ALBAWABA - Donald Trump paid Stormy Daniels, an actress in adult films, hush money to silence her about an alleged sexual encounter.
On Friday, January 10, Donald Trump received his punishment for the offenses he committed in the "hush money" case in New York. Virtually from his Mar-a-Lago residence, the president-elect appeared in court and received unconditional discharge. Justice Juan Merchan fulfilled his pledge to sentence Trump to unconditional release, which excludes jail time and any other limitations that may prevent the president-elect from taking office.
Trump received a sentence in connection with a case involving porn star Stormy Daniels. The case revolved around Trump's alleged fabrication of financial records to conceal the hush money payment to the adult film actress.
Who is Stormy Daniels?
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MAY 11: Stormy Daniels (Photo by Phillip Faraone/ Getty Images via AFP)
Daniels, 45, is an adult film director and performer who was born in Louisiana. Her true name is Stephanie Clifford. She has appeared in popular Hollywood movies, such as Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, which were comedies from the 2000s.
After graduating from Baton Rouge, Louisiana's Scotlandville Magnet High School in 1997, Daniels allegedly thought about pursuing a career in journalism. When discussing her upbringing, she previously stated that she "came from an average, lower-income household… there [were] days without electricity." She claimed to have grown up in a "really bad neighborhood."
Hush money: what is it?
US President-elect Donald Trump (Photo by Ting Shen / AFP)
In July 2006, Daniels said she encountered Trump at the American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and they had a sexual encounter. She stated in court that she received $130,000 in exchange for keeping quiet about the sexual encounter with Trump's former attorney prior to the 2016 election.
Subsequently, Michael Cohen, the attorney, faced imprisonment on several counts. Despite the accusations in 2018, Trump denied having a sexual relationship with Daniels.
Daniels emphasized that she accepted Cohen's $130,000 in "hush money" to remain silent about the incident out of concern for her family's safety. She said that she had received physical and legal threats to keep quiet. On one occasion, Daniels claimed, an unidentified man had approached her and her baby daughter in a parking lot in Las Vegas after she consented to speak with In Touch magazine about her experience with Trump and implored her to "leave Trump alone."
During Friday's sentencing, Merchan stated that he was imposing this penalty on Trump because he believed it was the only one that the law permitted. The trial, according to Trump, was "a very terrible experience" and "a tremendous setback for New York."
