Stormy Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, is a former adult film star who was allegedly paid $130,000 by Trump attorney Michael Cohen to keep Clifford silent about their alleged relationship in October 2016. However, Cohen, Clifford, and the White House have since denied the report.
According to CNN, a reporter from Fox News, Diana Falzone, filed a story about an alleged sexual relationship between Clifford and Trump in October 2016.
Reports indicate that Falzone had an on-the-record statement from Clifford’s manager, Gina Rodriguez, confirming that Clifford and Trump had engaged in a sexual relationship.
via CNN:
Falzone is a reporter for Fox News who frequently covers celebrity news and issues related to sexual harassment. She filed a lawsuit against the network in May 2017 alleging gender discrimination. Fox News has denied her allegations and the case is ongoing.
In a statement, Noah Kotch, who became editor-in-chief and vice president of Fox News digital in 2017, said, “Like many other outlets, we were working to report the story of Stephanie Clifford’s account in October 2016 about then-Presidential candidate Donald Trump and a possible payment by Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. In doing our due diligence, we were unable to verify all of the facts and publish a story.”
A Fox News spokesperson did not immediately respond to an inquiry about why the outlet did not use any of its previous reporting in its recent stories on the alleged relationship between Clifford and Trump.
Keith Davidson, an attorney for Daniels, told CNN he was “unaware his client or Rodriguez had spoken to media outlets about a possible story.”
In an article published by Slate, Daniels reportedly told Slate writer Jacob Weisberg that she had “gone to Trump’s hotel room after meeting him at a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada in 2006” and began a sexual relationship, which continued for nearly a year.