Stormy waters ahead for Trump
LOS ANGELES: Porn star Stormy Daniels ( pix) teased President Donald Trump on Tuesday over their alleged tryst as it emerged she passed a 2011 lie detector test in which she claimed they had unprotected sex.
The polygraph results came to light as pressure mounted on the president, with an ex-Playboy model suing to be released from another non-disclosure agreement while a former reality star alleging sexual assault took him to court for defamation.
Daniels, who alleges the affair took place in 2006, took to Twitter to warn she was “not going anywhere” despite a legal battle to stop her speaking out, and referenced her sexual encounters with Trump.
“Technically I didn’t sleep with the POTUS 12 years ago. There was no sleeping (hehe) and he was just a goofy reality TV star,” she tweeted, accusing Trump of bullying her and breaking the law to cover up the affair.
Her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, tweeted a picture of his client strapped to a chair taking the test.
The Wall Street Journal said the lawyer paid US$25,000 (RM98,000) for the video of 39-year-old Daniels – real name Stephanie Clifford – answering questions as she was strapped to the polygraph.
A report on the test, commissioned as part of a 2011 interview published only recently by gossip magazine In Touch, says Daniels was being truthful when she said she had unprotected sex with Trump in July 2006.
The White House and Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, have repeatedly denied the affair with Daniels, although the attorney admits paying her US$130,000 of his own money under a confidentiality agreement.
Ex-playmate Karen McDougal filed a lawsuit alleging an affair with Trump started in 2006 and petitioning to be released from a non-disclosure agreement with the National Enquirer, which paid her US$150,000 for her story but then shelved it.
McDougal said American Media Inc (AMI), which owns the Enquirer, misled her about the 2016 deal, rendering it invalid.
“McDougal received US$150,000 – nearly half of which went to the lawyer, who she did not realise was colluding with the other side – and a false promise to jumpstart her career as a health and fitness model,” the complain alleges.
In another blow for the White House, a New York judge allowed a lawsuit by Summer Zervos, a former candidate on The Apprentice who says Trump fondled her and tried to forcefully kiss her in 2007, to go ahead, rejecting a request for dismissal. – AFP