Stormy Daniels' 'Graphic' Evidence Puts Trump in Difficult Spot—Attorney

Stormy Daniels' graphic evidence has placed Donald Trump's lawyers in "a tough spot", a senior litigation lawyer has told Newsweek.

David Ring, a partner in Taylor & Ring in Los Angeles, was reacting to the testimony of the adult film star in Trump's hush-money trial in New York.

Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is the first former president in United States history to stand trial in a criminal case. He has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records. He has continually said that this case and other criminal and civil matters involving him are politically motivated.

Newsweek sought email comment from Trump's attorney about Daniels' evidence, which continues on Thursday.

Ring told Newsweek that Daniels' evidence has been "graphic at times and tabloid-like" and left the former president's lawyers with a tough decision on whether to object during her testimony.

"Trump's lawyers tried to block much of Stormy Daniels' testimony about the sexual encounter by raising that issue with the judge before she took the witness stand. The judge overruled Trump on that issue," Ring said.

"Then, once Daniels took the stand, she really laid out a lot of graphic details about the encounter. This put the defense in a tough spot; if they repeatedly object, the jurors will think, 'What is Trump trying to hide by all the objections?'

"So, the lawyers sat on their hands, and let her testify. It was a strategic decision," Ring said.

"The only thing that truly matters is that she had sex with Trump in 2006 and, 10 years later, he paid her off to keep her silent about that encounter. Why else would Trump pay Daniels' $130,000 10 years later? Who doesn't think there was a sexual encounter?" he added.

John J. Perlstein, a Los Angeles-based litigator, told Newsweek he didn't think that Trump's team was deliberately allowing Daniels to "ramble on" in the hope that the lawyers could find grounds for appeal.

"It is unlikely that they were letting someone like Stormy Daniels ramble on and answer the way she did in the hopes of an appeal. Witnesses who are unruly and go outside question parameters during testimony are usually shutdown by attorneys. I can't imagine that attorneys would allow a witness to run on, hoping that a basis for an appeal would be developed," Perlstein said.

"The judge would generally rely on the attorneys to object and handle a witness. However, if it goes too far like it did in this instance, the judge can interrupt for the purposes of expediting the testimony and proceedings."