South Dakota
Porn star Stormy Daniels in NYC hush money trial alleges sexual encounter with Trump • South Dakota Searchlight
WASHINGTON — Adult film star Stormy Daniels told a Manhattan jury Tuesday about meeting Donald Trump in a penthouse suite in 2006, where he told the actress not to worry about his wife and that she reminded him of his daughter shortly before they had sex.
The testimony, reported by journalists in the courtroom, described in granular detail the intimate physical encounter with a former president, who is now facing charges in New York for falsifying records of hush-money payments to the actress and director. Trump is the first former president to face criminal charges.
Trump, the presumed 2024 Republican presidential nominee, denies the encounter.
Daniels was called to the stand in the trial’s fourth week as prosecutors aim to prove that Trump covered up a $130,000 payment to silence the star during his 2016 presidential campaign.
The former president faces 34 felony charges for allegedly disguising the payments, reimbursed to his former lawyer Michael Cohen, as “legal expenses.” The Trump organization eventually paid Cohen $420,000 to account for taxes and a bonus.
Book editor testifies
The trial opened Tuesday with a brief appearance from witness Sally Franklin. Franklin is an executive and editor with Penguin Random House, the publisher of some of Trump’s books, including “Trump: How to Get Rich” and “Trump: Think Like a Billionaire.”
Prosecutors led jurors through excerpts of Trump’s books, including portions where Trump claims to always sign checks personally and that he fastidiously kept track of funds going in and out of the Trump Organization.
On Monday, the jury heard from both a former and current finance employee of the Trump Organization about the payments to Cohen. The prosecutors used the testimony to show the jurors financial documentation, including the 11 checks personally signed by Trump.
The New York case is the first of four criminal indictments against Trump to reach the trial stage. The likelihood of the other cases reaching trial before the November election dwindled further Tuesday when a federal district judge in Florida indefinitely postponed the trial date in Trump’s classified documents case that had been scheduled for May 20.
‘My motivation wasn’t money’
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, testified for several hours, telling the jury about a reluctant sexual encounter with Trump and multiple public meetings with him in the following months as he dangled a possible appearance for her on NBC’s “The Apprentice,” according to reporters at the courthouse.
New York does not allow video or audio recording in the courtroom but provides public transcripts of the proceedings.
Trump says he’d use police, National Guard and possibly the military to expel immigrants
Journalists reported Judge Juan Merchan growing irritated with Daniels’ long and detailed testimony, at times chastising her and telling her to stick to the questions. Merchan sustained objections from Trump’s team, and at times objected on his own.
The actress described meeting Trump in 2006 at a Lake Tahoe golf tournament where she was promoting Wicked Pictures, an adult film company.
Initially refusing an invitation for dinner, Daniels then agreed to meet Trump for the meal in his luxury hotel suite. Daniels testified that Trump answered the door in silky pajamas, and she asked him to get changed.
After dinner, Daniels testified, she was shocked that Trump had stripped down to his underclothes and then positioned himself between her and the door when she attempted to leave, according to reporters at the courthouse.
She testified that she didn’t say no “because I didn’t say anything at all.”
Daniels said she stopped taking Trump’s calls in 2007 after he couldn’t guarantee her an appearance on the NBC show.
In the ensuing years, her story appeared on an obscure website, and Daniels talked about being approached in 2011 by a man who threatened her and told her to keep quiet about the encounter.
Daniels testified that after Trump announced his presidential run in 2015 her publicist unsuccessfully tried to sell her story. Interest only heated up, however, in October 2016 after the surfacing of an “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump brags that his fame allows him to grab women’s genitals.
“My motivation wasn’t money. It was to get the story out,” she said, according to reporters at the courthouse.
Trump and Cohen reached out to Daniels’ publicist Gina Rodriguez to buy her story, after which Daniels said she decided keeping quiet would be the safest option for her and her family.
Daniels eventually received $96,000 of the $130,000 payment, after her manager and lawyer took fees, she testified.
A mistrial attempt
Trump’s defense lawyer Todd Blanche moved for a mistrial Tuesday afternoon, arguing Daniels’ testimony went beyond what was necessary for the case.
Blanche especially took issue with Daniels describing from the witness stand her feelings about the alleged affair and her claim that Trump didn’t wear a condom.
Trump fined $9,000 for violating gag order in NY hush-money trial
While Merchan told the defense that some things would have been “better left unsaid,” he denied the motion for a mistrial.
Daniels returned to the stand in the afternoon as Trump attorney Susan Necheles aimed to discredit her, accusing her of making “a lot of money” from her story, according to reporters at the courthouse.
Necheles also questioned Daniels about the 2011 encounter with the man she said threatened her. At the time Daniels was in a parking lot on the way into a “mommy and me” class with her baby.
Necheles cast doubt on the veracity of the story, saying “Your daughter’s life was in jeopardy and you did not tell her father,” according to reporters at the courthouse. Daniels said she kept the story and the parking lot encounter secret from her husband.
In a further attempt to poke holes in Daniels’ testimony, Necheles asked why the porn star decided she wanted to sell her story in 2016 after having been so afraid of threats.
Necheles said Daniels saw an “opportunity to make money,” to which Daniels responded, “I saw the opportunity to get the story out. I didn’t put a price tag on it,” according to reporters at the courthouse.
Merchan dismissed the jury at 4:30 p.m. Eastern. Trump’s team is expected to continue cross-examination Wednesday.
In response to Daniels’ testimony, Trump posted in all caps on his platform Truth Social Tuesday afternoon: “THE PROSECUTION, WHICH HAS NO CASE, HAS GONE TOO FAR. MISTRIAL!”
The post followed an earlier one that had since been deleted, according to media reports. The earlier post expressed anger that Daniels was unexpectedly being called to the witness stand.
Trump was fined $1,000 Monday for again violating his gag order, which prevents him from posting about witnesses. The former president was fined for nine other gag order violations on April 30.
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South Dakota
South Dakota State University researchers lead the charge against new turkey virus threat
BROOKINGS, S.D. — South Dakota State University’s Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory is taking a leading role in combating a new strain of avian metapneumovirus, a virus that is causing significant economic loss to the United States poultry industry.
Avian metapneumovirus, or aMPV, is an upper respiratory tract viral infection that affects all types of poultry but is most harmful to turkeys. The virus is divided into four different subgroups: A, B, C or D. While each subgroup can be found in different parts of the world, the U.S. has previously only experienced outbreaks of subgroup C.
In January 2024, SDSU researchers became the first in the U.S. to identify the first known case of aMPV subgroup B after testing a sample from an outbreak in a North Carolina turkey flock. Since then, the virus has continued to spread throughout the United States, wreaking havoc for poultry breeders across the country.
“A and B, were worldwide in Europe, South America and Asia, but never detected in the U.S.,” said Sunil Mor, assistant professor in the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences at South Dakota State University and section lead for virology at SDSU’s Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory. “First time introduction of the subgroups A and B in the U.S., it’s a huge economic impact, especially on the turkey industry. The breeders are seeing up to 80% to 90% reduction in egg production.”
In Minnesota, which is home to a major portion of U.S. turkey production, the virus has made a significant impact. Ashley Kohls, executive director of the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association, said the Association started conducting surveillance on the virus last spring. From April to June, they found that nearly 100% of the turkey flocks in the state of Minnesota were impacted by aMPV.
“It’s unfortunate, and it’s massive,” Kohls said. “In addition to commercial turkeys or the meat birds, our breeder flocks are negatively impacted as well. For breeder birds, they have a significant reduction in the amount of eggs that they lay. Anytime you have breeder flocks impacted, there’s ripple effects, obviously, through the entire industry — less eggs, less poults, less birds, less turkey. It’s kind of been a rolling compound effect. There’s less baby poults, but then there’s also less birds coming out on the back end because of sick flocks.”
While the virus continues to cause issues for poultry producers, researchers at SDSU’s Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory are working around the clock. Their quick identification of the virus was a game-changer.
“I remember the first meeting Dr. Mor confirmed that it was subtype B, people were actually not even able to believe that,” said Tamer Sharafeldin, an assistant professor Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences at South Dakota State University and veterinary pathologist at SDSU’s Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory. “But, within a week, the USDA confirmed that as well, and that was actually a leading discovery for South Dakota State University.”
With the virus confirmed, SDSU researchers pivoted to focus on vaccine development. They are currently working on three types of vaccines: a killed vaccine, a live attenuated vaccine, and a vector vaccine. The killed vaccine is the quickest to develop, as researchers can isolate the virus, inactivate it, and then test its safety and efficacy.
“We have isolated the virus, so we just inactivate it, test the safety potency, and then get the USDA approval to give it to the birds,” Mor explained.
The team is also working to improve diagnostic tools, however, vaccine development remains the highest priority.
“The process is not going to happen in a day or two. It’s going to take some time. We are actually competing with time to be able to achieve this,” Sharafeldin said. “We have produced the weakened virus — that’s number one. Number two, we are starting to establish the baseline needed for vaccine safety and efficacy.”
SDSU’s leadership in identifying the virus and developing solutions is vital not only for South Dakota but for the entire U.S. poultry industry.
“There’s a rapid need to develop vaccines for both the breeder flocks but also commercial turkey flocks as well. Developing that vaccine domestically will take some time, but there are a lot of folks working around the clock to make that happen,” Kohls said.
“South Dakota State University is not only the university that serves South Dakota citizens, it’s a university that leads research that would help the whole U.S. poultry industry in different states as well as it plays a very important role to enhance the U.S. economy,” Sharafeldin added.
Kennedy is a reporter for Agweek based out of South Dakota. She grew up on an organic crop farm where her family also raises cattle in eastern South Dakota. She graduated from South Dakota State University in 2023 with a major in agricultural communication and minor in agricultural business. She enjoys connecting with producers and agribusinesses across the region while reporting on all things agriculture.
South Dakota
State Sen. Anthony Kern making his way back to Phoenix after icy crash in South Dakota
5 safety tips for winter driving conditions in Arizona
Taking a trip up to Flagstaff or driving through Prescott during the Arizona winter? Here are five tips to stay safe when cruising on winter roads.
The Republic
State Sen. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, announced on the social media platform X on Sunday that he had left the hospital, about a week after breaking bones and suffering other injuries in a single-car crash in South Dakota.
Kern, who was visiting family, was riding with a friend through a snowstorm when the car hit ice and the driver lost control.
He posted that he was out of the critical stage and making his way back to Phoenix, but he couldn’t fly due to a collapsed lung.
Kern is finishing his first state Senate term after three terms in the state House. This fall, he opted to run for a congressional seat rather than seek a return to the state Capitol but lost the GOP race for Congressional District 8 to Abe Hamadeh.
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