Politics

Donald Trump admits paying ‘hush money’ in Stormy Daniels affair case

May 04, 2018

Donald Trump tweeted overnight, saying he did know about hush money. Picture source: CBS/60 Minutes and Getty

The US president appears to have back-flipped over earlier comments he made in relation to an alleged affair he had with porn star Stormy Daniels.

The adult entertainer, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, previously said Donald Trump and one of his lawyers paid her hush money to keep quiet about alleged relations the pair had. Trump originally denied the claims, saying he knew nothing about payments. They were said to have been made just before the 2016 presidential election, with Daniels told to keep quiet about the affair in exchange for money.

In a series of tweets overnight, the former Apprentice star said he actually was aware of payments, but said they had nothing to do with the election. It’s the first time he has publicly discussed the payments to Daniels. He said the reimbursements to his lawyer, Michael Cohen, were actually done through a monthly retainer.

“Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA,” he explained.

Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA. These agreements are…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2018

…very common among celebrities and people of wealth. In this case it is in full force and effect and will be used in Arbitration for damages against Ms. Clifford (Daniels). The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair,……

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2018

He added that there was nothing out of the ordinary about these kinds of payments and maintained that claims made by Daniels were false.

“These agreements are very common among celebrities and people of wealth,” he continued. “In this case it is in full force and effect and will be used in Arbitration for damages against Ms. Clifford (Daniels). The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair, despite already having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair.”

Trump said the agreement was private and was never intended to be made public.

“Prior to its violation by Ms. Clifford and her attorney, this was a private agreement. Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll in this transaction [sic].”

The 71-year-old’s tweets come after one of his attorneys, Rudy Giuliani, appeared on Fox News where he claimed the president reimbursed Cohen U$130,000 (A$172,939) for hush money he paid the porn star. Still, even he said Trump didn’t actually know the details about the case.

“He didn’t know about the specifics of it, as far as I know,” he explained during the interview. “But he did know about the general arrangement, that Michael would take care of things like this, like I take care of things like this for my clients. I don’t burden them with every single thing that comes along. These are busy people.”

Daniels previously said she was forced into signing a false statement that said her relationship with Trump wasn’t real. she signed the initial hush agreement on October 28 2016, just days before the presidential election. She was told not to disclose any information relating to her alleged relationship with Trump, his other sexual partners and not to share any photos or text messages between the pair.