No, it’s not 2016: Donald Trump is once again trying to pay to keep Stormy Daniels quiet ahead of the presidential election.
Just 11 days before the 2016 election, Trump had organized for Daniels to be paid $130,000 so that she would not speak publicly about their extramarital affair, illegally concealing the payment by laundering the money through Michael Cohen, his former attorney.
As a result, Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in May, and awaits sentencing later in November. Apparently, Trump hasn’t learned from his mistakes at all. As MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow reported Wednesday night, Trump tried yet again to pay for Daniels’s silence.
Following Trump’s conviction, Daniels still had to pay some legal fees to his team related to some of their other disputes. While negotiating the fees and interest, Trump’s lawyer demanded $652,000 from Daniels, who was aiming for a number closer to $600,000.
When Daniels’s lawyer Clark Brewster called her to tell her what number they’d agreed on, Daniels was shocked to find that Trump’s team was trying their same, failed gambit as last time.
“They want to cut some kind of deal where they silence you,” Brewester said, in a video of the call Daniels had released to MSNBC.
“Don’t they know that shit won’t work?” Daniels scoffed.
“It’s not gonna happen, it’s not gonna happen,” Brewster replied.
Maddow was incredulous as she explained the situation. “Trump is trying to get another hush-money deal with Stormy Daniels ahead of this election,” she said. “Trump’s lawyer basically offered to take it off the bottom line; they would pretend that Stormy Daniels owed less money to Trump than they actually believed she owed, if she also signed an agreement not to talk about Trump.”
Maddow said that she had also received emails between Brewster and Trump’s lawyer Harry J. Ross, which confirmed Trump’s offer in exchange for Daniels’s silence.
“We disagree that a payment of 620,000.00 would be in full satisfaction of the three judgments,” read the offer from Ross. “However, we can agree to settle these matters for $620,000.00 provided that your client agrees in writing to make no public or private statements related to any alleged past interactions with President Trump, or defamatory or disparaging statements about him, his businesses and/or any affiliates or his suitability as a candidate for President.”
When Brewster refused Ross’s terms, he received another message, which dropped the bid for Daniels’s complicity. “I just spoke to my client and co-counsel,” the email read. “Case can be settled for 635,000.00 ALL IN.”
Daniels ended up paying $627,500 in fees to Trump, and did not agree to sign a nondisclosure agreement.
While Ross did not respond to MSNBC’s questions, the Trump campaign released a statement that … also did not answer any questions. “These purported documents were attained as part of an illegal, foreign hacking against President Trump and his team,” said Trump’s spokesperson Steven Cheung.
Of course, this is a lie, as Brewster had provided the emails to MSNBC.
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