Adult-film star Stormy Daniels said in an interview broadcast Thursday that she looks forward to testifying if a criminal case brought against former president Donald Trump goes to trial.
In an indictment unsealed Tuesday in Manhattan, Trump was accused of falsifying business records 34 times, as he wrote checks to his lawyer Michael Cohen to reimburse him for $130,000 paid to Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels has said the money was to conceal a sexual dalliance, which Trump denies.
“I think having them call me in and put me on the stand legitimizes my story and who I am,” Daniels said on Fox Nation’s “Piers Morgan Uncensored.” Excerpts of the interview were released Thursday morning.
The Trump indictment, explained
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Based on statements during a court appearance Tuesday, it appears a trial in the case would not begin before early next year. Lawyers for Trump have said they will seek to have the charges dismissed before then.
Asked by Morgan if she would be willing to testify, Daniels said, “Absolutely.”
“Any time you’re up in the public eye, it’s scary,” Daniels said. “I mean, I used to get scared giving an oral book report in school, so it’s daunting. But I look forward to it. You know what I mean? Because I have nothing to hide. I’m the only one that has been telling the truth.”
Daniels, whose actual name is Stephanie Clifford, said that if she is not called by prosecutors, “it almost feels like they’re hiding me, and people will automatically assume — I would — that, ‘Oh, she must not be a good witness; she’s not credible.”
Trump on Thursday renewed his attacks on Daniels, saying in a statement that she “is out yet again for her moment of fame!”
Trump noted that a federal appeals court in California ruled Tuesday that Daniels must pay nearly $122,000 of his legal fees that were accumulated in connection with a failed defamation lawsuit. Trump also repeated his statement that he did not have an affair with Daniels.
Daniels, 44, has claimed she had an affair with Trump during a celebrity golf tournament at a Lake Tahoe resort in 2006. She told journalists in interviews that she met Trump at the tournament and was invited to dine with him at his hotel suite. In her account, they went on to have consensual sex. She was 27 at the time, and Trump was 60 and married to Melania Trump.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) has alleged that Trump’s effort to conceal the affair with Daniels was part of a broader scheme to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by suppressing potentially negative information about himself.
Falsifying business records is a felony in New York only when it is committed with an intent to commit or conceal another crime.
At a news conference Tuesday after Trump appeared in court, Bragg said prosecutors believe that Trump falsified his business records to cover up the election scheme. Bragg said that was illegal under New York state election law and involved a campaign contribution that exceeded the cap set by federal law.
Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Daniels told Morgan she does not believe Trump deserves jail time in the case involving her — but she said incarceration might be merited in other legal matters facing Trump.
“Specific to my case, I don’t think that his crimes against me are worthy of incarceration,” she said. (The case does not accuse Trump of crimes against Daniels; he is charged with falsifying business documents related to the hush money payment to her.)
If Trump is found guilty on other matters and not incarcerated, “it opens the door for other people to think they can get away with doing that and worse,” Daniels said.
Trump faces legal exposure on several fronts. The Justice Department is investigating the handling of classified documents found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and resort in Florida, and efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The Fulton County, Ga., district attorney is leading a parallel criminal probe related to the 2020 election.
Rosalind S. Helderman and Adela Suliman contributed to this report.