US President Donald Trump on Saturday faced new accusations regarding the alleged payment of hush money to a pornographic film star.
A second actor in pornographic films told the Daily Beast she had been invited to join Trump when he was with Stephanie Clifford, who performs under the name Stormy Daniels.
The same site reported that a third actor, who accused Trump of sexual misconduct before the 2016 election, is now subject to a non-disclosure agreement.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Friday reported that on the eve of the 2016 election, Trump lawyer Michael Cohen paid US$130,000 to Clifford.
The money was reportedly paid to keep Clifford from talking about a sexual encounter she allegedly had with Trump in 2006, shortly after his third wife, Melania, gave birth to their son Barron.
Cohen strongly denied the WSJ report and released to a number of news outlets a statement signed by “Stormy Daniels” which said: “Rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false.”
“If indeed I did have a relationship with Donald Trump, trust me, you wouldn’t be reading about it in the news, you would be reading about it in my book,” the statement added.
The White House told the Guardian: “These are old, recycled reports, which were published and strongly denied prior to the election.”
However, several outlets corroborated the WSJ report.
Jacob Weisberg, editor-in-chief of the Slate Group, told the New York Times Clifford told him about her relationship with Trump in several interviews in 2016. He also provided to the Times text messages exchanged with Clifford and a draft settlement agreement.
On Saturday, the Daily Beast reported that it had also been in talks with Clifford about an interview on the eve of the 2016 vote.
It said it had spoken to another actor in pornographic films, Alana Evans.
According to Evans, Daniels, at the time of her alleged encounter with Trump, said: “All I’m going to say is: I ended up with Donald in his hotel room. Picture him chasing me around his hotel room in his tighty-whities.”
The Daily Beast also reported that a third adult film star, Jessica Drake, was now subject to a non-disclosure agreement regarding “any and every mention of Trump.”
Drake in October 2016 accused Trump of groping her at a golf tournament.
She said Trump offered her US$10,000 and the use of his private plane if she would agree to come back to his room and accompany him to a party.
“Jessica’s NDA blankets any and every mention of Trump, so she’s legally unable to comment,” her publicist told the Daily Beast. “Jessica signed a non-disclosure agreement after her allegations of misconduct, and she can’t do as much as peep his name publicly.”
Drake is one of more than a dozen women to have accused Trump of sexual misconduct.
Trump said all his accusers would be sued after the election, but no such suits have been filed.
One accuser, former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos, filed suit against Trump, alleging defamation.
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