• The adult film actress who says she had an affair with President Donald Trump offered on Monday to return $130,000 she received from Trump's personal attorney in 2016 for agreeing not to discuss the alleged relationship. Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is seeks an end to her deal to keep quiet about what she said was an affair with Trump that started in 2006 and lasted for several months. In the letter sent early Monday to Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, Clifford's attorney, Michael Avenatti, wrote that Clifford would wire the money into an account of Trump's choosing by Friday. Avenatti set a deadline of noon today for Cohen to answer the offer. Under the terms of the deal detailed in the letter, the contract ensuring Clifford's silence would be "deemed null and void" once she returned the sum called for in her original contract. Under Avenatti's offer, Clifford would then be allowed to speak freely about her prior relationship with Trump, and "use and publish any text messages, photos and/or videos relating to the President that she may have in her possession, all without fear of retribution and/or legal liability for damages." The letter also seeks an agreement that neither Trump nor the shell company that Cohen used to pay Clifford, which he represents as a party to their October 2016 deal, would move to block the broadcast of an interview that Clifford taped with 60 Minutes last week. Cohen, who has denied there was ever an affair, didn't not respond to calls seeking comment. He has said he paid the porn actress $130,000 out of his own pocket as part of the nondisclosure agreement.
• A Virginia judge on Monday refused to dismiss a drug-possession charge against actress Rose McGowan after prosecutors said they have additional evidence to present. McGowan's attorneys have suggested the drugs may have been planted by agents hired by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein to discredit her for making sex assault accusations against him. She was charged with felony drug possession after authorities said cocaine was found in a wallet she left behind on a flight to Dulles International Airport in January 2017. McGowan's lawyer said in court papers that the drugs could have been planted before the wallet was found by a cleaning crew. More than five hours passed between the time McGowan left the plane and the time the wallet was found. During a hearing Monday in Loudoun County General District Court, Judge Deborah Welsh denied the motion to dismiss as premature. Defense attorneys are trying to subpoena information from Instagram about a message sent to McGowan after her wallet went missing, saying "You left your wallet on your Saturday flight with your 2 bags of coke."
A Section on 03/13/2018