May 7 (UPI) — Stormy Daniels took the witness stand in Donald Trump‘s hush-money trial on Tuesday.
The prosecution called Daniels to testify about an hour into Tuesday’s proceedings, according to CNN, ABC News and The Hill. Trump is accused of arranging a $130,000 hush-money payment to Daniels, an adult film actress, to cover up an affair he had with her. The payment was meant to keep Daniels from making their alleged affair public while Trump campaigned for the presidency in 2016.
Daniels said she is testifying under a subpoena. She noted that she prefers “Stormy Daniels” to her real name, Stefanie Clifford.
Daniels recounted first meeting Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe. She described the encounter as “brief.”
“He was as old or older than my father,” Daniels said, adding that her father was 60 years old.
Daniels said she was 27 years old at the time.
Daniels testified at some point Trump’s bodyguard Keith Schiller told her that Trump would like to have dinner with her. She said she replied, “[Expletive] no.” Schiller then took her contact information and messaged her on her phone. Her publicist later told her to accept the invitation.
“If nothing else you’ll get a great story,” Daniels said her publicist told her. “He is a business guy. What could possibly go wrong?”
Daniels said she was directed to take a specific elevator up to Trump’s suite at his Harrah’s resort in Atlantic City, N.J., to meet him. When she arrived, she called out to Trump and he came out wearing satin pajamas.
One witness testified before Daniels on Tuesday. Sally Franklin, senior vice president and executive managing editor for publisher Penguin Random House, testified to details in two of Trump’s books: Trump: How to Get Rich and Trump: Think like a Billionaire: Everything You Need to Know About Success, Real Estate, and Life.”
Franklin read several excerpts from the books, many related to how Trump handles his finances.
“No detail is too small to consider. I even try to sign as many checks as possible. For me, there’s nothing worse than a computer signing checks,” Franklin reads from Trump: Think Like A Billionaire. “When you sign a check yourself, you’re seeing what’s really going on inside your business, and if people see your signature at the bottom of the check, they know you’re watching them, and they screw you less because they have proof that you care about the details.”
The book goes on to say Trump would check in with his financial department “periodically” and “always try to read my bills to make sure I’m not being overcharged.” It also advises to always “question invoices.”
“If i didn’t check up on it regularly, I would be in big financial trouble,” the book reads. “And I would have no one to blame but myself.”
Franklin also explained the role of ghostwriters and clarified some portions of the books that would have been written by Trump himself. She said quotes from his parents and his reflections on the advice they gave him would typically be written by him, not a ghostwriter.
Ahead of Tuesday’s proceedings Trump posted on Truth Social about a potential witness but did not name them, according to ABC News. The post has since been deleted.
“I have just recently been told who the witness is today,” Trump wrote. “This is unprecedented, no time for lawyers to prepare.”
Judge Juan Merchan fined Trump last week for nine violations of the gag order against him. Trump is barred from making extrajudicial comments about individuals involved in his trial, including witnesses and jurors. On Monday, Trump was fined for a 10th violation.
Merchan warned that Trump could face jail time if he continues to violate the gag order.
The former president is also accused of leading a “catch and kill” campaign to buy the publishing rights to stories about his affairs with Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal during his presidential campaign.
Trump faces 34 counts related to falsifying business records to hide the hush-money payments. He pleaded not guilty to all counts.
