Trump’s lawyer admits £95k payment to former porn star
DONALD TRUMP’S lawyer has admitted paying a former porn star $130,000 (£95,000) before the US presidential election.
The revelation follows reports that the actress, who goes by the stage name Stormy Daniels, was paid to sign an agreement stopping her discussing an alleged affair with Mr Trump.
Michael D Cohen, Mr Trump’s long-time personal lawyer, has previously said the US president “vehemently denies” the sexual encounter occurred.
The alleged non-disclosure agreement was first reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier this year, and was said to have been made in October 2016 – just a month before the election.
Daniels – real name Stephanie Clifford – has been in more than 150 adult films and previously claimed she had an affair with Mr Trump in 2006.
Mr Cohen has now confirmed that he paid the sum to the former porn star, but refused to say what the money was for or whether Mr Trump was aware of the payment.
He made the public admission after a watchdog group complained about the payment, arguing it could be classed as an undisclosed campaign contribution.
“Neither the Trump Organisation nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly,” Mr Cohen told The New York Times.
The lawyer said he had told the Federal Election Commission the same after Common Cause, a government watchdog, suggested that Mr Cohen violated campaign finance laws. “The payment to Ms Clifford was lawful, and was not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone,” he said.
The payment is thought to have been made around the same time as the release of an “Access Hollywood” tape that showed Mr Trump boasting about groping women without their consent.