The US Justice Department is interested in a payment to buy the porn star’s silence in the latter part of the billionaire’s 2016 presidential campaign.
It would be a first for a former US president. Speaking about himself in the third person and writing, as usual, in capital letters, Donald Trump confirmed on his social network Truth Social, Saturday, March 18, that he would be “Stop” Tuesday. Embroiled in several lawsuits, the former White House tenant, who is already running for re-election in 2024, has hinted he could be caught by justice in the Stormy Daniels scandal, after the stage name of a porn star who claimed to have sex to have had with the billionaire.
The US judiciary has not communicated any confirmation of this possible arrest date. But Manhattan prosecutors are certainly interested in a payment to buy the porn star’s silence while the Republican was in the home phase of his victorious presidential campaign in 2016. Franceinfo summarizes this for you in a long legal and political soap opera.
1Stormy Daniels claims to have had sex with Donald Trump, who denies
According to him, Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, first met Donald Trump in 2006, at a golf tournament organized on the shores of Lake Tahoe, spanning the states of California and Nevada. The future president has been married to Melania for a year. Her exchanges with Stormy Daniels allegedly resulted in a consensual sexual relationship, and Donald Trump’s unfulfilled promise to let her participate in his reality show “The Apprentice.” The billionaire and the actress kept in touch for several months before they stopped speaking, she says.
Before 2018 and the tipping of the affair in the public sphere, Stormy Daniels does not mention this relationship, except in an interview given in 2011 that was not initially published to the magazine In contact (in English). In 2018, she recounted her meeting with Donald Trump and their sexual relationship during an interview with CBS television. (in English)in which she also reveals that she was threatened by men of the ex-president as a result of this relationship, and in an autobiographical work entitled Full disclosure. Donald Trump, for his part, still denies having had a sexual relationship with Stormy Daniels.
2 The press reveals a financial deal made in the middle of the presidential campaign
Ten years later, in the heart of the 2016 US presidential campaign, behind-the-scenes negotiations are underway to avoid embarrassing outbursts against the Republican nominee. In August, the tabloid The National Investigatorwhose boss is close to Donald Trump buys from a model, former playmate of the magazine, for $150,000 Playboy, Karen McDougal, the rights to her story about a sexual relationship she says she had with the billionaire. Purpose of the operation: to cover up the affair. A technique known as catch and kill (“catch and eliminate”) in the United States, where confidentiality clauses are common.
Stephanie Clifford, for her part, is put in touch with Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen. This believer of believers, nicknamed the “pit bull”, will pay $ 130,000 at the end of October 2016, a few days before the presidential election, against a non-disclosure agreement from the actress about the alleged extramarital affair of the Republican candidate. On January 12, 2018, the Wall Street Journal revealed in an article (in English) the conclusion of this agreement.
3A legal battle ensues between the porn star and the US president
Everything moves faster after these revelations. In February 2018, Michael Cohen admits, without giving reasons, that he transferred this amount to Stéphanie Clifford’s account. On March 6, 2018, Stormy Daniels filed a complaint against the man who had since become the 45th president of the United States, in an attempt to have the confidentiality clause dissolved in response to statements made by Michael Cohen.
At first, Donald Trump denies knowing about the existence of this financial agreement. But on May 2, 2018, another of his lawyers, Rudy Giuliani, contradicted him and said he had repaid the money to Michael Cohen. In August, the latter finally cooperates with justice and pleads guilty in a federal judge, specifically to tax evasion and violation of election campaign financing laws. Michael “Cohen made those payments” to buy the actress’s silence “with the aim of influencing the 2016 presidential election”, said the federal prosecutor. However, he was reimbursed by the Trump Organization and the US Justice Department believes it may be a hidden donation to the president’s campaign, in violation of election financing laws. Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in December 2018.
4 Justice is interested in the election campaign of the billionaire
Following these revelations, the judiciary is investigating the responsibility of the former president. “There is nothing criminal about the payment itself. What is illegal is falsifying a company’s business records,” John Coffee, a law professor at Columbia University who specializes in financial crime, told AFP. “The Trump Organization is a Business” and fees paid to Michael Cohen “declared to be intended to cover legal costs”, he continues. False statements, according to the American justice.
If this one offense is held against Donald Trump by the New York State Judge, “it’s a crime”. “But it becomes a felony, punishable by up to four years in prison, if prosecutors can convince a jury that the manipulation was done in an attempt to cover up another crime.” as an illegal donation to the 2016 candidate’s campaign, continues John Coffee.
For his part, the former president has always denied having a relationship with Stormy Daniels. His lawyers present him as the victim of a “extortion” of the actress. In addition, Donald Trump shouts in each of the cases directed at him “a witch hunt” policies by democratic magistrates. The investigations related to the porn actress’ payment are being conducted under the auspices of New York State Attorney for Manhattan, Alvin Bragg, an elected Democrat. In a press release published last week, Donald Trump therefore states that the investigation is an attempt to do so “drop” his candidacy as a Republican for president in 2024, the New York Times (in English).
5 Trump says his arrest is imminent
If Donald Trump is never indicted, he could see this threat soon become a reality, he says. On Saturday, March 18, he said he would be “Stop” the following Tuesday. Calling one “leak” from the New York prosecutor’s office, the former US president wrote in capital letters: “The candidate of the Republican Party (…) and former president of the United States of America will be arrested next Tuesday”before calling for mobilizations in the country: “Protest, Take Back Our Nation!”
There has been no official confirmation from the court to corroborate the former leader’s statements. But on March 9, Donald Trump was invited to testify before a grand jury, a panel of citizens with broad investigative powers responsible for confirming an indictment, the U.S. New York Times. A possible sign of the prosecution’s desire to prosecute the former president.