Over the weekend, the controversy over Stormy Daniels’ alleged 2006 affair with Donald Trump (and her $130,000 “hush agreement”) grew even more absurd when Trump’s lawyers moved to stop 60 Minutes from airing an interview with Daniels (whose legal name is Stephanie Cliffords). Now, the giant pain in Trump’s butt has had enough and is offering to give back her whole settlement, so that she can be free to talk without legal repercussions.
Although it’s not clear to whom Daniels would return this money — Trump’s shady lawyer, Michael Cohen? The holder of his home-equity line? — the New York Times reports that the porn star’s lawyers have made the offer in writing:
In the letter, which was sent to Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, early Monday, Ms. Clifford’s lawyer, Michael Avenatti, wrote that Ms. Clifford would wire the money into an account of Mr. Trump’s choosing by Friday.
Under the terms of the deal detailed in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, the contract ensuring Ms. Clifford’s silence would be “deemed null and void” once she returned the sum called for in her original contract.
The likelihood of Trump being in favor of the returned payment is close to zero percent, but considering that Cohen tends to go rogue and say random stuff to the press without thinking, who knows whether this offer shall be accepted? Cohen might want that money back, and Daniels can certainly afford to lose it, given the career-boosting notoriety that she’s received from this scandal. In fact, she recently inked a massive pay raise in her capacity as adult-film director, and giving back the settlement would practically be an investment at this point because she could further ride the monetary wave.
Get ready — Stormy Daniels is determined to share more gory details, and she won’t be easily quieted.
(Via New York Times & CNN)