# Stormy Daniels

### Context

Stormy Daniels, born Stephanie Clifford, is an adult-film performer and director whose relevance to public accountability comes from the 2016 hush-money transaction connected to [Donald Trump](/people/mig-donald-trump) and the later New York criminal case over business records. Daniels said she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, which Trump denied. Before the 2016 election she received $130,000 under a nondisclosure agreement arranged through Trump's then-lawyer [Michael Cohen](/people/michael-cohen). The payment itself was not the criminal charge against Trump; the prosecution concerned falsification of business records used to reimburse Cohen. Source: [Reuters, 7 May 2024](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/payments-focus-prosecutors-make-their-case-trump-hush-money-trial-2024-05-07/).

### Record

Daniels became a central witness at Trump's 2024 New York trial. She testified about the alleged encounter, the nondisclosure agreement and the circumstances around the payment. The defense challenged her credibility and Trump continued to deny the underlying encounter. On 30 May 2024, a New York jury convicted Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Daniels was not the charging authority and the verdict did not adjudicate every detail of her personal account; her testimony was one part of a broader prosecution involving records, Cohen's testimony and other evidence. Sources: [Reuters, 7 May 2024](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/payments-focus-prosecutors-make-their-case-trump-hush-money-trial-2024-05-07/) and [Reuters, 30 May 2024](https://www.reuters.com/legal/conviction-may-be-trumps-only-jury-verdict-before-election-2024-05-30/).

## Dated facts

- 2024: Trump convicted on 34 counts over Daniels hush-money records. https://factrail.ai/facts/trump-convicted-34-counts-hush-money-2024-05-30. Sources: https://www.bbc.com/articles/cj77l0145mgo, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2qqnxnwl7wo.
- 2024: Stormy Daniels testifies at Trump's New York criminal trial. https://factrail.ai/facts/stormy-daniels-testifies-trump-trial-2024-05-07. Sources: https://www.npr.org/2024/05/07/1249318101/stormy-daniels-trump-trial-new-york.
- Cohen pays Stormy Daniels $130,000 before 2016 election. https://factrail.ai/facts/stormy-daniels-130000-payment-2016-10. Sources: https://www.vogue.com/article/stormy-daniels-interview-michael-cohen-donald-trump, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-tries-silence-stormy-daniels-n854646.

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/people/stormy-daniels