Stormy Daniels’s testimony on the stand Tuesday appeared to bother Donald Trump, the former president “staring straight ahead glumly” as the adult film star aired embarrassing details of their alleged private moment. During a lunch break, Trump took to Truth Social in outrage, writing: “THE PROSECUTION, WHICH HAS NO CASE, HAS GONE TOO FAR. MISTRIAL!” he wrote.
Back in the courtroom Tuesday afternoon,Todd Blanche, Trump’s lead counsel on the criminal hush money case, echoed the call for mistrial. Blanche specifically brought up the adult film star’s testimony that Trump didn’t wear a condom during their alleged 2006 encounter. Blanche argued that the claim was prejudicial and claimed that the prosecutors intentionally asked her questions that would “inflame this jury.”
The “pure embarrassment” caused by her testimony, Blanche argued, would make it impossible for Trump to get a fair trial, saying jurors should have not heard the allegations but that you can’t “unring this bell.” He added that Daniel’s claim that she “blacked out” before having sex with Trump “is the kind of testimony that makes it impossible to come back from,” NBC News reported.
Judge Juan Merchan admitted that he too had issues with Daniels’ testimony. He sustained multiple objections from the defense team during Daniel’s testimony and agreed that she needn’t have divulged certain details, at one point appearing quite upset with the prosecution. But he also rejected the Trump legal team’s call for a mistrial, maintaining that there are “guardrails in place” and that the defense could have objected to more of her testimony as it was happening.
“I don’t think we’re at the point where a mistrial is warranted,” Merchan said.
Manhattan prosecutor Susan Hoffinger later explained that the intent with Daniels’ lurid testimony was to illustrate exactly what Trump didn’t want the public to know when he allegedly agreed to pay $130,000 to buy her silence ahead of the 2016 election.