Ken Starr, the former independent counsel who investigated former President Bill Clinton, said allegations former adult film star Stormy Daniels received $130,000 to remain silent about a sexual encounter with President Trump ahead of the 2016 election should be “considered and assessed” by the Justice Department.
During an interview with Yahoo News’ podcast “Skullduggery,” Starr said the allegations raise “difficult and serious” issues.
“That’s a serious question,” Starr said, when asked whether the payment Daniels received should be investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller as an illegal campaign contribution. “What did the president know? Did he authorize it? All those things have to be sorted out.”
Mueller is currently investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Starr’s Whitewater real estate investment investigation uncovered Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
But Starr said the issues regarding Daniels and Trump differ greatly from those currently being examined by Mueller and his team, and therefore should be under the purview of the Justice Department.
“This becomes an issue for [Deputy Attorney General] Rod Rosenstein,” Starr said. “But Rod may very well say [to Mueller], ‘You need to stick to the issue. Let’s get through with this issue of collusion. You stick to that and let’s now appoint [somebody else] as special counsel.’”
The former independent prosecutor said Daniels’ claims have “to be considered and assessed.” It would be “the equivalent of a preliminary investigation. That’s the way these things are done,” he said.
Starr said “questions about presidential character are always important … but that doesn’t trigger the law.”
“The reason we went to the attorney general with respect to the Monica Lewinsky phase of the investigation is because under the information we had — I’m just going to go ahead and say it — the concern we had was subordination of perjury in a civil case,” Starr said. “Now we had four years of background. … I’ll just say there were questions throughout the [Whitewater] investigation about the credibility of the president and the first lady all along the way. I’m just going to leave it at that.”
Daniels alleges she and Trump had a sexual encounter after meeting at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nev., in 2006.
Just before the 2016 election, Daniels said she signed a nondisclosure agreement with Michael Cohen, Trump’s attorney, and received $130,000 to keep the affair quiet.
Cohen acknowledged he facilitated the payment.
Daniels filed a lawsuit against Trump last month and is arguing the confidentiality agreement should be voided since the president didn’t sign it.
Several government watchdog groups have since filed complaints with several government agencies over the payment and argue it constitutes a violation of campaign finance laws.
The White House has denied Trump had an affair with Daniels and said the president was unaware of any payment involving Cohen and Daniels.
