Stormy Daniels addresses the media in New York in April 2018. EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ (AFP)
The indictment of Donald Trump has some poetic justice for Stormy Daniels, at least the restoration of a reputation that had hit the ground and the intimate satisfaction of having dared to stand up to the almighty Donald Trump, who wanted to buy her silence for $130,000 on the relationship they allegedly had. Almost seven years after the money changed hands, Stormy Daniels, Stephanie Clifford’s stage name, now claims if not a win then at least a reward, the benefit of the doubt. The case he gave his name to is already the most serious trial against a president in the history of the United States.
Since the affair broke, there have been seven years of ups and downs and constant public scrutiny, all under unequal conditions: the tycoon’s powerful machinery, against the adult film actress’ word, branded an opportunist to denounce a relationship a decade earlier. Daniels was also the victim of her attorney, media star Michael Avenatti, who was convicted by a Manhattan court last year of stealing $300,000 from the editorial advance the actress was supposed to receive for her memoir. Avenatti had previously been sentenced to two years in prison for extortion. In 2018 he was arrested for sexist violence.
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Daniels revealed in 2018, while Trump was in the White House, that they had an affair at one of the magnate’s golf clubs in 2006; an absolutely memorable sexual encounter, as he later recounted. The actress went to court to void the non-disclosure agreement on which the agreement was based, claiming Trump never signed it. Alongside the legal battle, Avenatti, who rose to international fame in just six months, launched an aggressive media campaign that put the dispute at the center of the country’s political debate. There was no shortage of those who believed this could bring Trump down, for it was the first case to affect him directly, with Daniels and Avenatti as the bitter advance of what was once “the Resistance” against Republicans was called. But her attempt to take the president to court was unsuccessful: Daniel’s defamation lawsuit against the president, who had previously insulted her, was dismissed, and the judge ordered her to pay $293,000 in court costs.
The case came to light as another investigation by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller into possible links between Trump’s circle and the Kremlin to meddling in the 2016 election, the so-called Russian frame-up, with the aim of allegedly favoring the election victory, came to light against Democrat Hillary Clinton, leading to the first impeachment trial against him. The adult bedroom affair that then became a threat to his presidency is now a leak in his candidacy for re-election.
Clifford received the money through an entity set up by Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, the magnate’s man of business for a decade and in practice responsible for the dirty work, including intimidating overly critical journalists. He was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 after pleading guilty to, among other things, violating campaign finance rules for paying Daniels. Cohen, whom Trump has called a snitch and other worse epithets, went to the Manhattan Attorney’s Office twice this month, where he testified before the grand jury behind closed doors.
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The actress, who also appeared that month, justified her signing of the confidentiality agreement after she was threatened to keep quiet about her affair with Trump. Cohen was responsible for disclosure to the media. Trump’s representatives and the tycoon himself have always denied that there was a relationship.
Trump’s firm diverted a refund to Cohen of the money he paid Daniels to pay taxes, according to federal prosecutors, who filed criminal charges against the attorney. In all, Cohen was paid $360,000 plus a $60,000 bonus for his services. The payment to Daniels was fraudulently recorded as a “legal service” by the Trump Organization. But Cohen’s confession backed Daniel’s claim, and now a New York grand jury of 23 people, with a quorum of 16 and a necessary unanimity of at least 12, has found evidence that the two were telling the truth and that someone was lying
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