Donald Trump & Stormy Daniels Notary Suspended In Texas
The Texas notary that signed off on President Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels’ hush-money agreement has been suspended by state officials, but they added that the ruling has no bearing on the document’s validity, the Dallas Morning News reported Thursday.
The agreement, signed in the waning days of the 2016 presidential election between Trump’s then private attorney Michael Cohen and the former porn star has been one of the issues targeted by special counsel Robert Mueller in his Russian collusion investigation, the newspaper noted.
The Texas Secretary of State Office charged that notary Erica Jackson, of Forney, Texas, where Daniels live, did not properly witness and document Daniels’ signature on the agreement, the Morning News said according to records it received Wednesday.
The state office took disciplinary action against Jackson in August for the alleged errors on the non-disclosure agreement, which is currently being challenged in court, the newspaper stated. Officials claimed that Jackson attached her seal to the documents but failed to complete certificates detailing Daniels’ identity, date and location, per the Morning News.
The non-disclosure agreement signed by Daniels stated that the adult entertainer would receive $130,000 to keep her mouth shut about an alleged affair she had with Trump back in 2006 while married to Melania Trump, according to USA Today.
Daniels has been fighting the legality of the document since March, charging that she should be free from its restraints since Trump never signed it himself.
Late last week, Cohen tried to end the issue by filing in court that he wanted to dissolve the document and be repaid the $130,000, the newspaper noted. Likewise Trump’s attorneys entered their own court filing Saturday, saying that the president has no intention on trying to enforce the agreement, per USA Today.
Texas Secretary of State office discovered that Jackson failed to properly notarized documents in Daniels case and others, leading to a three-month suspension, the Morning News stated. Its settlement with Jackson included additional training and testing, the newspaper noted.
Craig Watkins, Jackson’s attorney, told the Morning News that his client did verify Daniels before the document was signed and only agreed to the ruling to avoid the “whole circus” connected with the Mueller investigation against Trump.
Daniels, in an appearance on The View Wednesday with her attorney Michael Avenatti, said regardless of Cohen and Trump’s court actions, she plans on continuing the push the matter legally, noted Good Morning America.
Trump has denied the affair and had also denied knowing about the payment to Daniels for months, Good Morning America reported. In August, Cohen pleaded guilty to felony violations of campaign finance laws on connection with payment to Daniels and another woman during the 2016 campaign over alleged affairs, the morning show said.
