Porn star who had alleged affair with Trump paid US$130,000 to keep quiet
A LAWYER for Donald Trump arranged to fork over US$130,000 (A$164,000) in hush money to an ex-porn star a month before the 2016 election to keep her quiet about an alleged hook-up she had with the future president, a new report claimed on Friday.
Michael Cohen, a longtime lawyer for the Trump Organization, set up the payment to Stephanie Clifford — whose nom de smut was Stormy Daniels — after her lawyer negotiated a nondisclosure agreement, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Clifford alleged that the hook-up with Trump took place in July 2006 after the pair met at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe — a year after Trump married his third wife, Melania, the New York Post reports.
The White House minimised the salacious revelation — one of many alleged incidents of inappropriate behaviour with women the president has faced and denied.
“These are old, recycled reports, which were published and strongly denied prior to the election,” a White House official told the paper.
The official wouldn’t answer questions about the reported deal with Clifford — who performed in about 150 porn films, including Good Will Humping, an XXX-rated spoof of the flick Good Will Hunting.
Cohen wouldn’t talk about the US$130,000 (A$164,000) payment but said in a statement that “President Trump once again vehemently denies any such occurrence as has Ms. Daniels.”
The president has repeatedly said that all of the more than a dozen women who’ve accused him of sexual misconduct or assault are liars.
“This is now the second time that you are raising outlandish allegations against my client. You have attempted to perpetuate this false narrative for over a year; a narrative that has been consistently denied by all parties since at least 2011,” Cohen added in his statement to the Journal.
The paper had previously reported that Clifford, 38, had huddled with ABC’s Good Morning America in the fall of 2016 about an appearance to discuss Trump, citing people familiar with the matter.
Cohen also sent a brief statement “TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN” and signed by “Stormy Daniels” denying that she had a “sexual and/or romantic affair” with Trump.
“Rumours that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false,” the statement said.
The payment was made through Clifford’s lawyer, Keith Davidson, with the money sent to Davidson’s client-trust account at City National Bank in Los Angeles, sources told the paper.
“I previously represented Ms Daniels,” Davidson said. “Lawyer-client privilege prohibits me from commenting on my clients’ legal matters.”
The same month the deal was cut, the Washington Post published the infamous Access Hollywood video, in which Trump boasts about groping women, saying he could “grab them by the p — y.”
Trump dismissed the comments as “locker room talk.”
Clifford was a top star in the porn world when she met Trump at the American Century Championship in 2006, held at Edgewood Tahoe golf course in Nevada.
Another adult-film star, Jessica Drake, alleged in an October 2016 news conference that Trump kissed her and two other women without permission after the same 2006 golf event.
She said in a statement that she never sought or received any hush money from Trump or his people.
