Stormy Daniels clashes with Trump attorneys during 2nd day of testimony

William Brangham:

Well, that’s exactly right, Amna.

She has testified that she has no direct knowledge of the charges that are at the center of this falsifying business records case, but yet, as you said, she is also at the very center of this case. And her testimony continued today with her finishing telling the story of this alleged one-time sexual encounter she had with Donald Trump at a celebrity golf tournament years ago in Lake Tahoe, and the then $130,000 that she negotiated to get paid to silence that story and make sure it never came out.

And Trump’s legal team today, led by Susan Necheles, tried to poke holes in inconsistencies that she has given over the years, trying to say that she’s not told a consistent story. There were lots of little examples of this.

Like, one example, they spent a good deal of time trying to parse out whether Stormy Daniels ever said that she ate dinner, literally ate a meal with him in that room that night of this alleged affair.

Necheles also tried to paint here, as you mentioned, as solely being out for money and said, how much money were you making on the documentary and the book and the interviews that you have given over the years?

I mean, it was very testy — testy, very combative. And there were times where Daniels seemed extremely defiant, and there were times where she seemed to actually enjoy the jousting back and forth. In contrast to how she was Tuesday, where she seemed much more nervous, today, she seemed much more eager for the fight.

In fact, there was one point at which Necheles was trying to show all the merchandise that she sells on her Web site and through her Instagram page, where she is promoting appearances at strip clubs, where she makes some mention of her relationship with Trump.

And Necheles was saying, you know, you’re trying to capitalize on this. And Daniels said, in essence, yes, that’s my job, merchandising myself and selling things with my name on it, not too dissimilar from what Trump does, she said.

So, a very, very combative day today.