WASHINGTON – Porn actress Stormy Daniels will on Sunday sit for ahighly-anticipated interview that could shed new light on the affair shesays she had with Donald Trump a decade before his election as president.
Contrary to its usual practice, CBS has not released excerpts of theinterview, which will air Sunday at 7:00 pm (2300 GMT) on the network’sflagship “60 Minutes” program.
Daniels has previously spoken about the affair, including in a recent poston Twitter in which she said: “Technically I didn’t sleep with the POTUS 12years ago. There was no sleeping (hehe) and he was just a goofy reality TVstar.”
Her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, has teased the interview, posting a pictureon Twitter of a DVD along with the text: “If ‘a picture is worth a thousandwords,’ how many words is this worth????? #60minutes #pleasedenyit.”
When another Twitter user said that the disc contained a video of a liedetector test Daniels had taken, Avenatti replied: “Nope. Enjoy Sunday andthe days that follow…”
Daniels was paid $130,000 by Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, aspart of a non-disclosure agreement that she signed shortly before the 2016US presidential election, leading to allegations that the payment amountedto an illicit contribution to Trump’s campaign.
Avenatti filed a lawsuit on behalf of Daniels — whose real name isStephanie Clifford — earlier this month seeking to toss out theconfidential settlement.
The suit alleged that Daniels began an “intimate relationship” with Trumpin the summer of 2006 that continued well into 2007.
Cohen meanwhile claims that Daniels is liable for at least $20 million forviolating the agreement — $1 million for each time she did so.
The White House has denied any sexual encounter between Trump and Daniels,who has offered to return the $130,000 she received so that she can be freeto “speak openly and freely about her prior relationship with the presidentand the attempts to silence her.”
She is also asking to be allowed to publish text messages, photos andvideos relating to the president, Avenatti said in a letter to Cohen.
The Daniels interview comes days after former Playboy model Karen McDougaltold CNN that Trump tried to pay her after they had sex.
In a lengthy interview, McDougal said she refused the money and that thetwo ended up having a months-long affair around the same time as thealleged relationship between Trump and Daniels.
McDougal wants to be released from a $150,000 deal she made in 2016 withAmerican Media Inc, the company that owns the National Enquirer tabloid, anagreement she alleges was aimed at keeping her story under wraps.