WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Adult-film actress Stormy Daniels on Tuesday released a sketch of a man she said warned her in 2011 to stop discussing her claims she had a sexual encounter with U.S. President Donald Trump, while her lawyer offered a $100,000 reward for information about the man.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is fighting a 2016 non-disclosure agreement arranged by Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, in which she got $130,000 to keep quiet about her claim that she had sex with Trump a decade earlier, something the U.S. president has denied.
During an appearance on the daytime ABC television talk show “The View” she was asked why she was speaking out.
“I’m tired of being threatened,” Daniels responded. “I’m done. I’m sorry, I’m done being bullied.”
Daniels repeated her story, first related on CBS’ “60 Minutes” last month, that she was on her way to a fitness class with her child when an unknown man approached her in a Las Vegas parking lot in 2011. He warned her to “leave Trump alone. Forget the story”, she said in that interview.
On Tuesday, her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, asked the public for help identifying the man and offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to his identification.
The picture they released shows a lightly bearded man in his 20s or 30s with backswept hair and wearing a hoodie. Daniels said she thought he looked like somebody’s husband and described him as “sort of handsome.”
She said she did not tell police about the threat at the time because she was afraid and did not want to reveal the alleged encounter with Trump.
“I didn’t tell my husband at the time, I was embarrassed,” she said. “I didn’t want him to think I was a bad mom or that I put my daughter in danger.”
Trump’s lawyers are seeking at least $20 million in damages from Daniels for multiple violations of a nondisclosure agreement.
Daniels appearance on the ABC show came a day after she attended a hearing in Manhattan federal court where Cohen sought to limit the ability of federal prosecutors to review the documents seized in April 9 raids on his home, office and hotel room.
The raids stem in part from a separate probe into possible collusion between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia. A source familiar with the raids said the FBI agents were also looking for information on payments to Daniels among materials related to Cohen’s other business dealings.
Daniels acknowledged the publicity the whole episode has brought her and said that, while she was making more money, her expenses were climbing as well. She has had to retain a team of bodyguards, as well as a tutor for her daughter.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Karen Freifeld; Editing by Susan Thomas)
