Trump prosecutor says 'surprise witness' is ex-president's human 'paper trail'
For a quarter of a century Rhona Graff ran point at Trump Tower and was his trusted gatekeeper.
So when she took the stand under subpoena on Friday in former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial — it was significant.
Tristan Snell, who was a former assistant attorney general for the state of New York and helped bring a $25 million dollar settlement from Trump University, believes Graff is a game-changer because she is such a longstanding player in Trump world.
"Trump exec [assistant] Rhona Graff is suddenly on the stand," Snell posted on social media during the trial hearing Friday. "She was one of Trump’s closest lieutenants for decades."
He added that, "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," he said.
During her testimony, Graff praised Trump for respecting her smarts in her 34 years working under him.
That drew a chuckle from Trump.
As a boss, Graff said Trump was "fair" and a "respectful boss to me."
She added: "Sometimes he would peek his head in and say, 'Go home to your family,' which I thought was very thoughtful of him."
But Graff also established a critical point that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's prosecution is hoping to prove: that Trump definitely had spent time with porn star Stormy Daniels.
That was cemented by Graff confirming a visual sighting of Daniels in Trump Tower at one point.
She chalked it up to Daniels possibly appearing as a cast member of the celebrity version of "The Apprentice" called "Celebrity Apprentice."
Daniels said in a recent documentary that she had been discussing with Trump the possibility of appearing on "Celebrity Apprentice."
This was 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."