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Former President Donald Trump was back in New York City Thursday for his criminal trial, and it’s been a pretty good day for him. During Thursday’s proceedings, Keith Davidson, the lawyer representing adult film actress Stormy Daniels, gave revealing testimony that completely undermines Bragg’s charges against Trump.
For starters, Davidson argued that the $130,000 payment to Daniels should not be construed as “hush money” but rather as a legitimate “consideration” payment.
Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Johsua Steinglass pressed Davidson on the witness stand about Daniels’ statement in January 2018, which Davidson prepared for his client, that denied any relationship with Trump and said that her only interaction with Trump was “a few public appearances and nothing more.”
“Rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false,” the statement says.“I don’t believe that Stormy ever alleged that any interaction with Trump was ‘romantic,‘” Davidson testified Thursday. But it is his understanding that Daniels had a sexual encounter with Trump.
He also said the payment “wasn’t a payoff.”“It wasn’t a payoff. And it wasn’t hush money. It was consideration,” Davidson said. Davidson added that he would never use “hush money” to describe the money exchange.
He would only refer to it as “consideration.” “Consideration” is a contractual legal term for what someone gives in return for the promise to abide by a contract; in this case, money.
