Stormy Daniels speaks with prosecutors probing payment from Trump

[March 16, 2023]  By Luc Cohen and Karen Freifeld
 
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stormy Daniels, a porn star who says she had an affair with Donald Trump, on Wednesday spoke with prosecutors investigating the former U.S. president's role in a payment for her silence about the sexual liaison before the 2016 election, her lawyer said.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump talks to the press on the grounds of his Mar-a-Lago resort on midterm elections night in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. November 8, 2022. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo

Trump, who has denied having an affair with Daniels, is seeking the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2024. The Manhattan District Attorney's office has given him a chance to testify before the grand jury probing the payment, a sign prosecutors may be close to bringing charges against him.

"Stormy responded to questions and has agreed to make herself available as a witness, or for further inquiry if needed," Clark Brewster, Daniels' lawyer, wrote on Twitter.

In a tweet, Daniels thanked Brewster "for helping me in our continuing fight for truth and justice."

A spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined to comment.

Susan Necheles, a lawyer for Trump, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Daniels' talks with prosecutors. Trump has denied the affair ever happened and has called Bragg's probe a politically-motivated witch hunt.

Joseph Tacopina, another Trump lawyer, said earlier this week Trump did not plan to appear before the grand jury, but that a decision had not yet been made.

The investigation centers on a $130,000 payment Daniels - whose real name is Stephanie Clifford - received in October 2016 from Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney and fixer.

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to campaign finance violations tied to his arranging hush payments to Daniels and another woman, among other crimes. He has said Trump directed him to make the payment.

Cohen testified before the grand jury on Monday and again on Wednesday, according to his lawyer, Lanny Davis. Grand jury proceedings are not public.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen and Karen Freifeld in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)

[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.