- President Donald Trump's top lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid a porn star $130,000 so she wouldn't discuss an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
- Stephanie Clifford, whose stage name is Stormy Daniels, has said privately that the encounter happened at a July 2006 celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, the report says.
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Trump's lawyer reportedly paid a porn star $130,000 just before the election to keep her quiet about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump
A top lawyer for Donald Trump sent $130,000 to a porn star weeks before the 2016 election to keep her silent about an alleged sexual encounter, a report says.
One of President Donald Trump's top lawyers sent $130,000 to a porn star just weeks before the 2016 presidential election to keep her silent about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the newspaper reported that Michael Cohen, who was the Trump Organization's top attorney for about a decade, arranged for the payment to Stephanie Clifford, whose stage name is Stormy Daniels, in October 2016 after a negotiation between her lawyer and Cohen on a nondisclosure agreement.
Clifford has said privately that the encounter happened at a July 2006 celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, the report says.
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Trump married his third wife, Melania Trump, in 2005.
Though the president faces more than a dozen allegations of sexual misconduct dating back decades, "in this matter, there is no allegation of a nonconsensual interaction," The Journal reported.
"These are old, recycled reports, which were published and strongly denied prior to the election," a White House official told The Journal of the alleged encounter. The official did not answer questions about payment, the report says.
Cohen said in a statement to The Journal that Trump "once again vehemently denies any such occurrence as has Ms. Daniels." Cohen also did not address any payment.
"This is now the second time that you are raising outlandish allegations against my client," Cohen added. "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."
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The report says Cohen emailed a two-paragraph statement addressed "TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN" and signed "Stormy Daniels" that denied any engagement in a "sexual and/or romantic affair" with Trump.
"Rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false," the statement said.
Clifford did not respond to The Journal, which said his camp "complained the payment wasn't being made quickly enough and threatened to cancel the deal."
The Journal also published a 2006 photo of Trump with Clifford from her Myspace account.
Another adult-film star, Jessica Drake, in October 2016 accused Trump of kissing her without permission at that same 2006 golf tournament. The White House has called her accusation "totally false and ridiculous."
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