45th President Donald Trump faces up to 136 years in prison if found guilty in court over “hush money” payments made in 2016. But Stormy Daniels, the recipient of that money, doesn’t believe the former president deserves prison over the matter.
While Trump alleges that Daniels blackmailed his campaign in late 2016, ultimately leading to a $130,000 “hush money” payment from disgraced lawyer Michael Cohen, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg apparently disputes the origin of the money, and using a legal loophole to extend the statute of limitations, has elevated the matter to a felony, attaching 34 total charges to his indictment that was unsealed this week.
Legal experts from both sides of the aisle have questioned the merits of Bragg’s case, including a sitting member of the Federal Election Commission who spoke to the media about Trump’s innocence.
While most believe Trump’s innocence will eventually be proven, even the adult film star at the center of the controversy does not believe Trump deserves the punishment Bragg is threatening.
“Specific to my case, I don’t think that his crimes against me are worthy of incarceration,” said Daniels, according to The Hill, after stressing that she still would “absolutely” like to see Trump behind bars for another crime.
Stormy Daniels says Trump should not go to prison in hush money case https://t.co/EPIq9SlB4h
— Raw Story (@RawStory) April 6, 2023
In a moment some have described as irony, while Trump was being arraigned in Manhattan, an appeals court on the opposite side of the country simultaneously awarded him more money from Daniels.
That judgement came from a longstanding battle over legal fees stemming from the defamation case Daniels previously lost to Trump, which saw her owe the billionaire nearly $500,000.
Now, the courts have added around $120,000 to that bill, pushing the total Daniels owes Trump well north of $620,000.
While Daniels may soon find herself in court for the Trump case to speak before a jury, her own former lawyer Michael Avenatti remains behind bars, guilty of defrauding his clients out of hundreds of thousands and orchestrating an alleged blackmail scheme against Nike.
