Senior Trump White House aide resumes testimony in criminal hush money case

• Former top White House aide Madeleine Westerhout resumed testifying in the criminal hush money trial of former President Donald Trump.
• Porn star Stormy Daniels finished testifying about her alleged sex with Trump and subsequent $130,000 hush money deal.
• Judge Juan Merchan denied another mistrial request and an attempt to narrow Trump's gag order.

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A former top White House aide with deep knowledge of how Donald Trump operated in the Oval Office resumed testifying Friday in the former president's criminal hush money trial.

Madeleine Westerhout took the stand for the first time Thursday, where she spoke in detail about Trump's work habits and confirmed a list of high-profile contacts that was compiled for Trump in 2017. The contact list included "SNL" producer Lorne Michaels, quarterback Tom Brady and tennis great Serena Williams.

Also listed were ex-tabloid publisher David Pecker and Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen. The two men are at the center of Manhattan prosecutors' case, in which Trump is charged with falsifying business records about hush money payments as part of a scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Westerhout painted a flattering portrait of Trump, praising his work ethic and his relationship with his wife, Melania Trump. Westerhout cried while describing how she was fired from her job in 2019 after criticizing members of Trump's family at a dinner with reporters.

Her description of Trump as a devoted husband cut sharply against the testimony of porn star Stormy Daniels. Shortly before Westerhout took the stand, Daniels testified that she had sex with then-married Trump in 2006, and was later paid $130,000 for her silence