Stephanie Clifford, better known by her stage name Stormy Daniels, takes the witness stand in former President Donald Trump’s “hush money” trial in New York on May 7.
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Trump: ‘This Was a Big Day’
President Trump told reporters it was a big day after court adjourned.
“This was a very big day, a very revealing day as you can see their case is totally falling apart,” he said.
“They have nothing on books and records and even something that should bear very little relationship to the case—it was just a disaster for the DA,” he said. “It’s a disaster.”
“This was a very revealing day in court,” he said, referencing several legal commentators. “There’s some incredible people out there writing about the trial.”
Clifford Unsure of Story Worth in 2011
After a break, the defense continued cross-examining Ms. Clifford.
Ms. Necheles asked Ms. Clifford to clarify whether she was saying the sex allegations were untrue or criticizing the behavior of the gossip rags with her comment about an online story that was taken down.
“I never spoke to thedirty.com,” Ms. Clifford said, referring to the blog that published a story in 2011.
Ms. Clifford said she had legal advice in 2016 to come forward with her story, coinciding with the election.
Ms. Necheles asked, “your story wasn’t worth much in 2011 was it?”
Ms. Clifford said she doesn’t know how much it was worth then.
“I was terrified, I just had to change my tactic because it was a new ball game. There’s a big difference between someone running for president and someone threatening me in a parking lot.”
Ms. Necheles sought to point out inconsistencies in Ms. Cliffords actions, public statements, and testimony today regarding her wish to sell her story or keep quiet about it, implying opportunism on Ms. Clifford’s part.
Defense Questions Clifford-Cohen Relationship
“At the time you hated Michael Cohen?” Ms. Necheles asked.
“Absolutely,” Ms. Clifford said.
“But now you and Michael Cohen are buddies,” Ms. Necheles asked.
“I wouldn’t say we are buddies,” Ms. Clifford said.
Defense attorneys have argued that the key witnesses, Ms. Clifford and Mr. Cohen, have a financial interest in the case against President Trump. Ms. Necheles asked as much directly, and the judge sustained the government’s objection.
Ms. Necheles asked if the parking lot story was made up.
Defense Attorney Cast Doubt on Clifford’s Timeline
Ms. Necheles said that Ms. Clifford argued she had not told her story as it related to Mr. Trump because of fear, citing the 2011 parking lot incident, and said it was different from what she was now claiming.
“As I said in the book, I told no one about it the day that it happened,” Ms. Clifford said. “I kept all of it secret from my husband.”
“Your daughter’s life was in jeopardy and you did not tell her father?” Ms. Necheles asked.
“Right,” Ms. Clifford said.
“The reason you did not tell the world until 2018 … you use this supposed threat as an excuse to tell people ‘this is why I didn’t talk publicly, I was afraid,” Ms. Necheles said.
Ms. Clifford said she had talked about the Trump encounter “publicly on a speakerphone multiple times, in an interview on a radio show in 2007, I told the story.”
“That’s what you claim now,” Ms. Necheles said. “In 2018, when you went on TV with Anderson Cooper, you said ‘I never told this story publicly before because I was threatened.'”
“Correct,” Ms. Clifford said.
Clifford Says She Had Article Taken Down ‘Because I Was Afraid’
Ms. Clifford confirmed that she had her attorney, Mr. Davidson, take down an article on a blog that claimed she had sex with Mr. Trump.
“And you denied having sex with Donald Trump,” Ms. Necheles said.
“Right, because I was afraid,” Ms. Clifford said. She said this was timed close to when she had been threatened in a parking lot in 2011.
Ms. Necheles asked if what Ms. Clifford said to interviewers depended on what they were paying.
“False. I did 60 Minutes with Anderson Cooper, and they gave me zero,” Ms. Clifford said.
Ms. Necheles questioned Ms. Clifford about the parking lot incident. Ms. Clifford said this was before going to an exercise class, and she had not told anybody about it before she wrote about it in her book.
Ms. Necheles asked about Ms. Clifford’s instructor and the class, and Ms. Clifford said she did not attend the class.
“You wrote you went and did the class,” Ms. Necheles said.
“It was incorrect,” Ms. Clifford said. “There was no way I could have done the class.”
Clifford Testifies About Selling Trump Story
Ms. Clifford affirmed that her manager helped on several occasions to try to sell the story about Mr. Trump, including a 2011 interview.
In Ms. Clifford’s book, she gives an abbreviated version of the encounter. Ms. Necheles asked if she was pressed to give a version of the story that focused on the sex.
“I did not tell her all the sex details, I did not trust her, and she wanted to accuse him of forced, basically rape, and I did not want to do that,” Ms. Clifford said.
In the book, Ms. Clifford wrote the interviewer told her she couldn’t do anything else for her if there was nothing else to the story.
“And you learned from that, did you not, that a story about Donald Trump that does not include sex will make you no money,” Ms. Necheles asked.
“No. Although that does seem to be the case,” Ms. Clifford said.
Clifford Says She’s Made and Lost Money From Trump Story
Ms. Necheles asked Ms. Cilfford about refusal to pay some $600,000 in legal fees owed to President Trump as ordered by a court and her refusal to fill in financial information on disclosure reports, then pointed to a tweet wherein she said Ms. Clifford said she paid off her ranch home.
“Made a million dollars in a book deal … I just paid for my new ranch,” the December 2022 post read.
“I pay rent on a ranch,” Ms. Clifford said.
“And isn’t it true that you hope Donald Trump will be convicted so that you won’t have to pay the money you owe him?” Ms. Necheles said.
“I hope I don’t have to pay him no matter what happens,” Ms. Clifford said.
“You’ve been making money by claiming to have sex with Donald Trump for more than a decade, right?” Ms. Necheles asked.
“I’ve made money by telling my story,” she said.
“And that story has made you a lot of money right?” Ms. Necheles asked.
“It has also cost me money,” Ms. Clifford said.
Clifford Says She Chose Not to Pay Trump’s Legal Fees After Losing Defamation Case
Ms. Clifford affirmed that she had appealed the defamation case, and lost on appeal and was ordered to pay additional legal fees. Ms. Clifford had just earlier told Ms. Hoffinger she didn’t pay because she “didn’t have the means” and also “didn’t think it was fair.”
Those awards added up to over $660,000 in attorneys fees and interest Ms. Clifford would need to pay to President Trump, Ms. Necheles said.
Ms. Clifford affirmed she has not paid any of this.
“In fact, you have not taken one penny out of your pocket to pay? Ms. Necheles asked. “Because you’ve chosen to disobey the court order.”
“I choose not to make a payment while it’s still pending, yes,” Ms. Clifford said.
Attorneys showed Ms. Clifford’s March 21, 2022, tweet that reads: “I will go to jail before I pay a penny.”
Ms. Clifford interjected, “That is me saying I will not pay for telling the truth.”
Ms. Necheles asked the court to ask the witness to only answer when asked a question.
“So even though there’s three court orders ordering you to pay President Trump, you are not going to do that, right?” Ms. Necheles asked.
“I don’t know,” Ms. Clifford said.
Attorneys showed another tweet wherein Ms. Clifford said “I don’t owe him” and mocked his appearance.
“And that’s you making fun of how he looks,” Ms. Necheles said.
“Yes,” Ms. Clifford said.
“You despise him and you make fun of how he looks,” Ms. Necheles contined.
“Because he made fun of me first,” Ms. Clifford said.
Ms. Clifford testified that she was aware that President Trump has filed a case in Florida over the money she was ordered to pay him.
She affirmed she gave an interview saying she would not fill out a form required of debtors, to disclose her assets under penalty or perjury. She affirmed that she did not fill out the form, leaving blank spousal income and bank accounts.
Clifford Affirms She Hates Trump, Would See Him Jailed if Guilty
“Am I correct that you hate President Trump?” Ms. Necheles asked.
“Yes,” Ms. Clifford said.
“And you want him to go to jail,” Ms. Necheles asked.
“If he’s found guilty, absolutely,” Ms. Clifford said.
Ms. Necheles showed the witness a social media post in which she said “I won’t walk, I’ll dance down the street” in response to another’s post about President Trump being “selected” to go to jail.
Clifford Cross-Examined
Ms. Necheles asked Ms. Clifford if she had met with prosecutors a number of times, and if she rehearsed her testimony.
“No,” Ms. Clifford said to both questions.
“Well, according to you, you met with prosecutors who subjected you to several grueling practice sessions which included brutal cross-examinations,” Ms. Necheles said, and Ms. Clifford backtracked.
“True,” she said. “It was to have as much information as possible.”
Clifford Testifies About ‘Stormy’ Documentary
Prosecutors are asking about the various outlets where Ms. Clifford as told her story as it relates to Donald Trump, to elicit testimony that her livelihood is not tied to the present case.
Ms. Clifford said she appeared on Mr. Cohen’s podcast in January 2022 because Mr. Cohen wanted to add to and comment on the case against Mr. Avenatti. She said the “Stormy” documentary she appears in is “same as the book, it was generally about my life.”
Ms. Clifford confirmed she was paid $120,000 for licensing rights to the material in her book in the documentary, but she was not paid to appear in the documentary.
“Yes, to get the truth out, same as the book, to have an updated account,” she said.
Prosecutors showed President Trump’s social media posts in response to the indictment.
Clifford Wanted ‘To Get My Story Out’
Ms. Clifford had hired Michael Avenatti to get out of the non-disclosure agreement, and then went on 60 Minutes to do an interview with Anderson Cooper.
“To get my story out,” she said.
She said she also published a book, “Full Disclosure,” which spans through June 2018 of her life.
“And did you include some descriptions about what happened with Mr. Trump?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Yes,” Ms. Clifford said. “Not every detail, no.”
In April 2018, Ms. Clifford, represented by Mr. Avenatti, also filed a defamation lawsuit against President Trump, which they lost. President Trump was awarded over half a million in legal fees.
“It just seemed really risky, and it didn’t seem like something that could be won, like a bad choice, not worth it, I guess,” she said.
Ms. Clifford said she fired Mr. Avenatti, and later he was found guilty of stealing from clients. He has since been disbarred and is in prison.
Clifford Testifies About Kimmel Appearance
Ms. Clifford confirmed that Mr. Cohen had asked her to go on Hannity and she declined. “I didn’t want to,” she said.
She said she did appear on Jimmy Kimmel, which her manager Gina Rodriguez set up.
“I was not to discuss the relationship or NDA, it was to give an example of how I could do things but not break the NDA,” she said.
Ms. Clifford testified that she initially said no to signing the denial statement.
“How did you sign it?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“I signed it Stormy Daniels but I signed it not how my Stormy Daniels looks any way I have ever written it. As a tipoff to Jimmy Kimmel that I didn’t sign it willingly,” she said.
“And this statement is false?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Yes,” Ms. Clifford said.
She confirmed that in February 2018 there was a temporary restraining order filed either by Mr. Cohen or attorneys representing him.
“It was to keep me from speaking, or I would be held accountable for the million dollars in the NDA, per episode,” she said.
She said she hired another attorney to try to get out of the agreement “so that I could stand up for myself.”
Clifford Says Denial Statement ‘Not True’
Ms. Clifford in 2018 issued a statement denying the story of a relationship, which Mr. Davidson previously testified about.
“Why did you not want to sign it initially?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Because it was not true, and I was told that to say anything at all, anything, was a violation of the NDA,” she said.
Clifford Returns to Witness Stand
Ms. Clifford returned to the witness stand. Testimony is picking up about the contract she and Mr. Cohen signed.
She read an email Mr. Davidson sent to Mr. Cohen on her behalf saying that she will cancel the agreement if the funds are not received.
In another follow-up email on Oct. 17, 2016, he wrote “Please be advised that my client deems her Settlement Agreement cancelled and void ab initio.”
Mr. Davidson wrote in that same email that he will not be representing Ms. Clifford anymore.
On Oct. 18, 2016, Ms. Clifford was given a new non-disclosure agreement to sign, and she signed as Stephanie Clifford.
She confirmed she took approximately $96,000 after fees paid to her attorney and manager.
Ms. Clifford said when she learned the Wall Street Journal was running an article on the agreement, she did not comment, pursuant to the non-disclosure agreement
Judge Denies Motion for Mistrial
Justice Merchan said he agreed with Mr. Blanche that “there were things better left unsaid” but ultimately denied the motion for a mistrial.
“I think the witness was a little difficult to control,” Justice Merchan said. “I do not dismiss what you’re saying, I do believe there were things better left unsaid. Having said that, I do not believe that we’re at the point where a mistrial is called for.”
The judge said he was surprised the defense did not raise more objections during the testimony, and he pointed out that at one point he interjected himself.
“The court has done everything that I can possibly do to protect both sides and ensure fairness, and again, I objected on my own,” Justice Merchan said.
Ms. Necheles argued they had tried to move for a blanket objection to the level of detail before the testimony, and the judge said that was too general.
“I didn’t agree with everything that you requested but I did agree with some things that you asked,” he said.
The judge said these issues could be remedied during cross-examination.
“I don’t believe that we’ve reached a point where a mistrial is in order. I believe that we have the remedy of cross-examination. As I’ve said before, the more times a story has changed, the more power of cross-examination you have. So I’m going to deny the motion,” he said.
Ms. Hoffinger stepped out to give Ms. Clifford additional instruction.
Ms. Clifford has been speaking extremely fast and inserting unasked-for details.
Prosecutors Defend Clifford’s Testimony
Prosecutors argued none of this was new information, and that the defense had opened the door to testimony about the threatening event 2011 because they questioned her attorney Keith Davidson about 2011.
“It was incumbent upon us to bring out those details in our direct, both when they attacked it in Keith Davidson’s testimony and in the opening,” Ms. Hoffinger argued. “We are mindful about eliciting too much testimony. We did it initially until your honor’s instruction.”
“They opened the door to 2011,” she said. “Your honor, this goes directly to her credibility, which they attacked, and I’m sure will continue to attack.
She argued there was no basis for a mistrial.
Mr. Blanche argued that the evidence was offered as facts presented to Mr. Cohen and Mr. Davidson, but what came in instead was prejudicial testimony.
“It’s the type of testimony that is so prejudicial that you run the risk of the jury not being able to focus on the evidence that does matter,” he said.
Trump Attorneys Argue Testimony Went Beyond Business Record Issues
In arguing for a mistrial, Mr. Blanche said prosecutors elicited testimony of other encounters that should not have been admitted.
“There was testimony about a second encounter, and that shouldn’t even have been elicited. She testified there were communications with President Trump afterward and about not feeling safe. She then repeatedly testified about subsequent meetings with President Trump, and specified that they were in a public place,” he said. ” What’s the jury to do with that, your honor? It’s extremely prejudicial to insert safety concerns into a trial about business records.”
“Up until 2016, when she was peddling this story, she talked about a consensual encounter with President Trump. And that’s not the story we heard today,” Mr. Blanche said.
“And the reason that matters, of course we’re going to cross examine her about how her story changed, but it’s so prejudicial in a case about an NDA and whether the false records were placed on the defendant’s books in 2016,” he said.
Trump Attorneys Move for Mistrial
After the lunch break, defense attorneys moved for a mistrial.
“We move for a mistrial based on the testimony this morning, your honor. What’s clear is that the court set guardrails for this testimony, and those guardrails were thrown aside,” Mr. Blanche said.
Mr. Blanche said the testimony given by Ms. Clifford “was so unduly prejudicial” to President Trump they could not move forward with the same jury.
“The testimony this morning was way different from what we heard in 2016,” Mr. Blanche said.
“There was testimony today about being blacked out, about not wearing a condom, the height of the two individuals, things like ths spacing in the room and the fact there was a bodyguard outside the room, and she testified, ‘Do you want out of this trailerpark?’” Mr. Blanche argued. “The only reason for that testimony was to embarrass the defendant and inflame this jury.”
Clifford Testifies About Deal With Cohen
Ms. Clifford affirmed the contract with Mr. Cohen was signed on Oct. 10, 2016. She said she signed as Peggy Peterson as she was instructed not to put her real name on the agreement.
Payment was supposed to come through on Oct. 14, 2026, but they did not receive the $130,000 as agreed. She said Mr. Cohen kept making excuses as to why it was late.
The court took a break.
Clifford Testifies About NDA
Ms. Clifford said she was going to be paid $30,000 for her story.
“Did you negotiate the deal at the time? Why didn’t you ask for more money?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Because I didn’t care about the money. It was the best I’d ever been, I’d gone from directing five movies to 10, and I’d moved out of California which was really good because it was expensive,” she said.
“Who did you understand was the beneficiary of the NDA [non-disclosure agreement]?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Donald Trump,” Ms. Clifford said.
“And who did you understand was representing him at the time?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Michael Cohen,” Ms. Clifford said.
Clifford Testifies About 2011 Story
Prosecutors asked Ms. Clifford if she moved on, and what her life was like.
“It was pretty awesome,” she said. Ms. Clifford said she appeared in the movie Knocked Up, got married, had her daughter, and became a world-ranked equestrian.
In 2011, she agreed to be interviewed by InTouch magazine.
She said a former colleague reached out to tell her someone sold a story about her to a magazine “and I freaked out.”
“I did need money at the time,” Ms. Clifford said. “She said you can let somebody make money off of you, or just make sure that’s accurate. Someone else could basically exploit you to make money from it, and who knows what they’ll say.”
“Id’ rather make money than have someone make money off of me, and at least I could control the narrative,” she said.
Ms. Clifford said it was a gossip magazine, and she did a phone interview that lasted 10 to 20 minutes.
“Did you discuss all the details of what happened in the hotel room?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“No, I tried to keep it fairly light-hearted,” she said.
She testified about an event where she was threatened by a man in a parking lot to not continue to tell her story. She said she was with her infant daughter at the time, and did not tell the police afterward because she was scared.
Clifford Went to Trump Tower Meeting
Ms. Clifford affirmed that she went to Trump Tower.
“I was greeted. They were expecting me. And I went up to his office to greet him, my assistant and I, she was with me,” she said.
“It was very brief, he was very busy, he had another meeting coming in, it was very, very sort of rushed,” she said. She said he gave her and her assistant tickets to a pageant and they took selfies.
“He said I don’t have a lot of time, I just wanted you to stop by and say hi,” she said.
She affirmed she spoke with Mr. Trump a few more times after that.
“He would call from Keith’s number, or Rhona’s number,” she said.
Ms. Clifford said Mr. Trump called and “said he had almost all the final information sorted out for the show, and would I meet him again for dinner, at the Bungalow.”
She said she was then dating her former publicist, and he drove her there in her car. She said she had not told her boyfriend about the sexual encounter “because I was ashamed.” He stayed in the car during the dinner meeting.”
Ms. Clifford said Mr. Trump was busy during this dinner, “he was on the phone, he was watching TV, I was what are we having for dinner, he was watching a documentary.”
She said he “kept trying to make sexual advances” and she “told him I was on my period.”
Ms. Clifford said Mr. Trump did not tell her to keep the meeting confidential.
“Did he appear to be concerned about anybody seeing you at the Bungalow?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Absolutely not,” Ms. Clifford said.
He had told her she wouldn’t be on the show.
“He told me he could not get me on the show, his overrule had been overruled by somebody,” she said. “He thought I was going to be mad, I didn’t care.”
“I think he did call a couple more times but I couldn’t be sure because it was a blocked number or a New York number,” she said.
Clifford Says They Kept in Touch
Ms. Clifford said that she was given the phone number of Rhona Graff, Mr. Trump’s executive assistant.
“I know it was late summer of 2006,” she said.
She said Mr. Trump reached out to invite her to the launch of the Trump vodka brand and she attended.
“I wanted to maintain that relationship, because the chance to be on The Apprentice was up in the air, and it was a public place,” she said.
Justice Merchan asked Ms. Clifford to keep her answers direct a second time.
“He leaned over, gave me a kiss, shook my hand, there was hundreds of people there,” she said.
“Did he appear to be concerned about meeting you there?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“No,” Ms. Clifford said.
Ms. Hoffinger asked if Ms. Clifford knew who Karen McDougal was at the time and she said she did not.
Ms. Clifford said she was at the event between an hour and a half and two hours, and that Mr. Trump did ask to see her again.
“Yes. Every time I came over he asked me if I would come over and see him. My friend and Ilied to him and said we were flying out of LAX that night,” she said. “He said if I was ever in New York I should stop by and meet him, we could see Trump Tower and talk about the show.”
Clifford: ‘I Told Lots and Lots of People’
Ms. Clifford said she also met with Mr. Trump the next day, at the bar downstairs in her hotel.
“They had an auction, cocktail hour,” she said. She said she had been invited by Mr. Trump’s bodyguard again, and said yes because it was a public meeting and he was with a friend.
“He introduced me as his little friend Stormy to Big Ben,” she said. “Football player … Ben let me try on his Super Bowl ring.”
Ms. Clifford said she “told lots and lots of people that I had gone to his room and I had met him.”
“It wasn’t a secret at all,” she said. She said she had an assistant she told over the speakerphone and “dozens and dozens and dozens of people heard me on the phone with him, it was not a secret.”
She said she also told her publicist about The Apprentice idea.
Justice Merchan interrupted. “Ms. Daniels, just listen to the question, and answer the question, OK?”
Judge Sustains Defense Objections to Level of Detail
Ms. Clifford said “there was an imbalance of power, for sure, he was bigger and blocking the way, but I was not threatened verbally or physically.”
“Did you end up having sex on the bed?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“The next thing I know, I was on the bed, somehow on the opposite side of the bed from where we had been standing,” Ms. Clifford said, starting to get into detail about their positions. The defense objected and the judge sustained.
“Do you remember how your clothes got off?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“No,” Ms. Clifford said.
The judge sustained another objection.
“Did you end up having sex with him on the bed?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Yes,” Ms. Clifford said.
“What, if anything, do you remember in addition?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Staring at the ceiling, I didn’t know how I got there,” Ms. Clifford said.
“Did you touch his skin?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“Yes,” Ms. Clifford said.
The judge sustained another objection.
Ms. Clifford said she did not say anything at all and then “just left as fast as I could, and that was it.”
“He said we were fantastic together and we should get you on the show,” Ms. Clifford said.
“Did he ask you to keep the encounter confidential?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“No,” Ms. Clifford said.
“Did he express any concern about his wife finding out?” Ms. Hoffinger asked.
“No,” Ms. Clifford said.
“I told very few people that we actually had sex, because I felt ashamed I didn’t stop it or say no. And people would tell jokes about it, they would assume I was a prostitute,” she said.
President Trump whispered to his attorney Emil Bove as other attorneys conferred with the judge.
Judge Tells Prosecutors to Move Testimony Along
Justice Merchan told Ms. Hoffinger the level of detail in Ms. Clifford’s testimony was not necessary.
“Let’s move it along quickly,” he said.
Ms. Clifford gave detailed description of the suite and master bathroom, where she said she looked through a toiletry bag on the bathroom counter and tried to call a friend only to have it go to voicemail.
“When I came out of the bathroom … that was actually when I realized how long I had been there,” Ms. Clifford said. She said that when she opened the door she saw Mr. Trump was on the bed in boxer shorts and a T-shirt.
“At first I was just startled, jump scare, wasn’t expecting him to be there, especially minus a lot of clothing,” she said. “It felt like the room spun in slow motion and I felt blood leave my hands and feet like when you stand up too fast, and I thought Oh my God what did I misread to end up here.”
Ms. Clifford said she tried to step around the bed and leave and “tried to make a joke out of it, I guess.” She said Mr. Trump stood up when she did so.
“He stood between me and the door, not in a threatening manner, and he said, I thought we were getting somewhere, talking, I thought you were serious about what you wanted, if you wanted to get out of that trailer park, and I was offended because I never lived in a trailer park,” she said. “I was not drugged, I was not drunk, I’ve never said anything of that sort.”
Prosecutors asked Ms. Clifford to slow down.
Clifford Discusses Apprentice Pitch
Ms. Clifford said they discussed a wide range of things, and it seemed like “he wanted to one-up me, to talk about himself,” and not letting her finish answering questions he asked.
“At this point I’d had enough of his arrogance and cutting me off and still not getting my dinner and I said, are you always this rude? Someone should spank you,” she said. “He gave me the look that he dared me to do it, so now I kind of had to, so he gave it to me and he turned around and I swatted him, right on the buttock. And then he was much more polite. We talked about Scotland, he had an interest there, we talked about travel, there was nothing weird about the conversation except it was thought-out answers.”
Ms. Clifford said that Mr. Trump then got quiet and thought a bit and then told him he had an idea that she should go on his show The Apprentice.
“I said there’s no way they would let an adult actress on TV, even you don’t have that much power,” she said.
“He said he did, and the way he framed it actually did make perfect sense, because it’s all about PR things, the spin,” she said. “You can go on this show and prove you’re not just a dumb bimbo, you’re more than people think, and he can get credit for having this crazy idea.”
“He’s right, people underestimate women, especially with blonde hair and boobs, and I am a good writer, but I said … there’s no way I can win, and he said you don’t have to win, you just have to show who you are,” Ms. Clifford said.
Ms. Clifford said she had no mainstream writing or directing credits at that point and she wanted to do it.
“They have bigger budgets and better catering,” she added.
“Did you sense any red flags or reason you were concerned about being there?” prosecutors asked.
“No,” Ms. Clifford said.
The court took a break.
Clifford Testifies About Dinner With Trump
Ms. Clifford described a round, foyer-like entryway that was “super fancy.” “Black and white tile floors, big wooden table, heavy mahogany or something,” she said. “There was a flower arrangement, it was very very nice.”
Ms. Clifford said Mr. Trump appeared wearing “silk or satin PJs that I immediately made fun of him for.”
She said she compared him to Hugh Heffner and “told him to go change, so he obliged very politely,” reappearing in a dress shirt and dress pants.
She said the foyer itself was “bigger than the living room in my first three houses,” and there was a separate room where they took dinner.
“At the table, the table with the chairs where you would have dinner, he was sitting across from me with his back against the wall, with the buffet behind him, and I was sitting directly across from him with the living room, bar area behind him,” she said. “I do remember it wasn’t even dark outside yet.”
She said they discussed pleasantries, family, education, and work.
“He asked how I got involved in the adult entertainment business, I told him that story, he was very interested in how I segued from just being a porn star to writing and directing,” she said. She discussed scripts, budgets, and “he was interested in a lot of the business aspects, which I thought was cool.”
“Do you have a union, how do you get paid, do you get residuals, do you have health insurance, how do you get tested, do you have a doctor on staff,” she said.
Ms. Clifford is a fast talker, and the judge asked her to slow down.
Clifford Said Dinner With Trump ‘Will Make a Great Story’
Ms. Clifford said she had talked to Mr. Trump briefly and let him know which film she had directed.
“Talked very briefly. Then I saw him talking to another gentleman who was with him, ant then he came back and asked, Mr. Trump would like to know would I like to have dinner with him,” she said.
She said it was his bodyguard.
“It was Keith,” she said. “He actually took my number, he asked for my number and I gave him my number, and he messaged me until I saved it.”
She said she saved it as “Keith Trump” in her contacts because she didn’t know his last name.
Ms. Clifford said she was actually scheduled to attend a company dinner but she hadn’t wanted to go.
“What better excuse than to go to dinner with Donald Trump? It will make a great story, he’s a business guy, what could possibly go wrong?” she said. “At the very least, he probably has some interesting advice, and at best, he could probably get you an agent or something like that.”
She said the bodyguard had given her specific instructions to take an elevator to the penthouse floor, and when she arrived the door was open and he was standing to the side.
“And he said, you look nice, go on in,” she said. “I didn’t have any expectations.”
Prosecutors Show Photo Not Admitted Into Evidence, Take It Down
Ms. Clifford said every celebrity that came through had photos taken with the girls there that day.
Prosecutors showed a photo of Mr. Trump in a yellow, polo-style shirt on the golf course. Prosecuting attorneys then apologized because the photo is not officially in evidence yet, and took it down.
Clifford Testifies About Meeting Trump
Ms. Clifford affirmed that she was working at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe in July 2006, where she met Mr. Trump.
“Yes, I was still in contract with Wicked Pictures, so we, Wicked, sponsored one of the holes on the golf course, very funny,” she said. “That’s very common at one of these events.”
“It was myself, the owner, a couple of the staff, and the players would come around, you would stay at your hole, you would give them water and towels,” she said.
She said meeting Mr. Trump “was a very brief encounter.”
“The players were playing so they came through very quickly. They came through, take their shots, and introduce myself and the other contract girls not just to Donald Trump but to every player that came through,” she said. “It wasn’t very much, the owner of the company was like, this is my contract girl … and this is my director star Stormy Daniels, and that’s when they took notice, ‘oh you direct, you must be very smart.'”
“I knew Donald Trump had done some TV, Celebrity Apprentice, and he had done some reality TV,” she said. Ms. Clifford said she was 27 at the time and didn’t know how old Donald Trump was “but I knew he was probably as old or older than my father.”
Clifford Says She Was ‘Reluctant’ to Talk About Trump Story
Ms. Clifford said she was part of a podcast called Beyond the Norm, and had discussed President Trump, and she was also fired from the show.
“I was reluctant to continue talking about just that one narrative, about this case and about politics,” she said. “It just kept going down this one subject.”
She confirmed she also explored running for the Republican Senate primary in Louisiana in 2009.
Stormy Daniels Testifies
Stephanie Clifford, better known by her stage name Stormy Daniels, took the witness stand in all black, sunglasses perched on her upper forehead.
“What name do you prefer?” attorneys asked her.
“Stormy Daniels.”
Earlier this morning, prosecutors emphasized the need to establish Ms. Clifford’s credibility. She began by outlining her upbringing, and academic and extracurricular achievements.
She said a friend of hers had invited her to become a dancer. “I thought she meant the same kind of dancing that I did, which was ballet, I was wrong. She was an exotic dancer,” Ms. Clifford said. Around 17, she began working there as well, when she realized how much more money she could make compared to her other part time jobs.
“I was working at the club and we would have, like, guest stars. They come in and headline the club, they breathe fire or do aerial stunts, they’re the star of the show,” she said. “I want to do that. But you have to have some sort of credit, and the way to do that is pose for magazines or do adult movies.”
She began to do magazines, but “the people who make most worked for adult films,” she said. “Never had any sort of issue with nudity or sex or adult films.”
Ms. Clifford said she was cast as a clothed extra in the background of a film and the director mistook her for another actress, and then asked her to be in the movie.
“Just do it once and say ‘done it,’ and it would bump you up in a pay grade,” she said. She was 23 at the time. She said she became a director, and directed some 150 adult films, and had appeared in other feature films like “The 40 Year Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up.”
Publisher Cross-Examined
Mr. Blanche asked whether Ms. McIver was a ghostwriter, whether she interviewed Mr. Trump to write the book, or consulted with him in other ways.
“I know that Donald Trump was the author of the book, I’m not sure exactly specifically how she contributed,” Ms. Franklin answered.
In response, prosecutors asked whether ghostwriters “ever write entire books without the author’s knowledge.”
“No,” Ms. Franklin said.
Publisher Testifies About Trump Books
Next on the witness stand was Sally Franklin, senior vice president and managing editor for Random House Publishing Group.
She confirmed they published “Trump: How to Get Rich” and “Trump: Think Like a Billionaire” about 20 years ago. The books were written by Mr. Trump and Meredith McIver, with Mr. Trump as the primary author, she said.
“What’s the largest word on the cover?” prosecuting attorneys asked.
“Trump,” Ms. Franklin said.
“And what percentage of the cover is ‘Trump’?”
“Looks about 30 percent,” she said.
Ms. Franklin was asked to read some experts from the book, including: “If you don’t know every aspect of what you’re doing, down to the paper clips, you’re setting yourself up for some unwelcome surprises,” and “Sometimes You Still Have to Screw Them. For many years, I’ve said that if someone screws you, screw them back.”
“All the women on The Apprentice flirted with me, consciously or unconsciously. That’s to be expected. A sexual dynamic is always present between people, unless you are asexual,” read another quote.
Attorneys Argue Over Stormy Daniels Testifying About ‘Sexual Acts’
Defense attorney Susan Necheles renewed the defense’s objection to Stephanie Clifford, better known by her stage name Stormy Daniels, “testifying about anything having to do with details of sexual acts.”
“When you say details of a sexual act, you mean more than ‘we had sex’?” Justice Merchan asked. The defense said yes.
Prosecuting attorney Susan Hoffinger pushed back, arguing it was important to establish Ms. Clifford’s credibility.
“The general details including her sex act are a significant part of the story for us in terms of her credibility,” Ms. Hoffinger said.
“The details will be how she ended up having a sexual encounter with him,” Ms. Hoffinger said. “Obviously we will elicit testimony about what occurred in a hotel room … it will be very basic, it’s not going to involve descriptions of genitalia or anything of that nature but it’s important for us to elicit testimony about her sexual act and how she felt about it.”
Justice Merchan said that was permissible.
Trump: ‘There’s No Smoking Gun’
President Trump said the trial was very “unfair” before entering the court room, referencing on legal commentary about the case that has been published on various media outlets.
“Some of the statements made about this which are on CNN, fake news CNN, Michael Moore, said the proof of falsifying records has not been accomplished. On Good Morning America, they said we heard that expense payments to lawyers are legal expenses. You pay a lawyer expense payments,” he said, echoing comments he made during another courthouse appearance that prosecutors had flagged as a gag order violation, though the judge ruled it was not.
“We didn’t put it down as construction costs. The purchase of sheetrock, the electrical costs, the legal expense that we paid was put down as legal expense. There’s nothing else you could say. You don’t have to put down anything I guess. But we put down a legal expense,” President Trump said.
Todd Blanche, standing beside President Trump, assured reporters that was within the limits of the gag order.
“Everyone is saying oh, that’s the fraud, that’s what they’re trying to get us on, the fact that we called the legal expense a legal expense, they marked it down in the books, the check was signed,” President Trump added. “Everybody saw that there was nothing hidden at all. That’s what they’re all writing now.
“There is no smoking gun,” he said.
From The Epoch Times
