Keith Davidson, the former lawyer for adult film star Stormy Daniels and Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal, says he discussed hush money payment arrangements for both women with President Donald Trump's longtime attorney Michael Cohen.
He also told ABC News' "Good Morning America" during an interview that aired Monday that a $130,000 payment to Daniels was "for political reasons" and Cohen was furious when he was not brought in for a top spot in the Trump administration and when Trump did not quickly repay the money.
"You cannot talk about Stormy Daniels and the settlement without talking about 'Access Hollywood,'" Davidson said, referring to the tape recording released of Trump making disparaging comments about women shortly before the election.
Davidson said Cohen at first missed a deadline for the Daniels payment, but after the tape surfaced the deal became more urgent, showing the payment was made for political, not personal reasons; however, he said he does not know if Trump was aware of the negotiations.
The attorney also disagreed with Cohen's testimony to the House Oversight Committee that he had been offered jobs at the White House.
"He confided in me that he was just beside himself, and, in his words, 'you know,' he said, 'Can you f–ing believe, after everything I've done, he's not taking me to Washington?'" Davidson told ABC News. "He felt that it was a personal embarrassment for him, that he was rejected."
He also defended his actions for McDougal and Daniels, but said he regrets his involvement and admitted he has lost a "little sleep" over the fact that arranging the payoffs could have affected the 2016 election.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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