Adult film star Stormy Daniels is scheduled to return to the witness stand in Donald Trump’s criminal trial on Thursday, when she will face further questioning by defense lawyers over her now-sworn claim that she had a sexual encounter with her ex- president.
Daniels testified Tuesday about the 2006 tryst, which Trump has denied. Her testimony apparently angered Trump, prompting the judge to warn Trump’s lawyer that he would not tolerate Trump’s name-calling while Daniels was testifying in Manhattan criminal court in New York City.
“I understand that your client is upset right now, but he is swearing loudly and shaking his head visually, and that is dismissive,” State Judge Juan Merchan told Todd Blanche in a sidebar, which took place out of court view. voice of the majority. from the courtroom, according to a court transcript.
“It has the potential to intimidate the witness and the jury can see that,” he said. “You need to talk to him. I won’t tolerate it.”
Blanche said she would talk to Trump about it.
In addition to the sexual encounter, which Daniels said happened after meeting Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, she told jurors that Trump made a sexual advance in 2007, which she rejected. Four years later, she said, a mystery man warned her to “leave Trump alone” after she gave a magazine interview about their first meeting. Daniels said the article was never published thanks to then-Trump “fixer” and lawyer Michael Cohen.
Cohen later paid Daniels $130,000 to keep silent about her claim, having her sign a non-disclosure agreement during the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump’s reimbursement of that money to Cohen is at the heart of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s criminal case against Trump, who is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records related to the refund. He pleaded not guilty.
Trump lawyer Susan Necheles began her cross-examination of Daniels on Tuesday and asked her if she hated Trump. “Yes,” Daniels responded, acknowledging that she has repeatedly mocked him on social media. She also said Trump mocked her first.
Necheles later suggested that Daniels had invented the sexual encounter and the incident involving the man who threatened to extort Trump.
“You were trying to extort money from President Trump, right?” Necheles said.
“False,” Daniels responded.
Daniels is testifying as the prosecution’s case approaches its final set of witnesses. Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass estimated this week that prosecutors would finish presenting their case by May 21.
Court is not in session on Wednesdays and there are no proceedings on Friday next week, which would mean prosecutors would have about six more days of witness statements to present after Thursday.
While it’s unclear who will testify after Daniels, Cohen is expected to testify at some point.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
