President Donald Trump's personal lawyer reportedly used a private company, as well as a pseudonym, to pay off adult film star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with the U.S. leader in 2006.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, used Essential Consultants LLC to send $130,000 to a legal representative for the actress as part of a nondisclosure agreement pertaining to her relationship with the president.
The deal was reportedly made in October 2016, just weeks before voters cast their ballots in the presidential election.
The alleged affair between the actress and U.S. leader is stated to have taken place in 2006. The president has been married to Melania Trump since 2005.
Both lawyers used pseudonyms to make the transaction, the Journal reports.
The White House has denied that the affair with Daniels took place, refusing to comment on the alleged $130,000 payout. Cohen has also denied the claims.
Trump "once again vehemently denies" the encounter, the lawyer said in a statement last week.
"This is now the second time that you are raising outlandish allegations against my client," Cohen continued. "You have attempted to perpetuate this false narrative for over a year; a narrative that has been consistently denied by all parties since at least 2011."
In a statement provided to CNN by Cohen on behalf of Daniels, the actress calls the article "absolutely false."
"My involvement with Donald Trump was limited to a few public appearances and nothing more," she is quoted as saying in the statement, dated January 10.
"When I met Donald Trump, he was gracious, professional and a complete gentleman to me and EVERYONE in my presence. Rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false. If indeed I did have a relationship with Donald Trump, trust me, you wouldn't be reading about in the news, you would be reading about it in my book. But the fact of the matter is, these stories are not true."
But in an interview with In Touch magazine on Wednesday, Daniels alleged the affair took place less than four months after Melania gave birth to the Trumps's son Barron.
"I actually don't even know why I did it," she told the magazine. "But, I do remember while we were having sex, I was like, 'Please, don't try to pay me,'" Daniels told the magazine.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, had previously confirmed to the Journal that the affair began in the president's Lake Tahoe, Nevada, hotel in 2006.
She said the two met up on several occasions, incudling once at his private bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.
On Tuesday, another adult film star, Alana Evans, alleged in an interview on Megyn Kelly Today that she had been invited to party with Trump and Daniels in a hotel room in 2006.
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