by VICTORIA TAFT
Because the Trump trial is a political operation and not really a trial, prosecutors put on the stand Stormy Daniels, the professional adult movie copulator, who treated the courtroom like one of her movie sets. And it got worse from there. By the time the oratorical dust settled, Donald Trump’s defense asked and was denied a mistrial in this bookkeeping case.
So outrageous was some of her testimony that at one point the judge had prosecutors try to rein in Daniels, who came prepared with jokes, stories, and other tropes to win over jurors. She was so bad that even CNN and MSNBC noted it.
Stormy is bombing and it’s beautiful.
— Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) May 7, 2024
The testimony was so prejudicial that Trump attorney Will Scharf told Fox News it was “impossible to unring the bell.” He and his colleagues demanded a mistrial during Daniels’ testimony.
Scharf lambasted prosecutors for attempting “to pollute the entire with irrelevant, highly prejudicial evidence that should have no place in this trial or frankly in any courtroom.” He said the prosecutors’ actions were deporable. “As a former prosecutor, I find their conduct deeply, deeply offensive and I’m hopeful that Judge Merchan sees what’s going on here,” he told host Martha MacCallum with utter disgust in his voice.
Prosecutors stood by as Daniels told in intimate detail about a 2006 encounter with Trump at a golf tournament. In another instance, Daniels also alluded to a novel non-consensual sexual tryst with Trump. So she called him a rapist? That’s a new one!
Daniels sued the former president for defamation when he called her allegation that Trump sent a person to tell Daniels to shut up about her talk about Trump a “total con job.” When she gave a description of the man it looked an awful lot like her own husband. She lost the case and wound up being ordered to pay Trump more than $250,000 in legal fees. This was presented by the defense as a reason why Daniels had a motive to Get Trump.
Trump has denied all trysts with Daniels.
MISTRIAL!
After the outrageous conduct in court today by the New York DA’s Office, a mistrial is absolutely warranted in President Trump’s trial. pic.twitter.com/mYDcQ8VJ36
— Will Scharf (@willscharf) May 7, 2024
At one point Judge Juan Merchan told prosecutors that “The degree of detail you are going into here is just unnecessary.” He said he’d come back Thursday and decide whether he’ll give jurors an instruction to forget what they just heard.
Good luck.
Scharf said:
The material introduced in court today and frankly much of the material introduced by other witnesses is so prejudicial and has so little probative value that has essentially infected this case in a way that I don’t think a simple limiting instruction can cure.”
That’s why we believe a mistrial is warranted. We’ll obviously have to consider our options going forward. I find the DA’s office conduct today to be particularly outrageous. I’m assuming many other lawyers would feel the same way just based on what normal courtroom practice would be. And I’m hopeful that Judge Merchan sees the light in the coming days.
After the denial of the mistrial, Trump’s attorney, Susan Necheles, cross-examined Daniels about her efforts to get money out of Trump and her stated glee at seeing him go to jail.
The Washington Post got part of the colloquy:
“Am I correct that you hate President Trump … and you want him to go to jail, right?” Necheles asked.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan has been having frequent sidebars during the cross-examination of Stormy Daniels, as lawyers’ fighting intensifies over her answers and what questions they’re allowed to ask. The more frequent breaks for whispered arguments are not surprising, given that the judge just chastised the defense for not objecting enough in the morning session.
A defamation case filed by Daniels against Trump in California resulted in the case being dismissed and Daniels being ordered to pay more than $293,000 in Trump’s legal fees. Necheles said judgments for legal fees have also been entered against her for $245,000 and another last year for $121,972.
“Am I correct that you hate President Trump … and you want him to go to jail, right?” Necheles asked.
“You’ve chosen to disobey a court order?” Necheles asked Daniels.
“I’ve chosen not to pay,” Daniels replied. She acknowledged tweeting that she would go to jail before she paid Trump.
The Manhattan prosecutor, Susan Hoffinger, said the material of the alleged sex between Trump and Stormy Daniels was probative in the bookkeeping case.
Anything you say, sis.
Even the Washington Post noted, “In a case about bank records, the jury is hearing a lot about sex.”
There’s the old adage about legal cases. Say it with me now: If you have facts on your side, pound the facts. If you have the law on your side, pound the law. When you have neither, put a porno performer on the stand to pound the defendant.
