Donald Trump has already been found guilty of crimes related to hush-money payments he made to actress Stormy Daniels, but new reporting suggests the former president is still try to buy the silence of the adult film star.
A recording of a phone call and documents obtained by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow suggest that Trump's legal team offered to adjust the amount of money Daniels owes the former president in exchange for her not making “public or private statements related to any alleged past interactions” with the Republican candidate. Daniels lost a defamation lawsuit she had filed against Trump and was ordered in 2023 to pay his legal fees.
Maddow said that, according to a letter sent in July that was displayed on-air, Trump's lawyers proposed to settle Daniels' $650,000 tab at $620,000 if she promised not to make any “defamatory or disparaging statements about him, his business, and/or any affiliates, or his suitability as a candidate for president.” Should Daniels refuse to sign a non-disclosure agreement, the price would be adjusted to $635,000. Daniels reportedly declined both offers.
In a recording also played by Maddow, Daniels' lawyer can be heard telling the actress on a phone call that "they want to cut some sort of deal where they silence you."
According to Maddow, the recording and documents indicate that Trump's lawyers “were apparently planning to launder the new hush money payment to Stormy Daniels through the payment of a legal judgment.”
The last time Trump tried to silence Daniels he was charged with directing his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, to falsify business documents to cover up his payments, which were made to cover up a sexual encounter he had with the actress soon after his wife Melania had given birth. A jury in New York found him guilty on 34 felony counts of fraud, with sentencing due to take place after the 2024 election.
Asked for comment by MSNBC, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said that the “purported documents were attained as part of an illegal foreign hacking attack against President Trump and his team."
