Porn actress Stephanie Clifford, with the stage name Stormy Daniels, will probably testify in the bribery case against Donald Trump today, according to her lawyer Clark Brewster.
Trump is charged with breaching the Accounting Act in connection with a payment of $130,000, just over NOK 1.4 million, to Clifford.
He is the first former president in US history to be indicted in a criminal case.
There is also great tension as to what Judge Juan M. Merchan will do with Trump’s constant violation of the ban on speaking about witnesses, jurors and others connected to the case.
On Monday, the judge fined Trump $1,000. It is the tenth fine he has given Trump for contempt of court. The former president has now been fined a total of 9,000 dollars for not complying with the obligation to remain silent.
Trump has insisted on all occasions that he is only exercising his freedom of speech.
– It is important that you understand
The judge also threatened Trump with jail time if he shows contempt for the court again, saying the fines apparently do not deter the outspoken former president.
If he continues to show contempt of court he may be forced to order Trump to the jail cell.
– Mr. Trump, it is important that you understand, the last thing I want to do is put you in jail. You are the former president of the United States and possibly the next president as well, Merchan said in court on Monday, according to CNN.
Merchan said he understands the significance of such a decision, but pointed out that he has a job to do.
“As much as I don’t want to impose a prison sentence, I want you to understand that I will do so if it is necessary and appropriate,” he told Trump yesterday.
Quiet money payout
Clifford is very central to the case against Trump, the first against a former president. Prosecutors say Trump covered up a $130,000 payment his former lawyer Michael Cohen made to Clifford ahead of the 2016 election.
Cohen has previously said Trump asked him to pay Clifford to keep quiet about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump in 2006, allegedly to prevent her from telling her story to the media before the election.
READ MORE: VG met porn actor Stormy Daniels in March this year.
Before the weekend, Trump’s former press secretary and his favorite, Hope Hicks, testified and she burst into tears in court.
