Stormy Daniels wraps up testimony in Trump hush money trial

Trump attorney Susan Necheles is challenging Stormy Daniels on the specific description she gave of the floors of Trump's hotel room that she testified to earlier during direct examination.

"That had been part of your prep. That you were supposed to include certain details in your testimony, right?" Necheles asks, calling out a moment when prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked Daniels if she mentioned the tile floors.

About the direct examination: Hoffinger asked Daniels if she had mentioned the floors. Daniels now confirms yes, certain details were a part of her prep for trial.

Necheles is suggesting that they prepared her to "match" her testimony to things she wrote in her book.

Daniels is pushing back on that saying, “it’s the same story, my story hasn’t changed when it comes to those details.”

Trump attorney Susan Necheles is asking Stormy Daniels about her history making porn movies.

"You have a lot of experience of making phony stories about sex appear to be real," Necheles says.

"Wow," Daniels says with a pause. "That’s not how I would put it. The sex in the films is very much real just like what happened to me in that room."

They're sparring over whether Daniels made up the story with Donald Trump.

Trump attorney Susan Necheles is now going over Stormy Daniels' venture to create a show about the paranormal. She asks Daniels if she has claimed her house in New Orleans is haunted.

Daniels confirms the venture, adding they brought in experts.

"It was a lot of interesting and unexplained activity," she says. "A lot of the activity was completely debunked as a giant possum," she adds with a laugh.

During the cross-examination of Stormy Daniels, Donald Trump's defense team pointed out that Daniels profited from merchandise related to Trump's indictment — an interesting point given that the former president has also fundraised from his indictment, CNN's Kaitlan Collins said.

"They are going after Stormy Daniels because she confirmed that the day that Trump was indicted she was drinking champagne" and she posted a link to a store that sells merchandise related to the case, Collins explained.

Meanwhile, Trump has fundraised off every one of his indictments, Collins noted.

The merchandise in question: The defense has highlighted several items from Daniels' website for the jury, including a "Stormy Saint of Indictments" candle and #TeamStormy shirts.

Susan Necheles, Trump's attorney, asked whether Daniels was bragging with the candle that she got Trump indicted.

"No, I’m not bragging. I think it’s funny," Daniels said.

Trump attorney Susan Necheles is asking whether Stormy Daniels plans to keep making money off of Trump.

"I plan to continue to do my job and to fund my extraordinary legal bills," Daniels says. 

Stormy Daniels turned a question around to highlight Donald Trump's own efforts to sell merchandise based on his criminal indictment.

"You’re celebrating the indictment by selling things from your store?" Necheles asks.

"Not unlike Mr. Trump," Daniels responds.

Remember: The former president has turned his criminal indictments into fundraising opportunities, including in the form of t-shirts featuring his mug shot from his case in Georgia.

The merchandise in question: The defense has highlighted several items from Daniels' website for the jury, including a "Stormy Saint of Indictments" candle and #TeamStormy shirts.

Necheles asks whether Daniels is bragging with the candle that she got Trump indicted.

"No, I’m not bragging. I think it’s funny," Daniels says.

There's also a $30 comic book called "Political Power: Stormy Daniels."

"Keep in mind I didn't write this comic book," Daniels says, laughing. But she confirms she's selling it.

As Stormy Daniels testifies about the merchandise she sold after Trump's indictment, Trump is leaning forward on the defendant's table. He's got a frown on his face.

Stormy Daniels confirms on the stand that she was drinking champagne celebrating Trump's indictment.

When Trump attorney Susan Necheles asks whether she's selling items in her story about how she got the president indicted, Daniels responds, "I got President Trump indicted?" raising the inflection in her voice to sound surprised.

Stormy Daniels returned to the stand Thursday after more than 3.5 hours of testimony on Tuesday. Donald Trump’s attorney Susan Necheles resumed her cross-examination, starting with the non-disclosure agreement Daniels signed.

Here are the highlights:

She wanted her story out: Daniels said that she didn’t want money from Trump, she said – she just wanted her story out there. "I was asking to sell my story to publications to get the truth out," Daniels says. This testimony reiterates what she said on the stand Tuesday.

Other news outlets wanted the story: Necheles asked Daniels if she remembered talking to Slate magazine about the affair. Daniels said she talked to a reporter about the non-disclosure agreement with Cohen, just as a backup to the NDA. "Numerous people wanted to publish the story," Daniels said with a small laugh. Necheles pressed, asking if other outlets were willing to pay her money for her story. Daniels said, “No”

The paper trail: Daniels maintains she took the nondisclosure agreement "to get my story protected by a paper trail so my family wouldn't get hurt when the story came out." The cross-examination heated up when Necheles asked if publishing her story in Slate, instead of signing an NDA, would also have produced a paper trail. "With a target on my back and my family's," Daniels replied.

She didn’t yell at her attorney: Daniels said she "never yelled at Keith Davidson on the phone," referring to a call between her former lawyer and Michael Cohen in April 2018. On the call, Davidson gave Cohen a heads up about the public claims that Daniels' then-publicist Gina Rodriguez's boyfriend was going to make to the press. Daniels said the transcript noted that Rodriguez’s boyfriend was going to tell the story, not that she was.