Under subpoena, Rhona Graff — a longtime assistant in former President Donald Trump’s service — appeared for testimony on Friday in the ongoing criminal trial on charges that Trump falsified business records in connection to pre-2016 election hush money. Though transcripts of the trial would be forthcoming, POLITICO was among those to provide initial reports on what she was saying before jurors.
And reportedly, she spoke to details linking Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal to Trump’s circles. Daniels and McDougal both allegedly had affairs with Trump, and hush money for Daniels is what lies perhaps most directly behind Trump’s charges, though financial arrangements that previously ensnared McDougal also came up at trial.
Graff “told jurors she entered contact information for McDougal and porn star Stormy Daniels into an electronic directory at the Trump Organization,” according to POLITICO.
Graff’s testimony followed initial rounds of testimony from the prosecution’s first witness: David Pecker, a tabloid media figure associated with the National Enquirer. Pecker was involved in that deal that silenced McDougal via purchasers in the Enquirer camp acquiring the rights to her story but then keeping it hidden rather than actually publicizing her account. From the witness stand, Pecker characterized his ambitions as oriented around the 2016 presidential election, saying at another point in testimony that his understanding was that the stance was generally shared by Trump around that time.
Prosecutors are alleging an ambition of targeting the 2016 presidential election as part of their case against Trump, using the alleged election scheming to up the charges of falsifying records to felony allegations. Notably, there’s some solid basis — in general terms — for the theory in federal court, as ex-Trump ally Michael Cohen was already prosecuted for campaign finance law violations in connection to his role in providing Daniels’ money. Daniels and McDougal may both testify during this trial, and the same is expected from Cohen himself.
