Washington — Manhattan prosecutors investigating former President Donald Trump's alleged "hush money" payment of $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 recently invited the former president to testify in the probe, a step that commonly comes before an indictment in New York.
The alleged scheme first came to light years ago, when Trump was still in office, but the investigation has gained new momentum in recent months, with the Manhattan district attorney's office convening a grand jury to examine the matter.
An indictment of a former president would be a first in American history and a politically explosive step with Trump seeking the GOP nomination for president in 2024. His attorney has said he has no plans to participate in the probe, and the former president has denounced the investigation as a
hunt.
On Saturday, Trump said he expects to be arrested in New York on Tuesday, and called for his supporters to protest.
The developments in the Manhattan case have once again drawn attention to Trump and his allies' well-documented efforts to suppress damaging stories ahead of the 2016 election and the sprawling investigations that ensued. Michael Cohen, his former attorney and "fixer," eventually pleaded guilty to campaign finance charges stemming from his involvement with the payments and served three years in prison.
The following timeline of those efforts and the district attorney's evolving investigation is based on court records, public filings and comments made by the key players involved. Trump has denied many of the details below, and said he never had affairs with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, nor Karen McDougal, another woman who alleged a relationship and was paid for her silence.
2006
July: According to an interview Daniels would give to "60 Minutes" in 2018, Daniels meets Trump, the star of NBC's hit show "The Apprentice," at a celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe in Nevada. She says he invited her to dinner, and she met him at his hotel suite, where they had sex. He later invites her to a Trump Vodka launch party in California, as well as to his office in Trump Tower in New York.
Daniels is 27 at the time. Trump is 60, and his wife Melania had recently given birth to their son.
2007
July: A year after their first interaction, Trump asks Daniels to meet at his bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles to discuss a possible appearance on the spin-off "Celebrity Apprentice." The two spend four hours together but don't have sex, Daniels says later, and she leaves after Trump says he is still working on securing her a spot on the show.
August: Trump calls Daniels and tells her he couldn't get her on "Celebrity Apprentice."
2011
May: Daniels gives an interview to the magazine In Touch describing her encounters with Trump in exchange for $15,000. Two employees later tell CBS News that the interview never ran because Michael Cohen, Trump's attorney, threatened to sue when the publication asked Trump for comment. Daniels says she was never paid.
A few weeks later, Daniels says she is threatened by a man who approaches her in Las Vegas and tells her to "leave Trump alone" and "forget the story."
2016
June: Karen McDougal, an actress and former Playboy model, begins trying to sell her story of an alleged affair she had with Trump in 2006 and 2007. She retains attorney Keith Davidson, who approaches the National Enquirer about a possible deal.
July 19: Trump secures the Republican Party's nomination for president.
Aug. 5: The National Enquirer secures the rights to McDougal's account for $150,000 but never publishes her story, a tactic known as "catch and kill." Federal prosecutors later say the agreement was meant "to suppress [her] story so as to prevent it from influencing the election."
August and September: Cohen reaches an agreement with David Pecker, the chairman and CEO of the National Enquirer's parent company, American Media, Inc. (AMI), to secure the non-disclosure portion of the company's deal with McDougal for $125,000. The deal between Cohen and AMI is never finalized, but Cohen retains a copy of the draft agreement.
Oct. 8: Daniels is now also represented by Davidson, who tells Dylan Howard, the editor-in-chief of the National Enquirer, that she is willing to go on the record about her alleged affair. Howard and Pecker inform Cohen about the conversation and put Cohen in touch with Davidson.
Cohen negotiates a deal to pay Daniels $130,000 in exchange for the rights to her story and a non-disclosure agreement.
Oct. 17: Cohen files paperwork to incorporate a firm known as Essential Consultants LLC in Delaware.
Oct. 25: No deal with Daniels has been finalized, and Davidson tells Cohen, Howard and Pecker that his client is close to reaching an agreement with another outlet to tell her story. Cohen agrees to finalize the deal.
Oct. 26: Cohen opens a bank account for Essential Consultants and transfers $131,000 he obtained by taking out a home equity line of credit into the new account.
Oct. 27: Cohen wires $130,000 to Davidson, Daniels' attorney.
Nov. 1: Cohen receives signed copies of the agreement between "Peggy Peterson" and "David Dennison." It is dated Oct. 28.
In an accompanying letter, "Peterson" is identified as a pseudonym for Daniels. The identity of Dennison is redacted in later court filings, but Daniels' attorney later says it was the name used by Trump. The agreement bears the signatures of Daniels, Davidson and Cohen, but the signature for Dennison is blank.
2017
January: Cohen seeks reimbursement from the Trump Organization for $180,035 — $130,000 for the payment to Daniels, plus a wiring fee and an extra $50,000. Trump Organization executives double the reimbursement to $360,000 and add another $60,000, for a total of $420,000 to be paid in monthly installments for 12 months.
Cohen sends invoices for $35,000 per month and receives $420,000 from the company over the course of the year.
Jan. 20: Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States.