The third and probably best-known case concerns the porn actress Stormy Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford. She was paid $130,000 to buy her silence about a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. In this case, too, Trump denied that the connection even existed.
Bragg has said Cohen wired the money to Clifford’s attorney 12 days before the November 8, 2016 election. For this he used a shell company founded by a bank in Manhattan. This came after Clifford indicated she was willing to speak to either the National Enquirer or television about the encounter.
Trump insisted to reporters on the government plane Air Force One in April 2018 that he knew nothing about the payment. Bragg, on the other hand, said Tuesday that Trump compensated Cohen after his 2016 election victory with money from two sources: a trust fund that managed assets of the Trump Organization — and through his own bank account.