At Trump trial, defense grills Stormy Daniels in her final day on the stand

New York — One of the star witnesses in former President Donald Trump’s trial, adult film actor Stormy Danielscool defiant testimony Thursday in her final day on the stand as the defense accused her of fabricating details of the alleged sexual encounter between her and Trump.

“You’re trying to make me say it changed, but it hasn’t changed,” Daniels said in response to a question from Trump attorney Susan Necheles as Necheles sought to find discrepancies in her story.

Daniels admitted that getting money for her story was important to her, but she remained adamant that “I never asked for money from President Trump.” While she reminded Necheles she was not paid for the bombshell 2018 “60 Minutes” interview, Necheles sought to show that later deals for her book, tours and reality television appearances were the result of that interview.

The $130,000 payment Daniels received from former Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen ahead of the 2016 election is at the heart of the case. Prosecutors are accusing Trump of falsifying business records voting from reimbursements for the payment. His defense attorneys have argued the money was to cover Cohen’s legal fees.

Defense attorney Todd Blanche once again asked for a mistrial, saying Daniels’ testimony went too far. Judge Juan Merchan swiftly denied the request.

Trump has been charged with 34 felony counts in the case. He has not been found guilty of all charges and denies having sex with Daniels.

One of the other expected high-profile witnesses, Karen McDougal, the former Playboy model who received a payout from the parent company of the National Enquirer in exchange for the rights to her story, will no longer be called to testify.

The trial whipsawed from Daniels’ scandalous testimony to Trump Organization junior bookkeeper Rebecca Manochio, who took the stand after her. Manochio confirmed the authenticity of a series of FedEx invoices, denoting envelopes sent from company headquarters to the White House with checks to sign. A former Trump White House aide who was fired in 2019, Madeleine Westerhout, also attended Thursday, speaking about Trump’s signing of checks as well as a 2017 meeting with Cohen.

Here’s how Thursday unfolded: