Trump says he didn't know about payoff to porn star

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE -- President Donald Trump said Thursday he didn't know about the $130,000 payment his personal attorney made to Stormy Daniels, issuing a firm denial in his first public comments about the adult-film actress who alleges she had an affair with him.

Asked aboard Air Force One whether he knew about the payment, Trump said flatly: "No."

Trump also said he didn't know why his longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, had made the payment.

"You'll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my attorney. You'll have to ask Michael," he said, adding he didn't know where Cohen had gotten the money.

Until now, Trump had avoided questions on Daniels, though the White House has consistently said Trump denies there was a relationship. Still, he has been dogged by the focus on the porn actress, who says she had a sexual encounter with the president in 2006 and was paid to keep quiet about it as part of a nondisclosure agreement she signed days before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels is now seeking to invalidate the agreement.

Her attorney, Michael Avenatti, tweeted in response to Trump on Thursday: "We very much look forward to testing the truthfulness of Mr. Trump's feigned lack of knowledge concerning the $130k payment as stated on Air Force One."

"As history teaches us," he added, "it is one thing to deceive the press and quite another to do so under oath."

Avenatti then told The Associated Press: "I don't believe the feigned denial, but we're going to put it to the test."

Daniels, one of several women pursuing potentially damaging legal action against Trump, has kept up the highest profile in the media, helped by a punchy Twitter feed, a widely viewed interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" and a camera-ready attorney who has become a fixture on cable news.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has offered to return the $130,000 as she tries to "set the record straight." She's said she had sex with Trump once in 2006, and their relationship continued for about a year. Trump married his current wife, Melania, in 2005, and their son Barron was born in 2006.

On "60 Minutes," Daniels described a sexual encounter with Trump and said she was threatened to keep silent about the relationship while she was out with her young daughter.

Daniels argues the nondisclosure agreement is legally invalid because it was only signed by her and Cohen, not by Trump.

Cohen has said he paid the $130,000 out of his pocket and neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Daniels and he was not reimbursed for the payment.

However, Avenatti told "60 Minutes" he has documents showing Cohen used his Trump Organization email address in setting up the payment and the nondisclosure agreement was sent by FedEx to Cohen at his Trump Organization office in Trump Tower.

Earlier this week, Trump asked a federal judge to order private arbitration in the case. Trump and Cohen filed papers in federal court in Los Angeles asking a judge to rule the case must be heard by an arbitrator instead of a jury.

Avenatti said they would oppose private arbitration, arguing it should be heard by the American public.

Avenatti also wants Trump to give sworn testimony in the case, but a federal judge ruled this week that those efforts were premature. If ultimately successful, it would be the first deposition of a sitting president since Bill Clinton in 1998 had to answer questions about his conduct with women.

Trump faces a number of allegations about his sexual exploits long before he ran for president.

Former Playboy model Karen McDougal recently told CNN she had an affair with Trump starting in 2006 and ending in 2007. She filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles seeking to invalidate a confidentiality agreement with American Media Inc., owner of the supermarket tabloid National Enquirer. It paid her $150,000 during the 2016 presidential election.

Trump is also facing a New York defamation lawsuit filed by Summer Zervos, a former contestant on "The Apprentice." Zervos has accused Trump of unwanted sexual contact in 2007 after she appeared on the show with him. She sued him after he dismissed the claims as made up.

A judge ruled the lawsuit can move forward while the president is in office.