President Donald Trump’s lawyer announced on Thursday that Playboy model Karen McDougal will not be testifying at his New York criminal hush money trial, following two days of testimony from porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, stated in court that the prosecutors no longer intend to call McDougal as a witness, although the reason for this decision is unclear.
This development comes after suggestions from legal analysts that Daniels’s testimony may have harmed the prosecutors’ case, which seeks to demonstrate that Trump conspired to pay hush money to advance his 2016 campaign. Daniels’s testimony focused on allegations of a sexual encounter with Trump at a Lake Tahoe resort in 2006, an incident that the former president has denied.
In addition to Cohen’s $130,000 payment to Daniels, the case also involves two other deals involving Trump, one with McDougal and another with a former Trump Tower doorman. The doorman created a false story about Trump fathering a child out of wedlock as part of the alleged efforts to silence damaging stories.
The defense has requested a mistrial and permission for Trump to respond to Daniels’s statements in court, but the judge will need to decide on these matters. This follows the judge’s earlier denial of Trump’s initial mistrial request.
