Stormy weather from Don’s team
NEW YORK: Donald Trump’s lawyer and Stormy Daniels have gone head to head during cross-examination of the porn star’s testimony. Under examination that frequently became hostile, Daniels was quick on her feet as jurors watched the defence deride her career and assail her credibility.
She clapped back for hours during the most intense testimony yet in the criminal trial, which centres on whether a hush money payment to Daniels was fraudulently covered up. Trump lawyer Susan Necheles insisted repeatedly that Daniels, 45, had fabricated her story of a sexual encounter with Trump.
“You made all this up, right?” the counsel asked at one point, prompting Daniels to respond “No.”
Several moments saw Daniels accuse Necheles of putting words in her mouth: “You’re trying to make me say it’s changed, but it hasn’t changed,” she said, referring to her account of events. Team Trump vied to cast Daniels as money-grubbing, sleazy and deceptive. Necheles grilled Daniels over her decision to pen a book that included depictions of the encounter, and her decision to promote branded products.
“Not unlike Mr. Trump,” Daniels quipped back.
In one of the more offbeat moments of the testimony, Necheles brought up interest by Daniels in tarot cards and the paranormal, in a bid to cast her as unhinged.
She then moved to present Daniels as a fabulist, mocking her work as a screenwriter and director of pornographic films while alleging that it makes her good at twisting the truth. “So you have a lot of experience in making phony stories about sex appear to be real?” said Necheles.
“Wow, that’s not how I would put it,” Daniels said.
If the story with Trump were untrue, she said, “I would’ve written it to be a lot better.”