The Wall Street Journal Friday reported that President Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, arranged to pay a porn star $130,000 before the 2016 presidential election to buy her silence about a sexual encounter she had with Donald Trump.
According to the report, Cohen, who’s been Trump’s top lawyer at the Trump organization for nearly a decade, arranged to deliver the cash to Stephanie Clifford — known in the adult industry as Stormy Daniels — in October 2016, after her lawyer negotiated the nondisclosure agreement with Cohen.
Clifford did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment, but Cohen sent the paper a two-paragraph statement by email addressed “TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN” and signed by “Stormy Daniels” denying that she had a “sexual and/or romantic affair” with Trump.
According to the paper, Clifford said “privately” the encounter with Trump took place during a July 2006 celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, a year after Trump married his wife Melania.
Trump — who has faced sexual misconduct accusations from more than a dozen women during the presidential race — has denied any wrongdoing in the past.
Both the White House and Cohen did not immediately responded to TheWrap’s request for comment. Cohen did not respond to a text message on his phone.
A White House official told the Journal on Friday: “These are old, recycled reports, which were published and strongly denied prior to the election.”
The official did not respond to questions about an agreement with Clifford. The paper said it is not known whether Trump was aware of any agreement or payment.
Cohen issued a response, telling the WSJ: “President Trump once again vehemently denies any such occurrence as has Ms. Daniels.”
Cohen did not address the $130,000 payment.
“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.
Last year, the WSJ broke the story that the company that owns the National Enquirer agreed to pay $150,000 to a former Playboy model, Karen McDougal, three months before the election for her story about an alleged affair she says happened a decade earlier with Trump, which the supermarket tabloid newspaper then shelved. The company said the payment was for Clifford to write fitness columns. (Reached through her representatives, Clifford did not immediately respond to a request for comment).
Clifford threatened to renege on the deal after she said the payment wasn’t being made quickly enough, WSJ reported. The paper also reported that the payment was eventually made.