success, Real Estate, and Life, by Trump, again with McIver.

Trump again is alone on the cover.

Correction: Ballantine Books imprint

We start making our way through the copyright page for Think Like a Billionaire (first published in hardcover in 2004).

Recall almost none of the jurors have read any of these books in full.

Another choice excerpt from Think Like a Billionaire:
"When you're working with a decorator, make sure you ask to see all of the invoices...[Decorators are nice people], but you should be double checking regardless."

Franklin, records custodian witness, continues to read excerpts from the book, each speaking to Trump's attention to financial details, penny pinching, belief in inevitable sexual relations between him and other women, and other themes, ostensibly in Trump's own words

This is my first time seeing the jury, and they're surprisingly alert and attentive—some follow the excerpts on the screens in front of them and others scan the room from time to time, from the defense table out across the press in the gallery.

Another excerpt, this one longer, pgs 68-69, chapter title How to Stay on Top of Your Finances, in which Trump writes that he regularly asks his financial team for reports on how his stocks, assets, checkbook, etc. are doing, and the smart prudence of doing so.

At 9:58 a.m., no further questions from the prosecution.

Blanche steps up, and asks Franklin if she's paying for her own lawyers (no).

Blanche asks about Meredith McIver's role.

Is she a ghostwriter? Franklin is not sure the exact details of her contribution.

Frankline's not sure because it varies, depending on the book, right? Blanche asks.

Yes, she says.

It seems pretty clear what Blanche is doing right now: He's calling into question whether we can take the words in the the pages of Trump's book as Trump's words and Trump's beliefs.

At 10:03 a.m., no further questions from Blanche, and the prosecution begins redirect.

In your experience, did ghostwriter's ever write entire books or create content without the author's knowledge? No, Franklin says. The ghostwriter works for the author.

After a lengthy sidebar, prosecution resumes redirect.

The objection is noted and overruled—more exhibits accepted into evidence.

More excerpts from Trump How to Get Rich—the epigraph page, this one from Mary Trump: "Trust in God and be true to yourself"

The acknowledgements page includes a thanks to Meredith McIver, a "woman of many talents," who was also an Executive Assistant at the Trump office, has "heard everything," and has "taken good notes."

"It's important to have an editor who asks the tough questions," reads another line of the acknowledgements page, getting a very subdued chuckle from the press in the courtroom, who sound like they can very much relate.

The initial buzz of the day the built after learning about the Stormy Daniels testimony has subsided a bit, as we read repetitive excerpt after excerpt from Trump's books.

This excerpt, however, is pretty on the nose:

"For me there's nothing worse than a computer signing checks . . . When you sign a check yourself, you're seeing what's really going on inside your business."

No further questions from prosecution, but Blanche wants another bite at the apple.

He puts up Exhibit 413G, an excerpt from the acknowledgements page.

No further questions from either side, and the witness steps down.

Attorneys from both sides huddle around Justice Merchan for a sidebar, as Emil Bove stays seated at the defense table, in conversation with Trump.

The jurors occasionally whisper something to each other, or show their neighbor a note, and smile quietly.

Boris Epshteyn, three rows in front of me, turns back and scans the members of the press seated in the gallery.

Sidebar continues.

"People your next witness please."

“The People call Stormy Daniels."

Everyone's eyes are glued to the door in anticipation.

She enters, dressed in black, her hair tied up behind her, glasses pushed up on her head.

Her voice starts a bit shaky as she spells her name. She takes her glasses off her head and puts them on as Hoffinger begins direct examination.

She prefers to use the name Stormy Daniels.

We're getting a bit of her biography, born and raised in Louisiana to a "very low income family" with a single working mom. She started in the magnet high school program and wanted to be a veterinarian, and graduated high school in the top 10% of country

Despite getting a full-ride scholarship to Texas A&M, related costs were still too high, so she was not able to go.

Extracurriculars? Ballet, equestrian club. She taught handicap riding lessons there.

She's talking quickly, and Hoffinger asks her to slow down just a bit.

She's telling us now how she got into dancing, which sure beat shoveling manure, and she was able to start making money.

At Christmas time her senior year of high school, she says she left home, because her mother would just vanish for days at a time. She had just turned 17.

She continues to recount her career path and the thinking behind the decisions, from dancing to nude modeling to her work in adult films, both performing and writing. Each one "tops out on a paygrade," she says. As she tells it, each job led to a logical next step.

Daniels acted in a few mainstream Hollywood films: the 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad, and a few TV shows such as The Dirt with Courtney Cox. Music videos too: Maroon 5, Rob Zombie, and others.

Q: In your podcast, "Beyond the Norm," did she discuss Trump and her experiences with him?
A: Yes, of course.

Why did she stop? She got fired, because she didn't want to keep talking about this one subject line: Trump and her former relationship with/to him.

Q: In 2009, did you consider running for Louisiana senate as a Republican?

Daniels laughs, and explains to the jury that there was a "Draft Stormy" campaign to go against an opponent who was anti-women's reproductive rights and anti-sex education, she says.

We flashback to July 2006, a celebrity golf tournament, while she was still employed by Wicked Entertainment, which was a sponsor.

"It was funny, one of the adult film companies sponsoring one of the holes," Daniels jokes.

She says she met Trump on the golf course at the tournament in Lake Tahoe. It was brief, and she said hello and posed for pictures, as she did with every other celebrity player in the tournament.

Q: What did you know about Trump at the time?
A: Well, that he was obviously a golfer, and that he had a television show that I had never seen, called Celebrity Apprentice, plus reality TV things.
She continues to talk fast, and the court reporter asks her to repeat things often.

At the time, she didn't know his age, but "I knew that he was old, probably older than my father," Stormy Daniels says, recounting another interaction at the gift shop of the 2006 Lake Tahoe celebrity golf tournament.

Q: Do you see Mr Trump in the courtroom today?
A: Yes
Q: Can you point him out and describe him?
A: She leans over, extends a hand, points in Trump's direction, and says, "Yeah, navy blue jacket."

Hoffinger hands up a thumb drive of evidence.

We see People's 226, a photo of Daniels and Trump in the gift room of the golf tournament, and People's 227, a photo of Trump on the golf course, displayed on screens throughout the courtroom.

Daniels says Trump asked her to dinner, but she initially rebuffed the invitation. His bodyguard, Keith, took Daniels number and messaged her until she saved it in her phone.

Daniels had a work dinner she didn't want to go to, so her publicist convinced her to ditch it and have dinner with Trump instead.

"What could possibly go wrong," Daniels' publicist told her.

She told a friend, she says, then headed to the Harris Hotel, where Trump was staying, to have dinner with him on the penthouse level in his suite.

Hoffinger asks her again to slow down for the court report. It doesn't seem like it's from nerves, just kind of how she talks.

Trump was wearing silk or satin pajamas when he greeted Daniels once inside.

"I immediately made fun of him for it, I said does Hugh Hefner know that you stole his pajamas?," said Daniels, who asked him to change clothes, which Trump did quickly.

They traded pleasantries at the dining room table of the suite—Hoffinger asks if they discussed her "difficult childhood," but defense objects, and Merchan says "sustained."

Daniels says they discussed the adult film industry, and Trump had a lot of questions about the business side, which she thought was "cool." They were "very well thought out business questions" about unions, residuals, health insurance, STD/STI testing, doctors on staff.

(paraphrased)
Q: Did Trump ever ask you if you had been tested?
A: Yes, he asked if I ever had a "bad test," and I told him I would tested regularly and never tested positive for anything.

Daniels says it sort of clicked for Trump that adult film stars are like athletes and performers, so then they spoke about WWE and wrestling, and about how Trump was friends with the owner, Vince McMahon.

Trump was involved in a WWE scnario—if he "lost," McMahon would get to shave his head, and "Donald Trump has always been very famous for his 'do," she says. She asked what he's gonna do if he loses, because "You do not have the head design to be without hair."

Hoffinger asks if they discussed magazine covers, and Daniels says yes, "He would ask me questions...then not let me finish with the answer. He would keep cutting me off. It was almost like he wanted to one up me, which is hilarious if you think about."

At dinner, Daniels says she tired of his arrogance and wanted to head home, and then she recounts the now familiar story involving the rolled up magazine, which she says she swatted Trump with "right on the butt." After which he was "much more polite."

"You remind me of my daughter because she is smart and blonde and beautiful and people underestimate her as well," Daniels says Trump told her during a conversation at dinner involving Trump's suggestion that Daniels go on the Apprentice.

During this testimony so far, Justice Merchan is sort of staring off into the distance, scratching his chin thoughtfully. The jury, at first rapt with attention, appears to watch on now a bit more neutrally.

So far, in my opinion, Daniels comes across as sharp, likable, and in control. She's cracks the occasional joke, and proceeds through the dinner conversation with Trump in good humor and hindsight.

@AnnaBower caught the earlier back and forth about Trump's wife, Melania.

"What about your wife?" Trump said Melania was very beautiful. Daniels recalls him saying that they don't sleep in the same room.

Merchan calls for a brief recess. Jurors exit, followed by Daniels, and Merchan asks counsel to pleas approach.

Some more color from @benfeuerherd:

The verdict on Stormy Daniels' testimony so far from some reporters in the men's restroom:

"This is good stuff."
"Oh yeah."
"Living up to the hype."
"Yep, big time."

Trump is back, Eric is back, Habba is back, Epshteyn is back.

Justice Merchan is back, too.

Before we get the witness back, Merchan addresses Hoffinger: The degree of detail that we're going into here is just unnecessary." We don't need the details of conversations, he says, what the hotel suite and foyer look like, etc.

The jurors are seated and Daniels resumes:

She had been at the dinner a while, and drank a couple bottles of water, so Trump directed her to the facilities, which were through a bedroom, to a "very large beautiful bathroom."

She noticed an unmade bed on her way in, and a leather-looking toiletry bag on the counter. She looked inside: she saw Old Spice and Pert Plus, and thought that was "amusing and odd." Gold tweezers, other gold things. She washed up and exited.

"I wish I had cellphone cameras at the time, because I definitely would've taken a photo of that," Daniels says.

She expected to go back to the table and say it's time to leave, but when she opened the door, Trump had come into the bedroom and onto the bed, wearing boxers.

"At first I was startled, like a jump scare...I wasn't expecting someone to be there and in not a lot of clothing," she says, and felt the blood leave her hands and her feet, like when you stand up too fast.

"Oh my god, what did I misread to get here?" she remembers thinking.

She says she laughed nervously, went to step around him posed on the bed and leave, and it all felt like slow motion. He stood up between her and the door but "not in a threatening manner," she clarifies.

"I thought this is what you wanted, if you ever wanted to get out of that trailer park—" Daniels starts to say that's what Trump told her to get her to stay, but objection, sustained.

Q: What happened next?
A: I blacked out, though she clarifies that she was not drugged.

Justice Merchan cuts it off right there, and asks counsel to approach.

Sidebar.

Objection sustained.

Hoffinger resumes, asking Daniels to slow down again, clarifying that Daniels was not drugged in any way nor had she had any alcohol in any way. Daniels confirms both.

Q: Did you feel threatened by him?
A: No, not physically, but there was an imbalance of power for sure. He was bigger and blocking the way, but I was not threatened, verbally or physically.

Hoffinger asks her to describe the sexual encounter "very briefly," Daniels starts to describe the fact that she had her clothes and shoes off and started in "missionary position"—but objection, sustained.

Q: Did you end up having sex with him on the bed?
A: Yes.
Q: Do you have a recollection feeling something unusual?
Objection, sustained.
Q: What do you remember?
A:That I was staring at the ceiling, didn't know how I got there.

Q: Did you touch his skin?
A: Yes
Objection, sustained.
Q: Was he wearing a condom?
A: Yes
Q: Was that concerning to you?
A: Yes
Q: Did you say anything about it?
A: No, I didn't say anything at all.

Daniels remembers the entire sexual encounter was brief, and it was really hard to get her shoes on because her hands were shaking so badly
"Let's get together again honeybunch," SD says Trump told her, and she just wanted to leave, she says
Q: Did you say no at any point?
A: No.

"He didn't give me anything, he didn't offer to pay me, or give me his cell phone number," she says.

Did he ask you to keep this confidential? No.
Any concern he expressed about his wife? No.
Did you end up having dinner with him that night? No.

"I told very few people we actually had sex because I felt ashamed I didn't try to stop it or say no," Daniels says.

There were also details she didn't remember initially, but some of these details came back to her over the years, can she tell us about that? Objection—overruled

Hoffinger tries to clarify there were certain things Daniels always remembered, like the fact that they had sex, but when she continues another objection from Necheles, and counsel approaches.

This has been pretty stop-and-go so far, with frequent objections and sidebars.

CORRECTION: I was typing too fast—Daniels said Trump was NOT wearing a condom during the encounter, and that that concerned her. My apologies.

Daniels says she saw him again in Tahoe the next day at her hotel, at a nightclub restaurant downstairs.

The jurors are now fully rapt with attention once again, and some of their heads ping pong back and forth from Hoffinger to Daniels, much like spectators at a tennis match.

Daniels says Trump was in the club with his friend, Ben Roethlisberger, and Trump introduced her as "his little friend Stormy" to "Big Ben" the football player, who let her try on his Super Bowl ring. Trump continued to talk about getting Daniels on The Apprentice.

Daniels says she told her best friend/photographer Keith—not to be confused with another Keith, Trump's bodyguard— her makeup artist and confidant, and her personal assistant, but not many others about the sexual encounter.

Trump would call her often, "I would always put him on speaker phone. I thought it was funny." Dozens of people would hear these conversations, "it was not a secret."

During these calls Trump update her (or offer "non-updates") about the Apprentice, ask Daniels if she missed him, and always called her honeybunch—"which was weird."

She starts to digress at the next question, and Merchan asks her to "please just answer the question."

Daniels says Trump gave her his personal assistant Rona's phone number in late summer 2006.

She answers more briefly and succinctly now, taking Merchan's instructions to heart.

We see some evidence now: the contact page in Daniels' iPhone for Rona Graff, which she saved as "DTrump Rona," and another contact page (not from an iPhone) for "Stormy" with Daniels' phone number (only last 4 digits unredacted).

Daniels says Trump reached out and asked her to attend the a party for his vodka brand, which she accepted to maintain the relationship and the "chance to be on The Apprentice" was still up in there air, especially since Trump framed it as her writing and directing.

At the vodka event, Trump greeted her, unconcerned by the optics, Daniels says, and he introduced her to his friend "Karen"—Karen McDougal.

She says he asked her to go back with him that night, but she lied to him that her and a friend were flying out on a girls' trip.

We fast forward now to 2007, she says Trump told her to contact him if she was in NY—she "hit him up" to get him to come to the club where she was performing, but he "invited me to his office tower" instead. Why? "It was a public place, lots of witnesses"—objection, sustained.

Daniels says she had a "very brief" discussion in his office in Trump Tower. She says he was very busy.

"It was always, 'I'm still working on The Apprentice thing,'" Daniels says.

Now to the 2007 Miss USA Pageant, tickets to which Trump had left under Daniels' name at will call, she says. Then, summer 2007, she met with Trump in LA for dinner at his bungalow in Beverly Hills Hotel.

Q: Did you tell your boyfriend what happened in the hotel with Trump?
A: Not the sexual part. Because I was ashamed.

Daniels' boyfriend waited outside while she went into the bungalow, she says. Trump was busy, watching TV (a documentary about some sailors who got killed by a shark when the submarine sank), and kept trying to "make sexual advances." But no "real update" on The Apprentice.

She says Trump still did not ask her to keep the sexual encounter confidential, nor did he seem concened about it.

Trump called her a few more times—once to tell her he couldn't get her on The Apprentice ("his overruled had been overruled"), Daniels says.

Eventually, Daniels says she stopped answering his calls and moved on with her life.

Jan 2008-May 2011, her life was "pretty awesome"—she got a raise, directed movies, started doing more mainstream things, got married, had a daughter.

Then, May 2011, she says she agreed to be interviewed for a magazine called InTouch—a "sort of tabloid."

She learned that someone had sold a story about her to a magazine, so she freaked out. "I don't know who leaked it—I just had my daughter," she says.

Daniels says that Gina Rodriguez told her you can either take control of it and get paid, or someone else will make money from it, and who knows what they'll say.

She was supposed to be paid $15k, and was doing less work at the time because she had just had her daughter.

Q: Did you discuss with InTouch all of the details of what happened in the room?
A: No, I tried to keep it fairly light-hearted, and quick and to the point.

InTouch didn't end up running the story, and at the time Daniels says she doesn't know why.

Hoffinger asks to approach.

If I'm not mistaken, during each of the many sidebars so far, Bove has stayed back at the defense table with Trump, the two men deep in conversation.

After Daniels was interviewed by InTouch, she had an experience about June 2011 in a parking lot in Las Vegas. She says she was approached by a man who threatened her "not to continue to tell my story"—about her encounter with Trump.

She says she didn't tell the police because she was scared, and didn't want more of the story to get out because of her daughter, and the father of their daughter, who was struggling at the time and never knew about the encounter in the first place.

Fast forward to Oct 2011: Rodriguez told Daniels that a story about her had been published on a celebrity gossip site called The Dirty dot com.

She says she never gave the site information, nor had she ever heard about it, and wanted the story taken down.

She remembers she was freaking out, crying and hyperventilating, and Rodriguez asked if her lawyer—another Keith, Keith Davidson—could take it down. Daniels said yes, and it was taken down a bit later.

Once Trump announced his presidetial candidacy, Daniels says Rodriguez reached out to Daniels and mentioned that she could sell the story again—making money for both her and Daniels.

For what it's worth, Merchan has been keeping this testimony on a pretty short leash, allowing frequent objections from the defense for leading the witness, and steering Daniels back to the questions at hand.

Q: Were you aware in early Oct 2016, the Access Hollywood tape coming out publicly?
A: Yes, Gina told me.
Q: Was she successful in selling the story before the AH tape came out?
A: No.

Q: Did you continue to agree that Rodriguez could keep trying to sell the story?
A: Yes, I told her she could keep trying. More people were calling.

Daniels says her motivation wasn't money, it about the story getting out, and in Oct 2016 she says she learned through Rodriguez that Trump and Cohen were interested in buying the rights to her story.

Daniels says she understood Trump and Cohen to be interested in paying for the story and killing it, which would be the best-case scenario for her: so her partner wouldn't learn about it, and the story would never get out.

She says she didn't care about the figure of $130,000—she didn't try to negotiate the money, because it wasn't her main concern and she didn't need it. She was directing more, moved out of expensive California, etc.

We are now joining up with the narrative and timeline established in the case so far—Daniels describes signing an NDA, which we see displayed now, from Cohen, who was representing Trump.

Correction: the exhibit displayed is an email from Keith Davidson (acting as Daniels' attorney) to Cohen. The NDA is attached to the email in a pdf. Subject line: "SD vs. RCI." The settlement sum was identified as $130,000 and wire details are included in the body.

They added in an urgent timing consideration, because Daniels "was afraid if this wasn't done before the nominations and everything."

Daniels understood the terms to be that if she was paid that she could not tell her story, that Trump also could not tell the story, that they wouldn't contact each other's families, and basically pretend like it never happened at all.

We're back to documents now. This is, after all, not an "adult film star" case, but a falsification of business records case.

Familiar exhibits are displayed: the agreement, the sidecar agreement, the liquidated damages clause. Peggy Peterson for Daniels, etc.

Hoffinger displays page 10 of the settlement agreement, on which Danielssays she wrote a list of 8 names—these are the 8 people who "knew some of the details" of the sexual encounter between her and Trump.

Daniels, like Trump, used a pseudonym to sign: Peggy Peterson.

Q: Why did you not put your real name here?
A: I was instructed not to.

After the ink dried on the agreement, there was a delay in payment, and Daniels was concered about all the excuses Cohen was making, especially because that sum of money shouldn't matter to Trump. So she assumed it not to be a financial delay, but something worse.

Merchan must like cliffhangers, because we stop there for a lunch recess.

We'll see you back here at 2 p.m., he tells the jurors,

Trump walks out, his entourage in tow. He doesn't look happy.

See you all after lunch.

The press is back in the courtroom, waiting for everything to kick off once again.

The prosecution trickles in.

Trump files in, entourage in tow once again, and there's a new member of the press now seated in the gallery: Andrew Giuliani.

On the break, reporters discussed the *very important things* we learned from the Daniels testimony, including the contents of Trump's toiletry bag: Old Spice, Pert Plus, and gold manicure tools.

"Just for the record, my chambers reached out to People and defense counsel to ask if defense counsel wanted limiting instruction on the encounter took place in the parking lot where Ms Daniels claimed someone threatened her," Merchan says.

Merchan will not give them unless defense requests it.

Blanche stands and moves for a mistrial based on the testimony today.

In moving for a mistrial, Blanche says that the guardrails for this witness were thrown to the side, and there's no way to unring the bell, it was so prejudicial to Trump and the facts given in this case. There's no remedy the court can fashion to unring this bell.

Details about her being blacked out, him not wearing a condom, the height of the two individuals, the power dynamic, the statement about wanting out of the trailer park all have nothign to do with this case, and are extraordinarily prejudicial, Blanche says.

This has nothing to do with this case other than pure embarrassment, and to inflame this jury, Blanche continues, as Merchan listens on, looking down, his head rested on his fist.

You sustained objections judge, that's true, but it's said repeatedly, and the jury hears it, so it's still extraordinarily prejudicial to "insert safety concerns about a trial about business records," Blanche says.

(To be clear, the jury has not yet reentered the courtroom.)

We're going to cross-examine her on the fact that her story has changed, Blanche says, and then the government will say the defense has opened the door in 2006, but it's so prejudicial in a case about an NDA.

Blanche says that she has testified today about consent, about danger—that's not the point of this case, and that's not the point of her testimony. That's not the story she was peddling—he stops himself, and changes the word—selling.

We're talking about someone who is going to go out and campaign this afternoon, which is also unfair, Blanche points out. This has nothing to do with the reason why we're here, your honor.

Blanche takes issue with Daniels' story about how and why she came to sign the NDA.

Merchan nods as if he understands these points, which Blanche is beginning to restate at this point. Merchan thanks him.

Hoffinger points out that her account is highly probative of Trump's intent.

This is precisely about what the defendant did not want to become public, Hoffinger continues, and points out that this is not a new account. These details, including the lack of condom, have been out in public for some time. And anyway, the defense opened the door to this.

The defense opened to door to this, esp the parking lot threat, when in opening statements they said Daniels was motivated by money, and specifically put in an exhibit related to Davidson's testimony in which they referenced the threat.

Hoffinger says there were details left out based on Merchan's instructions at the bench, and they've treaded very careful this entire testimony.

Merchan is listening closely, taking notes in front of him.

Hoffinger: "They opened the door to the threat in 2011...Your honor, this goes directly to her credibility, which they attacked, and will continue to attack...At the end of the day, this is what the defendant was trying to hide interms of the payoff in 2016 before the election."

It's a bit hard to follow Blanche's argument, but he says he takes issue with the theory for this testimony coming in—what actually occurred was extremely prejudicial. The voters decided in 2016.

Hoffinger adds that Daniels testified directly that she was not threatened physically or emotionally by Trump, and prosecution made sure to ellicit that.

Merchan is ready to rule on this.

He takes a moment to gather his thoughts.

Alright, as a threshold matter, he agrees with Blanche that there are some things that would have been better off left unsaid. In fairness to the people, the witness was a little difficult to control.

Having said that, he thinks there were guardrails in place, prosecution offered appropriate instructions, but he's not discounting Blanche's point. But, he just thinks we're not at a point to merit a mistrial.

He also notes that where there were objections and motions to strike testimony, he granted them. He also notes that he was surprised there weren't more objections—at one point the court suasponte objected when the defense did not.

The remedy, Merchan continues, is the cross-examination.

Necheles stands and clarifies something, but I didn't fully catch it.

"That's a very general statement, Ms Necheles, be accurate. If you're going to say something like that, be accurate," says Merchan.

Ah, it was a ruling at the bench that Justice Merchan made about the testimony.

Merchan says he thought he signaled to both parties that Daniels was going into way too much detail.

Defense's motion for a mistrial is DENIED.

Counsel approaches, brief sidebar.

"Binoculars down."

As I mentioned, courtroom rules are strictly enforced. During sidebar, court security doesn't allow reporters to use binoculars they had brought to see exhibits and facial expressions better.

Hoffinger has stepped out to give the witness, Daniels, instructions to keep her answers limited to the question "and not provide any unnecessary narrative," Merchan says.

It may be difficult to tell from reading the transcript, but Justice Merchan did seem to take the mistrial motion seriously at the hearing just now, even if he ultimately denied it.

Hoffinger returns, and Daniels follows a minute later.

"Good afternoon Ms. Daniels, I remind you that you're still under oath," Merchan says. "Let's get the jury please.

The jury present and properly seated, Hoffinger steps back up to the lectern, and we continue.

We pick back up with the delays in payment in the deal with Cohen and Trump. She displays People's Exhibit 282—an email from Davidson to Cohen, saying that no funds have been received

Davidson goes on to say that Daniels intended to cancel the settlement agreement if no funds had been received.

At this time, Daniels says she had spoken to a news outlet, Slate, about this story, but that Slate was not going to pay her for it.

But on around 10/28/16, the NDA was revived. The terms were essentially the same as the 10/10/16 NDA, Daniels says, including the $1m breach liquidated damages clause.

At some point after signing this, Davidson received the $130k, Daniels says. After fees for Davidson and Rodriguez, Daniels ended up with ~$96k.
Hoffinger displays the WSJ article abt the McDougal deal, and Daniels says that she did not respond to WSJ's request for comment for it

Q: Why didn't you comment?
A: Because I had an NDA.
Q: And was Trump elected president 4 days after this came out?
A: Yes

Hoffinger fast forwards to 2017, "probably my best year ever," Daniels says.

She directed one of the highest budget adult films ever, a horse she purchased in Ireland was ranked 8th in the country, she owned a house in Texas, in short, everything was great.

Now to 1/10/18, WSJ reaches out to Daniels for comment on another article, but still she refused.

Hoffinger displays Daniels denial statement that she signed on 1/10/2018.

She says she initially didn't want to sign it, and that she was happy to stay quiet (objection, sustained), and bc it was not true and saying "anything at all" was a violation of the NDA.

But on Davidson's advice, she had agreed and signed it, Daniels says.

It was not entirely truthful, Hoffinger asks and Daniels agrees, and that it was "cleverly misleading"—another objection, again sustained. Daniels did not know that Cohen was was sending it to WSJ.

After WSJ article from 1/12/18 on Daniels came out—

Q: Briefly, what kind of impact did it have on your life?
A: Chaos. People were on the front lawn, my friends asking questions, my family asking questions. It blew my cover. Ostracized from playdates, the stables, etc.

InTouch then released the article based on the interview she had given some time prior, but Daniels says she was not paid as she had been promised at the time.

Now the Hannity appearance: Daniels says she didn't want to, that she had said no.

Q: How did the Kimmsel show come about?
A: Gina set it up.
Q: What was to be discussed or not?
A: I wasn't to discuss the relationship or the NDA, anything like that. It was meant to give an example of how I would give appearances and not break the NDA.

Shortly before the appearance, Rodriguez and Davidson came to her with a second denial statement, Daniels says, and she initially said no to signing it but relented again on Davidson's advice.

Q: How did you sign it?
A: I signed it Stormy Daniels, but not how my Stormy Daniels signature is in any other time I had written it, as a tipoff to Jimmy Kimmel that I did not sign it willingly.
Q: Is this denial statement false?
A: Yes.

Daniels says that details about the sexual encounter with Trump started to surface in the media, and that she found out Cohen was shopping a book—objection, hearsay, sustained.

Daniels says that she was upset that Cohen had begun to talk about it "because he could talk about it, and I couldn't."

In about Feb 2018, Daniels says that, yes, Cohen filed
a temporary restraining order trying to keep Daniels from talking about what's in the NDA.

After she was served with the temporary restraining order, she says that she hired Michael Avenatti to help her get out of the NDA.

Why?

"So that I could stand up for myself."

She then went on Anderson Cooper.

Why?

"To get my story out."

Even at the risk of breaching the NDA?

"Yes."

Her legal fees cost just under $100,000, Daniels says, but she was free from the NDA, and so she published a book called Full Disclosure, which included details of the Trump Affair.

Every detail?

"Not every detail, no."

Who edited that book? She mentions one person hired by the editor, "then I found out later that Michael Avenatti had done some editing as well" she says as she kind of makes these faces 😑🫤🤨😒

April 2018, Avenatti released a sketch of the man she believes she had an encounter with in 2011—in response to the sketch Trump tweeted that the sketch was a "con job," which became the sole basis for a defamation case, Daniels says.

Q: In that case, did the court make any finding w/r/t your credibility, whatsoever?
A: None.

Q: Is Michael Avenatti still your lawyer?

A: Noooo (she raises her eyebrows comically again).

Q: Why?

Objection, irrelevant—overruled, she can answer.

A: Bc I fired him, and later he was found guilty of stealing from me and other people.

In July 2023, Trump filed a proceeding in Florida to recover the rest of the legal fees that Daniels was ordered to pay in the defamation case. But Hoffinger clarifies that this will have no bearing on this case.

Q: Why did you go on Cohen's podcast?
A: Because I wanted him to apologize to me.
Q: And did he apologize on that podcast?
A: He did.
Q: Why did you agree to go on again?
A: Because we had a good rapport, and he wanted to ask about the Avenatti case.

Hoffinger asks Daniels about the documentary, Stormy, that she was in. Daniels was not paid to appear in it, but the producers paid her $100,000 for the licensing rights from her book.
Q: Was there another reason you did it?
A: To get the truth out, and give an updated account.

3/15/23, Daniels participated in an interview with the Manhattan DA office via Zoom.

Hoffinger displays a post from Trump's truth social account from that same day, below.

Daniels says that she understood the invectives to be about her, and that his claim that he hasn't seen or spoken to her since the golf course is false.

As the lawyers approach for another sidebar, Daniels stops and looks up at Justice Merchan.

"Is that better?" she asks about her testimony.

No further questions from Hoffinger.

"Your witness," Merchan says to the defense, as Necheles steps up to the podium.

Q: Even though we've never spoken, you've met with the prosecutors several times?
A: Yes.
Q: You rehearsed your testimony?
A: No.
Q: But according to your testimony the prosecution subjected you to brutal prep sessions?
A: Yes.

Necheles emphasizes the word "brutal."

Correction: Necheles says that Daniels was subjected to "grueling prep sessions that included brutal mock cross-examinations"—her tone is a bit adversarial, and Daniels answers in kind, perhaps even more so.

You said brutal, grueling sessions right? They were pushing you?

The memories were hard to bring up, Daniels says. They were painful.

Daniels sounds impatient. She's short with Necheles.

It wasn't rehearsing, it was to have all the facts, to have as much information as possible, Daniels says.

Q: Do you recall saying that you began acting in pornography. It was simple, you wanted more money?
A: Don't we all want more money in our jobs?

Q: That motivates you a lot in life, to make money?
A: Well it's the United Sta—she stops herself—well, this is what we do here. (paraphrased)
Q: Do you want Trump to go to jail?
A: I want him to be held accountable.

Straight out the gate, this is a very tense cross.

Necheles questions Daniels about one of her tweets ("I won't walk I'll dance down the street when he's 'selected' to go to jail"), Daniels demands to see it, laughs when she does, and Necheles seizes on it.

Her line of questioning now turns to trying to establish a motive of Daniels, that she'd like to see Trump go to jail, because she owes Trump legal fees.

Necheles says that Daniels was ordered to pay Trump an additional $245k for legal fees incurred in an appeal in the defamation case in which Trump prevailed (but Daniels didn't "lose"). Then again, an additional $121k Daniels owed on another appeal.

Q: Because of your "frivolous litigation"—objection, sustained, she restarts—because of the "cases you brought" against Trump, the total legal fees you owe Trump is $560k
A: About.
Q: And that's before interest—CA has 10% annual interest on this, you know?
A: I did not know.

Q: You didn't pay anything out of your pocket to Trump?
A: No.
Q: You said on direct it's bc you can't afford it, but you have money?
A: We all have money.
Q: It's because you're choosing not to pay him?
A: I don't understand the question.

Many assumed, myself included, that the defense would try to paint Daniels as an extortionist, trying to squeeze Trump for as much money as possible back in 2016.

But so far instead, they're trying to make this about Daniels getting out of paying the legal fees she owes Trump.

We see a tweet from Daniels on 3/21/22, entered into evidence: "I will go to jail before I pay a penny"

Q: That was you saying you won't obey a court order?
A: That was me saying I won't pay for telling the truth.

Necheles presses Daniels: "You understand there's no question-bending right?"

Objection, sustained, and Necheles says, "You're right your honor," apologizing.

We see another Daniels tweet: "I don't owe him shit and I'll never give that orange turd a dime (laughing emoji)"

Q: You despise him and made fun of how he looks?
A: Yes, because he started it first.

No one is coming out looking good in this exchange.

Necheles is asking about a form related to the court order for Daniels to pay the legal fees.

Daniels says she didn't fill it out bc it was asking about her daughter, and Necheles clarifies it was asking her daughter's names, but it's mostly about her assets.

So far, Ben Wittes's Rule of Witnesses is proving to be true:

Never make up your mind about a witness and the significance of their testimony before the cross.

There's a tense moment as Necheles attempts to enter the form into evidence I believe, as the prosecution objects and Daniels looks up at Justice Merchan pleadingly. Perhaps it had to do with her daughter's info on the form, but it's hard to tell.

Sidebar now.

Tension diffuses, and the sidebar breaks up.

Necheles restarts, attempting to put something up on the screen, but Hoffinger says "Judge," and Merchan stands: "Take that down," he says, as the lawyers approach again. Sidebar.

Necheles hands up Exhibit J10A(?), the document they've been discussing. The form has been partially filled out, (we can't see the form, only the parties), and Necheles asks why Daniels refused to fill out spouse's income question. Objection, it's not in evidence, sustained.

Q: Do you have bank accounts?
A: Yes.
Q: Did you disclose that on the form?
A: I didn't fill out this form.

After a bruising start to the cross, Necheles is getting tripped up in a thicket of objections. It's very stop and go.

Necheles is asking Daniels about some tweets of hers, in which she seems to boast about the money made from "pornography" (Necheles' word) and a $1m book deal.

"I'll have to see the tweets," Daniels says.

Q Haven't you been hiding your assets bc you don't want to pay?
A No.
Q Didn't you set up a trust in the name of your daughter?
A No
Q Aren't you hoping that if Trump is convicted, you won't have to pay him the half million you owe him?
A I hope I won't have to pay him anything.

"I have been making money about telling my story about what happened to me," Daniels says.

Q: And what happened to you is having sex with Trump?
A: Yes
Q: And it's making you a lot of money?
A: It's also costing me a lot of money.

Necheles finally gets some evidence through: it's the cover of Daniels' book, Full Disclosure.

In the book, Daniels confirms that Rodriguez helped her on several occasions to sell her story, including 2011 w/ Gloria Allred—and Daniels actually turned down her offer at the time.

Necheles is asking Daniels about the conversation with Allred, and her allegedly conflicting acconts of it in testimony and her book.

Q: You're making this up as you sit there, right?
A: No. (Daniels cocks her head, a bit taken aback)

Necheles: The lesson you learned is that if you're making money on talking about President Trump, you better be talking about the sex, right?
Daniels: No, although that does seem to be the case (with some hints of good humor)

Necheles homes in on the denials.

Q: You denied having had sex with President Trump?
A: Right, because I was afraid.
Q: So you're telling InTouch magazine that you did have sex with him, then The Dirty that you didn't.
A: It was not the same time.
Q: You sure about that?

Necheles is trying to trace the inconsistencies in Daniels' testimony, the switchbacks in her narrative, when Daniels tried to tell her story about her sexual encounter with Trump in one place, then deny it in another.

Necheles is stern, consistent, in her questioning.

Daniels holds her own, often looking directly at the jury when she answers Necheles' relentless questions.

Back to the 2011 parking lot threat, when this "supposedly happened," Necheles says.

Daniels says he implied a threat on her life and her baby daughter's.

Q: You didn't tell anyone, and you continued to the exercise class?
A: No, and no, I went to the bathroom.

Necheles seamlessly moves between her podium and the defense table to review some notes, maybe a transcript, maybe excerpts from Daniels' book, and resumes her question.

Necheles seizes on another inconsistency. Daniels wrote in her book that she did the class, but now says that she didn't.
A: There's no way I could do the class as scared as I wass.
Q: And you didn't tell anyone, not even the father of the child who received the threat?
A: No.

Q: So the first time you discussed it publicly was 7 years after it happened?
A: Right.
Q: So for 7 years you kept it secret from your husband?
A: I kept everything about this from him.
Q: Your daughter's life was in jeopardy, and you did not tell her father?
A: Right.

We hear a very dramatic riiiiiiip of paper, as Gedalia Stern stands up and walks over to Necheles to hand her a sheet from a yellow legal pad.

No idea what it says—sorry y'all my eyesight isn't that good.

Q: You blamed it on Michael Cohen?
A: No, I blamed it on a man in the garage.
Q: But at the time, you believed it to be Cohen?
A: At the time, but I was wrong.
Q: So now, you and Cohen are buddies, right?
A: I wouldn't say we were buddies, no.

Q: Both you and Cohen share a desire to make money off of Trump going to jail?
Objection—sustained.
She changes tack to talk about how in 2018, Daniels went on The View to repeat this threat, and Avenatti hired a sketch artist to depict the threatener.
The sketch in question:

All rise, as the jury exits for a brief recess.

Daniels exits through a side door, and Trump and his entourage depart through the main entrance. The prosecution linger to caucus briefly, then exit through the side as well.

The parties are back at their respective sides, Merchan is back on the bench, and Daniels is back on the stand.

The jury files in.

Necheles resumes to talk about the E! Online article, in which Daniels said that discussing the story is "bullshit." Does Daniels remember "vehemently" denying the story about her and Trump "hooking up" after a golfing event? She doesn't remember, so Necheles shows her an exhibit

"I'm saying that I did not give a statement denying the story," Daniels says, and Necheles changes subject.

Q: But in 2011, you were denying to The Dirty dot come that you had sex with Trump, were you not?
A: I didn't confirm or deny anything to The Dirty—I've never spoken to them.
Q: But your lawyer did right?
A: He told them to take it down, but I'm not sure if he spoke to them.

Even though she and her baby were threatened, Necheles says, Daniels went ahead and told her story anyway, right?

Daniels says her lawyer told her: get high, stay high, get out in front where you're safe, hide in plain view. So she did.

Necheles says that Daniels didn't just hold a press conference though because she was looking to "get"—she stops—"extort" money from President Trump right?

Now we see the expected tactic of portraying Trump as the extortion victim, and Daniels and her lawyers as extortionists.

We see a series of texts displayed on screen between Dylan Howard and a redacted second person

Stormy Daniels, I have her
Is she ready to talk
I though [sic] she denounced it previously

Daniels is careful in her answers—she says she doesn't know what this is in reference to.

More texts:

She doesn't want to go on record about it but will tell the story through a source
She's had sex with him. She wants 100k

Daniels: "Once again, I don't know what this is specifically talking about, I don't know who Dylan is..."

And that's it, the ever punctual Justice Merchan stops it right there for the day. As he gives the jury the pro forma instructions, I'd like to thank everyone who has supported @lawfare's coverage, and encourage others to do so too: givebutter.com/c/trumptrials/…

What a day.

Be sure to join live at 5:30pm ET for Trump's Trials and Tribulations NY Trial Dispatch, as I discuss it all with Ben Wittes, @rparloff, and special guest @ClaireMeynial from @LePoint for le point de vue français!