President Trump can’t shake questions about his relationship with adult film star Stormy Daniels, but the sexually charged intrigue is not likely to spawn charges under criminal or campaign finance law, said legal experts.
“This is primarily a PR and not a legal crisis,” said Tom Spiggle, a lawyer specializing in sexual harassment and whistleblower protection. “I can’t say definitely that there is not criminal exposure but I think it is pretty unlikely.”
The most serious complaint lodged so far against Mr. Trump’s campaign is nearly identical to charges that failed to win a conviction in federal court against former Sen. John Edwards for payments made to hide his pregnant mistress during the 2008 presidential race.
The complaint against the Trump campaign was filed by government watchdog group Common Cause. It argued that hush money Mr. Trump’s lawyer paid to the porn star, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, violated at least six laws by allegedly concealing campaign contributions and expenditures.
“It would be extremely unusual [for the Department of Justice to prosecute] since they lost a similar case against a presidential candidate,” said Jan Witold Baran, a campaign finance lawyer in Washington.
He added that the Federal Election Commission opted not to pursue a civil case against Mr. Edwards after auditing his campaign’s books.
“The bottom line is it has to violate the campaign finance law, whether it is civil or criminal, and we know that in a criminal proceeding it did not,” he said.
The crux of the Daniels scandal is that Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen paid the porn star $130,000 in the run-up to the 2016 election to keep quiet about her alleged affair with Mr. Trump a decade earlier.
Ms. Clifford sued last week in a California court to void the nondisclosure agreement she signed in exchange for the payoff, arguing that the contract was not enforceable because Mr. Trump didn’t sign it.
Accepting payment, however, suggests that there is a legally binding contract.
Ms. Clifford offered Monday to return the money to Mr. Trump in exchange for terminating the agreement and freeing her to talk about the alleged “intimate” relationship.
In a letter to the president, Ms. Clifford’s lawyer Michael Avenatti said the $130,000 would be repaid by Friday and Mr. Trump had until noon Tuesday to accept the offer.
“This has never been about the money,” said Mr. Avenatti on NBC News. “It has always been about Ms. Clifford being allowed to tell the truth. The American people should be permitted to judge for themselves who is shooting straight with them and who is misleading them. Our offer seeks to allow this to happen.”
The White House has denied Mr. Trump had an extramarital affair with Ms. Clifford.
Ms. Clifford reportedly taped an interview with CBS’ newsmagazine “60 Minutes” that potentially violated the nondisclosure agreement.
The show hasn’t acknowledged the interview or set a date to air it, and Mr. Trump’s lawyers are expected to try to block it.
Questions persist about why Mr. Trump’s lawyers continue laboring to keep Ms. Clifford mum.
Mr. Trump has weathered scandal before, including a hot-mic video from a 2005 “Access Hollywood” interview in which he boasted that his celebrity status allowed him to grab women.
The video surfaced four weeks before voters went to the polls and delivered a stunning upset victory for Mr. Trump.
“I’d say Stormy Daniels is a very minor problem, if one at all,” said Republican strategist Chris Wilson. “No one is going to suddenly wake up and say, ’My God, the president cheated on his wife, I had no idea!’ This is definitely a case where the cover-up, if there is one, is worse than the ’crime,’ which was not a crime at all.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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