Stormy Daniels’ lawyer claimed at Donald Trump’s trial Thursday the $130,000 she was given “wasn’t a payoff, and it wasn’t hush money.”
Keith Davidson was on the stand at Manhattan Supreme Court when he made the admission, cheekily testifying 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 records 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 zooming in on a very specific and technical definition of its wording.
“I don’t think anyone has ever alleged that any interaction between she and Mr. Trump was romantic,” the lawyer testified.
Davidson also testified it was his “understanding” Daniels had in fact had sex with Trump despite the letter he wrote and her signing it.
Daniels had been shopping around her story about her alleged 2007 tryst with Trump ahead of the 2016 election and prosecutors say she was paid by Cohen to keep her quiet.
The charges against Trump come from his then allegedly falsifying business records by paying Cohen back the $130,000 but listing it as ‘legal fees’.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to the 34 felony charges and denied ever having sex with Daniels, who may testify later during the trial.
Trump’s lawyers also drew out details of Davidson’s somewhat unsavory past dealings during a tense cross-examination, pointing out he represented clients who were paid hush money by actor Charlie Sheen, and asking him whether he got another client paid for leaking Lindsay Lohan’s medical files to TMZ.
“I don’t recall,” Davidson said when grilled about the Lohan episode.
Davidson also described his relationship with Cohen, whom he appeared to have developed quite a rapport with.
He described how Trump apparently brushed him off from a top job in his cabinet in one 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, that “I’ve saved that guy’s ass so many times, you don’t even know,” Davidson told jurors.
Cohen — who left the Trump Organization in 2018 and turned on his former employer — had talked with Davidson previously about his hopes of being named Trump’s Attorney General or Chief of Staff, Davidson told jurors.
He added Cohen ranted during the call about not yet being reimbursed for money paid to Daniels.
“That f–king guy’s not even paid me the $130,000 back,” Cohen said, referring to the Daniels payout.
Cohen was “depressed” and “despondent” on the December 2016 call, which Davidson said unfolded while he shopped at a California department store he said was “bizarrely” decorated with an “Alice in Wonderland” theme that included displays of huge rabbits.
“I thought he was going to kill himself,” Davidson recalled when asked again about the call during cross-examination by Trump lawyer Emil Bove.
The prosecution also introduced recordings of calls made by Cohen, who was eventually given a three years federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to charges of tax evasion and making false statements in court.
In one he tells Davidson, of 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 appears in context Cohen is referring to the Daniels payout.
“And my comment to him was, ‘But every person you’ve spoken to told you it 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 claimed Cohen’s upcoming testimony at the trial cannot be trusted because the disbarred attorney — who has served prison time based on the same Daniels “hush money” payment — is out for revenge against Trump.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has admitted Cohen has “baggage,” but says a paper trail of evidence and testimony from other witnesses will back up his account.
Trump faces up to four years in prison if convicted of falsifying the business records.
After the day in court, Trump headed to visit servicemen of the New York Police and Fire Departments at the midtown fire house on E 51st and took them a stack of pizzas.
Munching on a pepperoni slice, one firefighter told The Post: “It’s always special when a president shows up at your place of work.
“We had a conversation. I thanked him for coming, he thanked us. He’s a nice guy for coming by.”
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