Seemingly overriding predictable complaints from the Trump team, Stormy Daniels testified at trial this Tuesday about an alleged sexual encounter that she had with the ex-president some years ago — circumstances that led to hush money and allegedly falsified business records that form the foundation of the criminal case against Trump.
Daniels spoke to specific details, characterizing herself as dramatically taken aback. “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,” per journalist Tyler McBrien, recapping her testimony on Tuesday. Daniels also said that the encounter was initiated to her surprise by Trump when she was coming back from the bathroom. At that point, she said that she encountered Trump wearing few clothes and was “startled… like a jump scare,” according to journalist Anna Bower.
As could be anticipated, reports also stated that there was an extensive series of objections from the defense during prosecutors’ initial questioning of Daniels, though the outcomes were mixed: some sustained, some overruled. Largely, Daniels — testifying after the judge himself expressed a reported interest in establishing her credibility — had the opportunity to outline a detailed recap of the alleged incident.
Daniels’ account of what happened could prove critical in outlining some of the broader contours of what prosecutors are alleging: specifically, that Trump’s circles harbored an ambition of impacting the 2016 presidential election in a manner favorable to him in tandem with the hush money. The idea was that keeping Daniels’ story under wraps stood to benefit Trump’s campaign for president.
Trump himself is compelled to attend the trial proceedings because of their specifically criminal nature, and he was, accordingly, present on Tuesday for Daniels’ testimony. Another woman — Karen McDougal — with whom Trump allegedly had an affair may also give testimony. McDougal was the target of a related financial arrangement that also shut down her Trump story… at least at first.
