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President Trump personally led an effort in February to prevent Stormy Daniels from publicly describing an alleged sexual relationship with Trump, people close to the events said.
In a phone call, Mr. Trump asked his lawyer Michael Cohen to apply for a prohibition order against the former adult film actress, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, through a confidential arbitration procedure, said one of the people. Messrs. Trump and Cohen had learned not long ago that Clifford was considering a media interview about her alleged relationship with Trump, even though she signed a non-disclosure agreement in October 2016.
Mr. Trump asked Mr. Cohen to coordinate the legal response with Eric Trump, one of the president's sons, and another outside attorney who had represented Mr. Trump and the Trump organization in his office. other areas, officials said. Eric Trump, who runs the company with his brother in the absence of Mr. Trump, then instructed a Trump Organization staff lawyer in California to sign the arbitration documents, said these people.
The Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, campaigning in September 2016, in the presence of his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.
Photo:
Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
The direct involvement of the President and his son in the effort to silence Ms. Clifford has never been reported. The accounts of this effort recently provided to the Wall Street Journal suggest that the president's ties with his company have continued this year and contradict the public statements made at the time by the Trump Organization, the White House and Mr. Cohen.
The White House has sent a request for comment to the President's outside counsel. Jay Sekulow, Mr. Trump's lawyer, declined to comment. One close to the situation said that Eric Trump had acted as the president's son and not as a business executive. The organization Trump declined to comment. Lanny Davis, a lawyer for Mr. Cohen, declined to comment.
In March, the Trump Organization denied any role in arbitration, claiming that his lawyer was assisting him "individually." At the same time, the White House issued general denials when asked to pay Ms. Clifford a check and ask Mr. Clifford questions. Cohen, who had described the private transaction agreement between himself and the former star of adult cinema. Mr. Trump denied any sexual relationship with Ms. Clifford.
On January 12, the Journal revealed that Mr. Cohen had paid Ms. Clifford $ 130,000 prior to the 2016 presidential election to remain silent on the alleged sexual relationship. In a phone call about a month later, while Ms. Clifford was planning to tell her story despite the confidentiality agreement, Mr. Trump asked Mr. Cohen to have the contract run in arbitration and indicated that he was not going to do it. he would pay the legal costs. "I'm going to take care of everything," said the president, said one of the people familiar with the conversation.
Mr. Cohen had a second phone conversation with Mr. Trump about arbitration a few days later in the Manhattan office of Lawrence Rosen, the outside lawyer, said this person.
At the time of the conversations, the White House and Mr. Trump were busy with the shooting in Parkland, Florida, and a new round of criminal charges filed by the White House. Special advocate Robert Mueller against 13 Russians accused of interference in the 2016 election.
Jill Martin, a Trump Organization lawyer, was named as a lawyer in the arbitration case filed in Orange County, California on February 22. Five days later, an arbitrator privately rendered an order not to assert against Mrs. Clifford, who ignored her and proceeded with her plans to publicly discuss the alleged case.
Ms. Rosen asked Ms. Martin to sign the arbitration documents, which would have told her that the application had been sent by Eric Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Rosen's firm had prepared the documents for the arbitration proceeding, but a California attorney – one of the places provided for the resolution of any dispute under the contract – was to sign them during the request for Mr. Rosen's participation in the case. while an out-of-state attorney was on standby, Mr Rosen said during an interview this week.
When the Journal contacted Ms. Martin and the Trump organization in March about her involvement in arbitration, she asked Eric Trump to give him advice on how to react, according to the people.
Eric Trump then approved a statement in the Journal written by Ms. Martin with the contribution of Mr. Rosen and Alan Garten, the legal officer of the Trump Organization, said these people. According to the statement, Ms. Martin would have facilitated the filing of arbitration "on an individual basis" and that "the company had no involvement in the case".
Ms. Martin did not respond to a request for comment.
On March 6, Ms. Clifford sued Trump and Essential Consultants LLC, the company Mr. Cohen previously gave her, to the Los Angeles County Superior Court. She asked a judge to cancel the non-disclosure agreement, saying it was against public policy and inapplicable because Trump had not signed the document.
The complaint alleged that "credulity was hindered by the conclusion that Mr. Cohen was acting on his own" to enforce the non-disclosure agreement in an arbitration "without approval express and the knowledge of his client, Mr. Trump ".
The next day, at a meeting at the White House, Sarah Sanders, press secretary, was asked if Mr. Trump had approved the payment to Mrs. Clifford. Mr. Trump has "made it very clear that none of these allegations were true," said Sanders, adding that "the case had already been won in arbitration and that all beyond the above, I refer you to the outside lawyer of the president ".
An interview with Clifford was broadcast on CBS's 60 minutes channel on March 25, attracting more than 21 million viewers. She described some details of her alleged meeting with Mr. Trump in 2006 and said he signed the confidentiality agreement with Mr. Cohen in October 2016 out of fear for the safety of his family.
In a May 3 tweet, Mr. Trump stated that the confidentiality agreement with Ms. Clifford was "used to put an end to the false accusations and extortionists brought by her about a case."
In August, Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty to violating the election law regarding payments to Mrs. Clifford and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also claims to have denied having an affair with Mr. Trump. .
Cohen, who is serving a December sentence, said in his Manhattan federal court hearing that Trump had ordered him to silence Clifford and coordinate the payment of a discreet allowance. to Ms. McDougal "for the primary purpose of influencing the election" in 2016.
Mr. Trump's counsel, Rudy Giuliani, stated after the argument that Mr. Cohen lacked credibility and that the charges against him by the government contained no allegation of wrongdoing on the part of the President.
-Rebecca Ballhaus contributed to this article.
Write to Joe Palazzolo at [email protected] and Michael Rothfeld at [email protected]
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