President Donald Trump's personal lawyer told the New York Times he paid USD 130,000 of his own money to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, who claimed to have had an affair with the US President.
The attorney, Michael Cohen, said that he was not reimbursed for the payment to the actress, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, the Times said.
Cohen, who previously served as an attorney for the Trump Organisation and is now Trump's personal lawyer, defended the payment to the newspaper. He said the payment was legal, but declined to give details on why he made it.
"Neither the Trump Organisation nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms.Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly," Cohen said, according to the Times.
"The payment to Clifford was lawful, and was not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone," he added.
He declined to discuss the payment further, including whether Trump knew of it or the motivation behind it.
Last month, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Cohen arranged $130,000 for Daniels as part of a nondisclosure agreement, one month before the 2016 presidential elections. Trump's lawyer had "vehemently" denied the WSJ's report.
Trump was a private citizen when the 2006 sexual encounter with Clifford allegedly took place. He was married at the time and his wife, Melania, had given birth to their son less than four months earlier.
Trump, through his lawyers, and Clifford, 38, have both denied anything ever went on between them. But In Touch magazine published a 2011 interview with Daniels last month in which she expounds at length and in detail on their relationship and what she described as their "textbook generic" sex.
During an appearance on the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" show last month, Daniels denied having an affair with Trump saying, "I do not know where it came from."
