What happened:

  • Stormy Daniels, a porn actress, testified in court against former US President Donald Trump, providing details about their alleged 2006 sexual encounter and the subsequent hush money payment that forms the basis of the prosecution’s case.
  • Daniels’ testimony was highly anticipated and crucial in the case accusing Trump of illegal influence in the 2016 election, with prosecutors arguing the hush money payment was to avoid further political fallout. [apnews.com]
  • Daniels detailed her consensual sexual encounter with Donald Trump in 2006 at a golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, describing specific details from Trump’s hotel room, including furniture and toiletries.
  • Jurors in Donald Trump’s criminal trial viewed numerous documents and heard scandalous accounts, including Stormy Daniels’ testimony and statements from Trump, his lawyer, and former aide Hope Hicks.
  • Trump denied having sex with Daniels but paid her for silence in 2016, and his lawyers are painting Daniels as a liar and extortionist, seeking to undermine her credibility.

What is Conservative media saying:

  • Former President Donald Trump criticized his accusers in the “hush money” trial, calling them “sleazebags, lowlifes, and grifters”, and accused the judges overseeing the trial of having a “Fascist mindset” and conducting a “sophisticated hit job” against him. [nypost.com]
  • Trump mentioned the possibility of being sent to “prison” if he retaliated against the accusations, and he faces multiple counts related to allegations of falsifying records about payments to Stormy Daniels. Trump denies the charges against him and claims the case against him is falling apart. [nypost.com]
  • Susan Hoffinger, who questioned Stormy Daniels at the Trump trial, donated $500 total to the Biden campaign in 2020 and contributed more than $900 to ActBlue, a fundraising platform for Democratic politicians and liberal organizations, during the 2020 election cycle. [nypost.com]
  • Other prosecutors in the “hush money” case against Trump have partisan backgrounds, including Matthew Colangelo, who donated to Obama and was paid by the DNC, and was previously a high-ranking official in Biden’s Justice Department. [nypost.com]

What is Liberal media saying:

  • Daniels testified in detail about the sexual encounter with Trump, which the judge found to be gratuitously vulgar, and Trump’s lawyers are painting Daniels as a liar driven by greed. [nytimes.com]
  • Trump is accused of concealing reimbursements to his fixer through falsifying 34 documents and of instructing his fixer to pay cash to suppress a story involving an affair with a Playboy model. [nytimes.com]
  • The judge overseeing the case was concerned that Trump’s behavior during Daniels’ testimony, including audible cursing, head-shaking, and contemptuous behavior, could intimidate the witness and jury. [cnn.com]
  • Stormy Daniels’s credibility was tested as defense lawyers challenged her motives, and her testimony about her encounter with Trump and the hush-money cover-up was presented in court. [nytimes.com]
  • Trump denied the affair with Daniels, but Daniels described spanking Trump with a magazine and finding him on the bed in his undergarments. [cnn.com, nytimes.com]
  • Daniels testified she blacked out during sex with Trump and mentioned feeling ashamed and “shaking” after the encounter. [cnn.com, nytimes.com]
  • The defense objected to Daniels veering off topic during her testimony, which lasted almost five hours, and sought a mistrial due to prejudicial testimony, but the judge denied the motion. [nytimes.com]
  • Daniels admitted signing a false statement regarding her affair with Trump, and Trump’s lawyers requested a mistrial due to Daniels’ testimony, which was seen as difficult to control by the judge. [cnn.com, nytimes.com]
  • Trump expressed frustration with the trial on social media, and his defense accused Daniels of lying for profit and hating Trump, but Daniels denied trying to extort money from Trump. [cnn.com, nytimes.com]

Sources: