President knew about hush money payment, says porn star
DONALD TRUMP is being sued by a former porn star who claims a non-disclosure agreement, barring her from discussing an alleged sexual encounter, is void because he did not sign it.
Stormy Daniels, real name Stephanie Cliffords, claimed in the lawsuit that she wanted to go public with details of their relationship during the 2016 election campaign, but was “silenced” to ensure Mr Trump became president.
The lawsuit claims Mr Trump was aware of the “hush money” agreement and that the funds were intended to influence the outcome of the election.
Daniels is alleged to have had the affair in 2006, not long after his wife Melania gave birth to their son Barron.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, attaches the alleged agreement, making the document public for the first time.
In her lawsuit, she says Mr Trump and Michael Cohen, his personal lawyer, “aggressively sought to silence [her] as part of an effort to avoid her telling the truth, thus helping to ensure [Mr Trump] won the presidential election”. The lawsuit stated: “To be clear, the attempts to intimidate Ms Clifford into silence and ‘shut her up’ in order to ‘protect Mr Trump’ continue unabated.” Last month Mr Cohen admitted paying her £95,000 before the election but refused to say what the money was for.
Sarah Sanders, White House press secretary, said she was not aware that Mr Trump even knew of the payment.
Mr Cohen added: “The payment to Ms Clifford was lawful, and was not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone.” He has previously said the US president “vehemently denies” the sexual encounter occurred, but has not responded to requests for further comment.