I agree with Maggie. Of ALL the things to “hammer” on, whether they ATE? And Stormy has an explanation for that. Dinner no food. Necheles is giving Stormy opportunity after opportunity to give that explanation over and over again. Poor lawyering.

May 9, 2024, 11:02 a.m. ET13 minutes ago13 minutes ago

Maggie HabermanReporting from inside the courthouse

Susan Necheles spent many, many minutes drilling down on what Stormy Daniels meant when she said she and Trump had dinner but didn’t eat. It’s a pretty picayune distinction that the jurors can probably pick up on. It's starting to feel like Necheles is swinging a hammer over and over this minor semantic choice just for the sake of it.


May 9, 2024, 10:58 a.m. ET17 minutes ago17 minutes ago


Jonah BromwichReporting from inside the courthouse

Susan Necheles is addressing something that Stormy Daniels has long said, which is that she did not eat while in Trump’s hotel room in 2006 — presenting evidence that Daniels has at times described that episode as having been a “dinner.” It may seem minor but the defense is likely hoping to show the jurors that Daniels’s memory cannot be trusted in this description of something that happened just before she says she and Trump had sex. Daniels, though, is still fighting back, describing the encounter as a “dinner” but saying no food was ever served — which is why she’s always harped on the lack of food in interviews