Sunday’s “60 Minutes” featuring an interview with adult film star Stormy Daniels was the most-watched episode of the show in a decade, bringing in more than 21 million views.
But the biggest takeaway for former prosecutor Jonna Spilbor was that Daniels poses no real legal threat to the president.
“There’s nothing that Donald Trump has done that’s been illegal in terms of his dealings with her...This is really [just] an embarrassment, and it’s a way for Stormy Daniels to profit off a consensual encounter,” said Spilbor.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Cliffords, claims she had a consensual affair with the president back in 2006.
In the interview, she said she was threatened into silence in 2011 after she initially sold her story to Bauer Publishing.
“[She] cannot back up any of her claims,” said Spilbor. “If she was truly threatened, she should have gone to the police.”
She also provided the salacious details of their time together, including spanking Trump with a Forbes magazine.
During the 2016 presidential election Michael Cohen, Trump’s lawyer at the time, paid Daniels $130,000 in hush money and made her sign a non-disclosure agreement.
She’s now suing to invalidate the NDA, since Trump himself never signed on the dotted line.
Daniels interview aired days after CNN correspondent Anderson Cooper caught up with Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, who also claims to have had an affair with Trump more than a decade ago.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/why-former-prosecutor-jonna-spilbor-says-stormy-daniels-doesnt-have-a-case-against-president-trump).
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Shares of Tesla dropped after hours Thursday after the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a [lawsuit] (https://www.scribd.com/document/389617044/SEC-vs-MUSK#from_embed) against CEO Elon Musk in federal court, alleging that the billionaire founder committed securities fraud when he tweeted about taking the company private with "funding secured" on Aug. 7. In the complaint, the SEC seeks to bar Musk from being an officer of a public company.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was both furious and emotional in testimony Thursday afternoon in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He emphatically denied the sexual assault accusations against him, which were detailed from the same chair by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford earlier in the day.
"My family and my name have been totally and permanently destroyed," Kavanaugh said.
Rep. Nita Lowey played a key role in the Anita Hill hearings in 1991 when then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas was accused of sexual harassment. On Thursday, Lowey was present for Christine Blasey Ford's testimony about current nominee Brett Kavanaugh's alleged sexual assault and spoke of the differences between the two eras.
Prof. Christine Blasey Ford spoke to the Senate Judiciary Committee about her memories from the night of her alleged assault. She said the memory that has stuck with her the most is the laughter from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Mark Judge as Kavanaugh was on top of her.
On Thursday morning Prof. Christine Blasey Ford appeared in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify on her alleged sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
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Sonny Perdue, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, said American farmers understand the need for tariffs on Chinese imports, even if they might feel some short-term pain. After President Trump imposed tariffs on China, American farmers began to feel the effects. China is the largest importer of American soybeans and that revenue stream has now been cut off. The federal government pledged $12 billion as temporary relief for farmers affected by Trump's tariffs.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is currently promoting a new housing bill that calls for $450 billion to build and renovate affordable housing over the next 10 years. Warren is suggesting an estate tax on the 10,000 top earners in the U.S. to fund the bill. Warren said it's not about "punishing" people for their economic success, but rather for everyone to pay their fair share and allow middle Americans to accrue wealth through homeownership.
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