All the crazy things Trump wants you to believe about the Stormy Daniels scandal

Do you know any lawyers who would pay $130,000 of their own money on a client's behalf, just to be nice? Me neither.

President Trump and Stormy Daniels.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Evan Agostini/Getty Images, DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is no Sean Spicer — when she gets up before the press to lie about something, you can't detect even the barest whiff of guilt or discomfort. In fact, if there's a prevailing sentiment she sends out to the assembled journalists in the briefing room and all watching at home, it's contempt — contempt for anyone who has the temerity to question either the rancid pile of lies she's dumping in front of you or President Trump's manifest greatness.

So the last thing we expect to hear is that President Trump is displeased with the quality of Sanders' advocacy on his behalf. Yet that's just what we heard this week, on the matter of the adult film actress who goes by the stage name Stormy Daniels (her real name is Stephanie Clifford). Sanders was subjected to relentless questioning from the White House press corps about whether Trump knew of, authorized, or repaid the $130,000 in hush money Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen arranged for Ms. Daniels to receive to allegedly keep quiet about what she says was a consensual affair the two had some years ago. The president was apparently displeased with Sanders' answers, since she seemed to acknowledge that Trump was a party to the non-disclosure agreement. "This case has already been won in arbitration," Sanders said, referring to a proceeding initiated by Cohen that found that Clifford is still bound by the agreement that mandated her silence. Clifford is now suing Trump, claiming he never signed the agreement and so she's free to say what she likes.

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Paul Waldman

Paul Waldman is a senior writer with The American Prospect magazine and a blogger for The Washington Post. His writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers, magazines, and web sites, and he is the author or co-author of four books on media and politics.