Porn star Stormy Daniels is suing President Trump for defamation over his tweet that described a forensic sketch of a man she claims threatened her in 2011 a “total con job.” Several weeks ago, the actress (whose real name is Stephanie Clifford), hired a sketch artist to draw a profile of the man she says threatened her in a parking lot in Las Vegas, telling her to “Leave Trump alone,” and suggesting dire consequences if she failed to heed the warning.
A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)! https://t.co/9Is7mHBFda
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2018
Daniels, who claims that she had a sexual encounter with Trump and was paid $130,000 for her confidentiality, filed the lawsuit in Manhattan federal court on Monday. The White House has denied her allegations.
The presidential tweet was notable in that it was one of the first times Trump has acknowledged Daniels’s claims. In her complaint, Daniels claims that “it is reasonable to infer” that the person who threatened her in 2011 “could only have been acting directly or indirectly on behalf of” Trump and/or his lawyer, Michael Cohen since, at the time, she had not gone public with her story and only a few people knew about an interview she had given In Touch magazine. Trump’s lawyers have not commented on the suit.
Here is the lawsuit:
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