Stormy Daniels on 60 Minutes: Adult film star says she was threatened and told to 'leave Trump alone' over alleged affair - as it happened
Mr Trump and the White House have denied the affair took place
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Your support makes all the difference.After months of headline grabbing intrigue, adult film actress Stormy Daniels has spoken publicly about an alleged affair with President Donald Trump in her first televised interview.
Ms Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, appeared appear on CBS’s 60 Minutes, interviewed by longtime host Anderson Cooper. The interview, which was actually taped earlier this month, was broadcast even though Mr Trump’s lawyers had sought to stop the interview from being made public.
Ms Daniels claimed in the in interview that she was threatened with physical violence after she first attempted to go public with the story by a man who told her: “Leave Trump alone.”
She claimed the encounter took place in a Las Vegas parking lot in 2011, some time after she had arranged for the story of an alleged sexual dalliance with Mr Trump to be sold to a magazine. Ms Daniels said was on her way to a fitness class with her infant daughter when she said she was accosted.
“A guy walked up on me and said to me, ‘Leave Trump alone. Forget the story,’” she said. Ms Daniels then claimed the man, who she could not identify, “leaned around and looked at my daughter and said, ‘That’s a beautiful little girl. It’d be a shame if something happened to her mom.’ And then he was gone.”
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Ms Daniels received $130,000 from a company established by Trump attorney Michael Cohen just before the 2016 presidential election. Mr Cohen said the money came from his own funds and denies it being paid on behalf of the president.
Ms Daniels told Anderson Cooper that the agreement was appealing because it meant she would receive some money but also not have to worry about the effect the revelation of the alleged affair would have on her child. She signed the agreement 11 days before the election.
Earlier this month Ms Daniels launched a lawsuit against Mr Trump and Mr Cohen claiming the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) she signed about the alleged 2006 affair is void as Mr Trump did not sign it.
Attorneys defending Mr Trump and Mr Cohen's company have filed to move the lawsuit against their clients to federal court and are claiming she could owe in excess of $20 million for violating the NDA.
In their filing, the Trump and Cohen attorneys say that Ms Daniels agreed to pay $1 million for “each breach,” and and allege that 20 such breaches have taken place.
Ms Daniels has offered to return the money paid in the "hush agreement" in order to speak freely about her alleged relationship with Trump.
Mr Trump, through the White House and his representatives, has denied that the affair took place.
Now we are onto the claimed threat of violence in 2011, that was mentioned earlier in the blog.
Ms Daniels says she was "rattled" by the incident, but did not go to the police, because she was "scared"
She is adamant that she would "100 per cent" recognise that man, but has not seen him again.
We are now onto the agreement signed with Michael Cohen, she says that the fact that she did not negotiate over the deal, which she signed 11 days before the election, shows that she is "not an opportunist".
The story of the payment was released by the Wall Street Journal, Ms Daniels says she was not the source.
Ms Daniels says that once that story was published she was pressured by her former attorney and former business manager to sign statements that Michael Cohen released, denying she had an affair with Mr Trump.
Anderson Cooper: So you signed and released-- a statement that said I am not denying this affair because I was paid in hush money I'm denying it because it never happened. That's a lie?
Ms Daniels: Yes.
Anderson Cooper: If it was untruthful, why did you sign it?
Ms Daniels: Because they made it sound like I had no choice.
On the signing, Ms Daniels claims she was told the her life could be "made hell"
Anderson Cooper: I mean, no one was putting a gun to your head?
Ms Daniels: Not physical violence, no.
Anderson Cooper: you thought that there would be some sort of legal repercussion if you didn't sign it?
Ms Daniels: Correct. As a matter of fact, the exact sentence used was, "They can make your life hell in many different ways."
Anderson Cooper: They being…
Ms Daniels: I'm not exactly sure who they were. I believe it to be Michael Cohen.
Michael Cohen has denied ever threatening Ms Daniels.
Mr Cohen did not respond to CBS' requests for comment. The payment is now the subject of complaints to the Justice Department and the Federal Election Commission, with ethics groups alleging that it could count as an illegal campaign contribution.
Anderson Cooper is now talking to Ms Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti, who claims that the $20m lawsuit of Ms Daniels by Trump lawyers is "thuggish behaviour".
Trump's attorneys argue that Ms Daniels has breached her agreement with Mr Cohen
Back to Stormy Daniels, who says she cannot answer a question about whether she handed over all "video images, still images, email messages, and text messages," she had regarding Mr Trump - as her agreement with Mr Cohen calls for.