How Trump reveled in lawyers grilling Stormy Daniels’ over porn career and accused her of making up ‘phony sex stories’… before she snapped back and said ‘I would’ve written it better’
Donald Trump’s lawyer’s strategy was clear when she cross-examined actor and adult film director Stormy Daniels on Thursday: portray the witness as a money-grubbing guy who has made a career out of making up sex scenes.
Lawyers call it a “crazies and sluts” defense.
It was a struggle that Daniels – full of shrugs and steely indignation – was looking forward to.
“You have a lot of experience making false stories about sex look real,” Trump’s lawyer Susan Necheles said, referring to the 150 films Daniels has written and directed and comparing them to the night she said she had sex with the future president. at a hotel in Nevada.
“Wow,” Daniels said softly. ‘I wouldn’t put it that way.
“The sex in the movies is very real… just like what happened to me in that room.”
“You have a lot of experience making fake sex stories look real,” Donald Trump’s lawyer Susan Necheles said as she questioned Stormy Daniels on Thursday.
Trump seemed pleased with the way the cross-examination went. He patted Necheles on the back of the elbow as if to say, “Good job” when it was over
Trump, 77, denies on 34 counts that he falsified company records to conceal a $130,000 payment to Daniels, 45, for her silence ahead of the 2016 election.
On Tuesday, the court had heard Daniels’ unflattering account of her 2006 meeting with Trump. There was satin pajamas, a spanking and the word ‘letter’ used to describe the intercourse.
During cross-examination later that day and on Wednesday morning, Necheles embarked on a high-wire act, rooting out inconsistencies in Daniels’ oft-told story and pitting her career against her.
It made for a risky offensive line. Each time Necheles suggested that Daniels had simply made up a sex scene as part of a ruse to extort Trump, she reminded the jury that her client moved in circles that connected him to porn stars and strippers.
And anyway, the veteran porn writer reacted brutally to the idea that her story was made up.
“If that story wasn’t true, I would have written it a lot better,” she said, laughing in the public gallery.
The jury, consisting of five women, sat enthralled throughout. No one was taking notes like earlier this week.
A female juror leaned in as Necheles went on the attack, suggesting Daniels had used her fame to sell herself on a “Making America Horny Again” tour of strip clubs.
Any hint of slut-shaming or victim blaming could backfire with a metropolitan jury like this.
Not that Daniels needs any protection. She had, as always, a sharp answer. ‘I didn’t sell myself to anyone. I performed in clubs and anyone who wanted to get in would pay,” she said.
Daniels’ attorney Clark Brewster posted a photo of him and his client after the proceedings ended. “I couldn’t be more proud of my client,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter
Daniels is seen leaving Manhattan Criminal Court after his cross-examination ended
Necheles accused Daniels of trying to capitalize on her fame with a ‘Making America Horny Again’ tour after details of her alleged tryst with Trump emerged
She was a picture of poised defiance throughout, with her right elbow resting on the arm of her chair, her chin pointed toward the lawyer, and her head tilted slightly back.
After more than six hours, her testimony was over. Trump seemed delighted with what he heard during cross-examination.
He patted Necheles on the back of the elbow, as if to say, “Good job.”
And as he left for the lunch break, he grinned as he pointed to friend and Newsmax TV host Greg Kelly, who sat among the reporters.
Aides worry that long days without friendly faces are taking a toll on Trump’s mood. Unlike previous days, the former president arrived with company for the morning session, as an added defense against the obscene and embarrassing details that found their way into evidence.
Republican Senator Rick Scott sat on the couch directly behind Trump, with lawyer Alina Habba on one side, wrapped in her coat, and three Secret Service agents on the other.
Trump arrived Thursday morning with supporters including Florida Senator Rick Scott (center) and attorney John Coale (right), the husband of Newsmax host Greta Van Susteren
Scott stepped out after an hour and a half to talk to the news media outside the courthouse
Behind them were lawyer John Coale, who is also Greta van Susteren’s husband, and real estate investor Steve Witkoff, alongside regular visitors Boris Epshteyn, Trump’s legal adviser, and aide Natalie Harp (whose role is to finish media stories for her boss to press).
Scott ducked out after an hour and a half. It wasn’t for a bathroom break, but for a press conference outside the courthouse.
“This is just a bunch of Democrats saying we want to make sure Donald Trump can’t talk,” he said, listing known complaints that prosecutors have made political donations and that the judge’s daughter is a political operative.
‘Now they have a gag order, so they can’t campaign. They locked him up in a courtroom.”
That’s one way to get around a court order banning Trump from attacking the judge’s family (among other things) — by getting political allies to do it for you.
Daniels’ story about the encounter has been public since 2018. She has given numerous interviews, allowing Trump’s defense to analyze each story for inconsistencies.
There was a lengthy back-and-forth about whether she had dinner with Trump, with her claim that there was no trace of food (despite being invited to a meal) and that her stomach sometimes “growled” being explored.
Daniels arrived in court Thursday morning for a second day of testimony
Daniels said she was not happy with the title of her tour and did not use the name
Daniels gave as best she could during cross-examination. Pushing back assumptions about how she made her money and how the adult film industry works
Yet in 2011 she told a different story to In Touch magazine.
‘We ended up eating in the room. I can’t remember what we ordered,” she said at the time.
Daniels tried to defend himself: “My story is the same.”
“I’ve maintained that I didn’t see any food,” she said. “It was a dinner party, but we never got any food.”
At another point, Necheles tried to use her prolific history in pornographic films — in which she appeared in 200 films and wrote or directed another 150 — to undermine the part of her testimony when she said she was “shocked” to see Trump found on the bed in no time. underwear after she used the bathroom. She described the room spinning.
Necheles asked: Wasn’t she used to seeing men undress?
“If I came out of the bathroom and saw an older man in his underwear, who I didn’t expect to be there, yeah,” she said.
Although Daniels’ testimony has captured the attention of the world’s media, in reality the case of corporate fraud comes down to invoices, ledgers and checks.
Once again, in an attempt to undermine Daniel’s story, the judges simply re-imagined the then star of The Apprentice in his boxer shorts and T-shirt.
At other times, Necheles bombarded her with questions about her career and whether she was just looking for a payday, with book deals, lucrative tours and merchandise.
Examples shown to the jury include a ‘Stormy Saint of Indictments candle with her image on it and a comic book titled ‘Political Power: Stormy Daniels.’
It was all uproarious fun as the defense tried to undermine her credibility, with tweets in which she nicknamed Trump “little” or an “orange turd” and details about her new TV role apparently speaking to dead people.
But much of it had to do with the alleged crime of falsifying company records… until Necheles got to her final round of questioning and tried to paint Daniel’s entire testimony as a red herring.
Did she know anything about Trump’s business records?
“I don’t know anything about his business details,” she said. ‘No. Why would I?’