“People call Stormy Daniels.”
So began the intense and often uncomfortable testimony of Ms. Daniels, who spent nearly five hours in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday telling her story of a 2006 meeting with Donald J. Trump and the subsequent hush-money cover-up that has become the basis of the case of the public prosecutor.
Ms. Daniels spoke quickly and at length about her now infamous first meeting with Mr. Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, sometimes veering off topic, opening her up to objections from the defense.
After the lunch break, Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche moved for a mistrial, calling Ms. Daniels' testimony prejudicial and arguing that the prosecutor's questions were intended to embarrass Mr. Trump and “inflame this jury .”
The judge, Juan M. Merchan, agreed that some of Ms. Daniels' explicit testimony “might have been better left unsaid” but denied a mistrial.
The former president is accused of it falsifying company documents to cover up a $130,000 payment to Ms. Daniels just before the 2016 election. Mr Trump, 77, has denied the allegations and said he did not have sex with Ms Daniels. If convicted, he could face jail time or probation.
Here are five lessons from the thirteenth day of Trump's trial.
Prosecutors took a risk with their witness.
Jurors heard a vivid account of the encounter in Lake Tahoe and met the woman who received the hush money deal. The impact could be profound and pose a risk to prosecutors, depending on whether the jury received Ms. Daniels' account of Mr. Trump's actions as salacious or forceful.
She described meeting Mr. Trump at the 2006 golf event and accepting his invitation to dinner after her publicist said, “What could go wrong?”
She remembered that Mr. Trump was wearing pajamas when she met him in his hotel suite, and she asked him to change. They discussed the porn industry and he asked about residuals, unions and testing for sexual diseases.
She said they talked about his family, including his daughter, and he compared her to Ms. Daniels. “People underestimate her too,” Ms. Daniels said. They also discussed his wife, and Mr. Trump said they “didn't even sleep in the same room.” He suggested that Ms. Daniels might appear on “The Apprentice.”
When she later came out of the bathroom, Ms. Daniels found him partially undressed, she said. The sex was consensual, she said, but there was a “power imbalance.”
The motive for the payout is a point of contention.
Prosecutors asked Ms. Daniels about a 2018 statement in which she denied the sexual encounter. Ms Daniels said she had not wanted to sign it and that it was not true.
Defense attorneys, building on what they seem to see as Ms. Daniels' shortcomings as a witness, came out in a fury. Susan Necheles, a lawyer, suggested in her cross-examination that Ms. Daniels was trying to “extort money” from the former president.
Ms. Daniels replied sharply: “Not true.”
Daniels' story bothers Trump.
Before court even started Tuesday morning, Trump telegraphed his frustration with Ms. Daniels by posting an angry message on Truth Social, saying he had just learned about an upcoming witness and adding that his lawyers had “no time” to deal with to prepare. The post was deleted shortly afterwards, possibly due to concerns about violating the silence order.
Mr. Trump, who spent many moments of the trial with his eyes closed, remained attentive for part of the day, often displaying a sour expression on his face. He continually whispered to his lawyers and at one point uttered an expletive.
But by the afternoon he had returned to his habit of closing his eyes, even during combative cross-examination.
Daniels' credibility is a hurdle for prosecutors.
Ms. Daniels' motivations are a major focus of the defense. In one pointed moment, Ms. Necheles confronted Ms. Daniels about her hatred of the former president, at one point asking if she wanted him to go to prison. Ms Daniels responded: “I want him to be held accountable.”
Ms. Necheles also asked Ms. Daniels if she made money by claiming to have had sex with Mr. Trump. Ms. Daniels responded, “I made money telling my stories,” later adding, “It also cost me a lot of money.”
Trump's words haunt him.
Prosecutors have tried several times to use Trump's past statements against him.
Before Ms. Daniels testified Tuesday, a witness read passages from Mr. Trump's books. Some spoke of his frugality: “Every dollar counts in business, and for that matter, every dime.”
Others spoke of his propensity for revenge.
“For years I've said, if someone fucks you, you have to fuck them back,” the witness read. The passage continued: “If someone hurts you, go after him as cruelly and violently as possible. As the Bible says: an eye for an eye.”
Not long after, one of his enemies – Mrs. Daniels – took the stand. Her cross-examination will resume on Thursday.