On Wednesday, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen went before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform to testify about the president’s character and alleged incriminating behavior. During the hearing, he brought up one of the president’s now-infamous scandals: his alleged sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels in 2006, and the allegation that he illegally used campaign funds to buy her silence. Though Daniels has made no attempt to conceal her disdain for Cohen, who is accused of helping Trump in the cover-up, she released a statement in the midst of his testimony thanking him for “finally beginning to tell the truth about what [he] did.”
In the public hearing, Cohen explicitly laid out his involvement in Trump’s alleged affair with Daniels: the he paid Daniels the $130,000 hush payment at Trump’s request, a claim he corroborated with a copy of a $35,000 check that Trump paid him as part of a reimbursement plan. While Cohen admitted in court in August 2018 that Trump had directed him to pay Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, with whom Trump allegedly had an affair, the check is the first piece of related evidence that Cohen has produced.
“Michael, I’m proud of you for finally beginning to tell the truth about what you did, and trying to repair some of the harm you have caused,” Daniels said. “I can hear the pain and regret you feel for betraying your family and your country. My heart goes out to you and your family.”
Just last month, Daniels skewered Cohen for backing out of the testimony out of concern for his family’s safety, tweeting about all the threats she’s received since before she came forward about her alleged affair. “Are you fucking serious, Mikey?! What about MY family? You gave zero shits about my baby,” she wrote at the time. “This is your chance to be a hero! I’ll loan you some of my balls, hold your hand, or whatever else you need to do the right thing.”
In her statement on Wednesday, Daniels reiterated that Cohen’s actions had left an indelible mark on her life. “Do you believe now that when you and the president called me a liar, when you were his attorney and you insulted me, threatened to bankrupt me and worse, that you put me and my family in danger?” she demanded. “I remember the fear you feel. I still feel it.”
But at the end of the day, Daniels wants Cohen to know that she’s grateful that he has finally done the right thing.
“I hope that some day soon your family and mine can both leave this nightmare behind,” her statement concludes.
