Donald Trump’s lawyers accused porn actor Stormy Daniels of “shilling” merchandise off the former president’s indictment and “bragging” about landing him in legal trouble, as they sought to destroy the star witness’s credibility at the resumption of his Manhattan “hush money” trial.
The 45-year-old, whose alleged sexual encounter with Trump is at the heart of the criminal case, was subjected to a barrage of hostile questions from defence counsel Susan Necheles on Thursday. She was presented with a series of social media posts in which she celebrated the various charges brought against the presumptive Republican nominee.
Necheles introduced a recording in which Daniels’ then-lawyer, who was negotiating the $130,000 paid to silence her in the run-up to the 2016 election, claimed she “wanted this money more than you can even imagine”. The defence lawyer also brought up how Daniels had made more than a million dollars by telling her tale, in books and documentaries.