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Stormy Daniels’ husband has revealed that they will likely leave the US if former president Donald Trump isn’t convicted in his hush money trial.
Barrett Blade, the adult film star’s husband, told CNN on Tuesday that there’s a “good chance” that they could up sticks and get out of the country if Mr Trump is acquitted.
“Either way, I don’t think it gets better for her. I think if it’s not guilty, we got to decide what to do. Good chance we’ll probably vacate this country,” he said.
Mr Trump is on trial charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records over a $130,000 payment made by his former attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen to Ms Daniels to remain quiet about a 2006 alleged affair with Mr Trump in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors allege that Mr Trump later reimbursed Cohen and fraudulently logged it as legal expenses.
Mr Trump has denied the affair ever took place and has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The prosecution argues the trial is an election interference case as the payment was made just before the 2016 election to protect Mr Trump’s reputation in the eyes of voters. The payment was first reported by The Wall Street Journal in 2018.
Ms Daniels took the stand last week, testifying about an alleged sexual encounter she had with Mr Trump after meeting at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe in 2006. She told the court how she was paid off for her story following the release of the damning Access Hollywood tape where Mr Trump appeared to brag about sexually assaulting women.
Mr Trump’s defence team tried to attack Ms Daniels’ trustworthiness during cross-examination, alleging that she made up the story about her affair to make money.
Ms Daniels rejected that assertion, saying: “If that story was untrue, I would have written it to be a lot better.”
Mr Blade spoke about the abuse that his wife has faced in the aftermath of the 2016 hush money payment and, now, the subsequent trial.
He added that even if Mr Trump is convicted, she will still likely face the wrath of Trump supporters.
“I don’t see it as a win situation either way,” he said.
“I know that we would like to get on with our lives. I know that she wants to move past this. We just want to do what I guess you’d say normal people get to do in some aspects but I don’t know if that ever will be, and it breaks my heart.”
Mr Blade said Ms Daniels simply wants to move on with her life.
“As much as it’s boring for the media to keep hearing it over and over again, it sucks for her to have to keep saying the same thing over and over and over again,” he told CNN.
“It wears on her, but she’s a warrior,” he added.