Porn star says she was warned to keep silent over Trump sex claim
● ‘This was no Metoo, I was no victim, but I was threatened’
Adult film star Stormy Daniels has said she was threatened to keep silent about an alleged sexual encounter with US president Donald Trump in 2006, telling her story in a highly-anticipated interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes.
Ms Daniels said she was threatened by an unidentified man in Las Vegas to keep quiet about her alleged relationship with Mr Trump, an incident that she said happened while she was with her young daughter. She said in the interview that she had one encounter of consensual sex with the future president.
“He knows I’m telling the truth,” said Ms Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford. She does not allege that she was coerced in her encounter with Mr Trump, saying: “This is not a ‘Metoo.’ I was not a victim.” The adult film actress provided little new evidence of her alleged 2006 affair with Mr Trump but said she faced intimidation tactics aimed at ensuring her silence in 2011.
Ms Daniels said that in the incident, in a car park, the man told her: “Leave Trump alone. Forget the story.” She said he then looked at her daughter and said: “That’s a beautiful little girl. It’d be a shame if something happened to her mom.”
Ms Daniels received a $130,000 (£91,700) payment days before the 2016 presidential election for her silence and has sought to invalidate a nondisclosure agreement.
The White House did not immediately comment on the interview. Mr Trump, through his representatives, has denied the allegations. His lawyer, Michael Cohen, has said Mr Trump never had an affair with Ms Daniels. Mr Cohen has said he paid the $130,000 out of his pocket.
Mr Cohen has said neither the Trump Organisation nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms Daniels and he was not reimbursed for the payment.
However, Ms Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti told 60 Minutes he has documents showing Mr Cohen using his Trump Organisation email address in setting up the payment and that the non-disclosure agreement was sent by Fedex to Mr Cohen at his Trump Organisation office in Trump Tower.
In the interview, Ms Daniels described a sexual encounter with Mr Trump that began with him talking about himself and showing her an issue of a magazine with his picture on the cover. She said she asked: “Does this … does this normally work for you?” He was taken aback, she says. “And I was like, ‘Someone should take that magazine and spank you with it’.” She says she then ordered him to drop his trousers and, in a playful manner, “I just gave him a couple swats”.
Ms Daniels said that before they had sex, Mr Trump had broached the idea of her being a contestant on The Apprentice, and she likened it to a “business opportunity”. She said he called her several times and would ask if they could get together again and say he had an update for her. She said she felt he was doing this to keep her coming back.
“Of course. I mean, I’m not blind. But at the same time, maybe it’ll work out, you know?” Ms Daniels said.
Asked why she was talking now, she said: “Because it was very important to me to be able to defend myself.”
Ms Daniels said she was fine saying nothing at all.
“But I’m not OK with being made out to be a liar, or people thinking that I did this for money and people are like, ‘Oh, you’re an opportunist. You’re taking advantage of this’. Yes, I’m getting more job offers now, but tell me one person who would turn down a job offer making more than they’ve been making, doing the same thing that they’ve always done?”
60 Minutes correspondent Anderson Cooper noted during the interview that Melania Trump had given birth just a few months before the alleged incident.