March 23, 2018
Stormy Daniels appeared on national television on Sunday to discuss her alleged affair with President Donald Trump and the payment she reportedly accepted to buy her silence for the first time during an interview on "60 Minutes."
CBS broadcast the taped interview featuring Daniels, an adult film star. She was interviewed by Anderson Cooper earlier this month.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims she had a sexual relationship with Trump that began in the summer of 2006 in Lake Tahoe and lasted well into 2007. When the alleged relationship began, Trump was married to his current wife, Melania, and the president's youngest son, Barron, was an infant.
Technically I didn't sleep with the POTUS 12 years ago. There was no sleeping (hehe) and he was just a goofy reality TV star. But I digress...People DO care that he lied about it, had me bullied, broke laws to cover it up, etc. And PS...I am NOT going anywhere. xoxoxo https://t.co/Js9sEnanIk
— Stormy Daniels (@StormyDaniels) March 20, 2018
Daniels agreed to the interview despite previously accepting a non-disclosure agreement that included $130,000 payment to her just before the November 2016 presidential election. Prior to the agreement, Trump's campaign was reeling from the "Access Hollywood" tape scandal and several other women who began to publicly discuss their alleged sexual encounters with the Republican candidate.
Daniels has filed a lawsuit against Trump seeking to nullify the agreement, based partially on the argument that Trump had never signed it.
Trump has denied the alleged affair. Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, has said he paid Daniels from his own pocket. Court documents filed by Daniels' attorney in federal court in California state that Cohen was "generally referred to as Mr. Trump's 'fixer.'"
Names were changed in non-disclosure agreement documents. According to the latest court filings, Stormy Daniels is identified as "Peggy Peterson" or just "PP," and Donald Trump was know by the alias "David Dennison" or DD.
The following are snippets from one of the federal court documents filed by Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti, who earned his undergraduate degree at Penn. The entire document – which includes a copy of the confidential settlement agreement between Trump and Daniels – can be viewed at the end of this article.
• The lawsuit claims Daniels sought to share her story shortly after The Washington Post published the infamous "Access Hollywood" video in which Trump described the way he kissed women without seeking permission.
"After discovering Ms. Clifford's plans, Mr. Trump, with the assistance of his attorney Mr. Cohen, aggressively sought to silence Ms. Clifford as part of an effort to avoid her telling the truth, thus helping to ensure he won the Presidential Election. Mr. Cohen subsequently prepared a draft non-disclosure agreement and presented it to Ms. Clifford and her attorney."
• In addition to the aliases for Daniels and Trump, the confidential non-disclosure agreement, dubbed the "Hush Agreement," also named an entity known as Essential Consultants LLC, allegedly created to shield the payment source.
"On information and belief, EC was created by Mr. Cohen with Mr. Trump's knowledge for one purpose – to hide the true source of funds to be used to pay Ms. Clifford, thus further insulating Mr. Trump from later discovery and scrutiny."
• The suit claims Daniels and Cohen, acting on behalf of Essential Consultants, signed the lawsuit on Oct. 28, 2016 – less than two weeks before the presidential election. But it claims Trump never signed it.
"(D)espite having detailed knowledge of the Hush Agreement and its terms, including the proposed payment of monies to Ms. Clifford and the routing of those monies through EC, Mr. Trump purposely did not sign the agreement so he could later, if need be, publicly disavow any knowledge of the Hush Agreement and Ms. Clifford."
Below, scroll through a copy of the court document referenced above. It has been filed in California federal court by Daniels' attorney. If it does not display, follow this link to view the document:
