Stormy Daniels–Donald Trump Scandal: Here’s What We Know So Far

Quick Facts

The Stormy Daniels–Donald Trump scandal is one of the biggest scandals on the litany of scandals of President Donald Trump since his “locker-room talk” with Billy Bush where he talked about grabbing women by their privates and kissing them without permission was leaked to the media.

The mention of the name Stormy Daniels (Stephanie Clifford) in the early 2010s may not have rung any bells in a lot of minds, except in the world of adult entertainment. But all that changed when she sued the current United States President – , for his attempt to stop her from revealing her truth about a sexual affair they had in the past.

Facts About The Stormy Daniels–Donald Trump Scandal

1. How They Met

Stormy Daniels met Donald Trump in July 2006 in Lake Tahoe during a charity golf tournament where she had dinner with him at his invite. Later on that evening, she made love with Trump on their first date in his hotel room. She also claimed this affair with Donald Trump continued later on till 2007.

2. It all happened when Melania Trump was pregnant with Baron Trump

Although it is now that the Stormy Daniels-Donald Trump scandal is raging, the affair between the adult-film actor/dancer and the then-future president of the United States happened when Trump’s wife, was pregnant with their son, Baron Trump.

3. Why Stormy Daniels sued the President

Daniels decided to sue Donald Trump for the right to tell her story about their alleged sexual affair without fear of litigation, and not for money-making purposes. This came after Trump’s attorney at the time, , tried to silence her by paying her $130,000 to keep silent about it.

Daniels also alleged that Cohen had tried to intimidate and coerce her to keep mum about the affair with Trump after making her sign a Non Disclosure Agreement.

4. The NDA

Though Daniels collected the money from Cohen and signed the agreement, she claimed in 2016 that the non-disclosure agreement was not binding as Trump had not signed the agreement’s dotted lines. She claims to just want to be able to speak freely about the affair without fear.

Her lawyer, , also bemoans the intimidation his client has had to endure just to ensure her silence. In her suit against Trump, there was no claim of any form of harassment but she seeks ”declaratory relief” which can prove that the nondisclosure agreement is not enforceable so she can speak freely.

5. Campaign Finance Violation

There have been insinuations that Trump paid Daniels the “hush money” from his 2016 presidential campaign funds, a claim which the president denied vehemently. He also went further to deny that the alleged sexual affair with Daniels ever happened in the first place.

If it had been found out to be true, that Trump used his campaign funds to pay off Daniels, it would have been in violation of federal laws. The fact that Trump’s former lawyer – Cohen, had admitted to paying Daniels from his own personal funds, should have put to bed this insinuation, but Cohen later admitted to “willingly and knowingly” breaking laws on campaign funding. Cohen has released many conflicting statements over these allegations. He initially claimed that the money came from his personal funds and wasn’t refunded by Trump from his personal or campaign funds. Later, he admitted that the payment was made in other to protect the election chances of Trump but it wasn’t from the campaign funds and was not included in the campaign finance report.

6. Attempts to silence Daniels?

In December 2018, the pornstar was made to pay the president $293,052.33 in legal fees by a Los Angeles Judge, James Otero, after Daniels sued Trump claiming she was threatened by a stranger in an attempt to silence her.

7. Fallout with Michael Cohen

In August 2018, Cohen surrendered to the FBI and pleaded guilty to eight charges: which included making an excessive campaign contribution at a candidates request. He was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment in December 2018.

In recent times, Trump himself has admitted that Cohen and not him entered into a nondisclosure agreement with Stormy Daniels and Cohen was reimbursed the $130,000 through monthly retainer payment of $35,000 which had nothing to do with the campaign funds.

8. Will the Stormy Daniels–Donald Trump scandal affect Trump?

Trump might not be truly affected by any of these allegations as long as he is in office due to the Justice Department Policy against charging a sitting president.

Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.