Porn star Stormy Daniels meets prosecutors investigating Trump ‘hush money’ payment
- Daniels claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 and that she was paid US$130,000 in 2016 to keep quiet about the incident
- Daniels answered questions from Manhattan prosecutors and is willing to be a witness, her lawyer, Clark Brewster, tweeted on Wednesday
The news emerged as Michael Cohen, a former Trump lawyer who orchestrated the payment, was giving a second day of testimony before a New York grand jury looking into the matter.
The US$130,000 payment was made in 2016, as Trump’s first presidential campaign was in its final weeks and Daniels was negotiating to go on television to air her claims of a sexual encounter with him a decade earlier. Cohen made the payment and arranged another payout to a different woman – at Trump’s direction, he says.
Daniels met with and answered questions from Manhattan prosecutors and is willing to be a witness, her lawyer, Clark Brewster, tweeted. The adult film actor tweeted her thanks to him for “helping me in our continuing fight for truth and justice.”
The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment.
Later on Wednesday, Cohen emerged from what he expected to be his final day of testimony. He said he would continue to provide prosecutors “any information and any cooperation that they that they need.”
Now estranged from Trump, Cohen said he is not out for vindication or revenge.
“This is not about him. This is about holding accountability, truth to power, and everything else in between,” Cohen said.