President Trump says he didn't know anything about his lawyer making a payment to Stormy Daniels
President Donald Trump on Thursday denied having the knowledge of his private lawyer, Michael Cohen, paying off a six-figure sum to adult-film star Stormy Daniels for her to remain silent about the Republican and her alleged sexual affair.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, and President Trump had an alleged affair, shortly after the First Lady gave birth to his youngest son Barron Trump, according to reports. The speculations of the affair between the president and the adult-film star were rife after the Wall Street Journal, on January 12, reported that one of Trump's lawyers, Cohen, had arranged a $130,000 payment for Daniels to remain silent about the alleged affair.
President Trump and the White House have denied all the allegations made by Daniels. However, the Republican's comments on Thursday was his first public acknowledgment of the scandal which has plagued Trump for months now.
Trump, while talking to reporters aboard Air Force One, answered with a terse "No," when he was asked about his knowledge of the hush money payment. Trump's attorney, Cohen, had admitted the existence of a non-disclosure agreement and the payment made to Daniels. Cohen, in fact, said that he made the $130,000 payment to Daniels out of his own pocket.
Reports state that hammered with questions about the hush money payment, Trump attempted to move on quickly to the next question, asking: "What else?" However, when the reporters continued to ask questions about why did Cohen make the payment.
"You'll have to ask Michael Cohen," Trump said. "Michael is my attorney. You'll have to ask Michael."
The president also added that he did not know where the payment money came from and denied setting up a fund for Cohen to draw the money from, according to CNN.
Daniels, recently, filed a lawsuit against Trump earlier this month in a Los Angels federal court, seeking to be released from a non-disclosure agreement between the duo. Daniels claimed that the deal between them stands invalid, considering the Republican president did not sign the agreement.
Daniels also filed a defamation lawsuit against Cohen, alleging that he made a false statement, claiming that Daniels was lying about her account of the non-disclosure agreement and the alleged sexual affair.
The adult-film star also gave an exclusive interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" last month, detailing the beginning of her relationship with Trump and how it unfolded thereafter. Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti, on Thursday said that Trump's remarks about the hush money payment improved their legal standing.
"Our case just got that much better. And we very much look forward to testing the truthfulness of Mr. Trump's feigned lack of knowledge concerning the $130k payment as he stated on Air Force One," Avenatti said in a statement.
"As history teaches us, it is one thing to deceive the press and quite another to do so under oath," the attorney added.