Trump hush money trial: Stormy Daniels denies cashing in on allegations levelled against former US president

Stormy Daniels on Thursday (May 9) returned to the witness stand at Donald Trump's historic hush money trial where the former US president's attorneys grilledthe adult film star over the reason why she sought money to not disclose the story of their sexual encounter.

Sheconcluded her protracted testimonywith Trump's lawyersattempting to portray her as an avaricious liar who made money out of the allegations she levelled.

"I wanted the truth to come out... to get my story protected with a paper trail so that my family didn't get hurt," the 45-year-old Daniels said during aggressive cross-examination by Trump's attorney Susan Necheles.

Daniels, who had sex with the married Trump in the year 2006, testified in court on Tuesday for nearly five hours.

The 77-year-old former US president is indicted of fabricating business records to recompense his lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a settlement worth $130,000 to Daniels on the eve of the 2016 presidential election.

Trump's lawyer Susan Necheles on Thursday resumed Daniels' cross-examination with aggressive interrogation concerning inconsistencies in her bank account and the exact reason as to why she accepted the money from a lawyer and stayed quiet about the incident previously when she said that she wanted to go public about the story.

To this, Daniels replied that she ultimately agreed to a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for money because she was concerned about her safety.

"The better alternative was to get my story protected with a paper trail," Daniels testified. Publishing the story would have put "a target on my back, and my family's," she said.

'Frankenstein case'

Trump, while on his way to the court called the matter a "Frankenstein case", during his interaction with the media.

"It's not a recognizable crime that any of us have seen," he said. "This is a prosecutor making it up as he goes along."

Daniels, during her testimony on Tuesday and Thursday, walked the New York jury through the one-night stand that she stated she had with the former US president at a celebrity golf tournament.

Trump's lawyers accused Daniels of appearing at strip club events promoted with a picture of Trump and the tagline "Making America Horny Again."

"I have no control over how a club advertises, and I never reposted anything with this photo," said Daniels who wore a green dress and a long, hooded black cardigan.

"I never used that tagline -- I hated it."

On Tuesday, the porn star said that though she wasn't "threatened verbally or physically", she said she "felt ashamed I didn't stop it, didn't say no."

(With inputs from agencies)