Stormy Daniels’ crowdfunding campaign to cover legal fees related to her possibly violating a nondisclosure agreement regarding an alleged affair with President Trump surpassed $300,000 around 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
More than 9,300 people had contributed to her campaign as of press time.
The amount of donations is more than double the amount she originally set out to raise when she launched the website 11 days ago. She raised $160,000 in the first two days of the effort.
Earlier this month, Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, offered to pay back the $130,000 she collected from Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen. Her lawyer also filed a lawsuit claiming Trump never signed the nondisclosure agreement and therefore it was not valid.
Still, Clifford could face a much steeper penalty than $130,000 for breaking her silence. Even before her big “60 Minutes” interview with past weekend, Cohen accused Clifford of violating the nondisclosure agreement she signed 20 times — and argued he should collect at least $20 million in damages as a result.
In a statement posted on the page, Clifford vowed not to pocket additional money raised as part of the crowdfunding campaign and said a lawyer is handling the finances.
“First, I want to be clear as to what this money is NOT being raised for. This money is not going to me personally. Ever. It is only being used to cover the legal expenses and potential damages I describe on the home page,” she wrote. “If the money is not needed, it will be used pursuant to the crowdjustice guidelines on unused funds as with all other cases on their site. In other words, I am not going to pocket any money. The money is being controlled at all times by my attorneys in a trust account.”
Cohen has acknowledged paying Clifford $130,000. Clifford claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, while he was married to Melania Trump.
