By Jeff Horwitz and Jake Pearson / Associated Press
NEW YORK — The latest twists in the tangled tale of what happened between Donald Trump and an adult film star more than a decade ago have the woman both firmly denying an extramarital affair with Trump and then playing coy about that denial.
Stormy Daniels, the woman who allegedly had a sexual relationship with a then-married Donald Trump in 2006, said in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon that the alleged affair never occurred.
By that night, however, Daniels appeared to disown the statement in an appearance on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” saying she didn’t know where it came from and the signature didn’t look like hers.
In the hours after the show, Daniels’ lawyer and public relations manager both reaffirmed her commitment to the earlier denial. They also said she was canceling a planned Thursday interview on ABC’s “The View.”
Daniels’ real name is Stephanie Clifford. Her tale of what happened with Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada became a point of fascination after The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the president’s longtime personal lawyer had arranged a $130,000 payment to Clifford in October 2016 to keep her from publicly discussing the alleged sexual encounter during the presidential campaign.
The lawyer, Michael Cohen, has denied there was an affair. Neither he nor Clifford has addressed whether she was paid $130,000, and, if so, why.
On Kimmel’s show, Clifford ducked most questions about the alleged affair by either remaining silent or cracking jokes.
Gina Rodriguez, a publicist for Clifford, said she canceled Clifford’s scheduled appearance on “The View” after a previous guest questioned whether she should be making public appearances. Rodriguez said in a statement to The Associated Press that Clifford signed the statement denying an affair with Trump in front of her and Clifford’s lawyer, Keith Davidson
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