Stormy Daniels Wants To Testify At Trump’s Trial

Topline

Adult film actress Stormy Daniels is eager to testify when former President Donald Trump faces trial on charges stemming from hush money payments made to her during the 2016 election, she told Piers Morgan in an interview airing Thursday, saying she believes being called to testify “legitimizes my story.”

Key Facts

Daniels said testifying at Trump’s trial would be “daunting, but I look forward to it,” saying she has “nothing to hide, I’m the only one that has been telling the truth.”

Prosecutors not bringing her as a witness “paints the picture that they know something about me that makes me not trustworthy or not reliable,” Daniels told Morgan, in an excerpt of an interview set to air in full Thursday night.

Ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in the lead up to the 2016 election to cover up an alleged affair she had with Trump in 2006, which was allegedly at Trump’s direction.

Trump then allegedly reimbursed Cohen for the payments, but disguised those payments as legal expenses, which forms the basis of the criminal charges he’s been indicted for.

Daniels spoke with prosecutors at the Manhattan district attorney’s office prior to Trump being indicted and has reportedly turned over communications to the DA’s office involving Trump’s attorney, but did not testify before the grand jury.

Crucial Quote

“I think having them call me in and put me on the stand legitimizes my story and who I am, and if they don’t it almost feels like they’re hiding me,” Daniels said, adding that “people automatically assume I would” testify, but if she’s not called she believes the public would assume, “Oh, she must not be a good witness, she’s not credible.”

What To Watch For

Trump’s case is likely to go to trial early next year, with prosecutors asking the court Tuesday for a January 2024 trial while Trump’s legal team pushed for a date in the spring.

Tangent

While Trump has faced consequences for his payments involving Daniels through the criminal charges, he did prevail in a defamation case the adult film actress brought against him. That case was dismissed in 2018, and courts have subsequently ordered Daniels to pay Trump’s attorneys fees in the case, most recently ruling this week Daniels must pay $121,972 to the former president.

Key Background

Trump was indicted last week and arraigned Tuesday on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, stemming from his reimbursement of the payment to Daniels, to which he has pleaded not guilty. The $130,000 to Daniels was part of a broader effort by Trump and his allies to kill unflattering stories about him ahead of the 2016 election, prosecutors allege, also referencing two other “hush money” schemes involving a $150,000 payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, also to cover up an alleged affair, and a former Trump Tower doorman who wanted to go public with an—ultimately false—story about Trump having a child out of wedlock. Trump has denied the charges against him and that he had an affair with Daniels. The adult film actress, who published a tell-all memoir in 2018 about her experiences with Trump, received death threats in the lead-up to Trump’s indictment, her husband told Vogue.

Further Reading

Stormy Daniels Said She’s Received Death Threats In Lead-Up To Trump Indictment (Forbes)

What To Know About The Three Hush-Money Scandals In Trump’s Indictment (Forbes)

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2023/04/06/stormy-daniels-wants-to-testify-at-trumps-trial/