Defense attacks Stormy Daniels’ credibility as she returns to the stand in Trump’s hush money trial

NEW YORK (AP) — Stormy Daniels will return to the witness stand Thursday in Donald Trump’s hush money trial as the defense tries to undermine the credibility of the porn actor’s salacious testimony about their alleged sexual encounter and the money she was paid to keep quiet.

The trial against the former president kicks back off with defense lawyers questioning Daniels, whose account is key to the prosecutors’ case accusing Trump of scheming to illegally influence the 2016 presidential campaign by suppressing unflattering stories about him.

What to know about Trump’s hush money trial:

• A guide to terms used in the Trump trial.
• Trump is the first ex-president on criminal trial. Here’s what to know about the hush money case.
• Trump is facing four criminal indictments, and a civil lawsuit. You cantrack all of the cases here.

Trump looked on in the courtroom as Daniels for hours on Tuesday described an unexpected sexual encounter she says they had in 2006. Trump denies they ever had sex. Still, a decade later, Trump’s then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid her to stay silent in the final weeks of the presidential campaign.

Daniels’ testimony was an extraordinary moment in what could be the only criminal case against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to go to trial before voters decide in November whether to send him back to the White House. Trump has pleaded not guilty, denies any wrongdoing and has cast himself as the victim of a politically tainted justice system working to deny him another term.

Trump’s lawyers have sought to paint Daniels as a liar and extortionist who’s trying to take down the former president after drawing money and fame from her story about him. Daniels dug in at times in the face of pointed