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  • 15 NOVEMBER 2024
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Judge rejects Trump’s bid to overturn election

The judge in the trial of former US President Donald Trump on falsification of documents charges has today rejected a request to annul the trial, submitted by the defence shortly after former porn star Stormy Daniels testified in court.

Judge rejects Trump’s bid to overturn election
Notícias ao Minuto

22:13 - 07/05/24 por Lusa

Mundo Stormy Daniels

Stephanie Clifford, known professionally as Stormy Daniels, testified Tuesday that she had sex with Republican politician and this year’s GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump in her deposition in Trump’s hush-money trial. Donald Trump’s lawyers asked for a mistrial, arguing that Daniels’ testimony violated the rules set for her to take the witness stand. Attorney Todd Blanche said the testimony about the alleged sexual relationship with Trump and her detailed account of a later conversation and other encounters with Trump “had nothing to do with this case and is extremely prejudicial.” Blanche argued that “the court set guardrails for this testimony” but they were “simply ignored,” adding that “this is the kind of testimony that makes it impossible to un-ring the bell,” which would be unfair because Trump is scheduled to leave for a campaign rally later Tuesday. “The prosecution has no case, this has gone too far. Mistrial!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. However, Judge Juan M. Merchan denied the defense request, saying he had not reached the point where a mistrial was warranted. The judge said he agreed that the former adult film actress sometimes talked more than she should have and that “it was a little difficult to rein her in,” but he faulted the defense for not objecting more forcefully while she was testifying. Prosecutors defended Daniels’ testimony after the mistrial request, arguing that it spoke to Trump’s motive for silencing her. Trump is on trial on charges that he falsified business records in a scheme to conceal hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to Daniels to keep her quiet about an alleged sexual encounter a decade earlier. The charges against Trump stem from an investigation launched by the Manhattan district attorney’s office after media reports that the then-businessman had paid off several women to keep quiet about alleged sexual encounters. Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer and vice president of the Trump Organization, arranged for the payment, initially using his own money, and the former president is accused of reimbursing him by falsely inflating the value of legal services Cohen provided to the company. The case is the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president and the first of four pending against Trump to reach a jury. Cohen was sentenced in December 2018 to three years in prison. The former actress testified that during the alleged encounter, the former president did not physically or verbally assault her, though she noted a “power dynamic” between them and was aware that his bodyguard was waiting outside. “I told very few people that we had had sex because I was embarrassed that I hadn’t stopped it,” she said, adding that after the encounter she left “as quickly as I could.” Daniels testified that Trump, who she said reminded her of her father at the time because he was 60, did not give her any money or his phone number “or anything like that,” nor did he ask her to keep the encounter confidential or express concern about his wife, Melania Trump. Questioned by the prosecutor, Daniels described how an initial encounter at a golf tournament, where they discussed the adult film industry, led to a brief sexual encounter that she said Trump initiated after inviting her to dinner and then back to his hotel suite. Afterward, she said, “It was very difficult for me to find my shoes because my hands were shaking so badly.” Trump allegedly told her he hoped to see her again, but she “just wanted to leave.” Since the alleged encounter became public, Daniels has emerged as an antagonist of Trump, sharing her story in a book and on television and criticizing the former president in sometimes crude terms. Judge Juan M. Merchan has repeatedly cut off Daniels’ attempts to describe the encounter in graphic detail, striking some of her answers from the official record of the trial. Cohen allegedly paid Daniels after learning that she was prepared to go on the record with the National Enquirer or on television to confirm a sexual encounter. Daniels testified that after the $130,000 payment was initially dangled in front of her, Cohen disappeared and the deal fell apart, but it was later revived, with her lawyer and agent taking their cuts and Daniels ending up with about $96,000. After fining Trump $1,000 on Monday for violating a gag order yet again, the judge said he was prepared to jail Trump if he continued to violate a court order barring him from speaking publicly about jurors, witnesses and certain other people connected to the case. Trump was previously fined $9,000 last week for other violations of the order. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that city jail officials have discussed the possibility that they may have to house Donald Trump following the latest sanctions imposed by the court. “We have to adjust to whatever comes our way,” Adams said, declining to elaborate: “We don’t want to deal in hypotheticals, but they are professionals. They will be ready.”
Read Also: Ex-porn actress confirms sexual encounter with Trump in court (Portuguese version)

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