Michael Cohen Claimed Donald Trump Once Boasted Stormy Daniels Preferred Him Over Star NFL Player

Soon-to-be President Donald Trump's former attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, once claimed that the Republican leader (on one occasion) had boasted that adult film actress Stormy Daniels chose him over former NFL quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. In his testimony in Trump's hush money trial, Cohen referenced a 2016 conversation, when Trump discussed his 2006 meeting with Daniels.

Cohen said, “He [Trump] told me that he was playing golf with Big Ben Roethlisberger…and they had met Stormy Daniels and others there." During the meet-up, Trump claimed that “women prefer him even over someone like Big Ben.” Roethlisberger's name, also came up in Daniels' own testimony, as reported by the Daily Mail. She stated that the quarterback was present with Trump during one of their initial encounters.

In her 2018 book, Full Disclosure, Daniels delved into her unsettling encounter with Roethlisberger. She recounted feeling fearful when Trump requested that Roethlisberger accompany her back to her hotel room. She alleged that the NFL star asked for a goodnight kiss, which she declined. Despite her refusal, Roethlisberger allegedly lingered outside her door, persistently knocking for several minutes. This incident aligns with other previous accusations against the player. For instance, in 2010, a woman in Georgia made sexual assault allegations against Roethlisberger. However, the district attorney chose not to pursue charges against the star footballer.

The business tycoon was found guilty on 34 felony charges, making him the first President in American history to be convicted, after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg levied criminal charges against him. However, back in 2016, when Daniels sought to make details of her affair with Trump public, Cohen apparently rushed to Trump's office, as per his testimony, before his ex-boss instructed him to 'take care of it.' Cohen, the prosecution's 20th witness, had previously asserted that Trump directed him to make the payment to Daniels, and the attorney was sentenced to three years for offenses linked to that payment.

Cohen had also testified earlier that Trump warned him of the potential fallout if Daniels' account of his infidelity were to become public. He claimed that the former president described the situation as a highly unpleasant one, with Trump allegedly saying, “Women will hate me. Guys may think this is cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign," the New York Post reported. During the six-hour-long testimony, Cohen also claimed that Donald "...wasn't thinking about Melania. This was all about the campaign..." He testified under oath that Donald told him to 'get control' of any negative stories, which put into action the 'catch and kill' scheme to bury damaging reports. As per Daniels' account, Melania Trump, at the time was pregnant with Barron when they ended up having their alleged affair.

This article originally appeared 5 months ago.