Trump’s ‘hush money’ NYC trial live updates: Stormy Daniels describes alleged sex with ex-president

The New York Post ^ | 05/07/2024 | Ben Koch,an

[thegagline]

Porn star Stormy Daniels is on the stand at former President Donald Trump’s “hush money” trial in New York today — a pivotal moment in the case.

Daniels is describing their alleged sexual encounter, at times in so much detail that Judge Juan Merchan scolded the prosecution, saying the nitty gritty was “unnecessary.” *** “In fairness to the people, I think the witness was a little bit difficult to control the witness," Justice Merchan said***

Trump attorney Todd Blanche moved Tuesday for a mistrial, citing what he called Stormy Daniels' "prejudicial" and salacious testimony about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump.

Daniels mentioned some details about her alleged tryst with Trump — like that there was an "imbalance of power" between her and the real estate mogul — that could unfairly "inflame the jury," Blanche argued.

“It’s extremely prejudicial to insert safety concerns in a trial about business records," he told the court.

“The issue is she has testified today about consent, about danger – that’s not the point of this case. That’s not the point of her testimony," he added.

***

Blanche also accused Daniels of changing her story about the encounter over the years.

Judge Merchan declined to grant the mistrial, but said he agreed with Blanche "that there are some things that would have been better left unsaid."

In fairness to the prosecutors, though, he added, "I believe that the witness was very difficult to control."

Donald Trump appeared to write a note on a legal pad as the judge tossed his attorneys' move for a mistrial.

He then passed the legal pad in the direction of Todd Blanche, his attorney.

“I was surprised there were not more objections to this testimony," Justice Juan Merchan says, after Trump attorney Todd Blanche moved for a mistrial.

[VideoDoctor]

I suspicion, that because of the number of times Daniels testimony has CHANGED over the years, she is being PAID to state EXCORIATING false details in hopes of dirtying his reputation and railroading Trump into a CONVICTION.

You may be right about the defense "sitting on their hands"... that may, however, have been an INTENTIONAL move. Never UNDERESTIMATE Trump's ability to maneuver and manipulate any given situation.

Eventually, I believe, the prosecution will trip itself up!

[deport]

The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money trial called the former president’s defense attorney to the bench and ordered him to speak to his client about his “contemptuous” behavior during adult film actress Stormy Daniels’ testimony Tuesday, according to the trial transcript.

“I understand that your client is upset at this point, but he is cursing audibly, and he is shaking his head visually and that’s contemptuous,” Judge Juan Merchan said to Trump’s defense attorney Todd Blanche during a mid morning break. “It has the potential to intimidate the witness and the jury can see that.”

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/07/politics/judge-merchan-trump-cursing-hush-money-trial-stormy-daniels/index.html

[subterfuge]

Thanks for the reply.

[kiryandil]

Why avoid the question?

I don't bother with "questions" from NeverTrumping Democrat Party operatives on Free Republic.

[zeestephen]

Re: "part of a broader scheme"

I thought about that before I posted, but rejected it.

DOJ investigated election influence and filed no charges.

So, New York state would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a federal crime took place, but was not prosecuted.

Then, NY state would have to prove that Trump actually had an intimate relationship with Stormy.

Stormy claims she blacked out during sex with Trump and remembers nothing, except that he was wearing silk or velvet pajamas.

So, NY state also needs to prove that a prostitution crime took place, in another state, 18 years ago, and Trump was trying to conceal it.

Sorry - that is ludicrous.

[Armscor38]

“So, New York state would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a federal crime took place, but was not prosecuted.”

Actually, they don’t have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a federal crime was committed. The way the NY law is written, the standard is very low.

[Lazamataz]

God I love seeing you repeatedly suspended, only to eventually get totally zotted.

[zeestephen]

Re: "The way the NY law is written, the standard is very low."

Can you post the exact language you are referring to?

Thanks.

[Armscor38]

“Some of the charges against Trump are related to that Bragg’s team does not have to prove Trump violated the statute but merely demonstrate that he was falsifying internal Trump Organization records as part of a broader scheme to improperly influence the 2016 election.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/06/trump-hush-money-trial-election-law/

[kiryandil]

You expect anything different from Turley? Trump could shoot someone on 5th Ave in cold blood and he’d come up with some sort of scenario that Trump was being picked on.

“I See Dead People”: Bragg’s Case Against Trump Goes Paranormal
JonathanTurley.Org ^ | May 13, 2024 | Jonathan Turley

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/4237578/posts

...The Daniels testimony will live in infamy in the annals of criminal justice. For two days, she offered lurid and completely irrelevant details whose only possible purpose was to humiliate Trump. Admitting that she was coached by the prosecution in her testimony, it was clear that she was there not to win a case but to win an election. Judge Juan Merchan allowed this legal burlesque to unfold in his courtroom, later blaming defense counsel who had vociferously objected to her appearance and the scope of the examination.

The cross examination was devastating. It shattered her laughable claim that she had not really been seeking money in shaking Trump down for a non-disclosure agreement, a claim contradicted by her own former lawyer. Daniels also revealed that she had spoken with the dead, and that a ghost had once held her boyfriend under water in a bathtub. She also said that she lived in a haunted house, only to discover later that the spirit haunting it was actually a large possum...

...That is when Merchan will face a key test of judicial ethics. He has failed to protect the rights of the defendant from a baseless, politically motivated prosecution. He could insist that he simply felt Bragg had a right to present his case. He will soon be done and, as expected, it is entirely based on Cohen, a disbarred perjurer who will ask for his former client to be sent to prison for following his own legal advice...

I'm sure that "your brother" feels differently.