NEW YORK — A lawyer for President Donald Trump arranged a $130,000 payment to a former porn star a month before the 2016 election — part of an agreement to keep her quiet about an extramarital affair she had with the president, according to a report Friday.
Attorney Michael Cohen arranged the payment to Stephanie Clifford in October 2016 after her lawyer negotiated a nondisclosure agreement, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Clifford, who has made dozens of movies under the name Stormy Daniels, has privately alleged the encounter with Trump took place after they met at a July 2006 celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, people familiar with the matter told the newspaper.
Trump has denied several allegations of sexual misconduct in the past.
But the incident with Clifford was consensual, according to reports.
Clifford, 27 at the time, had appeared in scores of X-rated films, including “Porking with Pride #2” and “Good Will Humping.”
“These are old, recycled reports, which were published and strongly denied prior to the election,” a White House official told the Journal.
Cohen, a longtime Trump Organization lawyer, denied anything took place between the president and Clifford and sent a two-paragraph statement by email addressed “TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN” and signed by “Stormy Daniels” denying that she had a “sexual and/or romantic affair” with Trump.
“Rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false,” the statement said.
Another adult film star, Jessica Drake, alleged in an October 2016 press conference that 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,” Drake told the Journal. “I spoke out because it was the right thing to do.”