Stormy Daniels speaks up, says Trump doesn't deserve prison time in hush-money payment case
Porn star Stormy Daniels, who is at the centre of a historic indictment against former US president Donald Trump, has said that she does not think that Trump should be imprisoned in the matter of hush money payments made to her before the 2016 presidential campaign, even if he is convicted of concealing the payments. Talking to Fox News host Piers Morgan, Daniels said, "I don’t think that his crimes against me are worthy of incarceration."
"I feel like the other things that he has done, if he is found guilty, absolutely," Daniels told Morgan during the interview set to air on Thursday.
Morgan described the 90-minute interview with 44-year-old Daniels as "astonishing" in his Twitter post.
"I just finished an astonishing 90-minute interview with Stormy Daniels," Morgan wrote on Twitter. "Everyone's had their say about her, now she tells HER story about the fling that may send President Trump to prison."
Trump was arraigned in the matter in New York on Tuesday and indicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records over allegations he orchestrated hush-money payments to Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal to silence them about their alleged sexual encounters with him. He pleaded not guilty and has maintained that he did not have an affair with Stormy Daniels.
When asked by Morgan if she would testify if had to, she said, "It's daunting, but I look forward to it. You know what I mean? Because I have nothing to hide. I'm the only one that has been telling the truth. And, you know, it can't shame me anymore."
Daniels feels that if she is called to testify, that just legitimises her side of the story.
"I think having them call me in and put me on the stand legitimises my story and who I am. And if they don't, it almost feels like they're hiding me," Daniels said.
Prosecutors in Manhattan say that Trump tried to conceal a violation of election laws during his successful 2016 campaign.
The next hearing in the case is set for December 4 and a trial isn't likely to start for another year, experts say.
Who is Stormy Daniels?
Trump has been tied in several legal cases, but the hush money payment matter regarding porn star Stormy Daniels is the one that can push him off the edge. The matter pertains to a hush money payment of $130,000 which Stormy Daniels says she was given when Trump was campaigning for the 2016 presidential election. It was given in lieu of her silence regarding an affair she had with Trump in 2006. She reportedly had sex with Trump right after his wife Melania gave birth to Barron Trump.
Stormy Daniels' real name is Stephanie Clifford. At the time the alleged affair happened, she was an established adult-entertainment actress and a director. She even had several awards to her name. Stormy is a Scotlandville Magnet High School graduate who once wanted to become a journalist. But her career took a massive turn when she visited a friend at a strip club at the age of 17 and soon started performing herself at a strip club in Baton Rouge. She changed her name soon after and chose "Stormy Daniels" since she loved the American rock band Mötley Crüe, and the band's bassist, Nikki Sixx, had named his daughter Storm.
She became an adult film actress and also directed several movies. Stormy Daniels has also appeared in a few mainstream TV shows and movies. She was in Steve Carell-starrer The 40-Year-Old Virgin and seen as a pole dancer in the Maroon 5 music video Wake Up Call.
In 2010, Stormy even tried her luck in politics and sought a Republican Senate nomination in Louisiana against David Vitter, but backed out soon after saying that she could not afford to run for the Senate and slammed the media for not taking her seriously.
