By Gregg Jarrett
The predominant question in the Manhattan hush money trial of former President Trump is not one of guilt, but something far more basic. Is District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case a joke? A prank? A farce?
On Thursday, the answer became clear. It’s all of the above. Former porn star Stormy Daniels proved it. But it’s also an abominable abuse of our justice system and a wretched assault on the rule of law.
One cannot imagine a worse prosecution witness than Daniels. Her testimony under withering cross-examination was a staggering example of self-immolation. By the time she slinked off the stand, her already dubious narrative lay shredded on the courtroom floor. The stripper was stripped bare.
Stunned prosecutors must have been muttering to themselves, “Why did we call her as a witness?” Their objective, of course, was to humiliate and smear Trump with a gossipy tale of sex that had nothing to do with the criminal charges at issue. It was a sophomoric gamble, and it backfired spectacularly.
Daniels insisted that she always told the truth. Yet, she admitted that her two signed statements denying an affair with Trump were untrue. She declared that she wasn’t interested in making money. Yet, she demanded cash. She claimed that she wanted her Trump narrative to be made public. Yet, she eagerly sold herself to remain silent.
Daniels is only casually acquainted with the concept of truth. She massages it or offends it whenever it suits her. Her motto might be, “Honesty is for suckers.” But if she thought she could get away with rampant deceit in a court of law, then she is the real sucker.
Her many out-of-court statements came back to haunt her. Daniels’ story seemed to change dramatically depending on the audience and/or her motives for personal gain. And that’s the problem with lying witnesses. The taint rubs off on the prosecution, who called her.
Daniels’ seething hatred of Trump took center stage on Thursday as the defense dismantled her as a reliable witness. Having already admitted that she “despises Trump,” she tried to walk back her personal animus. It didn’t work. Her responses were demolished by her own prior words.
Daniels was confronted with her posts on social media bragging that she’d be instrumental in putting Trump in jail and described herself as “the best person to flush the orange turd down” a toilet. When he was indicted, she popped corks to celebrate, adding “I don’t want to spill my champagne.”
Does this sound like an objective and credible witness? Or someone with a spiteful agenda? Or maybe a person who’s missing a few head screws? One of the jaw-dropping moments occurred when she informed the court of how she posed as a medium who speaks with dead people. I kid you not. The gig as a TV psychic with paranormal powers proved lucrative. Was her entire testimony any less of a gag?
Enmity aside, Daniels’ shameless greed appears to have defined her every action. The defense introduced evidence that painted her as a shakedown artist. As Trump was running for president in 2016, she capitalized on her brief encounter with him 10 years earlier by squeezing him for money under escalating threats.
Isn’t that extortion? Yes… a compelling criminal case could certainly be made. But that never happened, principally because prosecutors saw a golden opportunity to exploit Daniels for their own politically driven purpose. Trump’s mistake, if any, was to follow the advice of his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, and surrender to Daniels’ blackmail scheme.
Merchan didn’t make any mistakes or errors; he did what he and the DNC set out to do. It was clear when he allowed a trial with no stated crime to go forward that this was all about the fascist lawfare of the DNC. But the rest is absolutely true.
Sperm-bucket Danials said she wanted to answer Trump’s attacks? WHAT attacks? Trump didn’t want her imaginary accusations public, so who brought it up in the first place? SHE did.
Of course she was torn to shred on the stand. The same will go for Cohen. Is it because Trump’s attorneys are super-lawyers? No… it’s because all they have to offer is the same kind of shit you can get from CNN, MSNBC, NPR, ABC, CBS, NBC, NYT, WaPo and any other member of the Ministry of Propaganda: BULLSHIT. Weak bullshit at that, bullshit easily destroyed.
She hates Trump because she was going to parlay her extortion attempt into a comfortable living where she only had to screw or suck when she wanted to. Instead, it cost her $500,000, in addition to Avanati stealing whatever money she had.