Stormy Daniels wraps up testimony in Trump hush money trial

Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers continued their attack on the credibility of Stormy Daniels for several hours Thursday, with defense attorney Susan Necheles accusing the adult film star of making up the story of having sex with Trump.

Today also saw testimony from a woman who was once among the closest people working with Trump in the White House, and failed efforts by the defense to get a mistrial and an exception to the defendant's gag order.

Here are some key takeaways from Day 14 of the Trump hush money trial:

Contentious testimony: Daniels combatively and defiantly responded to questions from Necheles, insisting her story of a sexual encounter with Trump was true. Trump has denied the affair.

Trump’s attorney asked about minor inconsistencies in interviews Daniels has given about her interactions with Trump. Necheles also picked apart how Daniels has previously described the encounter.

Necheles also insinuated Daniels had employed her skills as a porn writer in making up the story. “You have a lot of experience of making phony stories about sex appear to be real,” the Trump attorney asked.

Lawyers spar over Daniels' financial situation: Beyond the details of the alleged encounter itself, Trump’s attorneys and prosecutors had Daniels tell conflicting accounts of her financial situation.

Necheles continued to suggest that Daniels was making money off of saying she had sex with Trump, pointing to a tweet where she said she’d earned $1 million and others where she directed her supporters to her online store after Trump was indicted.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, had Daniels recount how telling her story has also cost her, from having to move her daughter and hire security to the lawyers’ fees she was ordered to pay after she sued Trump and lost.

Former aide takes us inside the Trump White House: Former White House aide Madeleine Westerhout described the inner workings of Trump’s West Wing, where she worked for more than two years sitting just outside the Oval Office.

Westerhout described Trump's work habits, from his affinity for sharpies and hard copies of documents, to his close control over his social media posts and his preference to talk to people in person or on the phone — not by email.

While she did not testify to direct knowledge of the checks Trump signed to his former fixer Michael Cohen, which are cited in the charges against Trump, her story added to the prosecution's narrative about his involvement with the checks in 2017.

Two failed efforts by Trump's team: Judge Juan Merchan denied the request from Trump's lawyers to make an exception to the gag order allowing him to speak publicly about Daniels, saying he must protect the integrity of the proceedings, and he doesn’t trust Trump not to violate an order if he were to modify it.

The judge also denied Trump’s renewed motion for a mistrial over the salacious testimony Daniels gave, which his attorneys say unfairly prejudices the jury against Trump. Merchan said the specificity is important to helping the jury make a determination.

Read a full recap of today's proceedings here.

Donald Trump's longtime assistant, the former banker of Trump's attorney Michael Cohen and adult film actress Stormy Daniels are among witnesses who have taken the stand so far in the hush money trial.

As of Thursday, here's everybody we've heard from so far:

Donald Trump’s lawyers finished their cross-examination of Stormy Daniels on Thursday and spent most of the time trying to undermine her credibility by pointing out inconsistencies in her story.

In her more than 6 hours of testimony over two days, Daniels described her first meeting with Trump, the details of their alleged sexual encounter in 2006 and how the hush money payment unfolded years later. The defense tried to establish some of the ways the porn star gained publicity and money from her story going public.

The other witnesses on Thursday were a junior bookkeeper at the Trump Organization, an employee of Harper Collins and Trump’s former personal assistant at the White House. 

Here’s what happened in court on Thursday:

Stormy Daniels on cross-examination: 

On redirect: 

Rebecca Manochio: 

Tracey Menzies 

Madeleine Westerhout 

Judge makes other rulings: Judge Juan Merchan denied the defense's motion for a mistrial. He said he disagrees with the Trump team's assertion that Daniels gave a new account in her testimony this week. He also denied a motion to modify the gag order to allow Trump to talk about Daniels.

Former President Donald Trump attacked the judge presiding over his hush money trial in New York after court adjourned on Thursday.

In the hallway, he called Judge Juan Merchan “totally corrupt” and “conflicted.”

“Take a look at his conflict, it’s a disgrace to the city of New York, to the state of New York and to the country,” Trump said.

It comes after Stormy Daniels finished her testimony. She was on the stand for more than 6 hours over two days, describing her first meeting with Trump and their sexual encounter in 2006.

Remember: The former president is not allowed to talk about Daniels because of a gag order that has been imposed. However, it does not prevent Trump from attacking Merchan or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. 

After issuing his ruling, Judge Juan Merchan dismissed the court until tomorrow morning.

"I’ll see you tomorrow at 9:30," he said.

Judge Juan Merchan has denied the defense's motion for a mistrial.

Merchan says he disagrees with the Trump team's assertion that Stormy Daniels gave a new account in her testimony this week.

Before the ruling, Mechan says the jurors have to decide who they believe in the case of the encounter between Donald Trump and Daniels.

He notes that the people do not have to prove the encounter happened but because the defense has called her credibility into question, prosecutors have to make an effort to show her story is credible to prove their case.

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

There were "many times Ms. Necheles could have objected but didn't," the judge says.

"Why on earth she wouldn't object to the mention of a condom, I don’t understand," Merchan says of Trump attorney Susan Necheles.

Trump is leaning back and stretching as the judge knocks the defense for not objecting to more of Stormy Daniels' testimony.

Merchan has mentioned several portions of the proceedings he thinks Trump's lawyers could have objected to as he explains his ruling.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass says there were "very salacious details" that were purposely omitted from Stormy Daniels' account, saying he's willing to make a sealed filing with those details if necessary.

Steinglass says the prosecution specifically chose not to ask questions in a way that would elicit some of those details, so as not to embarrass Trump.

For example, Steinglass notes that the judge sustained an objection to a question to Daniels about whether she "felt anything different" at the time of the alleged sexual encounter with Trump.

The prosecutor says Daniels would have testified that she felt the skin of a 60-year-old man, and that that was different for her as a 27-year-old woman at the time. Steinglass says that would've been corroborative of her allegations.

"We feel that we have very faithfully adhered to your honor's ruling," the prosecutor says, in summary.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass confirms Karen McDougal — the model and actress who has said she was also paid to keep quiet about an affair with Trump — will not be called to take the stand.

"She was on our witness list, but we have never indicated an actual intention to call her," he says.