Donald Trump’s Longtime Assistant Rhona Graff Testifies About Seeing Stormy Daniels At Office, Assuming It Was For “Celebrity Apprentice” — Update
26.04.2024 - 20:35
/ deadline.com
UPDATE: After David Pecker finished his fourth day of testimony, the next prosecution witness in Donald Trump‘s hush money trial was Rhona Graff, his longtime assistant.
Graff was Trump Organization employee who, while there, kept contacts for both Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal in the company’s computer system testified on Friday that she had a “vague recollection” of once seeing Daniels in an office reception area of Trump Tower, and “assumed” it was because Trump was considering her as a contestant on his Celebrity Apprentice reality TV show.
“He thought that she would be an interesting addition,” she testified, citing “office chatter” as the basis for her opinion. Graff said she was aware that Daniels was an adult film performer.
Graff worked for Trump for 34 years, rising from his executive assistant beginning in 1987 to senior vice president until her departure in 2021. She testified under subpoena on Friday, with two lawyers for The Trump Organization watching from the gallery, and Trump looking on from the defense table. After four days of testimony from tabloid publisher David Pecker, Graff’s turn on the stand lasted less than 40 minutes.
During questioning by Assistant District Attorney Susan Hoffinger, jurors saw screen grabs of computer contact pages for McDougal and Daniels. The Daniels’ contact read “Stormy,” no last name, and contained a single mobile phone number.
On re-direct by Trump lawyer Susan Necheles, Graff said that The Apprentice brought a lot of people to Trump Tower offices and “elevated” Trump to “a whole other platform …. rock star status.”
PREVIOUSLY: A defense lawyer for Donald Trump on Friday continued his attempt to chip away at the idea that his client led an illegal conspiracy