Trump claims he knew nothing about payout to porn star
In his first public comments about Stormy Daniels, US president Donald Trump said he did not know about the $130,000 payment his personal attorney had made to the porn actress who alleges she had an affair with him.
He also said he did not know why his long-time lawyer, Michael Cohen, had made the payment and did not know where he had got the money.
“You’ll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my attorney. You’ll have to ask Michael,” he said while returning from West Virginia for an event on the new tax overhaul law.
Until now, Mr Trump had avoided questions on Stormy Daniels, though the White House has consistently said Mr Trump denies a relationship. Still, he has been dogged by the focus on the adult film actress, who says she had a sexual encounter with the president in 2006 and was paid to keep quiet about it as part of a nondisclosure agreement she signed days before the 2016 presidential election. Ms Daniels is now seeking to invalidate that agreement.
Her attorney, Michael Avenatti, said in a statement: “Our case just got that much better. And we very much look forward to testing the truthfulness of Mr Trump’s feigned lack of knowledge concerning the $130,000 payment as stated on Air Force One.” Mr Avenatti, who has sought to have Mr Trump give sworn testimony, added: “It is one thing to deceive the press and quite another to do so under oath.”
He later argued on TV channel MSNBC that Mr Trump’s statement could create legal problems, saying: “If the president didn’t know anything about the payment, then he obviously didn’t know anything about the agreement, in which case you can’t have an agreement. And then there is no such thing as an NDA.”
Mr Cohen did not respond to requests for comment.
Ms Daniels, one of several women pursuing potentially damaging legal action against Mr Trump, has kept up the highest profile in the media, helped by a punchy Twitter feed, a widely viewed interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes show and a camera-ready attorney who has become a fixture on cable news.
Ms Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has offered to return the $130,000 as she tries to “set the record straight”. She has said she had sex with Mr Trump once in 2006, a few months after the birth of his youngest son, and their relationship continued for about a year. Mr Trump married his current wife, Melania, in 2005, and their son, Barron, was born in 2006.
On 60 Minutes, Ms Daniels described a sexual encounter with Mr Trump. She argues the nondisclosure agreement is legally invalid because it was signed by her and Mr Cohen only, not by Mr Trump.
newsdeskts@scotsman.com