Susan Necheles, a lawyer for Trump, asked Daniels to explain why she did not just publicise their alleged sexual encounter in the waning days of the former president's 2016 campaign, and instead sought to get paid for her story.
On the third day of testimony at the hush-money trial, Necheles noted that Daniels had been talking to a journalist at the publication Slate who had been trying to convince her to let him publish her story, but that she would not have been paid. She also suggested Daniels wanted to hurt Trump because he opposed gay marriage and abortion.
In rapid-fire questions, Necheles seemed to be trying to seed the idea that Daniels, dressed in a green blouse and black sweater, was more interested in getting a payout than telling the truth. "You wanted money, right?" Necheles said.
Daniels, who insisted she had wanted to do a press conference at the time, said she "wanted the truth to come out", adding that she had wanted a paper trail. "I never asked for money from anyone in particular, I asked for money to tell my story."
Necheles laid out the ways Daniels had profited from her story -including a book deal, documentary and merchandise celebrating Trump's indictment. "A large part of your livelihood for a number of years now has been making money of the story that you had sex with President Trump and you helped him get indicted," Necheles said.
Daniels insisted she was not profiting but simply "doing her job" to fund significant legal bills.
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