Washington - An adult-film actress who
claims she had sex with Donald Trump before he was president
said on Sunday she had been threatened in 2011 while in a
parking lot with her infant daughter to discourage her from
discussing the relationship.
Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, told
CBS News' "60 Minutes" that she was on her way to a fitness
class with her child when an unknown man approached her,
according to a transcript of the interview released on Sunday.
"And a guy walked up on me and said to me, 'Leave Trump
alone. Forget the story.' And then he leaned around and looked
at my daughter and said, 'That’s a beautiful little girl. It'd
be a shame if something happened to her mom.' And then he was
gone," Daniels said.
Daniels sued the president on March 6, stating Trump never
signed an agreement for her to keep quiet about an "intimate"
relationship between them.
White House aides did not respond immediately to requests
for comment after the interview aired.
Trump did not respond to reporters' shouted questions about
whether he would watch the interview when he returned to the
White House from Florida on Sunday evening.
Daniels' appearance represented back-to-back trouble for
Trump after an interview broadcast last week on CNN with former
Playboy model Karen McDougal, who described a 10-month-long
affair with Trump starting in 2006.
Trump would have been married to his wife, Melania, during
both the alleged extramarital relationships. The first lady
accompanied him this weekend to his Florida golf club. A White
House spokeswoman said Melania stayed behind, as is her custom
during their son's school holiday.
Daniels told "60 Minutes" she and Trump had had sexual
relations only once, but that she had seen him on other
occasions and he had kept in touch with her.
She said she was not attracted to Trump, who was 60 at the
time. Daniels was 27 in 2006.
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The White House has denied he had an affair with Daniels,
although Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen said he paid her $130 000
of his own money during the 2016 presidential election campaign.
The payment could pose a legal problem. Watchdog groups have
filed complaints with the Department of Justice and Federal
Election Commission, saying that it may have violated campaign
finance law by exceeding the limit on the size of a
contribution.
Cohen, who has denied that there was an affair, has not
explained why he made the payment or said whether Trump was
aware of it.
After the interview screened, Cohen's lawyer Brent Blakely
wrote to Daniels' attorney to say she made false and defamatory
comments, "namely that he (Cohen) was responsible for an alleged
thug who supposedly visited" and threatened her.
"In truth, Mr. Cohen had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do
with any such person or incident, and does not even believe that
any such person exists, or that such incident ever occurred,"
Blakely said in the letter.
Daniels and her attorney would not discuss in the interview
whether they had text messages or other materials that might
verify her story.
She was asked why she repeatedly signed statements denying
the relationship with Trump, and acknowledged that there could
be questions about her credibility.
"I felt intimidated and ... honestly bullied. And I didn't
know what to do. And so I signed it," Daniels said.
Asked why viewers could be confident now that she was
telling the truth, she said: "Cause I have no reason to lie. I'm
opening myself up for, you know, possible danger, and definitely
a whole lot of s***," she said.