Last night, CBS aired an interview with porn star Stormy Daniels about her alleged affair with Donald Trump. (And I can't believe I just typed that sentence.) Daniels says that she and Trump had a sexual liaison in 2006, when she was 27 and he was 60. (Hey, age ain't nothing but a number.) Now it's been revealed that when Trump was running for president in 2016, Daniels signed a non-disclosure agreement not to talk about the affair, and took a payout of $130,000.
I know this news isn't surprising, considering Trump's famous "grab 'em by the p---y" comment, and the fact that at least 15 women have accused him of sexual misconduct. However, this isn't just a salacious sex scandal. If it can be proven that the $130K in hush money came from the Trump campaign, and not as a private transaction from Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen, then it is an illegal campaign contribution. That would put the President in a world of trouble - and he's already under FBI investigation for collusion with Russia and obstruction of justice.
Since Trump didn't sign the NDA, Daniels is considering it invalid, and is willing to speak publicly about it for the first time. Here are five takeaways from her interview with Anderson Cooper.
1. This is humiliating for TrumpDonald Trump describes himself as the best at everything, and has ridiculously thin skin when it comes to criticism. Well, he's really not going to like Stormy's recollection of their night. When Cooper asked if she was attracted to Trump, she replied, "No." (Ouch.) Then she says that when she met Trump, he eagerly showed her a magazine with his face on the cover. Instead of being impressed, she scoffed, and asked him to take his pants down so she could spank him with it. He did. And she did so!
What's more, Daniels says that Trump told her, "You remind me of my daughter." Presumably he meant Ivanka. On a 2006 episode of The View, Donald said, "If Ivanka wasn't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her." (Ew.) Also, at the time of this incident, Melania had just given birth to their son, Barron. When Daniels asked about Melania, "[Donald] brushed it aside, said, 'Oh yeah, yeah, you know, don't worry about that. We don't even— we have separate rooms and stuff.'"
2. Stormy was threatened to keep quietIn May 2011, Daniels agreed to sell her story to In Touch magazine for $15,000. However, after being threatened by Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, the publication decided not to run the interview, and did not pay her. A couple weeks later, Daniels was confronted by a goon in Las Vegas. It was an ominous interaction that sounds straight out of a Mafia movie.
"I was in a parking lot, going to a fitness class with my infant daughter. Taking, you know, the seats facing backwards in the backseat, diaper bag, you know, gettin' all the stuff out. And a guy walked up on me and said to me, "Leave Trump alone. Forget the story." And then he leaned around and looked at my daughter and said, "That’s a beautiful little girl. It'd be a shame if something happened to her mom." And then he was gone... I was rattled. I remember going into the workout class. And my hands are shaking so much, I was afraid I was gonna -- drop [my daughter]."
Pretty scary, right? Daniels said this chilling interaction is why she decided to sign the NDA. She was concerned for her family's safety. She adds that she is certain she would recognize the man who threatened her today. Maybe she should meet up with a sketch artist.
[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUGwOekEy8c]]
3. The sexual encounter was consensualDaniels says she was not attracted to Trump, and that she didn't want to have sex with him, but there's one thing she wants to make very clear: Their encounter was entirely consensual. She says she thought of it as a "business deal," because it might lead to her getting cast on The Apprentice. She doesn't want anyone to get the wrong impression, and think of her as a victim:
"They're trying to [say]. Like, oh, you know, Stormy Daniels comes out #metoo. This is not a Me too. I was not a victim. I've never said I was a victim. I think trying to use me to f- to further someone else's agenda, does horrible damage to people who are true victims."
In January, In Touch magazine published excerpts from their 2011 interview with Daniels. So, aside from the physical threat, there wasn't a lot of new information in the 60 Minutes interview. However, it's pretty much that Daniels is going public, and 60 Minutes reaches a much bigger audience than In Touch Magazine. (Last night 21.3 million people watched the program, earning their highest ratings since Obama's post-election interview in 2008.)
Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any evidence of the affair. (I know, you really wanted to see the sex tape, right?) Last week Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti, tweeted a photo of a disc in a safe, writing, "If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words is this worth?" On CNN, he confirmed that the disc contains evidence of Daniels' alleged affair with Trump, but he refused to say what it was. On 60 Minutes, Daniels also refused to comment. This morning Avenatti said he's not playing games, and we'll probably find out what's on the disc in the next few weeks or months. What a tease.
Well, I'm just glad Donald Trump has finally restored respect and honor to the office of president. Remember when Barack Obama was president, and the biggest scandals were that he wore a tan suit, and once asked for Dijon mustard on a hamburger? What a disgrace.
In related news, check out Jim Carrey's painting of Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels having sex...