In February, President Trump personally directed an effort to stop Stormy Daniels from publicly describing an alleged sexual encounter with the Trump, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Trump instructed his then-lawyer Michael Cohen during a phone call to seek a restraining order against the former adult-film actress, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, through a confidential arbitration proceeding, a source told WSJ. Before the call, Trump and Cohen had learned that Daniels was considering giving a media interview about her alleged relationship with Trump, even though she had signed a nondisclosure agreement in October 2016.
Trump told Cohen to coordinate the legal response with Eric Trump, one of the president’s sons, and another lawyer who represented Trump and the Trump Organization in other matters. Eric Trump is running the Trump Organization in his father’s absence. Eric Trump told a Trump Organization staff attorney in California to sign off on the arbitration paperwork, WSJ reports.
This is the first report of the president and his son being directly involved in the effort to silence Daniels. The accounts of that effort given to the WSJ suggest the president’s ties to his company continued into this year, which goes against public statements at the time made by the Trump Organization, the White House and Cohen.
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