Four takeaways from Stormy Daniels interview
1 Daniels is highly aware of the reasons people might doubt her story Daniels said she was not telling the truth when she denied the affair with Trump but is telling the truth now. Cooper read Daniels one of her multiple, prior denials and said, ‘That’s a lie?’
‘Yes,’ Daniels replied flatly.
Daniels said in 2011 that an internet rumour about an affair with Trump was ‘[expletive]’. She also denied the affair twice in written statements in January.
‘I think there’s no question that it calls into question her credibility,’ Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, said of the change to her story. ‘I also think that there’s no question that when the American people take all of the facts and evidence into consideration, that they are going to conclude that this woman is telling the truth.’
Daniels insisted that she is not motivated by money but acknowledged that she previously considered selling her story for ‘large amounts of money’.
Daniels also freely admitted to taking advantage of financial opportunities since the Wall Street Journal broke the story.
2 Daniels said she was physically threatened in 2011
A blog called the Dirty published what appears to have been the first report of an affair involving Daniels and Trump in October 2011. Bauer Publishing, which prints supermarket tabloids, also reported around the same time that Trump had cheated on his wife, Melania, with Daniels.
Trump attorney Michael Cohen denied the reports and threatened to sue Bauer, which had conducted an interview with Daniels months earlier but did not publish any of her comments until January 2018.
3 Daniels won’t say whether she possesses text messages or photos that would back up her account of an affair
A lawsuit Daniels filed on March 6, attempting to void a non-disclosure agreement, refers to ‘certain still images and/or text messages which were wrote by or relate to’ Trump. The contract required Daniels to turn over all such documents and not keep copies of her own. But did she keep copies, anyway? Do texts and photos even exist?
‘My attorney has recommended that I don’t discuss those things,’ Daniels said.
Cooper said to Avenatti, ‘You could just be bluffing’. ‘You should ask some of the other people in my career when they’ve bet on me bluffing,’ Avenatti said. It is clear Team Daniels wants Team Trump — and the public — to think there are incriminating photos and text messages. But there is no sign of them yet.
4 Daniels does not want to be part of #MeToo, and #MeToo might not want her anymore, either ‘A lotta people are using you for a lotta different agendas,’ Cooper observed.
‘They’re trying to,’ Daniels replied. ‘Like, oh, you know, ‘Stormy Daniels comes out #MeToo.’ This is not a ‘me too.’ I was not a victim. I’ve never said I was a victim. I think trying to use me to further someone else’s agenda does horrible damage to people who are true victims.’