Stormy Daniels: White House seems to confirm Trump contract with porn star

The White House has made a mysterious claim that Donald Trump won a case “in arbitration” against a pornographic film actor who alleges that she had sex with him a decade ago.

Press secretary Sarah Sanders’ surprise assertion appears to confirm that a contract existed between Trump and Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

“This case has already been won in arbitration and anything beyond that, I would refer you to the president’s outside counsel,” said Sanders, who insisted that Trump denies Daniels’ allegations.

At Wednesday’s press briefing she was pressed further on who won the arbitration and when. The spokeswoman replied gnomically: “By the president’s personal attorneys and for details on that I would refer you to them.

“I can share that the arbitration was won in the president’s favour, and I would refer you to the president’s outside counsel on any details beyond that.”

The disclosure implies that arbitration was used as a simpler, less costly alternative to litigation.

Soon after the briefing, Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, reportedly dismissed Sanders’ claim. Jim Rutenberg, media columnist at the New York Times, tweeted: “Stormy Daniels lawyer, @MichaelAvenatti responds to me re Sanders’ statement Trump won at arbitration: ‘yeah and he also won the popular vote.’”

On Tuesday Daniels filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles against Trump, arguing that his longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen tried “to silence Ms Clifford through the use of an improper and procedurally defective arbitration proceeding hidden from public view”.

Daniels contends that a non-disclosure agreement she signed days before the 2016 presidential election, which blocked her from discussing the alleged sexual encounters, is “null and void and of no consequence” because Trump did not personally sign it.

Source: theguardian