CAUGHT: How a former Melania aide just trashed Trump’s Stormy Daniels defense
After an attorney for Donald Trump indicated that they would use Trump’s fear of his wife Melania finding out about his affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels as an excuse in his defense in the hush money payment investigation currently being pursued by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a confidante of the former first lady has thrown a monkey wrench into that strategy.
In a bombshell revelation, a former friend of Melania Trump has come forward to claim that the former first lady was fully aware of her husband’s extramarital affair with Daniels.
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former senior advisor to Melania, spoke to CNN‘s Anderson Cooper on Monday night, revealing that she had discussed the affair with the former first lady, who had confided in her about it.
According to Winston Wolkoff, Melania knew that her husband was having an affair with Daniels and had even spoken to her husband about it. However, she decided to stay quiet about it and focus on her own life.
‘Melania Defense’ in Stormy Daniels Hush-Money case WON’T WORK.
Why not?
Melania Trump knew…@MELANIATRUMP @MichaelCohen212 https://t.co/Wz2Ult14pe
— Stephanie Winston Wolkoff (@SWinstonWolkoff) March 14, 2023
This revelation is a significant blow to the Trump defense team, who have tried to argue that the payments were not at all related to the fear that the revelation of the affair would hurt Trump’s presidential ambitions, all while Trump continues to improbably deny that the affair ever took place.
“I never had an affair with Stormy Daniels, nor would I have wanted to have an affair with Stormy Daniels,” Trump has said.
Meanwhile, his lawyers are admitting that the payments took place but for a completely different reason.
“It’s not directly related to the campaign,” Trump attorney Joe Tacopina told ABC’s Good Morning Americaon Monday. “He made this with personal funds to prevent something coming out (that was) false but embarrassing to himself, his family, his young son.”
Despite undermining Trump’s feeble excuse, Winston Wolkoff defended Melania’s decision to remain silent, saying that she had her own reasons for not speaking out.
“She’s not the one that cheated on him. She’s not the one that had an affair with Stormy Daniels. She’s not the one that slept with him while he was married. So why should she have to go public and say anything?” Winston Wolkoff said.
Winston Wolkoff’s defense of Melania is somewhat unexpected since the two had a major falling out in the wake of the investigation into the fundraising for Trump’s 2017 inaugural which the former aide helped organize.
She claims to have been set up as a scapegoat for the Trump family in that investigation and subsequently became a major critic of both Donald and Melania Trump and leaked the infamous “who gives a f*** about the Christmas stuff” recording of Melania.
While it’s unlikely a judge would buy the Trump legal team’s excuse for the payments anyway, Winston Wolkoff’s revelations make it even more unlikely that Trump will escape justice in this case, much less the other potential indictments he faces.
Original reporting by Martha Ross at the Marin Independent Journal.
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