Stormy Daniels is the professional name of Stephanie Clifford, an American adult-film actor, director and writer whose 2016 non-disclosure agreement with Donald Trump's then-lawyer Michael Cohen became the central evidence in the New York criminal case that produced the first criminal conviction of a former US president.
2006: the alleged encounter
Daniels says she met Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe in July 2006 and had a single sexual encounter with him at his hotel suite. Trump has denied the encounter took place. The two principals' accounts have not changed materially in the years since.
2011–2016: the story circulates privately
Daniels first attempted to sell her account in 2011. The story did not become public at that time. In October 2016, days before the presidential election, the Wall Street Journal reported that the National Enquirer had a similar story about a different woman; the same month Cohen wired Daniels $130,000 in exchange for a non-disclosure agreement.
2018: she goes public
Daniels gave interviews in early 2018, including a 60 Minutes appearance with Anderson Cooper, and sued to invalidate the NDA. Cohen pleaded guilty later that year to federal campaign-finance offences in part connected to the payment, and named Trump as the person who directed it.
2023: the indictment
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg secured a state grand-jury indictment of Trump in March 2023 on 34 counts of falsifying business records connected to the reimbursement of Cohen for the Daniels payment. Trump pleaded not guilty.
2024: the trial
The trial began in April 2024 in New York County Supreme Court before Justice Juan Merchan. Daniels testified across two days in early May 2024, with cross-examination focusing on her credibility and her commercial activity around the case. The jury returned a guilty verdict on all 34 counts on 30 May 2024.
Where the case stands now
Sentencing has been delayed several times, including by post-election proceedings around presidential immunity. Daniels has continued to perform and tour. Her civil case against Trump for legal fees, which she lost, remains the basis of an outstanding court-ordered payment from her to him.