Rhona Graff certainly isn’t a household name across the United States, by any stretch of the means. But behind the closed doors of Trump World, she was a crucial key player in the inner workings of the former president’s day-to-day life, serving as Donald Trump’s point runner at Trump Tower and his deeply trusted gatekeeper for a staggering quarter of a century.
Now, that same Trump World key player has been subpoenaed into the middle of her former boss’ infamous Manhattan Hush Money trial, where one former Trump prosecutor said she will undoubtedly serve as the human equivalent of a “paper trail” for the man who’s notorious for refusing to even write things down in an email.
Graff took the stand, compelled by a federal subpoena, in the disgraced former president’s Manhattan criminal Hush Money trial — where he stands charged with 34 felony counts in relation to hush money payments made to his alleged affair partners during the 2016 presidential election cycle — and former Trump prosecutor Tristan Snell said he cannot stress the significance of this development enough.
Snell, who once served as an assistant attorney general for the state of New York and was personally involved in bringing a $25 million settlement against Trump University for false advertising, believes that Graff will serve as a game-changer in this already highly publicized and tumultuous case, if for no other reason than her position as a longstanding, high-level player in the inner workings of the Trump World.
Taking to social media during Friday’s trial hearing, referring to Graff as a “surprise witness,” Snell wrote, “Trump exec [assistant] Rhona Graff is suddenly on the stand. She was one of Trump’s closest lieutenants for decades.”
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The former Trump prosecutor went on to highlight the most pertinent part of this bombshell development: “Critically — Trump doesn’t use email; Graff was the conduit for all Trump email. He didn’t leave a paper trail — but Graff WAS Trump’s paper trail.”
SURPRISE WITNESS: Trump exec asst Rhona Graff is suddenly on the stand.
She was one of Trump’s closest lieutenants for decades
Critically — Trump doesn’t use email; Graff was the conduit for all Trump email
He didn’t leave a paper trail — but Graff WAS Trump’s paper trail
— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) April 26, 2024
During her sworn testimony, Graff actually praised Donald Trump for respecting her intelligence in her 34 years of working inside his private world — drawing a courtroom chuckle from the former president himself.
Graff went on to describe Trump as a “fair” and “respectful boss to me.”
“Sometimes he would peek his head in and say, ‘Go home to your family,'” she said of Donald Trump, “which I thought was very thoughtful of him.”
However, all the praises in the world can’t unring the bell of Graff’s damning sworn testimony, which included confirming one of Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s most critical points in this case: Donald Trump spent a significant amount of time in the physical presence of adult film star Stormy Daniels.
This key point of Bragg’s case was cemented by Graff when she confirmed a visual sighting of Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, inside Trump Tower.
Graff did attempt to chalk this sighting up to Daniels possibly appearing as a cast member of the celebrity version of “The Apprentice” called “Celebrity Apprentice.”
Daniels herself confirmed in her new documentary that she had once been in talks with the then-reality TV “star” about the possibility of appearing on “Celebrity Apprentice.”
This claim was further independently corroborated by actor Seth Rogen who worked with Daniels on the set of “Knocked Up.”
“She didn’t realize she would one day be at the center of this giant thing as she was messing around with some game show host,” Rogen reportedly said. “She’s someone who made an enemy of the most powerful guy on the planet and didn’t, like, cower.”
Featured image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore, under Creative Commons license 2.0
