A lawyer representing President Trump arranged a $130,000 payment to a former adult film star one month before the 2016 presidential election to prevent her from discussing an alleged sexual encounter between her and Trump some ten years earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Journal, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter, was the first to report on the agreement between Trump’s longtime attorney and the woman, Stephanie Clifford, whose stage name is Stormy Daniels.
Michael Cohen, who was a lawyer for the Trump Organization at the time, did not directly address the latest report of the payment, but said “these rumors have circulated time and again since 2011.”
“Trump once again vehemently denies any such occurrence as has Ms. Daniels,” he said.
Stormy Daniels arrives at The 50th Annual Grammy Awards.
According to The Journal, Clifford has privately alleged the encounter took place after the two met at a July 2006 celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe. That’s a year after Trump married his third wife, Melania. The Journal previously reported that Clifford had been in talks with Good Morning America in the fall of 2016 about an appearance to discuss Trump, also citing people familiar with the matter.
Clifford did not comment directly to the Journal, and Clifford’s lawyer declined to comment.
Cohen also responded with a photograph of an undated letter signed by the porn star, denying the affair and reports of any payoff for her silence.
“Rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false. If indeed I did have a relationship with Donald Trump, trust me, you wouldn’t be reading about it in the news, you would be reading about it in my book. But the fact of the matter is, these stories are not true,” it said.
Photo: Stormy Daniels in 2008: courtesy, USAToday
