Trump Lawyer Arranged $130,000 Payment for Adult-Film Stars Silence Agreement just before election

[kpete]

By Michael Rothfeld and Joe Palazzolo
Updated Jan. 12, 2018 3:13 p.m. ET


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A lawyer for President Donald Trump arranged a $130,000 payment to a former adult-film star a month before the 2016 election as part of an agreement that precluded her from publicly discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.

Michael Cohen, who spent nearly a decade as a top attorney at the Trump Organization, arranged payment to the woman, Stephanie Clifford, in October 2016 after her lawyer negotiated the nondisclosure agreement with Mr. Cohen, these people said.

Ms. Clifford, whose stage name is Stormy Daniels, has privately alleged the encounter with Mr. Trump took place after they met at a July 2006 celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, these people said. Mr. Trump married Melania Trump in 2005.

Mr. Trump faced other allegations during his campaign of inappropriate behavior with women, and vehemently denied them. In this matter, there is no allegation of a nonconsensual interaction.

Link to tweet

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-lawyer-arranged-130-000-payment-for-adult-film-stars-silence-1515787678

[scheming daemons]

1. Stormy Daniels.

[Girard442]

6. Godfrey Daniels!

[spanone]

2. Oh My, From the Wall Street Journal

[IluvPitties]

3. This I don't care about.

That's between Melania and him.

[NCTraveler]

8. No, it's not.

We should damn well care about things that could lead our President to be easily blackmailed. It is completely our business.

[IluvPitties]

13. Melania surely knows, and possibly allows it to happen.

She is in for the $$$.

[NCTraveler]

21. Possibly. That part I have no interest in.

It's insignificant to his ability to be blackmailed.

[brush]

30. As long as he stays away from her.

[Mr.Bill]

45. She probably thinks better her than me. n/t

[lunatica]

76. Trump didn't silence her because of Melania

If he had he would have done it in 2006, not in 2016. He silenced her because he was running for Office.

It's definitely behoves us to know this crap.

[scheming daemons]

19. Paying a bribe for silence is the story here, not the affair

[Bernardo de La Paz]

39. You defend sexual predators, as if the victims should just shut up.

Dealings between the predator and spouse are a separate issue.

It does NOT override the abuse of power for sexual gain.

Affairs may be consensual on the surface, but when there is a huge power imbalance it rarely is truly consensual.

[IluvPitties]

47. There is not enough information to indicate this is a case of sexual abuse.

This looks like something sort of pay for play stuff.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

81. More info, if you don't think this is important. Not sex abuse, blackmail and Russia.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210093280

Excerpts of about 20 tweets

3/ Third, understand that this breaking news comes from a conservative publication {WSJ} whose editorial page is wildly pro-Trump. This is a real, well-sourced story, by all accounts. Trump will not be able to claim that this report comes from CNN, MSNBC, or another "fake news" outlet.

5/ The reason this matters is that after BUZZFEED published the Steele Dossier, those of us who agreed with the FBI and CIA that it appeared credible on its face and came from a credible source—the former top Russianist at MI6—were told it *couldn't* be true for several reasons.

6/ The main reason Trump's allies said the 35-page dossier had to be false is because they insisted that its *first page*—which alleged that the Kremlin was blackmailing Trump—couldn't be true and wasn't true. All of the reasons they gave just died—all at once—with this WSJ news.

7/ They said he couldn't be blackmailed. Why? He loves bad press. Or has no shame. Or everyone already knows all his dirt. Or his wives had implicitly allowed him to cheat (a tacit Steele Dossier allegation). Or people feared lawsuits. Or him. So don't worry about it, they said.

8/ But now we know that Trump *can* be blackmailed. And he can be blackmailed *easily*. Stormy Daniels, a porn star, got $130,000 from a man who hardly parted with a dime to become POTUS—and apparently got that money as soon as she asked for it.

[tenderfoot]

42. So you're okay with the president bribing

Sure Jan...

[IluvPitties]

48. Nope. I am just waiting for the story that will bring him down.

This one doesn't seem to be it.

[kcr]

73. What kind of story would do it for you?

Just curious.

[IluvPitties]

80. Something his base would not tolerate.

Pee pee tapes?

[Oppaloopa]

43. Really the family values president. ??? He said he was a Christian remember Two Corinthians?

[IluvPitties]

49. LOL!

[Wednesdays]

70. Hush money doesn't bother you?

[Bengus81]

74. That blow job was between Bill and Hillary.......

Didn't end up that way did it??

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

4. Aaaaaaarghhh!!!! Now I need this:

?1515259301

[NCTraveler]

5. It's going to be interesting when someone breaks their silence about some aspects of Trump.

The actions discussed with respect to the dossiers sex tape might be true. I truly don't think Trump was out there having sex with adult-film stars. That doesn't mean I don't think he wasn't paying for them to perform for him in some way.

[IluvPitties]

12. Maybe he was paying for sex, but again

consensual sex in this case would be inappropriate at most, given that he was married. However, it would not bring him down. If he was doing that now, as president, or if he engaged in harassment, rape or that type of thing, then it would be the end for him.

[Kingofalldems]

20. So the payoff doesn't matter?

Who else has he payed off? Does he owe the Russians for something?

[IluvPitties]

22. Could be. I just don't know what to expect from Trump and his fucked up family anymore.

[7962]

58. Its basically an NDA. You promise not to talk about how lousy I was & here's 130k

She shoulda held out for more

[orangecrush]

59. She was probably glad she got some money

instead of having an "accident".

[erronis]

67. NDAs aren't worth the toilet paper they are smeared on

They are more blunt instruments to get people to shut up.

If those people consult with a good beagle, there are so many ways that trying to prosecute a disclosure under an NDA will make the whole matter much worse for the holder.

It's all a matter of "what do YOU have to lose to pursue this."

[bucolic_frolic]

50. "inappropriate at most"?

who else is being paid off? why is he doing Russia's bidding?

You're just minimizing this, and for what purpose?

Why do you trivialize these grave dangers to our country?

[leftstreet]

7. 130k, that's ALL?

Seems like it would have been worth a lot more

[The Polack MSgt]

16. The article states that the agreement was for $150k...

But she complained that the payments were slow in coming and threatened to cancel the deal. At that point Trump's lawyer cut a check for $130k

[ProudLib72]

24. What porn star complains about a man being slow in coming?

[The Polack MSgt]

25. +++++

"Say your lines and hit your marks" - Porn Directors, probably

[Mr.Bill]

46. When the man is Trump,

I would think the woman would want it to be over as quickly as possible.

[ProudLib72]

52. Donald "Shortcomings" tRump strikes again.

[erronis]

68. "Hey, donnie. If you can't do it, use your fingers.... Oh wait."

It's ok, remove this post as necessary.

[MineralMan]

9. The payment tells us all we need to know, Donald.

Naughty boy!

[malaise]

10. More sex diversion to put the racist exposing himself off the headlines

Fuck That

[Squinch]

29. Yep. Let's all respond by re-reading the Fusion GPS report of his ties to

the Russian mafia, and his criminal activity, and by contacting our Congresspeople and telling them that we want him censured, impeached and then drummed out.

And then let's tell them to get off their damn asses and fund CHIP.

[malaise]

31. +1,000

[Squinch]

36. I work with disabled kids in a poor neighborhood. I am so terrified about this. I really hate

those hypocritical monsters.

[ornotna]

11. !

[NBachers]

14. So was this campaign fund money, kids-with-cancer charity money, or converted-from-rubles money?

[MineralMan]

15. Apparently Ms. Daniels considered running for David Vitter's

Senate seat, but decided not to. More info on this person at:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormy_Daniels

[dalton99a]

17. "Ms. Clifford has appeared in about 150 adult films"

The Journal previously reported that Ms. Clifford, 38 years old, had been in talks with ABC’s “Good Morning America” in the fall of 2016 about an appearance to discuss Mr. Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. In that article, the Journal reported the company that owns the National Enquirer agreed to pay $150,000 to a former Playboy centerfold model three months before the election for her story of an affair a decade earlier with the Republican presidential nominee, which the tabloid newspaper didn’t publish. The company said she was paid to write fitness columns and appear on magazine covers. ...

Ms. Clifford has appeared in about 150 adult films, and was considered among the industry’s biggest stars when the then-27-year-old met Mr. Trump at the American Century Championship in 2006, held at Edgewood Tahoe golf course in Nevada.

Another adult-film star, Jessica Drake, later alleged in an October 2016 news conference that Mr. Trump kissed her and two other women without permission in a hotel suite after the same 2006 golf event.

“I did not sign [a nondisclosure agreement], nor have I received any money for coming forward,” Ms. Drake said this week in an emailed statement. “I spoke out because it was the right thing to do.”

[salin]

18. Interesting. So the WSJ (news not editorials) is back to being critical of Trump?

Wonder why Rupert is letting this 'dissing don' story through today...

[meadowlander]

27. Cover for something more damaging about to come out?

[erronis]

69. Yup. And to keep the proles entertained in the meantime.

[salin]

78. Sounds right: distraction complicit.

I am listening to 'Fire and Fury' on audibles, when I get breaks. In it - Murdoch, prior to Trump's election - viewed Trump as a moron, though was friends with Jared and Ivanka (who were neighbors). Then at some point after the new presidency shifted how he interacts with Trump - and recently changed how the news side of the WSJ treated Trump (much more kindly.)

We know that early in the trump admin. WSJ reporting was running some very critical - and journalistically important stories. And then stopped. The Editorials in the WSJ have been right wing for decades, long before Murdoch bought the paper. But the reporting remained more objective, and sometimes very substantive. No longer.

Your point makes sense. Let's pay attention to stories that leak in the next several days to see what the now Trump toady Murdoch is playing 'distraction' with reporting this story.

[TheCowsCameHome]

23. $130K, just before the erection?

W,TF?

[Kingofalldems]

26. Kick and rec

[bearsfootball516]

28. This is one of those things that should be a huge deal

But Trump will do something stupid tonight and everyone will forget about it.

[Squinch]

37. This is just part of a "meta gish gallop." It's to distract from the Fusion GPS report.

[liberaltrucker]

32. Jenn #MorrisseyGirl4Life ‏ @JenniferLBrewer 24m

Well, I just lost any respect I ever had for Stormy Daniels.

[Vinca]

33. She should have tacked a few more 0s onto the agreement.

[Sanity Claws]

34. That porn star looks a lot like Marla Maples, his second wife

In fact, at first, I thought that someone must have posted the wrong photo.

[Ken Burch]

38. ...and more than a little like Ivanka...

[NoMoreRepugs]

35. Possible to consider that this payment was to

protect against negative comments about little hands Donnie's performance and in turn his enormous ego? Just wondering.....

[Ken Burch]

40. If something can be disclosed, is it still just "alleged"?

n/t.

[Yavin4]

41. The payment was in rubles

[Ilsa]

44. I wonder if she has a really large bladder?

How kinky did he get?

I bet Melania didn't care. She was probably already pregnant with her anchor baby.

[Historic NY]

51. Erection therapist.

[erronis]

71. And pute is an Election Therapist?

[d_r]

53. honestly I am really not an old prude

but this guy has completely ruined the values of this country. The most self-righteous among us are now perfectly ok with being in porn movies, the first lady of the UNITED STATES posing nude, a new york casino owning mobster being president, a racist being president, and russians interfering with a us election. it is fucking nuts.

[Cryptoad]

54. 130K sounds cheap to me,,,,,,,

[wishstar]

55. Is this the same woman who alleged he offered her and a friend $25000 for sex?

I can't read the article due to paywall, but I do recall allegations before election from an adult film star who attended a golfing event where he invited her to his room and offered big sum of money which she turned down because she works in adult films, not prostitution so she was offended. This settlement seems to definitely confirm her story, if it is the same person, but surprising since she had already told her story.

Wall St Journal also printed before election that National Enquirer (whose publisher is Trump friend) had paid the Playboy playmate who had a long- running affair with Trump for exclusive rights to her story and to buy her silence, but Enquirer never ran her story.

[wishstar]

64. To answer my own question, this is a different woman than Jessica Drake, another adult film star

The story I was familiar with from before election involved Jessica Drake, who had a booth at a golf tournament and then was propositioned with the large payment offer that she turned down.

[Eliot Rosewater]

56. Huge mistake, his cheating on his wife would have got him more deplorables

[Corgigal]

57. So, I guess "they" just don't "let" you do it.

You had to pay for it? Colored me surprised, loser.

[erronis]

72. Good point. Maybe a bit of dough to ease the disgust?

[anneboleyn]

60. That picture (his smirk)...Could you imagine if Obama had done this?

We’d never, ever hear the end of it. Ever. Yet so far this is barely getting attention. This plus his appalling comments yesterday, which he is now claiming he never said, just UGH!

[smirkymonkey]

61. That is what pisses me off more than anything!

Obama, or any other Democrat, would have been crucified for something like this. It amazes me how much bullshit they get away with. They are all so vulgar, corrupt and disgusting. I want them to pay and I don't care what it is that brings them down.

[XRubicon]

62. This smells like Bannon's revenge...

[Hoyt]

63. trump supporters will not care. They know he has paid hush money for

lots of damaging things, and don't care.

[sunonmars]

65. I go out for a few hours and Trumps paying off porn queens, this never ends....

[jayschool2013]

66. Real Time

Can Maher cut short his break? Please? I could use the humor.

[lindysalsagal]

75. Maybe his, a-hem, performance left MUCH to be, um, desired? ??

[ollie10]

77. Dig Trump. ..looks older 10 years ago

[GusBob]

79. Ok I don't smoke but geez Trump is high as kite. His eyes

[Fummel]

82. Kick nt

[HappyBeing]

83. Is Bannon leaking again?

War

[HootieMcBoob]

84. Kick n/t