Serena Williams, the tennis icon, unexpectedly found herself embroiled in the ongoing hush money trial involving former President Donald Trump. The trial brought to light that she “frequently spoke to” a former aide of Trump’s in early 2017.
During her testimony in a Manhattan criminal court, Madeleine Westerhout, Trump’s former executive assistant, disclosed communications between herself and Rhona Graff, a long-serving employee of the Trump Organization who had previously testified in the trial.
Just four days after Trump’s presidential inauguration on January 24, 2017, Westerhout sent an email to Graff, requesting, “Could you have the girls put together a list for me of people he frequently spoke to? I don’t want to have to bug you all the time – even though I will still call often :)”
Graff replied, “I’m working on it. Hope to have it to you in a little while.” She followed up with another email containing an Excel spreadsheet outlining individuals with whom Trump “frequently spoke.”
“How this for a start?”
Among the notable names listed alongside members of the Trump family, former attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen, and CFO Allen Weisselberg, was Serena Williams.
Previous encounter between Donald Trump and Serena Williams
Donald and Serena Williams had a prior encounter in 2015 when they played a friendly match to commemorate the opening of a tennis center at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. During the match, Williams reportedly allowed Trump to win a point.
Westerhout’s revelation about the list of Trump’s frequent contacts emerged during the fourth week of the trial, where the former president faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to the $130,000 paid to pornstar Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to silence her about an alleged 2006 affair. Daniels herself testified during the trial, confirming her affair with Trump and stating, “The sex in the films is very much real, just like what happened to me in that room,” during cross-examination.