MSNBC’s Katie Phang Breaks Out Laughing Hearing Stormy Daniels Testimony on Trump’s Hefner-Like Pajamas
MSNBC host and legal contributor Katie Phang broke out laughing on Tuesday as anchor José Díaz-Balart read testimony made by adult film actress Stormy Daniels in Donald Trump’s Manhattan hush money trial.
Phang was brought in as a legal analyst for coverage of the testimony by Daniels. The prosecution in the case began by asking Daniels mostly questions on her background in the adult entertainment industry and the details of her meetings with Trump.
Trump is facing more than 30 felony counts. He’s accused of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to hide an alleged affair with Daniels. He’s denied knowledge of any hush money payments and the affair.
Daniels at one point went into detail about meeting Trump privately after Trump had someone reach out saying he wanted to meet. As Díaz-Balart read Daniels describing Trump’s “silk or satin” pajamas he answered the door to the hotel suite in, Phang broke out laughing, immediately apologizing.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I apologize,” she said. “This is serious. I had to laugh. I’m sorry.”
“No, no, no, this is — by the way, it’s just getting started,” Díaz-Balart said.
He continued by reading from Daniels testimony that she told Trump to change and he “politely” did.
“I made fun and him and said, ‘does Hugh Hefner know you stole his pajamas?’ I told him to go and change, so he obliged very politely,” Daniels testified.
Phang argued whether the stories are “salacious” or not, they are effective because there was an interest in keeping them from the public eye.
“It’s not the salaciousness of that interaction, no matter how fleeting it ended up being at the end of the day, it is, why would Trump be embarrassed about this information getting out?” she said. “Pajamas could be something he doesn’t want to get out, but at the end of the day he wanted to make sure none of this was heard because he didn’t want it to hurt his campaign.”
During a brief break in the testimony, Judge Juan Merchan told prosecutors that the level of detail Daniels was going into was “unnecessary,” according to media present at the trial.
“The degree of the detail we’re going into are just unnecessary,” he said. The judge later had a sidebar with lawyers after an objection from the defense was sustained. Daniels was describing Trump laying on the hotel bed in a t-shirt and boxers and telling her he can get her “out of that trailer park,” leading to an objection from the defense. Another objection shortly after was sustained when the defense objected to Daniels describing a specific sexual position she and Trump, who denies the affair, were allegedly in.
Watch above via MSNBC.
