Stormy Daniels was “very emotional” after Donald Trump was convicted on all 34 counts at his criminal hush money trial in New York, both her lawyer and her husband told CNN on Thursday.
Ms Daniels played a central role in the case – the hush money payments that Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid to her were a key part of the evidence in convicting the former president.
For several days, Ms Daniels, an adult film star, testified to jurors about her relationship with Trump, the affair she claimed they had and how it impacted her personally.
On Thursday following the verdict, Clark Brewster, Ms Daniels’ attorney, told Anderson Cooper: “[Ms Daniels] did her duty and came to court and told the truth.”
He added: “You could feel in the courtroom this was a diligent, informed jury and you have to respect that and compliment them on their work.”
Barrett Blade, Daniels husband, also told CNN that his wife was still processing the verdict.
“She was brought into this. This wasn’t her seeking justice for herself. She was standing up for herself early on and saying what was right, but this whole hush money trial is really nothing … it’s not her story,” he said.
He added: “Hopefully people will finally start seeing the truth and if they do, they do, if they don’t, they don’t. I don’t know that that ever changes.”
Ms Daniels did not issue a public statement following the verdict, and Mr Brewster said that he had not spoken with his client about Trump’s sentencing.
The adult film star was one of 20 witnesses that prosecutors called on to testify to evidence that showed Trump directed his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to pay Ms Daniels $130,000 days before the 2016 election for her silence on the alleged affair. Prosecutors said Trump was worried the story would hurt his campaign.
He then covered up the hush money payments by reimbursing Cohen, money that was misrepresented as expenses for a retainer that never existed.
Ms Daniels testified that though her relationship with Trump was short-lived, the impact had a lasting effect – impacting her life to this day.
She told jurors she took the hush money payment out of “fear” and said her association with Trump “cost me a lot of money.”
Ultimately, Daniels’s confident testimony helped jurors to decide Trump is guilty on all counts. Daniels did not attend any court proceedings other than those she was required to attend.