Stormy Daniels claims she was threatened in effort to keep her silent over alleged Trump affair

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/stormy-daniels-donald-trump-alleged-affair-cbs-60-minutes-threatened-car-parking-lot-daughter-a8273586.html

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Adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, who claims she had sex with Donald Trump before he was President, has said she was threatened in 2011 while in a car park with her infant daughter to discourage her from discussing the relationship.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, told CBS News’ 60 Minutes that she was on her way to a fitness class with her child when an unknown man approached her, according to a transcript of the interview released on Sunday.

“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,” Daniels said.

Daniels sued the President on 6 March, stating Mr Trump never signed an agreement for her to keep quiet about an “intimate” relationship between them.

Daniels’ revelations follow those of Playboy model Karen McDougal with CNN last week, who described a 10-month long affair with Mr Trump starting in 2006.

Mr Trump would have been married to his wife, Melania, during both the alleged extramarital relationships. The First Lady accompanied him this weekend to his Florida golf club. Mr Trump returned to the White House on Sunday but a White House spokeswoman said Melania stayed behind as is her tradition during their son’s school holiday.

Daniels told the programme that she and Trump had had sexual relations only once, but that she had seen him other occasions and he had kept in touch with her.

She said she was not attracted to Trump, who was 60, to Daniels’ 27, in 2006.

The White House has denied he had an affair with Daniels, although Mr Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen said he paid her $130,000 (£92,000) of his own money during the 2016 presidential election campaign.

Mr Trump did not respond to reporters’ shouted questions about whether he would watch the interview when he returned to the White House from Florida.

Mr Cohen, who has denied that there was an affair, has not explained why he made the payment or said whether Mr Trump was aware of it.

Daniels and her attorney would not discuss in the interview whether they had text messages or other materials that might verify her story.

She was asked why she repeatedly signed statements denying the relationship with Mr Trump, and acknowledged that there could be questions about her credibility.

“I felt intimidated and ... honestly bullied. And I didn’t know what to do. And so I signed it,” Daniels said.

Asked why viewers could be confident now that she was telling the truth, she said, “Cause I have no reason to lie. I’m opening myself up for, you know, possible danger, and definitely a whole lot of s***,” she said.

Reuters