Stormy Daniels delivers shocking testimony about Trump, but trial hinges on business records

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s defense attorney on Thursday accused Stormy Daniels of slowly altering the details of an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump, trying to convince jurors that a key prosecution witness in the former president's hush money criminal trial cannot be believed.

“You have made all of this up, right?” lawyer Susan Necheles asked.

“No,” Daniels shot back.

As the jury looked on, the two women traded barbs over what Necheles said were inconsistencies in Daniels' description of the encounter with Trump in a Nevada hotel suite. He denies the whole story.

But despite all the talk over what may have happened in that hotel room, despite the discomfiting testimony by the adult film actor that she consented to sex in part because of a “power imbalance," the case against Trump doesn’t rise or fall on whether her account is true or even believable. It’s a trial about money changing hands — business transactions — and whether those payments were made to illegally influence the 2016 election.

Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying internal Trump Organization business records. The charges stem from paperwork such as invoices and checks that were deemed legal expenses in company records. Prosecutors say those payments largely were reimbursements to Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who paid Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet.

The testimony over the past three weeks has seesawed between bookkeepers and bankers relaying the nuts and bolts of check-paying procedures and wire transfers to unflattering, seamy stories about Trump and the tabloid world machinations meant to keep them secret.

This criminal case could be the only one against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to go to trial before voters decide in November whether to send him back to the White House. Trump has pleaded not guilty and casts himself as the victim of a politically tainted justice system working to deny him another term.

Meanwhile, as the threat of jail looms over Trump following his repeated gag order violations, his attorneys are fighting Judge Juan M. Merchan's order and seeking a fast decision in an appeals court. If the court refuses to lift the gag order, Trump’s lawyers want permission to take their appeal to the state’s high court.

At the same time, they also asked Merchan to modify the order so Trump could publicly respond to Daniels’ testimony and made a second request for a mistrial based on what they argued was her “extremely prejudicial testimony” that has “has nothing to do with the false business records" charges. Merchan rejected both.

“My concern is not just with protecting Ms. Daniels or a witness who has already testified. My concern is with protecting the integrity of these proceedings as a whole,” Merchan said in refusing to change the gag order.

Turning away the mistrial request, Merchan said Trump’s lawyers had opened the door to detailed testimony about the alleged sexual encounter when they asserted in their opening statement that no sex had occurred. “Your denial puts the jury in the position of choosing who they believe.”

“The more specificity Ms. Daniels can provide about the encounter, the more the jury can weigh about whether the encounter did occur and if so, whether they choose to credit Ms. Daniels’ story,” Merchan said.

Trump fumed outside the courtroom at the end of the day.

“I’m innocent,” he said. “I’m being held in this court with a corrupt judge who’s totally conflicted.”

At the time of the payment to Daniels, Trump and his campaign were reeling from the October 2016 publication of the never-before-seen 2005 “Access Hollywood” footage in which he boasted about grabbing women without their permission.

Prosecutors have argued that the political firestorm over the “Access Hollywood” tape hastened Cohen’s payment to keep Daniels from going public with her claims that could further hurt Trump in the eyes of female voters.

The tape rattled the Republican National Committee leadership, and “there were conversations about how it would be possible to replace him as the candidate if it came to that," according to testimony from Madeleine Westerhout, a Trump aide who was working at the RNC when the recording leaked.

Daniels was on the stand for 7½ hours over two days. During questioning from prosecutors, she relayed in graphic detail what she said happened during their encounter, after the two met at a celebrity golf outing at Lake Tahoe where sponsors included the adult film studio where she worked.

Trump scowled and shook his head through much of Daniels’ description, including how she found him sitting on the hotel bed in his underwear after she returned from the bathroom and that he did not use a condom. The judge told Trump’s lawyers on Tuesday that he could hear him “cursing audibly."

Trump’s lawyers sought to paint Daniels as a liar and extortionist who’s trying to take down Trump after drawing money and fame from her claims. And they say hush money payments made on his behalf were an effort to protect his reputation and family — not his campaign — by shielding them from embarrassing stories about his personal life.

On Thursday, Necheles grilled Daniels on her description of the encounter in which she described fear and discomfort even as she consented to sex. She testified earlier this week that while she wasn’t physically menaced, she felt a “power imbalance” as Trump, in his hotel bedroom, stood between her and the door and propositioned her.

As for whether she felt compelled to have sex with him, she reiterated Thursday that he didn’t drug her or physically threaten her. But, she said, “My own insecurities, in that moment, kept me from saying no.”

Necheles suggested that her work in porn meant her story about being shocked and frightened by Trump’s alleged sexual advances was not believable.

“You’ve acted and had sex in over 200 porn movies, right?” Necheles asked. “And there are naked men and women having sex, including yourself, in those movies, right?”

Necheles continued, “But according to you, seeing a man sitting on a bed in a T-shirt and boxers was so upsetting that you got lightheaded.”

The experience with Trump was different from porn for a number of reasons, Daniels explained, including the fact that Trump was more than twice her age and larger than she and that she was not expecting to find him undressed when she emerged from the bathroom.

“I came out of the bathroom and saw an older man in his underwear that I wasn’t expecting to see there,” she said.

Necheles pressed her on why she accepted the payout to keep quiet instead of going public.

“Why didn’t you do that?” she asked, wondering why Daniels didn’t hold a news conference as she had planned.

“Because we were running out of time,” Daniels said.

Did she mean, Necheles asked, that she was running out of time to use the claim to make money?

“To get the story out,” Daniels countered. The negotiations were happening in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign.

She testified that she never spoke with Trump about payment, and said she had no knowledge of whether Trump was aware of or involved in the transaction.

“You have no personal knowledge about his involvement in that transaction or what he did or didn’t do,” Necheles asked.

“Not directly, no,” Daniels responded.

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger later asked Daniels, “Have you been telling lies about Mr. Trump or the truth about Mr. Trump?”

“The truth,” said Daniels, who also said that although she has made money since her story emerged, she also has had to spend a lot to hire security, move homes and take other precautions, and she still owes Trump hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorneys' fees.

“On balance, has publicly telling the truth about Mr. Trump been a net positive or net negative in your life?” Hoffinger asked.

“Negative,” Daniels replied quietly.

Former President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media at Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in New York. (Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump walks to speak to the media at the end of the day of his hush money trial, in New York, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump gestures as he walks to the courtroom following a break in his trial at Manhattan criminal court Thursday, May 9, 2024, in New York. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump, with his attorney Todd Blanch at his side, arrives for his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in New York. (Victor J. Blue/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)

Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he arrives for his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in New York. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he arrives for his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in New York. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he arrives for his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in New York. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he arrives for his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in New York. (Victor J. Blue/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)

Former President Donald Trump, with his attorney Todd Blanch at his side, speaks to reporters as he arrives for his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in New York. (Victor J. Blue/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)

Former President Donald Trump, followed by his lawyer Susan Necheles, right, and advisor Boris Epshteyn, left, waves as he returns to the courtroom following a break in his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Stormy Daniels testifies on the witness stand as a promotional image for one of her shows featuring an image of Trump is displayed on monitors in Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

Former President Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump, with lawyer Todd Blanche, speaks to reporters at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump, with his attorney Todd Blanche, speaks to reporters following the day's proceedings in his trial, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (Sarah Yenesel/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump, followed by his attorney Todd Blanche, walks to speak to reporters following the day's proceedings in his trial, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (Sarah Yenesel/Pool Photo via AP)

In this courtroom sketch, defense attorney Susan Necheles, center, cross examines Stormy Daniels, far right, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, as former President Donald Trump, left, looks on with Judge Juan Merchan presiding during Trump's trial in Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and others have been found dead at the site of a helicopter crash after an hourslong search through a foggy, mountainous region of the country’s northwest, state media reported.

State TV gave no immediate cause for the crash in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. With Raisi were Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Turkish authorities early Monday released what they described as drone footage showing what appeared to be a fire in the wilderness that they “suspected to be wreckage of a helicopter.” The coordinates listed in the footage put the fire some 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the Azerbaijan-Iranian border on the side of a steep mountain.

Footage released by the IRNA early Monday showed what the agency described as the crash site, across a steep valley in a green mountain range. Soldiers speaking in the local Azeri language said: “There it is, we found it.” Shortly after, state TV in an on-screen scrolling text said: “There is no sign of life from people on board.”

Currently:

— Iran’s president, foreign minister and others found dead at helicopter crash site, state media says

— Iran President Ebrahim Raisi, supreme leader’s protégé, dies at 63 in helicopter crash

— Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, a hard-line diplomat, dies in helicopter crash

— Helicopter crash could reverberate across the Middle East, where Iran’s influence runs wide and deep

Follow AP’s coverage of Iran: https://apnews.com/hub/iran

Here's the latest:

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan conveyed his condolences to the Iranian people and government over the deaths of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and other officials in a helicopter crash.

Erdogan said in a statement posted on social platform X that he remembers Raisi “with respect and gratitude” and praised his “efforts for the peace of the Iranian people and our region during his time in office.”

Turkish authorities dispatched a drone late on Sunday to help locate the wreckage and early on Monday released footage showing what appeared to be a fire in the wilderness that they “suspected to be the wreckage of a helicopter."

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday extended his “deep condolences” to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling the deaths of the country’s president and other officials a “huge tragedy” and “a difficult, irreparable loss.”

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin, was “an outstanding politician whose entire life was devoted to serving the Motherland.”

“He rightfully enjoyed high respect from his compatriots and significant authority abroad. As a true friend of Russia, he made an invaluable personal contribution to the development of good neighborly relations between our countries and made great efforts to bring them to the level of strategic partnership,” the Russian president said.

Putin said that he had met Raisi several times and “will forever retain the fondest memory of this wonderful man.”

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati declared three days of mourning in the country in response to the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, with flags at official institutions to be flown at half-staff.

Lebanon’s political factions are deeply divided between those in support of Iran and its protege, Hezbollah, and those opposed to Iranian influence in the country.

Beirut — Syrian President Bashar Assad sent his condolences to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the deaths of the country’s president and foreign minister and their accompanying delegation. Iran’s intervention in the Syrian civil war on behalf of Assad’s embattled government helped to keep the Syrian president in power.

“We worked with the late president (Raisi) to ensure that the strategic relations between Syria and Iran remain prosperous always, and we will always remember his visit to Syria as an important milestone in this path, and all the visions and ideas that he presented to enrich relations with everything that benefits the Syrian and Iranian peoples,” Assad’s office said in a statement.

MOSCOW — Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev extended condolences to Iran’s supreme leader, saying in a statement that he and his government were “deeply shocked by the heavy loss that befell the brotherly and friendly Islamic Republic of Iran and its people.”

In Raisi “the people of Iran have lost an outstanding statesman who served his country selflessly and faithfully all his life. The bright memory of him will always live in our hearts,” Aliyev said.

BEIRUT — The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which has received substantial backing from Iran and is a senior member of its regional “axis of resistance,” mourned the deaths of the Iranian president and foreign minister in a statement.

It described Raisi as “a big brother to us, a strong supporter, and a staunch defender of our issues and the Arab nations’ issues, most notably Jerusalem and Palestine, and a protector of the resistance movements and those fighting on their behalf in all the positions of responsibility he held.”

CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt has mourned the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other senior officials in a helicopter crash. In a statement, el-Sissi expressed his country’s solidarity with “the leadership and people of Iran in this great loss.”

TEHRAN — Iran’s Cabinet held an emergency meeting as state media announced the death of President Ebrahim Raisi.

The Cabinet offered its condolences, saying in a statement that he made the ultimate sacrifice in serving his country, according to a report by the state-run IRNA news agency. The report was accompanied by a photo of Raisi’s chair draped in black, his photo on the desk.

“We assure our loyal and appreciative and beloved nation that the path of service will continue with the tireless spirit of Ayatollah Raisi, the hero and the servant of the nation and the faithful friend of the leadership,” the Cabinet said in a statement carried by IRNA.

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced a day of mourning over the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.

“I along with the government and people of Pakistan extend our deepest condolences and sympathies to the Iranian nation on this terrible loss. May the martyred souls rest in heavenly peace. The great Iranian nation will overcome this tragedy with customary courage,” Sharif wrote on the social platform X on Monday.

Sharif recently hosted Raisi and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian when they visited Pakistan and said: “They were good friends of Pakistan."

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari in a statement also expressed shock and sorrow over Raisi's death. He extended his condolences to the bereaved families of the Iranian president, the foreign minister and others who died in the accident.

NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was deeply saddened and shocked by the news of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s death, and sent his condolences to Raisi’s family and the people of Iran.

“India stands with Iran in this time of sorrow,” Modi said in a post on social platform X on Monday.

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, whose government coalition is close to Tehran, expressed “great sadness and great sorrow” in a statement on Monday after the deaths of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and others in a helicopter crash.

He also extended “sincere condolences” to Iran’s supreme leader and government and “solidarity with the brotherly Iranian people."

CAIRO — A Houthi leader in Yemen on Monday mourned the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other senior officials who were killed in a helicopter crash.

“Our deepest condolences to the Iranian people and the Iranian leadership and to the families of the president and the accompanying delegation,” Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, the head of the Houthis’ Supreme Revolutionary Committees. “The Iranian people will continue to have leaders loyal to their people, God willing.”

Iran is the main backer of the Houthis in their yearslong war against Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is backed by a Saudi-led military coalition.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and others have been found dead at the site of a helicopter crash after an hourslong search through a foggy, mountainous region of the country’s northwest, state media reported.

State TV gave no immediate cause for the crash in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. With Raisi were Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Turkish authorities early Monday released what they described as drone footage showing what appeared to be a fire in the wilderness that they “suspected to be wreckage of a helicopter.” The coordinates listed in the footage put the fire some 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the Azerbaijan-Iranian border on the side of a steep mountain.

Footage released by the IRNA early Monday showed what the agency described as the crash site, across a steep valley in a green mountain range. Soldiers speaking in the local Azeri language said: “There it is, we found it.”

Shortly after, state TV in an on-screen scrolling text said: “There is no sign of life from people on board.” It did not elaborate, but the semiofficial Tasnim news agency showed rescuers using a small drone to fly over the site, with them speaking among themselves saying the same thing.

JERUSALEM — The crash of a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s foreign minister and other officials is likely to reverberate across the Middle East.

That’s because Iran has spent decades supporting armed groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and the Palestinian territories that allow it to project power and potentially deter attacks from the United States or Israel, the sworn enemies of its 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Tensions have never been higher than they were last month, when Iran under Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launched hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel in response to an airstrike on an Iranian Consulate in Syria that killed two Iranian generals and five officers.

Israel, with the help of the U.S., Britain, Jordan and others, intercepted nearly all the projectiles. In response, Israel apparently launched its own strike against an air defense radar system in the Iranian city of Isfahan, causing no casualties but sending an unmistakable message.

The sides have waged a shadow war of covert operations and cyberattacks for years, but the exchange of fire in April was their first direct military confrontation.

People pray for President Ebrahim Raisi in a ceremony at Vali-e-Asr square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 19, 2024. A helicopter carrying President Raisi, the country's foreign minister and other officials apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday, sparking a massive rescue operation in a fog-shrouded forest as the public was urged to pray. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People pray for President Ebrahim Raisi in a ceremony at Vali-e-Asr square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 19, 2024. A helicopter carrying President Raisi, the country's foreign minister and other officials apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday, sparking a massive rescue operation in a fog-shrouded forest as the public was urged to pray. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People pray for President Ebrahim Raisi in a ceremony at Vali-e-Asr square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 19, 2024. A helicopter carrying President Raisi, the country's foreign minister and other officials apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday, sparking a massive rescue operation in a fog-shrouded forest as the public was urged to pray. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

In this photo provided by the Azerbaijan's Presidential Press Office, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, left, shakes hands with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev during their meeting in the inauguration ceremony of dam of Qiz Qalasi, or Castel of Girl in Azeri, at the border of Iran and Azerbaijan, Sunday, May 19, 2024. A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a "hard landing" on Sunday, Iranian state media reported, without immediately elaborating. (Azerbaijani Presidential Press Office via AP)

People pray for President Ebrahim Raisi in a ceremony at Vali-e-Asr square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 19, 2024. A helicopter carrying President Raisi, the country's foreign minister and other officials apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday, sparking a massive rescue operation in a fog-shrouded forest as the public was urged to pray. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

In this photo provided by Moj News Agency, rescue teams' vehicles are seen near the site of the incident of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, Sunday, May 19, 2024. A helicopter carrying President Raisi, the country's foreign minister and other officials apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday, sparking a massive rescue operation in a fog-shrouded forest as the public was urged to pray. (Azin Haghighi, Moj News Agency via AP)

An Iranian woman prays for President Ebrahim Raisi in a ceremony at Vali-e-Asr square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 19, 2024. A helicopter carrying President Raisi, the country's foreign minister and other officials apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday, sparking a massive rescue operation in a fog-shrouded forest as the public was urged to pray. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

In this photo provided by Moj News Agency, rescue teams' vehicles are seen near the site of the incident of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, Sunday, May 19, 2024. A helicopter carrying President Raisi, the country's foreign minister and other officials apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday, sparking a massive rescue operation in a fog-shrouded forest as the public was urged to pray. (Azin Haghighi/Moj News Agency via AP)

In this photo provided by Islamic Republic News Agency, IRNA, the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi takes off at the Iranian border with Azerbaijan after President Raisi and his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev inaugurated dam of Qiz Qalasi, or Castel of Girl in Azeri, Iran, Sunday, May 19, 2024. A helicopter carrying President Raisi suffered a "hard landing" on Sunday, Iranian state media reported, without elaborating. (Ali Hamed Haghdoust/IRNA via AP)

In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks in meeting a group of families of the Revolutionary Guard members in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 19, 2024. A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the country's foreign minister and other officials apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday, sparking a massive rescue operation. "We hope that God the Almighty returns the dear president and his colleagues in full health to the arms of the nation," Khamenei said, drawing an "amen" from the audience he was addressing. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

In this photo provided by Moj News Agency, rescue teams and people are seen near the site of the incident of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Varzaghan in northwestern Iran, Sunday, May 19, 2024. A helicopter carrying President Raisi, the country's foreign minister and other officials apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday, sparking a massive rescue operation in a fog-shrouded forest as the public was urged to pray. (Azin Haghighi/Moj News Agency via AP)