NY v Trump: How Stormy Daniels self-destructed under a devastating cross-examination
The predominate question in the Manhattan hush money trial of former President Donald 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.
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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.
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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.
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Daniels was an unnecessary and largely irrelevant witness. There was never any need to call her to the stand. She was privy to none of the bookkeeping decisions that are at the heart of the 34 charges Trump is facing. She even laughed at the idea that she knew anything about the actual indictment or what laws might have been transgressed.
But once prosecutors embarked on their misbegotten decision to put Daniels in front of the jury, the damage to their own case was inevitable. At one point, she reinforced Trump’s main defense.
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Under questioning, Daniels acknowledged that the agreement she signed was a legal matter being handled in a legal contract. That simple statement supports Trump’s defense argument that the accord negotiated with Daniels was properly labeled as "legal expenses," because that is what they were. This was previously corroborated by the accountant who actually entered it that way in the Trump Organization ledger.
Nearly every witness called by the prosecution thus far has helped Trump more than hurt him. Thursday ended with Madeleine Westerhout, his personal secretary at the White House. She confirmed that Trump signed checks, which did nothing to further the DA’s case. But then came the boomerang. Westerhout twice told the jury that she believes her former boss is not being treated fairly. That, of course, is an understatement.
Every day brings new testimony that only reinforces Trump’s contention that this case is a partisan "witch hunt" —a trial in search of an imaginary crime. It can’t be found because it doesn’t exist. It’s not a criminal offense to conceal a legal act. You can’t unlawfully influence an election after the election. The prosecution’s legal theory makes no sense.
The case against Trump has been on life support since the moment DA Alvin Bragg engineered the indictment. A fair and competent judge would have long ago ordered the DA to pull the plug on his brain-dead case.
But since Donald Trump is the defendant, Bragg and his team of unconscionable prosecutors are determined to keep it on a ventilator…hoping that a biased jury will resuscitate the case with a wrongful conviction.