Donald Trump ‘was personally involved in sex claim hush money payments to Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal,’ US report claims
DONALD Trump was personally involved in arranging hush money payments to a porn star and a Playboy model, according to US reports tonight.
Prosecutors had evidence the property tycoon had intervened directly to suppress his alleged sexual encounters "several" times, The Wall Street Journal claims.
Trump had initially denied knowing about the £100,000 payment made to Stormy Daniels, the adult film star who alleges she had sex with Trump in 2006.
And talking in August the US president told Fox News he only found out about the hush payments "later".
Daniels is currently suing Trump and his former lawyer Michael Cohen in connection with a nondisclosure agreement barring her from discussing the alleged tryst.
Cohen pleaded guilty in August to campaign finance violations, and admitted he made payments to two women at the direction of a candidate for political office.
It says that Trump directed the deals during meetings and in telephone calls with Cohen.
Trump reportedly asked David Pecker, the CEO of the National Enquirer parent company AMI, how he could help his campaign in August 2015.
Pecker allegedly told him that he could buy the silence of women claiming sexual encounters with the then candidate.
Less than a year later, Trump allegedly asked Pecker to quash the story of former Playboy model Karen who said they’d had an affair in 2006, when Trump was married to his third wife, Melania.
AMI soon paid $150,000 to McDougal to shut her up — and Trump later thanked him for his help, the paper reported.
The report alleges a blow-by-blow account of the negotiations that led to that payoff and another to Daniels.
It says its story is based on Cohen's testimony and interviews with “three dozen people who have direct knowledge of the events or who have been briefed on them, as well as court papers, corporate records and other documents.”
The president has repeatedly denied having affairs with McDougal and Daniels, calling them liars.
He at first said he knew nothing of the payments before belatedly disclosing that Cohen was reimbursed for Daniels’ payment in a federal financial disclosure form.
On Thursday, the White House referred questions about Trump’s involvement in the hush deals to the president’s outside counsel Jay Sekulow, who declined to comment.