“Trump just shared a bombshell letter from Stormy Daniels debunking DA Bragg's case.”
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Adult film actress Stormy Daniels speaks outside federal court, Monday, April 16, 2018, in New York. (AP Photo)
Did Trump release a ‘bombshell’? No. Stormy Daniels quickly recanted this 2018 letter.
If Your Time is short
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The letter is not new information.
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Daniels released the letter in 2018 and, shortly after, recanted what she said in it.
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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has been building a case involving Trump with full public knowledge of the 5-year-old letter.
Did former President Donald Trump make a revelation that undercuts Alvin Bragg, the prosecutor investigating Trump for allegedly concealing a $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels?
That was the claim of a Facebook post that said:
"Trump just shared a bombshell letter from Stormy Daniels debunking DA Bragg's case."
The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
Daniels’ 2018 letter is neither new, nor newly disclosed.
Soon after Daniels released the letter, she recanted what she said in it.
Recap on the players and the allegations
Bragg is the Manhattan district attorney; Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is an adult entertainment actress.
Daniels claims to have had a sexual relationship with Trump in the mid-2000s while he was married to his wife, Melania; Trump has consistently denied the affair.
Trump initially denied making the $130,000 payment, then later acknowledged it, but said it was not from his 2016 presidential campaign funds.
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Media reports and Trump’s recent statements suggest that Bragg may be close to filing charges against Trump for allegedly concealing the payment to Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.
The ‘bombshell’ letter that isn’t
The Facebook post and a link it includes suggest that Trump, in a Truth Social post March 23, made a revelation in Braggs’ case by sharing Daniels’ letter.
But there’s nothing new here.
In the open letter, dated Jan. 30, 2018, Daniels denied having an affair with Trump. She said she denied it not because she received a hush payment, but because the affair never occurred.
The letter was publicly released and widely reported on the day it was released.
But soon after, Daniels recanted, saying an affair had in fact occurred. She said her denials were because of a nondisclosure agreement and that she signed the letter because parties involved "made it sound like I had no choice."
Because the letter shared by Trump is not new information, and Braggs’ case against him has continued to build, we rate the Facebook post’s claim that Trump released a "bombshell" "debunking" the case False.
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Our Sources
Facebook, post, March 23, 2023 (archived)
TrendingPolitics, "Just In: Donald Trump Shares Bombshell Letter From Stormy Daniels From 2018," posted March 23, 2023; updated March 26, 2023
Truth Social, Donald Trump post, March 23, 2023 (archived)
Associated Press, "Posts share old Stormy Daniels statement as new info," March 24, 2023
The Wrap, "Stormy Daniels Denies Affair With Donald Trump: ‘It Never Happened,’" Jan. 30, 2018
TMZ, "Stormy Daniels: I'm Blue In The Face, Trump Affair Never Happened," Jan. 30, 2018
FactCheck.org, "Stormy Daniels Said 2018 Letter Denying She Had Sex With Trump Is a ‘Lie,’" March 24, 2023
Newsweek, "Fact Check: Did Stormy Daniels Admit Fabricating Donald Trump Affair?", March 22, 2023
USA Today, "Fact check: Statement from Stormy Daniels denying an affair with Trump is from 2018," March 27, 2023
PolitiFact, "Timeline: What Donald Trump has said about Stormy Daniels and $130,000 payment," March 21, 2023
PolitiFact, "Fact-checking Trump on the Stormy Daniels case: The statute of limitations and the FEC's role," March 21, 2023
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More by Tom Kertscher
Did Trump release a ‘bombshell’? No. Stormy Daniels quickly recanted this 2018 letter.
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