Trump ‘wore satin pyjamas’
STORMY Daniels testified Donald Trump was wearing satin pyjamas when he welcomed her to his hotel suite at a celebrity golf tournament in 2006, after she took the stand yesterday at his criminal trial in a showdown between the former US president and the porn star who says they had sex.
Daniels, 45, is at the centre of the first criminal trial of a former president. Prosecutors say Trump, 77, covered up a $130 000 (about R2.4 million) hush money payment his former lawyer Michael Cohen made to Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 election.
Cohen has previously said Trump directed him to pay Daniels to keep quiet about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump in 2006.
Daniels, real name is Stephanie Clifford, said the company she had been working for at the time had sponsored one of the holes at the Lake Tahoe golf tournament at which Trump was a competitor. She said she met Trump during a meet-an-greet with adult actresses and golfers.
Trump took note when an associate mentioned Daniels directed films, too. “He said, ‘Oh, you direct too, you must be the smart one’,” Daniels testified.
Daniels told jurors that later in the day, Trump’s bodyguard approached her and said Trump would like her to join him for dinner. “F*** no,” Daniels said, when asked how she initially responded. She said she changed her mind after a publicist convinced her the dinner could make a great story.
When she arrived at his hotel suite, Trump greeted her wearing only satin pyjamas. “I said, ‘Does Hugh Hefner know you stole his pajamas?’” Daniels recalled saying, referring to Playboy impresario Hugh Hefner. Daniels told Trump to change, and he politely obliged, she said. The alleged encounter took place while Trump was married to his wife, Melania. Trump denies any sexual encounter with Daniels.
Before her testimony, Justice Juan Merchan said Daniels would be allowed to testify about the basic details of the encounter. Trump defence lawyer Susan Necheles objected, arguing that testimony was peripheral to a case centred on financial records.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger said the testimony was needed to complete the story and establish Daniels’ credibility.
Trump, running again for president in the November 5 election, has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors say his signature was on payments at the heart of the case.