Stephanie Clifford, the porn star known as Stormy Daniels, discussed her alleged affair with Donald Trump during a May 2007 radio appearance, a well-known Florida radio personality told his listeners Friday.
Bubba the Love Sponge Clem, known as Todd Clem before he legally changed his name in 1999, played portions of the interview on his radio show Friday and Monday, in which Daniels was asked to write down the names of famous men she had slept with. Clem says the first name on that list was Donald Trump. Although neither Daniels nor the host says Trump’s name in the 2007 audio, she can be heard describing key details that match the description of her alleged affair with Trump.
Clem said on his radio program that Daniels was talking about Trump, and later verified the same information to CNN. CNN independently corroborated the story with another person who was in Clem’s studio that day, who would speak only on the condition of anonymity. That person also said Donald Trump’s name was the first on Daniels’ list.
This would be the earliest known instance of Daniels publicly discussing the alleged affair.
CNN obtained a full recording of Daniels’ May 16, 2007, appearance, which matches the clips Clem played on air Friday.
Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for Daniels, declined to comment and said Daniels would not be commenting.
A spokesperson for the White House referred all questions to the President’s outside lawyers. Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, did not return a request for comment. Cohen has said previously that Trump “vehemently denies” any affair.
Cohen has admitted that he used $130,000 of his own money to pay Daniels.
A lawsuit filed last week by Daniels says the money was part of a “Hush Agreement” to keep her from speaking publicly about an alleged affair with Trump. The lawsuit argues that the agreement is void because Trump never signed it.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters last week that the matter with Trump and Daniels has been put to rest, saying, “I can share that the arbitration was won in the President’s favor. I would refer you to the President’s outside counsel on any details beyond that.”
Clem told his listeners in January that he had removed the appearance from his archives, the website Bubba Army Radio, because he didn’t want any unwanted attention in advance of an upcoming federal court case with Nielsen over alleged ratings tampering by Clem.
Clem declined to be interviewed for this story, citing a pending civil matter, but provided CNN with a statement: “This interview happened in May 2007. I only asked the questions. Stormy answered them. I wish her and our President nothing but the very best. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. We need to stop worrying about the past and focus on the future. President Trump is our President, regardless of who he slept with 12 plus years ago. The media and haters need to get over it.”
In the clips Clem played of the 2007 episode Friday, Daniels can be heard describing an affair she had with a wealthy man that took place in Nevada less than a year before her radio appearance. The details match with those in the lawsuit filed by Daniels last week. In that suit, Daniels alleged she had an “intimate relationship with Mr. Trump in the Summer of 2006 in Lake Tahoe and continued her relationship with Mr. Trump well into the year 2007.”
“Can you write down a name and we won’t say it on air, for our own personal reasons,” an unidentified co-host (not Clem) says to Daniels in the 2007 appearance. “We’ve done this before. We won’t mention it on the air. We won’t say any clues.”
When the name is shown, the hosts can be heard saying “no way” and “wow.” An assistant of Daniels, identified by the name of Cheryl, can be heard verifying the affair happened when asked if it was true.
“Be careful on this one. Do not say a word,” Clem can be heard saying, cautioning Daniels and his co-hosts to not speak the man’s name.
Daniels, when asked how long the affair took place, added that it lasted “less than a year.”
Later in the show, Clem plays short clips of Daniels responding to questions over the alleged affair. Daniels said the tryst took place in “Nevada, but not Vegas.” At the prodding of the radio hosts she says it was in Lake Tahoe, which is where Daniels first encountered Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in 2006.
She said she found it “horribly embarrassing” that this person was the best in bed of the three people on her list and added that the person contacted her “twice a month.”
She later added that there was no money exchanged.
“There was no exchange of money,” said Clifford. “I’m sure if he had felt the need to graciously help me I would have put it in my purse.”