The woman who said she had a one-night sexual encounter with a man who became president will take the witness stand again on Thursday in a Lower Manhattan courtroom.
The witness, Stormy Daniels, on Tuesday started to tell her account — sometimes nervously, sometimes graphically and often quickly — of a liaison in a Nevada hotel suite with that man, Donald J. Trump. Their meeting set off the yearslong chain of events that has resulted in the first criminal trial of a United States president.
The court session took its weekly Wednesday break with Ms. Daniels about to discuss the $130,000 hush-money deal paid by Mr. Trump’s former fixer, Michael D. Cohen, in the days before the 2016 election. Mr. Trump’s defense team will restart its cross-examination and is expected to take issue with inconsistencies between her account and others she has given in the past and her motivation for going public about it.
The 34 felony counts against Mr. Trump stem from his repayment to Mr. Cohen after he became president, and the recording of the checks as “legal expenses” at the Trump Organization. Prosecutors say it was a deliberate mislabeling meant to conceal the hush-money deal and amount to a falsification of business records.
Prosecutors questioned Ms. Daniels for several hours on Tuesday afternoon, asking her to recall how she met Mr. Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nev., and his invitation for dinner that she said led to sex in his penthouse-floor suite. There is a picture of them together at the tournament.
His defense team began cross-examination in the afternoon, quickly attacking her credibility. They accused her of trying to make money off her story and suggested she was a liar. Mr. Trump, 77, has denied the charges and says he did not have sex with Ms. Daniels, a porn star. If convicted, he could face prison or probation.
Ms. Daniels is expected to be one of last major witnesses for the prosecution. Testimony began more than three weeks ago. Other key players yet to testify include Mr. Cohen.
Here’s what else to know about the trial:
-
Three weeks of testimony: The case against Mr. Trump rests on financial documents and how they were recorded at the Trump Organization. Interspersed among dry testimony about records have been witnesses who discussed sex, scandal and hush deals. Read the highlights of the past weeks here.
-
The Daniels-Trump timeline: They met in July 2006, but the lives of Ms. Daniels and Mr. Trump intersected over the next decade and beyond. Read a timeline of their relationship here.
-
Members of the public: Like all trials, the case against Mr. Trump in the Criminal Courts Building in Manhattan is open to the public. Those who attended on Tuesday said it was riveting to view. Read more about what they saw in court.