NEW YORK—In the latest chapter of the ongoing legal battles between former President Donald Trump and AVN Hall of Famer Stormy Daniels, new documents first reported on by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow suggest Trump and his attorneys sought to help settle a judgment against her by asking her to sign another non-disclosure agreement.
According to other news reports on the matter, an attorney representing Trump offered Daniels through her attorney Clark Brewster an agreement where she would promise not to speak about her interactions with Trump, like the affair they had at Lake Tahoe in 2006, or commenting on "his suitability as a candidate for president."
The attorney for Trump also offered a financial incentive to reduce the amount Trump would accept in settling legal fees related to a defamation lawsuit against Daniels. If she had accepted, Daniels would've been essentially silenced about Donald Trump, once again, in the months leading to the 2024 election scheduled for November 5.
Such a demand comes eight weeks after Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business documents to cover up a catch-and-kill conspiracy to initially silence Daniels from speaking out about their affair during the 2016 election, which Trump won. That deal, colloquially referred to as a "hush money" payment, was $130,000 made through Trump's former personal attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, and laundered through shell corporations to help Trump circumvent campaign finance laws.
"We disagree that a payment of $620,000.00 would be in full satisfaction of the three judgments," reads the document published by CBS News online.
The document explains, "However, we can agree to settle these matters for $620,000.00, provided that your client agrees in writing to make no public or private statements related to any alleged past interactions with President Trump, or defamatory or disparaging statements about him, his businesses and/or any affiliates or his suitability as a candidate for president, with the terms of these points to be specified in a forthcoming separate agreement."
Daniels declined the offer prompting her to pay $627,500, according to attorney Brewster. Considering the timeline of events here, Daniels appeared on Maddow's MSNBC program, The Rachel Maddow Show, in July 2024. AVN reported extensively on the case in April and May.
In the interview with Maddow at the time, Daniels gave new details about how she fears for her life and the privacy and safety of her teenage daughter. She said, "The biggest thing is that they're not hiding like they used to. It used to be bots, you know, now they're using their real stuff." During the interview, Maddow and Daniels read through the trial transcripts, recollecting when she took the stand as a central witness for the Manhattan District Attorney's case against Trump, pointing to criminal record falsification.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan also agreed to delay sentencing in Trump's hush money trial verdict once again. Sentencing was scheduled for September 18, but will now take place November 26—weeks after the election. Trump's attorneys previously pressed the court to delay sentencing until after the 2024 presidential election.
AVN has covered the Trump case extensively. Read more here.
