Judge Juan Merchan denied former President Donald Trump’s defense attorney Todd Blanche’s motion for a mistrial Tuesday following porn star Stormy Daniels’ testimony about his client.
Blanche referred to Daniels’ testimony as ”unduly prejudicial” and said he does not believe there is a way to reverse the effects of what she said about the alleged affair she had with Trump in 2006. The lawyer alleged Daniels discussed irrelevant details to the case, which is about an alleged $130,000 payment from Trump to the porn star, with Merchan indicating he will instruct the jury only to take into account a limited portion of her testimony. (RELATED: Alvin Bragg’s Team Finally Produced Docs At Center Of Case Against Trump — There Was Just One Catch)
“You don’t even know how to have a conversation,” Daniels testified she told Trump before “swatting” him with a magazine. She also alleged Trump did not wear a condom during their alleged affair.
“All of this has nothing to do with this case,” Blanche said, adding that her testimony could “inflame the jury.”
“The guardrails for this witness answering questions from the government were just thrown to the side,” Blanche said.
Defense attorney Todd Blanche moves for a mistrial based on Daniels’ testimony.
“The guardrails for this witness answering questions from the government were just thrown to the side,” he said. @DailyCaller
— Katelynn Richardson (@katesrichardson) May 7, 2024
In March, Merchan previously denied Trump’s request to prevent Daniels, as well as his former attorney Michael Cohen, from testifying in the trial.
“Your honor, we were extremely mindful of not eliciting too much testimony about the actual act,” prosecutor Susan Hoffinger said. “There were details that were left out based on the court’s instructions at the bench…But your honor, their stating that this is an entirely new story is not accurate.”
During the previous two weeks of testimony, prosecutors called witnesses who established context for the payment to Daniels, as well as the “conspiracy” to influence the 2016 election they allege Trump engaged in through the payment.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.