Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, believes that Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, invalidated a non-disclosure agreement after two news stories were published Tuesday: one in which Cohen told The New York Times he made the six-figure payment with his personal funds, and another in the Daily Beast, which reported that Cohen was shopping a book proposal that would touch on Daniels’ story, said the manager, Gina Rodriguez. “Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly.”

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Just weeks before the 2016 election, Cohen reportedly created a private LLC to pay Clifford, otherwise known as Stormy Daniels, following an alleged July 2006 encounter with Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported in January. “The payment to Ms. Clifford was lawful, and was not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone.”

Apart from the wild statement, Cohen refused to answer other questions about the transaction, including whether or not Trump even knew he made the payment or if he ever made other similar transactions with anyone else. Daniels has previously been quoted as describing a sexual relationship she had with Trump after she met him at a celebrity golf tournament in July 2006, most extensively in a 2011 interview with InTouch magazine. “I do not know where it came from.”

Carolyn Kaster/AP

A statement released by Cohen Jan. 10 that appeared to be signed by Daniels called the alleged affair “absolutely false” and said her relationship with Trump was “limited to a few public appearances and nothing more.”

Cohen’s latest statement did not address whether the payment was intended to keep Daniels quiet about an affair. Cohen’s statement, first reported by the New York Times, came in direct response to a Jan. 22 complaint filed by watchdog group Common Cause with the Federal Election Commission, questioning whether the payment represented an illegal, in-kind contribution to Trump’s presidential campaign, or whether the campaign reimbursed Cohen for the expense. “The allegations in the complaint are factually unsupported and without legal merit, and my counsel has submitted a response to the FEC.”

He said he would not make any additional comments about the commission complaint “or regarding Ms. Clifford.”
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Cohen was among Trump’s fiercest defenders during his time at the Trump Organization, often telling reporters during the 2016 presidential campaign that even false information about Trump could be damaging if printed.
Michael Cohen, the private lawyer of U.S. President Donald Trump, says he made a "lawful" US$130,000 payment to porn star Stephanie Clifford, aka Stormy Daniels, from his own private funds. The statement to The New York Times comes after the Common Cause organization on January 22, 2018, filed a complaint about the payment with the Federal Election Commission.