OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A former aide and friend of Melania Trump has revealed what she says was the then-first lady’s response to reports involving her husband, former President Donald Trump, and adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff took to the X platform with the first lady’s alleged reaction on Sunday as Donald Trump’s “hush money” trial involving payouts to Daniels ahead of the 2016 election was set to begin the next day with jury selection in a Manhattan courtroom.
Daniels has said she had an affair with the then-real estate mogul in 2006, a year after he married Melania, which Trump has denied. Newsweek adds:
Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in relation to the so-called “hush money” he arranged for his then-lawyer Michael Cohen to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep an alleged affair she had with Trump a secret ahead of the 2016 election.
The money was listed in Trump’s company records as “legal fees,” which prosecutors suggest was part of an unlawful attempt to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential race.
Former The Apprentice star Donald Trump, who is the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee, had admitted to reimbursing the $130,000 hush money to Cohen but denied having an affair with Daniels. He said the trial is part of a political witch hunt aimed at derailing his White House bid.
Winston Wolkoff wrote on X on Sunday: “Melania Trump called me 3/28/2018 three days after the Stormy Daniels 60 [Minutes] Interview. You think Melania ever mentioned Donald? Nope! Melania wanted me to know that, ‘Annie Leibovitz was photographing the “Porn-Hoooker” {Stormy} for Vogue,’ she said. That’s Melania.”
Melania Trump called me 3/28/2018 three days after the Stormy Daniels 60 Minute Interview.
You think Melania ever mentioned Donald? Nope!
Melania wanted me to know that, “Annie Leibovitz was photographing the ‘Porn-Hoooker’ {Stormy} for Vogue,” she said.
That’s Melania.
— Stephanie Winston Wolkoff (@SWinstonWolkoff) April 14, 2024
Many of Trump’s allies have come out and denounced the trial as part of an elaborate election interference plot aimed at keeping Trump off the campaign trail and preoccupied with defending himself in court throughout the election cycle.
“Pure evil,” Donald Trump Jr. declared on X as he weighed in on the possibility that his father would not be able to skip court on May 17 to attend his youngest son Barron’s high school graduation.
Eric Trump also chimed in, writing on X: “Judge Merchan is truly heartless in not letting a father attend his son’s graduation.”
Donald Trump’s civil court trial lawyer, Alina Habba, also noted her issues with jury selection.
“You’re not allowed to ask who they voted for,” Habba told conservative podcast host Benny Johnson. “You’re shot in the foot right there.”
Merchan is permitting a range of inquiries concerning political views, such as inquiries concerning any groups that prospective jurors may be involved in or have contributed to financially, mentioning QAnon and Antifa in particular.
Habba then claimed that Trump was unfairly at a disadvantage because he is being tried in a mostly blue state and that this would make it “much easier” for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office to assemble a jury that would most likely find Trump guilty.
“They’re going to try to get the best jury pool they can,” Habba warned.
“What is troubling in this case is that when we (she is not on this case) are doing jury selection starting today, one of the things that the judge here, Judge Merchan, would not allow us to ask was whether or not they voted Republican or Democrat, whether or not they voted for President Trump,” Habba argued.
“This judge has eliminated many of those questions. You’re not allowed to ask who they voted for (you never are), you can ask what news they watch, but I watch CNN, and I watch Fox because I like to know what my opposition is saying … So when you are sitting with a president and current nominee for the GOP, and you can’t ask how you vote, you’re shot in the foot right there. That hindrance is in of itself problematic right from the get-go,” she added.
