According to a new Wall Street Journal report, Trump’s long-time attorney, Michael Cohen, arranged a $130,000 payment to buy a former adult-film star’s silence about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter. The Journal reports the payment was made to Stephanie Clifford — an ex-porn actress who went by the stage name, Stormy Daniels — one month prior to the 2016 election.
The Wall Street Journal claims that as part of the settlement, Ms. Clifford agreed not to discuss the alleged sexual encounter with the public or the press.
In private, Clifford claimed the encounter happened in Lake Tahoe at a July 2006 celebrity golf tournament. The allegation, but not the $130,000 payment, was well-known leading up to the election. But amid a flurry of Trump-related scandals -- from “P-ssygate” to numerous sexual misconduct allegations (which the Huffington Post continues to track) -- the story of the encounter barely made a blip on voters’ radar.
Was Trump Unfaithful to Melania?
If the allegation is true, it would mean President Trump engaged in the sexual tryst while he was married to Melania Trump. President Trump and Melania met in 1998, got engaged in 2004, and married in 2005, while the encounter is alleged to have happened in 2006. Trump continues to deny this allegation and the other allegations from numerous other women about sexual misconduct.
Trump Administration Denies Allegations
According to a White House official, “These are old, recycled reports, which were published and strongly denied prior to the election.” A defiant Mr. Cohen, Trump’s top attorney at the Trump Organization and the figure at the center of the reported pay-off, also vehemently refutes the allegations.
“This is now the second time that you are raising outlandish allegations against my client,” claimed Mr. Cohen in a statement to The Wall Street Journal. “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.”
Other Adult-Film Stars Make Similar Claims About President Trump
At an October 2016 news conference, Jessica Drake, a sex educator and adult-film star, alleged Mr. Trump kissed her and two other women without their consent at the same golf event.
“I did not sign [a nondisclosure agreement], nor have I received any money for coming forward,” Ms. Drake said claimed in an emailed statement this week. “I spoke out because it was the right thing to do.”
A White House official again denied these claims referencing a previous Trump campaign statement, in which her account was characterized as “totally false and ridiculous.”