17/ Klasfeld:
Necheles asks whether Daniels said that she either wanted money or to hurt Trump politically because of his positions on gay rights and abortion.
"No," Daniels says.
Asked a similar question later, Daniels answers: "False."
17/ Klasfeld:
Necheles asks whether Daniels said that she either wanted money or to hurt Trump politically because of his positions on gay rights and abortion.
"No," Daniels says.
Asked a similar question later, Daniels answers: "False."
18/ McB:
Necheles displays evidence for Daniels, presumably of Daniels saying that her motive was also anger, but Daniels reiterates: she doesn't remember saying it.
Necheles asks if Daniels was furious when Cohen kept delaying payment for the agreement. (Yes.)
Didn't you scream at your lawyer Keith Davidson, and call him a pussy? (At this Daniels just smirks.)
Can you show me where I said that? Daniels says.
Necheles displays a transcript
19/ “By mistake.” 🙄
Klasfeld:
The defense begins to roll tape on this conversation between Keith Davidson and Michael Cohen from April 4, 2018.
Prosecutors object.
Judge: "Sustained. Please approach." Sidebar.
Necheles:
"I apologize your honor. I pulled up the wrong one by mistake."
20/ McB:
We see a transcript from 4/4/18 of a conversation btwn Davidson and Cohen, and begin to hear a clip of Cohen, but Necheles cuts it off. A mistake
We hear an another voice now—Davidsons—begin to speak the words on transcript, but Hoffinger quickly objects. Sustained. Sidebar.
👉🏼Can you look at the transcript first before you play the tape, Merchan directs Necheles.
Necheles clarifies. Behind her glasses, Daniels narrows her eyes as clip begins again.
It's Davidson's voice, on 4/4/18
21/ McB:
KD: ...in the weeks prior to the election was basically yelling and screaming, and calling me a pussy.
Michael Cohen's voice cuts in: Can I ask you a question?
But Davidson barrels onward.
22/ McB:
I never yelled at Keith Davidson on the phone, Daniels says, and further says the transcript says that Gina Rodriguez's boyfriend was the one who was going to tell the story in the media.
But you got $130k, right? asks Necheles.
I didn't. That was the payment, Daniels quips.
23/ McB:
👉🏼 So far today, Daniels seems to be taking a page out of Davidson's book, playing "lawyer games" with Necheles. Exploiting technicalities, being ultra precise, not giving an inch.
24/ McB:
You understand that a contract is a legal agreement? Necheles asks as she displays the NDA signed by "Peggy Peterson" (aka Daniels) and "David Dennison" (aka Trump).
Well I'm not an attorney, but yes, Daniels says.
25/ McB:
We work our way thru a few sections of the agreement, as Necheles asks Daniels about some legal language contained within
Like I said, I am not an atty, so I'm reading this quickly, but I signed this based on my atty's advice, Daniels says.
Q: What you've been saying here is you're not a lawyer & these were legal terms you don't feel comfortable discussing?
A: Not w/o speaking to my attorney, no.
Q: And this is a legal contract?
A: Yes.
Ok, we get it, it's legal, it's a contract.
26/ McB:
Finally, we move on from law to media.
We see the 1/12/18 WSJ article about Daniels displayed on the screen, and then go back in time two days as Necheles displays Daniels' 1/10/18 denial statement.
27/ Klasfeld:
Necheles asks whether Daniels' alleged tryst with Trump took place "many, many, many" years ago at the time of this statement. Then, 12 years ago, Daniels says.
Necheles: "That's many, many, many" years ago, right?
Daniels: "That is many 'many-s' but OK." (laughter)
28/ McB:
Recall, this is the denial statement to which Davidson attested its "truthfulness."
Necheles then reads the 1/30/18 follow up denial statement, the day of Daniels' Kimmel appearance, the one she signed in an abnormal way.
30/ McB:
We now hear as Necheles begins a new line of attack—Trump's denial in 2018 couldn't have been about election interference, bc there was no election.
Wasn't he concerned about his family, and about his brand? Necheles asks.
31/ Klasfeld:
Asked if Daniels knew Trump was concerned about his family, Daniels answers: "I was never mentioned anything about his family."
The judge overturns the defense's objection to her answer.
😂Asked whether Daniels wanted to public speak about her alleged tryst with Trump, Daniels deadpans: "No, no one would ever want to publicly say that."🤣
32/ McB:
Q: After you received a lot of money, you wanted to publicly say you had sex with Trump right?
A: No, I wanted to publicly defend myself.
Q: You wanted to make more money?
A: No, that's why I did 60 minutes for free.
That's around when you hired Michael Avenatti? Necheles asks.
Yes, Daniels says, a bit disgruntled, with very noticeable disdain in her voice.👈🏼
33/ McB:
Q: After Anderson Cooper appearnance, you got a $800k book deal to sell your story, right?
A: Sold my life story, yes.
Q: Wasn't sex with Trump the centerpiece?
A: No
Necheles asks whether Daniels thought people would just buy her book to read about sex with Trump, in fact, Chapter 3 starts with a joke about whether the reader skipped right there to just read about that sexual encounter.
34/ McB:
We see a flyer for a Daniels book event at a strip club, with the golf club photo and caption: January 20th Making America Horny Again!
Daniels clarifies she never used that tagline, in fact she hated it, and she had no control over how clubs promoted the book.
35/ McB:
Necheles has seemingly abandoned for now the "Daniels owes Trump legal fees" narrative she started the cross with, and is now pursuing a related narrative of a money-hungry Daniels, looking to make a quick buck off of her salacious Trump story and the #Resistance crowd.
36/ Klasfeld:
Asked about her remarks about how more "resistance" supporters attended her shows, Daniels replies: "The climate in the club definitely changed." But she says that she didn't sell herself to a different demographic.
Daniels: "I just did the same job I always did."
Asked about whether "Full Disclosure" spoke about her alleged tryst with Trump, Daniels replies it was the story of her life.
37/ McB:
We turn to the Daniels documentary (for which she was paid to use the rights of her book).
You were having an affair during the filming right? asks Necheles.
Daniels was involved with a cameraman but clarifies that she was separated from her husband at the time.
38/ McB:
"You're trying to trick me into saying something that's not entirely true," Daniels fires at Necheles, who is asking her about the amount of money she received for selling the rights of her book to the documentary.
Necheles asks about documentary promotion events: You have become a hero at those parties for Trump haters?
A: I don't know, I don't speak for them.
Q: You are continuing to this day to make money off a story that you promised would put President Trump in jail?
A: No.
39/ Phang:
There is more measured Stormy Daniels on the witness stand today. Her answers are not as rushed as they were on Tuesday, and she is taking her time in responding, speaking with more confidence.
THIS ⬆️ is a direct benefit of not having court on Wednesday. Daniels had the time to take stock of her testimony on Tuesday and I'm sure that she was able to think about how she wanted to approach her continued cross-examination today.
Delays don't always benefit the defense...
40/ Klasfeld:
Daniels says that her documentary was "polarizing," not eliciting one opinion.
Asked whether Daniels hoped she'd be "instrumental" in putting Trump in jail, Daniels sharply replies: "Show me where I said I'd be 'instrumental' in putting Trump in jail."
41/ McB:
Necheles displays a response tweet by Daniels, who is responding to someone calling her a human toilet: "Exactly! Making me the best person to flush the orange turd down"
When Necheles says this is about Trump, Daniels jokes that that's her interpretation, getting a good laugh.😂
42/ McB:
Necheles was showing the exhibit to refresh Daniels' memory in which she says she would be "instrumental" in putting Trump in jail, but neither "instrumental" nor "jail" featured in the "orange turd" tweet.
At the end of Tuesday, I think Necheles emerged with a slight edge over Daniels.
Today, I'd say they're in a deadlock.
But of course, my opinion doesn't matter. It's all about the jury.
43/ Klasfeld:
This leads Necheles to ask for clarification on the "orange turd" to whom Daniels was referring.
She acknowledges that's referring to Trump. She pushes back at the implication that's about her being supposedly "instrumental" in putting him in "jail."
Daniels, coolly, factually and with a hint of indignation: "I responded to hundreds of tweets like this, calling me names."
44/ Inner City Press (aka Press) adds:
Daniels: It doesn't say Trump, just orange turd. If you want to interpret it that way...
45/ Press:
Necheles: I offer your tweet -
Stormy: It's to a suspended account, so I don't know
Prosecutor: I object, your Honor. May we approach?
[Whispered sidebar; at defense table, again, Todd Blanche whispering to Trump]
McB:
"I respond to 100s of tweets like this calling me names," Daniels says about her orange turd response
It's a good reminder that "hundreds" is likely not an exaggeration. Daniels has probably experienced years of constant online harassment, regardless of who started it
46/ Andrew Weissmann:
Notes from 100 Centre St: Stormy presents as wary (understandable as she is on cross), savvy, and generally a careful witness. There is an enormous amount of questioning about a Stormy tweet about an "orange turd"
-- Stormy says it was a joke in response to someone calling her a "human toilet." All exceedingly juvenile and so in keeping with the Trump world we all inhabit here.
47/ McB:
After a sidebar, Necheles resumes
Q: When Trump was indicted, you celebrated on Twitter by pushing merchandise from your store?
A: I tweeted that he was indicted, yes, and people asked how they could support me, so I added the link to my store
We see some of Daniels' said tweets: "Thank you to everyone for your support & love...don't want to spill my champagne 😜 #Teamstory merch/autograph orders are pouring in"
Q: That's you shilling your merchandise, right?
A: That's me doing my job
48/ Weissmann:
Notes from 100 Centre St: Stormy being crossed at selling ("schilling") merchandise on the internet- palpable irony given Trump's hocking everything he can get his hands on that is not nailed down.
👉🏼Stormy says: "not unlike Mr. Trump."⚡️
49/ McB:
Q: In much of the merchandise, you're bragging about how you got Trump indicted?
👉🏼I got Trump indicted? Daniels asks comically.
Necheles displays a "Stormy Saint of Indictments" candle from her store.
"Oh my god," a member of the public says.👈🏼
51/ Klasfeld:
Daniels pushes back again at her merchandising: "I continue to do my job and foot my extraordinary legal bills."
McB:
As we see #TeamStormy shirts, Stormy Daniels comicbooks, and more, I wonder if Daniels is getting a bump in sales this very moment. 👈🏼👍🏼
"Keep in mind I did not write this comic book," Daniels says, as she also clarifies that she didn't make the candle either.
52/ McB:
Necheles asks about two forthcoming books—the autobiographical Rockstar Pornstar and a novel—as well as a TV show fka Spooky Babes, about the paranormal, and she was on a podcast in which she claimed to be able to speak to dead people.
Daniels jokes that a lot of the "paranormal activity" was debunked, in one instance it was just a possum under the house, and the press laughs as Necheles moves to strike and instruct the witness to answer the questions—overruled.
53/ McB:
As Daniels answers questions about tarot cards, paranormal possums, and communing with the dead, I wonder if the jury is beginning to lose the plot. I sure am.
54/ McB:
Necheles asks Daniels about her extensive experience in the adult film industry—
Q: You have a lot of experience in making phony stories about sex appear to be real right?
⚡️A: Wow. The sex in the films is very much real, just like what happened to me in that room.⚡️
Q: You bragged about being good at writing dialogue & sex scenes in adult films, right?
⚡️"If that story [w Trump] was untrue, I would have written it to be a lot better," Daniels quips, delivering it like a punchline⚡️
55/ And winning, IMHO.
Klasfeld:
Observation:
Daniels is a lot more confident, wry, and controlled during this cross-examination than when her testimony first began.
Utterly gone is any trace of her evident nervousness and speed-testimony from Day One.
Facing Trump's attorney, she seems in muted fight-mode.
Daniels lays back diagonally in her chair, looking relaxed and comfortable during the volleys of questions and answers.
56/ McB:
We're back to hotel suite—the black-and-white tile of the floor—& Necheles asks whether that was part of her prep, that she was coached to include details.
A: There's nothing wrong with preparing a witness.
Q: That wasn't my question.
Necheles continues to search for chinks in Daniels' armor, the inconsistencies bw small details in her testimony & her book, saying that she was coached to "match" the details.
I don't need to match details to my book bc that's the story, Daniels says
57/ Phang:
NECHELES: You have acted in more than 200 sex films? DANIELS: Copulation. NECHELES: You directed 150 sex films?
DANIELS: “Give or take”
NECHELES: “You have a lot of experience making phony stories about sex.”
👉🏼DANIELS: “Wow. That’s not how I would put it. The sex in the films is very much real, just like what happened to me in that room [with Trump].”
58/ Phang:
NECHELES: You memorize these fictional stories and repeating them? DANIELS: The scripts, not the sex. “Pretty sure we all know how to do that.”
NECHELES: And now there is a story you are telling about President Trump? DANIELS: “If that story was untrue, I would’ve written it to be a lot better”. “I didn’t have to write this one.”
DANIELS: “I didn’t make millions of dollars, and I didn’t write this story.”
59/ Phang:
NECHELES: You made money on your tour? Working at strip clubs? The documentary? DANIELS: “I don’t work in sex clubs, I work in strip clubs, there’s a big difference.”
60/ Weissmann:
Stormy says in response to questioning about whether she made up her stories like she does in her sex films: (1) the sex in those films is real like the sex with Trump ("that's why it is porn and not a B movie"), and (2) "if that story was untrue, I would have written it to be a lot better."
61/ McB:
We're jumping around in time, now back to the 2006 Lake Tahoe golf tournament, and Necheles asks whether Daniels met other celebrities, name-checking more athletes: Aaron Rodgers. Drew Brees. Charles Barkely. Big Ben again.
Daniels isn't sure. She's met a lot of celebrities.
62/ McB:
Necheles begins to retrace the steps that led to the hotel suite.
Q: Trump's bodyguard (Keith Schiller) invited you to dinner right, not Trump?
A: Yes.
Q: Your testimony was that you said "fuck no," but you gave Schiller your phone # anyway.
A: Yes.
Necheles seizes on more inconsistencies: isn't this is a totally different story from the one you told in 2011? I believe this is about the InTouch magazine phone interview.
63/ McB:
This has been a constant strategy in the cross—pinpoint each time Daniels' story changed, and exploit it.
64/ McB:
"Please allow the witness to answer," Merchan cuts in, as Necheles peppers Daniels with question after question, each picking a different nit in her seemingly conflicting stories.
65/ NOTE: I’m going to break now. Mr. Blowdryer is tapping his watch and glowering.
I’ll catch you up on every detail when I return.
66/ To answer your questions: Mr. Blowdryer is the last thing I conquer. When I take off, I have to, you know, shower first and THEN use Mr. Blowdryer. The fight between Mr. Blowdryer and me is actually not his fault. He tries. It's my hair that gets cranky, Mr. B fights with it, but I always win, because I defy them both and the results are smooth and shiny. Take THAT, Mr. Blowdryer and hair!
67/ Okay, I'll catch us up now. I'll use Katie Phang's more concise posts, and some Weissmann. Phang:
Necheles must tread very carefully. The more she attacks Stormy's credibility on cross and the more she dives into areas of Stormy's interactions with Trump that Stormy was originally limited from going into on Direct Examination, the more fodder for the prosecution on Re-Direct.
It's called "opening the door" and trust me the prosecution is paying close attention to these details right now
68/ Phang:
NECHELES: You testified yesterday that when you were asked to dinner [via Keith Schiller], you said no fucking way. But in your In Touch interview, you said Donald Trump asked you to dinner. DANIELS: Correct.
DANIELS: Like I said, bodyguard/handler is a unit. DANIELS: This is an entertaining version of the events NECHELES: Now you are saying you lied in 2011 OBJECTION-SUSTAINED
69/ Phang:
NECHELES: When you went to hotel room you thought you were going out to dinner? And even though you spent 3 hours you never got dinner? DANIELS: “We never ate” NECHELES: You wrote in your book, plus I was freaking hungry. And you made a point of that in interviews. DANIELS: “It was dinner time, I was hungry, we talked about ordering food, and going down.” And it never happened. DANIELS: “I went to dinner and I didn’t get dinner."