Trump paid Rs. 82 lakh to pornstar to stay silent
US President Donald Trump's lawyer had reportedly brokered a $130,000 payment to a porn star to prevent her from talking of an alleged sexual encounter with Trump. The payment was arranged by Trump's long-time attorney Michael Cohen in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential election, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Here are the details.
What's the story?
Donald Trump met Stephanie Clifford, a porn actress who is known as Stormy Daniels in movies, at a golf event in 2006 at Lake Tahoe, California. The encounter happened an year after Trump's marriage to his third and current wife Melania. WSJ reported that Clifford was in talks with ABC to air her story in the fall of 2016, but was silenced with money.
Sexual misconduct and adultery allegations
Ever since he began his run for presidency, Trump has been part of numerous sexual misconduct allegations. In 2016, a video from "Access Hollywood" was made public where Trump boasted that he could grab women by their genitals because he was famous. Another WSJ report stated that Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model was paid $150,000 for her story about an affair with Trump.
Michael Cohen in Trump's murky affairs
Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen who calls himself the president's "fix-it" man, is part of investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US election for his emails to Russian officials about a business project, including a note to Russian president Vladimir Putin's spokesperson. A dossier published by Buzzfeed also claimed that Cohen had "an inappropriate and possibly criminal relationship with the Russian government."
White House and Cohen deny the affair
White House issued a statement calling the story "old, recycled reports, which were published and strongly denied prior to the election." Trump's attorney Michael Cohen too denounced the story as a "complete and utter lie". He responded saying, "these rumors have circulated time and again since 2011. President Trump once again vehemently denies any such occurrence, as has Ms. Daniels."
Porn star denies receiving payment
Stormy Daniels who supposedly signed a non-disclosure agreement under the payment deal had denied the report. She released statement which said, "Rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false."
