After a day in court where porn star Stormy Daniels recounted in excruciating detail an alleged sexual romp with former President Donald Trump, he emerged to declare the prosecutors’ case is “totally falling apart.”
Mr. Trump, who is charged with bookkeeping fraud to cover up hush money paid to Ms. Daniels in 2016, said the trial had veered off the tracks.
“This is just a disaster for the DA, the Soros-backed DA. This whole case is just a disaster,” Mr. Trump said to reporters.
Suggesting the case was a political stunt to hurt his White House run against President Biden, he said the time in court diverted him from the campaign trail.
“I should be out campaigning right now. I’m leading in all the polls. I’d like to be campaigning, we’ll be leading by a lot more,” he said.
He later called the trial a “hoax.”
SEE ALSO: Judge rejects Trump’s motion for mistrial over Stormy testimony
Earlier, Mr. Trump’s lawyer moved for a mistrial, saying testimony offered by Ms. Daniels — including her suggesting Mr. Trump raped her — went too far.
The judge quickly rejected the motion, but it still preserved Mr. Trump’s rights in an appeal of a potential conviction.
Defense attorney Todd Blanche also said Ms. Daniels seemed to alter her story to make it sound like it was not a consensual encounter, and it would be hard to “unring the bell” for the jury.
“A lot of the testimony that this witness talked about today is way different than the story she was peddling in 2016,” Mr. Blanche said. “We believe, regrettably, that there should be a mistrial.”
State Supreme Judge Juan Merchan denied the motion. He will, however, give a limiting instruction to the jury about her story about being threatened by a man in a parking lot in 2011.
The judge said he agreed that the testimony went a bit far at times.
SEE ALSO: Defense gets crack at Stormy Daniels, highlights her hatred for Trump
“The defense has to take some responsibility for that,” the judge said. “Having said that, I don’t believe we’re at a point where a mistrial is warranted.”