Donald Trump had his lawyer arrange a payment of $130,000 to a woman known as Stormy Daniels just one month before the 2016 election, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Via The Hill:
Clifford has privately told sources interviewed by the Journal that she and Trump had a consensual sexual encounter in 2006, the year after he and Melania Trump were married. Clifford was 27 years old at the time of the alleged encounter in Lake Tahoe.
A White House official declined to comment to the Journal about the payment, but said that the allegations of the interaction between Trump and Clifford were “old, recycled reports, which were published and strongly denied prior to the election.”
Cohen told the Journal in a statement that Trump “once again vehemently denies” the encounter, but did not comment on the alleged $130,00 payment.
“This is now the second time that you are raising outlandish allegations against my client,” Cohen said in the statement. “You have attempted to perpetuate this false narrative for over a year; a narrative that has been consistently denied by all parties since at least 2011.”
Cohen's reference to previous allegations may include the Journal's report in the days before the election that Clifford intended to appear on "Good Morning America" to discuss the alleged affair. She reportedly chose not to appear on the show at that time without explanation.
Cohen sent the paper a statement signed by “Stormy Daniels” denying the sexual encounter with Trump and saying that hush money rumors are “completely false.”
Clifford did not comment directly to the Journal, and Clifford’s lawyer declined to comment on the matter.