• Adult film actress Stormy Daniels, whose alleged sexual encounter with former Pres. Donald Trump is at the center of Trump’s New York criminal trial, Thursday was back on the stand for a second day. New York Times (LR: 2 CP: 5)
• Trump is facing 34 charges of falsifying business records to classify as legal expenses payments made to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen. Prosecutors claim the payments were to reimburse Cohen for paying Daniels $130K to keep quiet before the 2016 presidential election about her alleged 2006 tryst with Trump. PBS NewsHour (LR: 3 CP: 5)
• Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, denies the encounter happened and the charges against him. His lawyer Thursday attempted to discredit Daniels by saying she made “all this up” — an accusation Daniels denied. PBS NewsHour (LR: 3 CP: 5)
• Previously, Daniels testified for almost five hours Tuesday, describing how she first met Trump, how their encounter unfolded, and other interactions she had with him after their first meeting. The trial was off Wednesday. Verity
• While requesting a mistrial Thursday, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche described some of the graphic details of Daniels’ testimony — which he said had nothing to do with the case at hand — as “prejudicial.” The judge denied the motion on the grounds that Trump’s lawyers made denying the encounter part of their case. Business Insider (LR: 3 CP: 4)

Pro-Trump narrative:

• This case is a farce and a politically-motivated abuse of the justice system to try to derail Trump’s return to the White House. Daniels, who admits she has no knowledge about the bookkeeping at the center of this case, spent more than seven hours smearing Trump with little evidence that anything ever happened between them. In the end, Daniels’ testimony backfired because she was a terrible witness.
  FOX NEWS (LR: 4 CP: 4)

Anti-Trump narrative:

• Daniels delivered pertinent testimony to counter Trump and his lawyers’ denials. If Trump wants to dispute Daniels’ story, he can take the stand. Despite the harsh, accusatory line of questioning, Daniels held her own and made a convincing case that Trump had something he wanted to keep quiet prior to the 2016 election.
  HUFFINGTON POST (LR: 1 CP: 4)

Nerd narrative:

• There’s an 81% chance that Trump will be found guilty of any crime in the Manhattan case before Election Day 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
  METACULUS (LR: 3 CP: 3)