Who is Stormy Daniels, the porn star behind Donald Trump’s arrest request?

The former U.S. president is to be arrested Tuesday after a grand jury in New York indicted him for allegedly paying the actress during his presidential campaign to hush up an extramarital affair

Next Tuesday, former U.S. President Donald Trump will become the first former U.S. president to be arrested for allegedly committing criminal acts.

Although Trump is being investigated by the justice system for other serious suspicions, including whether he incited insurrection during the attack against the Capitol when he lost the election in 2021 and whether he tried to illegally reverse his electoral defeat in the state of Georgia, the case that will lead him to sit in the dock is much more personal, and has to do with a woman: Stormy Daniels.

That is the stage name of Stephanie Gregory Clifford, an actress, screenwriter and director of pornographic films, who claims that in 2006 she had a sexual encounter with Trump. By then the also businessman had been married for a year to Melania, his current wife.

According to Clifford, in 2016, when the tycoon ran for president, he paid her through his lawyer Michael D. Cohen US$130,000 so that she would not reveal their extramarital affair.

That sexual encounter – which Trump has always adamantly denied – is not the reason for his current legal accusation. Neither is the payment of hush money to allegedly silence Daniels, an arrangement that is not illegal.

The reason Trump faces charges is that when he reimbursed Cohen – an act the former president does acknowledge – the record of the payment says it was for legal fees. Prosecutors in New York say this amounts to falsifying business records.

Although this is a misdemeanor criminal offense, which would only carry a fine, prosecutors – who have not publicly disclosed the charges they will bring against Trump – could also allege that the payment violates election law, if they believe the then-presidential candidate’s alleged attempt to conceal his payments to Daniels was motivated by not wanting voters to know he had an affair with her.

Covering up a crime by falsifying records would be a much more serious offense.

Who is Stormy Daniels?
The woman behind the most serious legal proceeding against a former president in U.S. history is a well-known porn star.

Stephanie Gregory Clifford was born in Baton Rouge, in the southern state of Louisiana, in 1979, and was a horse lover.

As a child her dream was to be a veterinarian, but after her parents divorced when she was 4 years old, she was raised by her mother, who struggled to support the family financially.

At the age of 17 she started working as a stripper in a club.

When she started to become more recognized, she decided to adopt a stage name. As a fan of the rock band Motley Crue, she decided to pay tribute to the daughter of the band’s bassist, whose name is Storm. The surname is in honor of the Jack Daniel’s whiskey brand.

In 2000 she began her career as an adult film actress with the production company Wicked Pictures, with which she had a prolific career. She also participated in films for Sin City Studios.

In 2004 she also began directing pornographic films for Wicked Pictures and later added a role as a screenwriter.

Adult film expert Kelly Roberts told the BBC that Stormy Daniels was a pioneer in that industry.

“At that time there were no female directors. It was unheard of. They were all men,” she noted.

For her work as a director Daniels won several awards from Adult Video News (AVN) magazine, considered the porn industry’s equivalent of the Oscars.

And in 2014 her name was added to the AVN magazine and X-Rated Critics Organization halls of fame.

According to filmmaker Judd Apatow, who cast her in two of his films, Daniels “is not someone to underestimate.”

“She’s a very serious businesswoman and a filmmaker who has taken charge of her career,” Apatow assured the New York Times in 2018.

The revelation
That year Stormy Daniels was on everyone’s lips after she gave an interview to CBS News’ flagship television show “60 Minutes” in which she gave details of her alleged sexual encounter with Trump.

Daniels said she had met the tycoon – who was then a famous host of the reality show The Apprentice – at a charity golf tournament at a resort in Lake Tahoe, California.

According to the actress, Trump invited her to dinner in his hotel suite and showed her a magazine with his picture on the cover. She joked that she would use it to spank his butt.

“He turned around and pulled his pants down a little bit, he had underwear on, and I spanked him a couple of times,” she recounted.

Daniels said she later had consensual relations with Trump, who has been accused of sexual harassment by other women. “I didn’t say no. I’m not a victim,” the woman clarified.

She added that Trump had suggested to her that she could appear on his TV show, and thought of the encounter “as a business deal.”

“I’m opening myself up to possible danger,” the actress said during the interview, which was watched by 22 million Americans (and would later be replayed online by millions more around the world).

Daniels – who that year divorced her third husband, with whom she had her only daughter – said she knew she faced a million-dollar fine and a legal battle for breaking her confidentiality agreement.

However, she maintained that agreement was legally invalid since Trump never signed it.

The woman also claimed that in 2011 – five years before she signed the alleged agreement with Trump – she had been threatened by a man on the street who suggested he might hurt her daughter if she talked about that relationship.

Fame
Her revelation put Stormy Daniels in the eye of the storm and caused a political uproar in the U.S., something that is now being repeated after a grand jury in New York on March 30 decided to indict Trump.

Daniels, who in 2022 married for the fourth time – once again to a former adult film star – has not denied that the fame brought to her by this case has benefited her financially.

During her long legal battle with Trump and his lawyer Michael D. Cohen she toured different strip clubs, dancing for much more money than she did before.

“Who would refuse to earn more for the work they were already doing?” she responded in the interview when asked what she would say to those who see her as an opportunist.

He also said that the main reason he was speaking out was to “set the record straight” and not for publicity.

“It’s very important for me to be able to stand up for myself,” said the actress, who in 2009 had considered an invitation to run for Republican senator from her home state of Louisiana, before quickly withdrawing.

Thanks to her lucrative career and fame, Daniels has been able to devote herself to her first love: she owns several horses and is an award-winning rider.

On Thursday, following the announcement that Trump will be arrested, the woman behind the case gave her reaction via her Twitter account:

“Thank you all for your support and love! I have so many messages I can’t answer… plus I don’t want to spill my champagne,” she posted, along with an emoji of a winking face with her tongue out.

She added: “The #Teamstormy merchandising/autograph orders are coming in too! Thanks for that too and please note that deliveries will take a few more days.”