White House dismisses Stormy Daniels’ claim of threat in Las Vegas
WASHINGTON — The White House on Monday dismissed a claim by adult film star Stormy Daniels that she was threatened in Las Vegas to stay quiet about her allegation of a sexual affair with Donald Trump before he was elected president.
Daniels made the claim in a televised interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that was broadcast Sunday.
“The president does not believe that any of the claims made by Ms. Daniels last night in the interview are accurate,” said Raj Shah, a deputy White House press secretary.
The president has yet to specifically deny or address claims made by Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford.
Trump has not tweeted about Daniels, or disclosures made by the adult film star.
But Shah said at a White House press briefing: “The president strongly, clearly and consistently has denied these underlying claims.”
In the broadcast interview, Daniels said she was in Las Vegas in 2001 when she was approached by an unknown man who told her she should keep silent about her claims of a consensual affair with Trump.
Daniels said in the interview that the man looked over at her infant daughter, and said it would be tragic if something were happen with the baby’s mom. Daniels said she did not report the incident to police.
The parking lot encounter on the way to a fitness class left Daniels shaken, she said, recalling the conversation and the threat to stay silent as Trump sought the presidency.
“Leave Trump alone. Forget the story,” Daniels recalled the man’s threat. “That’s a beautiful little girl. It’d be a shame if something happened to her mom.”
Daniels signed a nondisclosure agreement and received $130,000 from Trump lawyer Michael Cohen just days before the 2016 presidential election. Cohen has claimed to have paid the money out of his own pocket.
The adult film star denied an affair with Trump when questioned by the Wall Street Journal before the election.
The White House on Monday referred questions to the president’s private lawyer about the payments and Cohen’s involvement in the dealings with Daniels. The White House said the president and Cohen had dinner over the weekend.
Shah said he did not know whether the president had watched the television interview, but he denied that there was any wrongdoing on the part of the White House and dismissed the adult star’s claims.
“The only one who has been inconsistent is the one making the claims,” Shah said.
The White House spokesman dismissed the alleged threat, saying “there was nothing to corroborate her claim.”
Daniels, in the television interview, was specific about details of her tryst with Trump, which she said occurred in 2006 at Lake Tahoe. She described an evening in his hotel suite, where the two had a room service dinner.
She said the sexual encounter was consensual and that she is not a sexual assault victim.
Daniels, though, said she has faced intimidation tactics by people associated with Trump since 2011.
“He knows I’m telling the truth,” Daniels said.
Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.
