Stormy Daniels says she expects to testify in Trump’s hush money trial

Porn actress Stormy Daniels indicated over the weekend she expects to testify in former President Trump’s criminal trial in New York, where he faces charges over alleged hush money payments made to her.

“Obviously, things have been next-level crazy, since I am set to testify in, at this point in time, March. Obviously, that can change any moment — in the hush money case,” Daniels said during an episode of her podcast, “Beyond the Norm,” released Sunday.

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with alleged payments made to Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to cover up an alleged affair with her.

Prosecutors in New York allege Trump illegally disguised reimbursements in connection with the hush money payment as a monthly retainer for legal services, prompting 34 false entries in New York business records.

Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to making the hush money payment under Trump’s direction “for the principal purpose” of impacting the 2016 presidential election.

The indictment, filed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, made Trump the first former president to ever be charged with crimes. It was the first of four criminal indictments he faces in separate cases.

Trump faces a total of 91 felony counts across the four indictments and has pleaded not guilty in all cases. His legal team has repeatedly called the hush money case, along with the three other cases, a form of “political prosecution” against the former president.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims she first met Trump in July 2006 at a golf tournament in Stateline, Nev., a town on the shore of Lake Tahoe. She claims Trump invited her to his hotel suite, where they had sex, and he suggested she could be a contestant on “Celebrity Apprentice.” Trump has repeatedly denied having a sexual relationship with Daniels.

Daniels agreed to tell the story in May 2011 to InTouch Weekly magazine, which did not run the story after Cohen reportedly threatened to sue the company after learning about the interview. The magazine eventually published the article in 2018, when reports of the alleged affair were made public.

When Daniels tried to tell the story publicly again in 2016, Cohen paid her $130,000 in exchange for her signing a nondisclosure agreement less than two weeks before the 2016 presidential election. Court filings later showed the Trump Organization paid Cohen a series of reimbursement installments.

Daniels in 2018 sued Cohen to avoid the nondisclosure agreement and later filed separate defamation suits against Cohen and Trump.

A hearing for the hush money case is scheduled for Feb. 15.