The husband of adult film actress Stormy Daniels said Thursday that the guilty verdict in former President Trump’s case is a “huge weight off his shoulders.”
Asked on CNN about Daniels’ reaction, husband Barrett Blade said he is still “processing” the news and feels “a little vindicated” by the outcome.
“This wasn’t her seeking justice for herself. She was standing up for herself from the beginning and saying what was right, but this whole silent trial really… isn’t her story,” Blade told CNN’s Erin Burnett.
“I mean, it was good that the jury saw the facts and made the decision, and of course we supported it anyway; if they saw it differently, we would have supported it anyway. But I think it helps with the fact that she feels, you know, a little vindicated that, you know, she’s telling the truth,” she added.
Trump was found guilty on Thursday of all 34 counts of falsifying business records, making him the first former US president to become a convicted felon. The charges center on reimbursements made to his former fixer, Michael Cohen, for a secret payment made to Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair with the former president.
“She’s still pretty stoic. I think she really…takes a big weight off her shoulders at this point,” Blade said. “But…and like I said, I think this brings another weight on her shoulders about what’s going to happen next? What’s the next wave of…lack of a better word…crap that’s going to happen?” Blade said. “So I think we take it day by day.”
Daniels testified during the trial from silence, wearing a bulletproof vest until he entered the courtroom earlier this month. Her lawyer told CNN that Daniels was “paralyzed” with fear about the backlash she might face for her testimony.
She gave somewhat salacious testimony during her testimony, detailing the alleged sexual encounter she had with Trump in 2006. Trump denied the affair.
Trump will be sentenced on July 11, just four days before the 2024 Republican National Convention this summer in Milwaukee. The former president could face prison time, although first-time offenders on charges like Trump’s are rarely incarcerated.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
