Former president donald trumpin criminal trial will resume on Friday in New York City with testimony from his former White House executive assistant – a much friendlier witness than Thursday’s headliner, the adult film actor Stormy Daniels.
Madeleine Westerhout began her testimony in Manhattan criminal court on Thursday afternoon, after Daniels had spent the morning fighting with Trump lawyer Susan Necheles during questioning over his claim that he had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Trump’s lawyer michael cohen paid Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about the allegation during the 2016 presidential election. Trump later reimbursed Cohen for payments that prosecutors charged were covered up by falsified business records. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied Daniels’ allegation.
Daniels became emotional at one point when Necheles asked her about several nasty posts about her on social media accounts, including one from a person who referred to her as an “elderly whore.”
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Necheles also began his cross-examination of Westerhout on Thursday, but with a much gentler touch. Westerhout testified about how thrilled she was to work for Trump and began crying when prosecutors asked her about herself. leaving the White House in August 2019. She said working for Trump was “amazing” and that he was “a really good boss” who had a close and loving relationship with his wife, Melania Trump.
The description contradicts testimony from Daniels, who said Trump told him not to worry about his wife as he attacked her in their hotel room after they met at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in 2006. .
Westerhout said one of his roles was to act as an intermediary between Trump and the Trump Organization on matters that needed his or the company’s attention, such as his travel schedule, correspondence or phone calls.
She asked Trump’s assistant at the company, Rhona Graff, in 2017 for a list of Trump’s contacts, which Graff sent to her, according to an email shown to the jury. The list included information for Cohen and David Peckerthe former National Enquirer editor who testified he worked with Trump and Cohen to suppress scandalous stories about Trump during his 2016 campaign.
Westerhout testified that Trump was attentive when she handed him personal checks to sign and that he would occasionally call his company’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, if he had questions about any of them — information that prosecutors would likely use to argue that Trump was fine. aware of why he was paying Cohen.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche moved for a mistrial late in court Thursday, arguing that Daniels’ testimony — including her claim that Trump did not use a condom when they had sex — was unfair and prejudicial. He called the condom claim “a dog whistle for rape.”
State Judge Juan Merchan agreed that Daniels should not have been asked about the condom, but noted that there was no objection to that line of questioning, which he said confused him.
“I don’t understand,” he said.
He denied Blanche’s request for a mistrial, as well as a request that he loosen the gag order that prevented Trump from attacking witnesses to allow him to respond to Daniels’ testimony.
Daniels appeared to respond to that request Thursday night on X.
“Real men respond to testimony by taking an oath and taking their stand in court. Oh… wait. Nevermind,” she wrote.
The post could end up being problematic for Daniels. After Blanche complained at the start of the trial that Daniels and Cohen were publicly attacking Trump, Merchan suggested they could be excluded from the gag order if they continued to do so, saying ooorder “a sword instead of a shield” should not be used.
In addition to Westerhout, an employee from the Manhattan district attorney’s office is also expected to take the stand on Friday to testify about some of Trump’s social media posts. Prosecutors said they are hopeful they can wrap up the case by May 21, making it highly likely Cohen will testify next week.
It is not clear if Trump will testify in your own defense. He has no obligation to do this.
This article was originally published in NBCNews. with
