This is Why Republicans Can’t Shrug Off the Stormy Daniels Saga

Abstract

Stormy Daniels would probably have never been much more than a name in the catalog of porn-movie stars had it not been for Michael Cohen. On Jan. 12, the Wall Street Journal broke the story that Cohen, one of Donald Trump\u27s personal lawyers, had paid Daniels [npr.org] - or arranged for Daniels to be paid -- $130,000 for her silence over an alleged affair she once had with the president. In a political climate jaded by the sexual shenanigans of politicians, many Americans were tempted to ask, So what? Because, as they like to say in high-stakes poker, the Daniels affair represents a whole new opening. [excerpt