A former longtime assistant to Donald Trump at his Trump Organization testified that she has a “vague recollection” of seeing adult film star Stormy Daniels at Trump Tower before his 2016 presidential campaign.
Rhonna Graff, who worked at the Trump Organization for more than 30 years, testified on Friday at a criminal trial in Manhattan across from her former boss, who is charged with falsifying business records to cover up payments to Ms Daniels as part of a scheme to bury details of an alleged affair.
She testified that she saw Ms Daniels in the lobby of the 26th floor of Trump Tower, where Mr Trump’s office is located.
Ms Graff assumed that Ms Daniels may have been at the office to discuss a role with The Celebrity Apprentice, Mr Trump’s former hit reality TV competition series on NBC, she said. The network severed ties with Mr Trump in 2015 after his presidential campaign launch and his deragatory comments about immigrants.
Ms Graff recalled that Mr Trump believed Ms Daniels would be a “good contestant” on the show.
“I can’t remember a specific incident when I heard it. It was part of the office chatter,” she said.
Ms Graff testified relatively briefly on Friday, largely about her experience setting up Mr Trump’s appointment calendar and his list of contacts.
The court was shown an entry for Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who was paid $150,000 for the rights to her story of an alleged affair with Mr Trump.
That scheme – arranged by former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker allegedly at the direction of Mr Trump’s then-attorney Michael Cohen – is central to the so-called “catch and kill” scheme at the heart of the case against Mr Trump, who allegedly “orchestrated” a plot to use the tabloid to buy up politically compromising stories to boost his 2016 election chances.
One contact shown to the court included an entry for Ms Daniels.
The entry only included a phone number and the name “Stormy.”
This is a developing story