President Trump's lawyer might have arranged a $130,000 payment to former adult film star Stephanie "Stormy Daniels" Clifford during the campaign to ensure she not speak publicly about an alleged sexual encounter with the president at a Lake Tahoe golf tournament in 2006, The Wall Street Journal reports based on conversations with people familiar with the alleged dealing.
The encounter was reportedly consensual, although another adult film star, Jessica Drake, claimed in October 2016 that Trump kissed her and two other women without consent in a suite at the same tournament. The Journal previously reported that Karen McDougal, the 1998 Playmate of the Year, was paid $150,000 by the National Enquirer for a story of her own alleged 2006 affair with Trump, although it was not ultimately published. Trump notably married Melania Trump in 2005.
"Rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false," Clifford wrote in a statement to the Journal. Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, said: "This is now the second time that you are raising outlandish allegations against my client. You have attempted to perpetuate this false narrative for over a year; a narrative that has been consistently denied by all parties since at least 2011." Read the full allegations at The Wall Street Journal. Jeva Lange
Editor's note: This post originally mischaracterized the National Enquirer's payment to Karen McDougal. It has since been corrected. We regret the error.