Judge Merchan denies Trump motion for mistrial again after Stormy Daniels testimony in NY AG trial

Judge Juan Merchan denied Trump defense attorneys’ request for a mistrial and a modification of the gag order on Thursday, arguing that the former president should be able to defend himself against Stormy Daniels’ salacious and "prejudicial" testimony.

Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche first requested a mistrial on Tuesday after Daniels’ first day on the stand but was denied. Merchan did, however, admit she was a difficult witness to control and said much of her testimony was "unnecessary" and "irrelevant" to the charges.

Trump attorneys on Thursday again requested a mistrial.

Blanche said that the prosecution asked Daniels "a whole host of questions" that never should have been asked, pointing to questions about the porn actress’ childhood and her alleged interaction with Trump. Blanche argued they were "things that are irrelevant to the facts of this case."

Blanche reminded that the case is not about sex, and again stressed that Daniels’ testimony was "extraordinarily prejudicial for the jury to hear."

Blanche continued that many of the questions asked by the prosecution were "prejudicial."

"It is so dangerous, so prejudicial, it borders on a problem from the beginning," Blanche said, adding that Daniels' testimony and story about the alleged sexual encounter kept changing.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Brooke Singman.

Trump defense attorneys on Thursday said Stormy Daniels’ story about an alleged sexual encounter with the former president keeps changing because the affair never happened.

Defense attorney for former President Trump Susan Necheles led the continued cross-examination of Daniels Thursday, after her hours-long testimony on Tuesday that prompted the Trump team to motion for a mistrial, calling it "unnecessary" and "prejudicial." The judge denied the motion.

Necheles, during questioning, pointed to a statement Daniels signed in 2018 denying an encounter with Trump ever took place. Daniels said she did not write the statement, but signed it.

Necheles pointed to another statement where Daniels denied having a sexual relationship with Trump. In part, the statement reads: "I’m denying this affair because it never happened."

Daniels claimed ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen was pushing for her to sign the statement.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Brooke Singman.

Judge Juan Merchan denied a request from the defense on Thursday to allow former President Donald Trump to discuss the happenings in court over the last few days.

Following the jury's dismissal from the courtroom, Merchan heard arguments from lawyers on both sides about the Trump lawyers' renewed call for a mistrial motion. At that time, the defense also requested the judge loosen his gag order so Trump could speak about the testimony given by Stormy Daniels in court this week.

After hearing both sides, Merchan denied the defense's gag order request.

"My concern is not just protecting Daniels, my concern is protecting the integrity of these proceedings as a whole," Merchan told the lawyers.

Merchan said he was concerned about how witnesses who have not yet testified could hear Trump's remarks and it have an impact on their own testimony.

The judge said the reason the gag order was in place is due to the nature of the attacks and insisted Trump's "track record speaks for itself."

Merchan said he would be mindful of witnesses who may use the gag order as a shield.

The prosecution in NY v. Trump said Thursday that they do not plan to call former Playboy model Karen McDougal to testify in the trial, according to defense attorney Todd Blanche.

"The People informed me they no longer intend to call Ms. McDougal," Blanche said, according to multiple reports.

McDougal alleged she had a monthslong affair with Donald Trump in 2006 and was later paid $150,000 by the National Enquirer's parent company to keep quiet about it.

Trump has denied the affair with the December 1997 Playmate of the Month.

Madeleine Westerhout, who previously served as former President Donald Trump's personal secretary in the White House, was brought to tears Thursday as she described her experience in the administration.

The emotion came as Westerhout outlined the former president's relationship with his wife, Melania Trump.

Westerhout said the couple's relationship was one of mutual respect and that they laughed often when they were in the oval office.

Westerhout said Melania would sometimes text Trump, reminding him that it was past dinner time and asking when her husband was coming home.

Though she recognized Trump was her boss, Westerhout insisted Melania “definitely runs the show."

Getting emotional as she reflected on her time in the White House under Trump, Westerhout said she has "grown so much” and said she really respects Trump and thinks that he’s been treated unfairly.

The emotion continued as Westerhout discussed the book she wrote -- "My Dream Job at the White House, Why I Lost It and What I learned."

She said it was important to write the book to show people the man she got to know. She said she wanted to tell that story and reiterated that she believes he’s not been treated fairly.

Madeleine Westerhout, who previously served as former President Donald Trump's personal secretary, told the court on Thursday that Trump's personal expenses were handled through checks.

Checks were sent from the Trump Organization to employees at the White House and Westerhout would take them to the president for him to sign.

Westerhout said the checks came in a FedEx envelope. Inside it was a manila folder with the checks. Invoices, she said, would be attached sometimes.

Westerhout couldn't recall how frequently the checks came, but said they were “consistent, maybe twice a month.”

She said she sometimes witnessed Trump sign the checks, and after they were signed she would put them in a pre-labeled FedEx envelope and send them back to the Trump Organization.

Westerhout couldn't recall a specific time Trump didn’t sign, and recalled a couple of times Trump had a question and called former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg or someone else to ask for clarification.

Fox News' Maria Paronich contributed to this update.

Former President Donald Trump took to social media on Thursday amid his trial in New York City to blast his opponents in the 2024 race for the White House.

In a series of posts to Truth Social, Trump suggested President Biden is "responsible for banning TikTok."

Trump added, "He is the one pushing it to close, and doing it to help his friends over at Facebook become richer and more dominant, and able to continue to fight, perhaps illegally, the Republican Party. It’s called ELECTION INTERFERENCE..."

In another post, he took aim at Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who's also running for president as an independent candidate.

He wrote, "RFK Jr. is a Democrat 'Plant,' a Radical Left Liberal who’s been put in place in order to help Crooked Joe Biden, the Worst President in the History of the United States, get Re-Elected..."

Trump also held Biden's feet to the fire on the issue of a debate between the two of them.

"ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, ANY PLACE," he wrote in one post, which included a video message.

In another post, he wrote, "Dear Joe, now that you’ve committed to Debate on the now dying Howard Stern Show, no less, let’s set it up right now. I’m ready to go anywhere that you are. We could do it in D.C., even pinpoint the White House, or in New York when your Radical Left Fascists are finished with ELECTION INTERFERENCE against your Political Opponent, ME…"

Madeleine Westerhout, who previously served as former President Donald Trump's personal secretary and later as the director of Oval Office Operations from February to August 2019, is the next witness to take the stand.

Upon taking the stand, Westerhout said she has never been inside a courtroom before and admits she is nervous.

Westerhout was first asked about the "Access Hollywood" tape.

She said it “rattled RNC leadership” and recalled conversations on how it would be possible to replace Trump as a candidate if it came to that.

Once Trump was elected, Westerhout said she worked from Trump Tower and assisted in scheduling interviews for cabinet positions and senior staff roles for the new administration.

Westerhout was nicknamed by members of the media as "The Greeter Girl."

Westerhout noted that she worked "seamlessly" with Rhona Graff, Trump's longtime assistant, and insisted she was "integral” with scheduling interviews.

Fox News' Grace Taggart contributed to this update.

The defense's cross examination of Rebecca Manochio, the prosecution's 14th witness, has concluded and the next witness has been called to the stand.

The next witness is Tracey Menzies of Harper Collins. Manhattan Assistant DA Rebecca Mangold is handling direct examination.

Menzies is from Monmouth Count, New Jersey, and works for Harper Collins Book Publishing. She was compelled to testify on behalf of Harper Collins.

Menzies is testifying as a custodian of records for Harper Collins, which was subpoenaed.

Prior to a decision made by Judge Juan Merchan to not allow additional photography at the NY v. Trump trial, Stormy Daniels, a witness for the prosecution, snagged a photo with her attorney on Tuesday.

The photo, which emerged Thursday, showed a smiling Daniels alongside her attorney, Clark Brewster, from inside the witness room inside the courthouse on May 7.

The photo was posted to Brewster’s law firm’s Facebook page on Tuesday.

Daniels, who alleged she had a sexual encounter with Donald Trump in a Lake Tahoe hotel room in 2006, took the stand once more on Tuesday and faced questions from the defense.

The defense in NY v. Trump said Thursday that it would renew its motion for a mistrial following the second round of testimony of pornographic actress Stormy Daniels.

The defense, according to reporters inside the courtroom, said it had three applications to bring up, including renewed motion for mistrial and gag order.

Those efforts will be discussed following testimony this evening at 4 p.m. ET.

Judge Juan Merchan previously denied the defense's request for a mistrial on Tuesday after defense attorney Todd Blanche told him that Daniels' first round of testimony was prejudicial.

Merchan said a mistrial was not warranted and stated that he was doing everything he could to control the witness, including once objecting to Daniels' testimony himself.

"I agree that it would have been better if some of these things had been left unsaid," Merchan said at the time.

The court has taken a lunch break and will resume at 2:15 p.m. ET.

Cross-examination of Trump Organization junior bookkeeper Rebecca Manochio will begin after lunch.

The prosecution called Rebecca Manochio, its 14th witness, to the stand on Thursday following testimony from Stormy Daniels.

Manochio, a junior bookkeeper for the Trump Organization for 11 years, was compelled to testify and has her attorneys present.

Manochio said she was assistant to former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg for roughly eight years and sat outside his office.

Part of Manochio's responsibilities was attaching invoices to checks that needed signatures from Weisselberg.

Manochio testified Thursday that Donald Trump's personal expenses were handled by the Trump Organization and that his expenses were paid by check.

During his tenure in the White House, Manochio said she would use FedEx to send Trump checks once a week.

Stormy Daniels said Thursday that part of her decision to enter a non-disclosure agreement was for her own safety.

Under re-direct from the prosecution, Daniels was asked by Manhattan prosecutor Susan Hoffinger about fear being a reason she entered into the NDA and “hiding in plain view.”  

Daniels said a friend of hers who is an attorney told her that “if you’re out in the open, you’re safer."

Daniels confirmed part of her motivation for entering into the NDA was to keep her safe. She added, “We’re all happy to take the money. It’s just a bonus.”

Daniels sued Donald Trump in 2018, claiming the non-disclosure agreement she signed isn’t valid because it lacks Trump’s signature.

Fox News' Maria Paronich contributed to this update.

Stormy Daniels was questioned Thursday in court about differences in how she has told the story of her alleged sexual encounter with former President Donald Trump over the past several years.

Attempting to show inconsistencies in Daniels' story, Trump lawyer Susan Necheles pointed out that Daniels has performed in pornography, and asked her how Trump's alleged propositions in a hotel room made her feel faint, and her hands go numb -- as she testified earlier this week.

Daniels said that when someone is not expecting it, and it's not a husband but an older man is laying on the bed in boxers, it’s startling.

Necheles then pointed to remarks Daniels made in her book, where she claimed she was so assertive and powerful that she "made [Trump] my b---h."

Necheles said Daniels did not say no to having sex with Trump, which Daniels confirmed. Daniels also confirmed that this wasn’t the first time someone had made a pass at her, and said it was the first time there was a bodyguard outside.

“You told In Touch a completely different story," Necheles said. Daniels replied, "No" and claimed “there were parts in the middle I didn’t remember.”

Stormy said she was not trying to make money in 2011, and the In Touch article was an abbreviated version.

Daniels said an In Touch article “left out a lot of stuff because they couldn’t fact check it.”

"You made it up,” Necheles asked. "No," Daniels responded.

Fox News' Maria Paronich contributed to this update.

Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott attended former President Donald Trump's trial in New York City on Thursday and offered support for Trump while targeting those behind the effort to convict him as a "bunch of Democrats" who are preventing him from campaigning.

"This can't continue. What's happening to this president is wrong. We're watching all over the country, watching all these cases that are going after somebody simply because he's a political opponent of Joe Biden," Scott told reporters outside the courtroom. "I'm proud of him for standing up for all of us. Because guess what? It's nothing to do with him. They can go after any one of us if they want to. ... If they can go after the former president, they can go after you."

"Now let's look at who is involved, who's involved in doing this. The lead prosecutor was the number three person [at] the Biden Justice Department. The judge's daughter is a political operative and raises money for Democrats. You've got the lead prosecutor's wife, [who] is a significant donor to Democrats, I think to Biden. So this is just a bunch of Democrats saying we want to make sure that Donald Trump can't talk," he added.

Scott also mentioned the gag order Trump is under, which prevents him from talking about certain elements related to the trial, and insisted that he has been prevented from campaigning due to the trial.

"You know, they've got a gag order so he can't go campaign. They they've got him holed up in a in a courtroom. So Joe Biden can go campaign, [but] Donald Trump can't. This has to stop. Look, we know that President Biden can't win this election fair and square. He has nothing to run on. And we know President Trump has he has a record. He secured the border. He had a great economy where we weren't at war," Scott said.

"So that's why this is happening. Joe Biden knows, and Democrats know, that he cannot win. Joe Biden cannot win this election," he added.

Under cross-examination Thursday, Stormy Daniels confirmed to the court that she tells people she can speak with their dead relatives.

The confirmation from Daniels came after she claimed in January 2022 to be a "medium" who could communicate with nonliving spirits during a fraud trial against her former lawyer, Michael Avenatti, according to Reuters.

"I don't know, it just happens sometimes," Daniels said at the time, adding that she used "cards" and "meditation" and sometimes recorded the conversations she had with the dead.

Under cross-examination at the time by Avenatti, Daniels was asked whether she had experienced "poltergeist phenomenon."

Daniels responded, "Yes."

Fox News' Grace Taggart contributed to this report.

Stormy Daniels defended previous social media remarks she made referring to Donald Trump as an "orange turd" who she wanted to "flush".

Trump lawyer Susan Necheles asked Daniels Thursday if she keeps posting on social media about being instrumental in putting Trump in jail.

The court reviewed Defense Exhibit J-43, a prior post from Daniels. Daniels said someone called her a human toilet and she capitalized on the joke in a post about the trial, insinuating she was “the best person to flush the orange turd down.”

Stormy maintained that it was hyperbole and that she is not a human toilet, but she absolutely meant Trump.

When Trump was indicted in this case, Daniels tweeted about him being indicted, and when people asked how they could support her, she tweeted the link to her online store.

Defense exhibits of Daniels' social media posts showed Daniels thanking people for their support amid Trump's indictment. Daniels told the court she was celebrating the indictment and that selling merchandise is her doing her job.

Stormy Daniels admitted in court Thursday to receiving nearly $1 million for her story regarding an alleged affair with Donald Trump.

Under cross-examination, Daniels was asked by Trump lawyer Susan Necheles whether she wanted to publicly say she had sex with Trump. Daniels responded, “No, no one would ever want to publicly say that."

When pressed again bout making money, Stormy says she did a piece with 60 Minutes for free.

Daniels confirmed she sold her life story for $800K for the book. When Necheles said Daniels was paid $930K for selling her story (including the $130K payment from Cohen), Daniels said she didn’t receive the $800K.

Asked about the book, Daniels said the story started when she was two, but she assumed people would read the part about Trump first.

Necheles also asked about the “Make America Horny Tour,” to which Daniels responded, “I did not name that tour."

Daniels also said in court Thursday that she only received a portion of the $130K payment in return for signing the NDA.