Stormy Daniels' credibility becomes a linchpin in the prosecution's hush money case

At this point, Stormy Daniels has told her story about Donald Trump in a lot of places — “60 Minutes,” the pages of In Touch magazine, her own book. But on Tuesday she told it in a place that may carry the most weight: the witness stand of a Manhattan criminal courtroom where Trump was on trial.

There is little doubt that she was paid $130,000 in the days before the 2016 presidential election to keep quiet. There are receipts — both the wire transfer sending her the money and the contract she signed promising not to tell anyone about her involvement with a married man, that man being Trump.

Trump has denied he ever had a sexual relationship with Daniels. He has attacked her repeatedly for the past six years, calling her names and suggesting she is trying to line her own pockets by pushing the sex story about him.

Trump attorney Susan Necheles tried during cross-examination to paint Daniels as a liar who is seeking more money and fame and who hates Trump.

And while Trump is on trial for charges related to falsifying business records, something Daniels would have had no involvement in, whether the jury believes her testimony is likely to prove one of the most critical aspects of the proceedings.

There were few details in the first day of her testimony that weren't already public information — in fact, the prosecution began the day by assuring the judge it wouldn't ask for intimate details that Daniels had made public in other forums, like describing Trump’s genitalia.

But even if every juror knew who she was before she took the stand, the courtroom offered a new arena to try to prove her credibility.

The prosecution has appeared to concede that without convincing a jury that Daniels is telling the truth, it would be