A political storm is erupting around a key associate of President Donald Trump. The flashpoint is an admission by Michael Cohen, Trump's longtime personal lawyer, that he paid $130,000 to a pornographic actress shortly before the 2016 presidential election – allegedly to buy her silence after she claimed she had an affair with Trump a decade earlier.
Cohen said he made the payment with his own money to Stephanie Clifford, known by the stage name of Stormy Daniels. Cohen, former counsel to the Trump Organization, said he was not reimbursed for the payment.
