Stormy Daniels’ lawyer claims $130,000 payment ‘wasn’t hush money’ during Trump trial

American news

By means of Ben Kochman

Stormy Daniels’ attorney claimed Thursday during Donald Trump’s trial that the $130,000 she received was “not a payout, nor was it hush money.”

Keith Davidson was on the stand at Manhattan Supreme Court as he made the confession, boldly testifying that he prefers to describe the arrangement — which was set up by then-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen with the porn star — as a “consideration in a civil settlement . ”

Trump is on trial for allegedly falsifying data related to the payment.

Davidson defended a 2018 statement he wrote on behalf of Daniels, which claimed she never had a “sexual and/or romantic affair with Donald Trump,” by zeroing in on a very specific and technical definition of its wording.

“I don’t think anyone ever claimed that any interaction between her and Mr. Trump was romantic,” the lawyer testified.

Davidson also testified that it was his “understanding” that Daniels had in fact had sex with Trump, despite the letter he wrote and she signed it.

Daniels had dug into her story about her alleged tryst with Trump in 2007 ahead of the 2016 election, and prosecutors say she was paid by Cohen to keep her quiet.

The charges against Trump stem from the fact that he allegedly falsified his company records at the time by reimbursing Cohen for the $130,000, but reporting them as ‘legal costs’.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to the 34 charges and denied ever having sex with Daniels, who could testify later at the trial.

Trump’s lawyers also dredged up details about Davidson’s somewhat unsavory past dealings during tense cross-examination, pointing out that he represented clients who received hush money from actor Charlie Sheen and asking him whether he had another client pay for the leak of Lindsay Lohan’s medical records to TMZ.

“I don’t remember,” Davidson said when grilled about the Lohan episode.

Davidson also described his relationship with Cohen, with whom he seemed to have developed quite a bond.

He described how Trump apparently rejected him from a top job in his Cabinet in a Dec. 9, 2016, phone call, he testified Thursday.

“Jesus Christ, can you believe I’m not going to Washington?” Davidson recalled.

Cohen added of Trump: “I’ve saved that guy’s ass so many times, you don’t even know it,” Davidson told the jurors.

Cohen — who left the Trump Organization in 2018 and turned on his former employer — had previously spoken to Davidson about his hopes to be appointed Trump’s attorney general or chief of staff, Davidson told jurors.

He added that during the phone call, Cohen ranted about how he had not yet received a refund for the money paid to Daniels.

“That damn guy didn’t even pay me back the $130,000,” Cohen said, referring to Daniels’ payout.

Cohen was “depressed” and “despondent” during the December 2016 phone call, which Davidson said occurred while he was shopping at a California department store that he said was “bizarrely” decorated with an “Alice in Wonderland” theme that included enormous rabbits.

“I thought he was going to kill himself,” Davidson recalled when asked again about the phone call during cross-examination by Trump lawyer Emil Bove.

The prosecutor also introduced recordings of phone calls made by Cohen, who ultimately received a three-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to charges of tax evasion and making false statements in court.

In one, he tells Davidson about Trump: “I can’t even tell you how many times he said to me, you know, ‘I hate the fact that we did it.’

It seems in context that Cohen is referring to Daniels’ payout.

“And my comment to him was, ‘But everyone you talked to told you this was the right move,’” Cohen adds on the recording.

Trump, 77, sat quietly observing the testimony at the defense table, wearing a navy blue suit, white shirt and mustard yellow tie.

The ex-president’s lawyers have argued that Cohen’s upcoming trial testimony cannot be trusted because the disbarred attorney — who served prison time on the same Daniels “hush money” payment — is seeking revenge on Trump.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has admitted that Cohen has “baggage,” but says a paper trail of evidence and testimony from other witnesses will support his story.

Trump faces up to four years in prison if convicted of falsifying company records.

After the day in court, Trump visited soldiers from the New York police and fire departments at the downtown fire station on E 51st and brought them a stack of pizzas.

Munching on a piece of pepperoni, a firefighter told The Post: “It’s always special when a president shows up at your workplace.

“We had a conversation. I thanked him for coming, he thanked us. He’s a nice guy coming along.”