Topline
Adult film star Stormy Daniels on Tuesday repeated her years-old claim she spanked President Donald Trump with a magazine during a sexual encounter back in 2006—but widespread speculation the publication was a copy of Forbes likely isn’t true.
Judge Juan Merchan presides over proceedings as Stormy Daniels, far right, answers questions on ... [+]
Key Facts
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, first made the claim back in 2017 and speculation around which publication it could be quickly grew (Mother Jones first suggested it was Forbes and that was repeated by Stephen Colbert).
But the 2006 Forbes cover that featured Trump and two of his children, Donald Jr. and Ivanka, didn’t hit newsstands until mid-September, months after Daniels claims she had sex with Trump at a charity golf event in Lake Tahoe.
When recounting the encounter for "60 Minutes" in 2018, Daniels said Trump asked, "Have you seen my new magazine?" before she spanked him with it, phrasing that suggested the periodical may have been a copy of his own publication, Trump Magazine, which featured him on the cover for its spring issue.
Stephane Fitch, who wrote the 2006 Trump cover story for Forbes, several years ago said, “The timeline isn't right. I really don’t think it would be possible unless her memory’s failing her and the swatting took place a little bit later.”
Trump has repeatedly denied he had an affair with Daniels, which allegedly took place a year after he married his now-wife and former First Lady Melania Trump.
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News Peg
A report from the tabloid Mirror about Daniel's testimony on Tuesday mentioned Forbes magazine in its headline, reigniting the speculation about exactly which publication is referenced in her story. But no reporters in the courtroom reported that Daniels specifically cited Forbes.
Contra
Despite the timeline discrepancies, Mother Jones in 2018 reported Daniels once specifically told a campaign consultant the magazine in question was a copy of Forbes. The unnamed consultant reportedly told a coworker that Daniels said "one time he made her sit with him for three hours watching ‘shark week.’ Another time he had her spank him with a Forbes magazine.”
Crucial Quote
"Someone should spank you with that," Daniels recalled saying about the magazine in her testimony court Tuesday, multiple pool reporters confirmed. Daniels says Trump then rolled up the magazine and "gave me a look… So I took it from him and I said turn around, and I swatted him.”
Key Background
Daniels first told InTouch, a celebrity gossip magazine, in 2011 she and Donald Trump had sex at the 2006 golf tournament and then repeated the claims to Slate in 2016. Neither of those interviews was published until 2018, when the Wall Street Journal broke the news that Trump's attorney, Michael Cohen, had apparently paid Daniels $130,000 weeks before the 2016 election to stay quiet about the affair. Cohen initially paid Daniels off with his own money but later said Trump had directed him to do so and then paid him back. Trump said the same in an ethics disclosure in May 2018. Now, Trump is on trial in Manhattan after being charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records. He's accused of misidentifying a series of payments to Cohen as payments for legal services, when they were actually repayments for the hush money.
