WASHINGTON — Stormy Daniels, the porn star who claims an affair with President Trump, on Monday offered to give back the $130,000 payment to Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen.
In return, she wants to walk away from an agreement she reached in October 2016 with Cohen to keep quiet about the alleged tryst.
Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, has given Cohen until noon Tuesday to respond and says she will wire the money by Friday "to an account designated by the president," according to a letter Daniels' lawyer Michael Avenatti sent to Cohen and his lawyer, Lawrence Rosen. The New York Times first reported Daniels' offer.
Daniels also wants assurances that Trump's team will not take any action to keep a recent 60 Minutes interview she taped from airing publicly.
The demand is the latest development in a week of maneuvers from Daniels' team as she seeks to abandon what she calls a "hush" agreement with Cohen and tell her story publicly.
Cohen won a temporary restraining order against Daniels in a secret arbitration proceeding late last month. Daniels responded by filing a lawsuit last week, arguing that the October 28, 2016, agreement with Cohen was invalid because it was never signed by Trump.
The salacious details of the alleged affair and public sparring among Cohen, Daniels and her publicity-savvy lawyer have thrust the matter into the spotlight as the White House juggles an array of issues, including steps to curb gun violence and planning for a May meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
