Woman in hush money scandal sues Trump

A woman who claims to have had an affair with President Donald Trump says, contrary to statements his lawyer made, Trump knew about the nondisclosure agreement she signed days before the 2016 presidential election. Stephanie Clifford, an adult film actress also known as “Stormy Daniels,” is suing the president to nullify the agreement and tell her side of the story. Clifford claims to have had a brief affair with Trump in 2006 and an ongoing platonic relationship after that. Earlier this year, Trump attorney Michael Cohen said he paid her $130,000 of his own money and Trump didn’t know about the payout. The organization Common Cause has complained to the Federal Election Commission that the payment to Clifford constituted an unreported in-kind contribution to Trump’s campaign. Clifford now says Cohen’s statements to the press about the payment invalidate the nondisclosure agreement, and she is suing to nullify the contract, her lawyer said Wednesday. The lawsuit claims Trump and Cohen “aggressively sought to silence Ms. Clifford as part of an effort to avoid her telling the truth, thus helping to ensure he won the presidential election.” Attorney Michael Avenatti said there was “no question” Trump knew about the payment and nondisclosure agreement. “The attempts to intimidate Ms. Clifford into silence and ‘shut her up’ in order to ‘protect Mr. Trump’ continue unabated,” the lawsuit said. Clifford alleges that as recently as last week, Trump’s attorney tried to initiate an arbitration proceeding against her.