Stormy Daniels’s Attorney Reveals The Dark Side Of Celebrity In Court

(NewsReady.com) – Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York for more than 30 felony crimes. He’s accused of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a former adult film star, Stephanie “Stormy Daniels” Clifford. The former star’s attorney revealed the underside of being a celebrity.

Celebrity gossip magazines, websites, and other news organizations are always looking for a story that’s going to tantalize readers. In 2016, Los Angeles attorney Keith Davidson thought he had one of those. It was a rumor that then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had an affair with another woman, Karen McDougal.

On April 30, Davidson testified in the Manhattan courtroom about the case. Prosecutors posted a 2016 text message from him to The National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard that read, “I have a blockbuster Trump story.” Howard responded, “did he cheat.”

The text messages showed the way celebrity scandals are sold to the media and gossip sites. The allegations against Trump were particularly steamy given his status as a presidential candidate and McDougal was a Playboy Bunny who was alleging she began sleeping with the billionaire in 2006, while he was married to Melania Trump.

The Enquirer’s parent company paid McDougal $150,000 for the rights to the story. However, the gossip magazine never published the story. Instead, they buried it in a process known as “catch-and-kill.” The publisher of the magazine already testified that it was done to help Trump win the 2016 presidential race.

Davidson testified that he began representing Clifford, too. She also alleged she had an affair with the New York businessman. Trump’s attorney at the time, Michael Cohen, paid her $130,000 to stay quiet. Prosecutors allege the former president then falsified business records to cover up the repayments to Cohen.

Trump has denied the allegations, arguing that Cohen gave him a bill for his services and he paid it like he would at any other time.

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