Trump Falsely Claims He ‘Just Found’ New Info Exonerating Him In Stormy Daniels Affair Case
In a post on his Truth Social account on Wednesday, former President Donald Trump seemed to suggest he was going through his infamous piles of documents when he found something that cleared him in the Stormy Daniels hush money scandal. However, the document Trump claimed to have “just found” is a widely discussed statement from Daniels that has been extensively, publicly discussed for over six years.
“LOOK WHAT WAS JUST FOUND! WILL THE FAKE NEWS REPORT IT?” Trump asked on Truth Social, just above a photo of the document.
The news media has already reported on the statement, which appears to be signed by Daniels. In it, the former adult film star denied her “alleged sexual relationship” with Trump. Daniels also declared, “I am not denying the affair because I was paid ‘hush money’ as has been reported in overseas owned tabloids.”
Of course, it would later emerge that Daniels’ attorney received a $130,000 payment from Trump’s lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, in conjunction with a non-disclosure agreement as she considered going public with affair allegations before the 2016 election. Cohen ultimately pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges including campaign finance violations that stemmed from the payments. The alleged hush money payment is now at the center of one of the ongoing criminal cases against Trump, set to go to trial next week.
Daniels disavowed her statement in late January 2018 on the very same night it was released. In an interview with “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Daniels suggested the signature didn’t look like hers. During a subsequent March 2018 interview on “60 Minutes,” Daniels admitted she had agreed to sign the statement and claimed she did so because people involved ““made it sound like I had no choice.”
Despite how much the statement has already been publicized and litigated, Trump supporters have recently begun re-circulating it and suggesting it is new. The strategy prompted a fact check from the Associated Press last month, which noted, “Trump allies and others on social media are attempting to cast the old statement denying the affair as new information.” Now, Trump himself is getting in on the action.
Trump, who has consistently denied having an affair with Daniels, was charged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg with falsifying business records related to the payment. The case made Trump the first president in American history to be charged with a crime as he is running to return to the White House. Since then, Trump has faced other charges, but Bragg’s case is the only one, at least so far, that’s headed to trial before the election in November. In recent days, Trump’s lawyers have filed three legal challenges to the case. As of now, the trial is set to start on Monday.
Daniels did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story. She is set to spend the coming weekend at the EXXXOTICA Expo in Chicago, which is billed as “the largest adult event in the USA dedicated to love and sex.”
