Stormy Daniels ‘Hush Money,’ Paid By Donald Trump’s Lawyer, Flagged As ‘Suspicious’ By Bank
Adult movie star Stormy Daniels alleges that she had an affair with President Donald Trump back in 2006. The alleged sexual relationship took place almost a decade before Trump embarked on his presidential election campaign, so many would question why details of the affair have become hot news. There are two reasons. Firstly, the affair is alleged to have taken place shortly after Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, had given birth. More importantly, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has admitted that he paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep details of the affair quiet.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Cohen claims that he paid Daniels “hush money,” just days before the 2016 presidential election, to “protect” Trump. Last month, Cohen admitted that he had “facilitated” the payment to Daniels using his own funds, and he claimed that he had done nothing illegal. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Cohen apparently created a company called Essential Consultants LLC and paid Stormy Daniels through that company. One might be given to wonder why Cohen didn’t just write Daniels a check if the payment was private and legitimate?
It would seem that First Republic Bank is wondering the same thing, as it has reportedly flagged the payment to Daniels as “suspicious” and passed details to the Treasury Department for investigation.
Stormy Daniels Threatened To Cancel Her Agreement With Trump’s Lawyer
The Washington Post, reports that they have seen emails in which Stormy Daniels threatened to cancel the nondisclosure agreement because she had not been paid. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, told Cohen, through her lawyer, that the “deal was off” because she had not been paid. Daniels’s lawyer, Keith Davidson, wrote to Trump’s lawyer saying “please be advised that my client deems her settlement agreement canceled and void.”
In the end, Daniels received the hush money just 12 days before the election.
The Washington Post also pointed out that the Treasury Department is not the only federal agency with an interest in the payment made to Stormy Daniels. Activist groups have also asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate the payment. They claim that Trump could have secured Daniels’ silence in 2011 when the story first broke. Paul S. Ryan, from government watchdog group Common Cause, claims that the fact that payment to Daniels was made immediately before the presidential election means that the payment was made “to influence the election.”
As reported by the New Yorker, Stormy Daniels was not the only person to benefit financially from an alleged affair with Donald Trump. They claim that former Playboy model Karen McDougal was paid $150,000 to buy her silence over similar allegations.
It would seem that Stormy Daniels is now keen to monetize her alleged affair with President Trump. USA Today reports that Daniels is now suing Trump, claiming her nondisclosure agreement is not valid because Trump did not sign it. It would seem that the stories about Donald Trump’s alleged extra-marital affairs, and payments made to cover them up, still have some way to run.
