Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen Claims He Paid Porn Star Stormy Daniels with Personal Money

In this May 6, 2009 photo, Stormy Daniels visits a local restaurant in downtown New Orlean
AP/Bill Haber

President Donald Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen claims that he paid porn star Stormy Daniels with his own money.

“Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly,” Cohen said in a statement to the New York Times. “The payment to Ms. Clifford was lawful, and was not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone.”

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, received a payment of $130,000 from Cohen in 2016, prompting speculation that she was paid money to keep quiet about her interactions with Trump.

In a 2011 interview with InTouch Magazine, Clifford claimed to have had an affair with Trump in 2006 while he was married to Melania Trump.

That interview was not published until January 2018 after the Wall Street Journal reported that Cohen established a shell company to send Clifford money.

Daniels released a statement insisting that she did not have a romantic or sexual relationship with Trump and that rumors that she received hush money were “completely false.”

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