Adult film star Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, testified yesterday in a criminal trial against former President Donald Trump, detailing for jurors a supposed 2006 extramarital affair between the two and a subsequent hush money payment. See key takeaways here.
The case centers on a $130K payment made to Daniels by Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election in exchange for Daniels staying quiet about the alleged affair (see timeline). Trump faces charges for allegedly breaking campaign finance laws by falsely listing a reimbursement payment to Cohen as a legal expense, which prosecutors argue was meant to conceal the hush money. Trump denies allegations of the affair, which first arose in 2018. Trump, now 77, and Daniels, now 45, allegedly met at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in 2006.
Trump's attorneys sought a mistrial over portions of Daniels' testimony, which they say differed from prior public statements and went beyond the scope of the trial; the trial judge denied their motion.
In related news, the trial against the former president over charges he improperly took classified documents after leaving office was postponed indefinitely, with the presiding judge citing a backlog of pretrial matters.
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