On January 12, 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported that in October 2016, just before the 2016 United States presidential election, U.S. President Donald Trump had arranged payment of $130,000 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to stop her disclosing an affair they had in 2006.
Stephanie Clifford, the porn star better known as Stormy Daniels, speaks to reporters outside a federal courthouse after a hearing involving Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, in New York
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 16: Adult film actress Stormy Daniels (Stephanie Clifford) exits the United States District Court Southern District of New York for a hearing related to Michael Cohen, President Trump’s longtime personal attorney and confidante, April 16, 2018 in New York City. Cohen and lawyers representing President Trump are asking the court to block Justice Department officials from reading documents and materials related to Cohen’s relationship with President Trump that they believe should be protected by attorney-client privilege. Officials with the FBI, armed with a search warrant, raided Cohen’s office and two private residences last week. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
A composite image of former Trump attorney Michael Michael Cohen and porn star Stormy Daniels. Atilgan Ozdil/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
FILE – In this Oct. 11, 2018, file photo, adult film actress Stormy Daniels attends the opening of the adult entertainment fair “Venus,” in Berlin. When Donald Trump left the White House in January 2021, he remained “Individual-1” in the federal campaign finance crimes case against his former attorney, Michael Cohen. The prosecution stemmed from six-figure payments Cohen arranged to Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, to keep them quiet during the campaign about alleged affairs with Trump. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
4 vice police officers disciplined for “improper” Stormy Daniels arrest at strip club (ABC News)
PHOTO: Stormy Daniels’ 2018 appearance is promoted on a sign in front of the Sirens strip club in Columbus, Ohio, July 2018. (The Columbus Dispatch/TNS via Newscom, FILE)
Reuters photographer Shannon Stapleton (Stormy Daniels, puts her shoe back on after passing through a security screening, as she arrives at federal court)
“On the morning that I took this picture there was a mad scrum outside the courthouse to get a picture of Stormy Daniels. She didn’t enter the regular entrance of a media gauntlet that was set up for her. I placed myself by a window where I saw her passing through the metal detector. Shooting through the window was difficult but I was able to make the frame.”
