Trump doorman story: Indictment details $30,000 payment to doorman who claimed he had info on a child
Donald Trump’s historic indictment details 34 felony charges against the former president, alleging Trump attempted to conceal hush-money payments made days before the 2016 election. That includes a payment made to a Trump Tower doorman who alleged Trump had a child born out of wedlock.
The charges confirmed reporting that the indictment accuses Trump of hiding two hush-money payments meant to silence two women who claim to have had sex with him. But among the allegations is a separate $30,000 payment to silence a Trump Tower doorman who claimed Trump had an affair with a former employee.
The statement of facts released by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office outlines a $30,000 payment in 2015 to the “Doorman,” who was attempting to sell a story that Trump fathered a child out of wedlock.
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Trump Tower doorman story could not be verified
The statement of facts does not detail the names of the parties involved, but the doorman appears to be Dino Sajudin, who heard a rumor that Trump had an affair with a former housekeeper.
The rumor and subsequent $30,000 payment was reported by the New Yorker and the Associated Press in 2018. Sajudin’s story could not be verified.
The woman at the center of Sajudin’s story denied that she had an affair with Trump in an interview with the Associated Press.
The statement of facts said the parent company of the National Enquirer, American Media Inc. (AMI), who made the payment, “later concluded that the story was not true,” but regardless, the doorman was not released from the non-disclosure agreement until after the 2016 election.
Trump after arrest: What's next legally and politically for the former president?
The payment to the doorman
In October or November of 2015, the statement of facts reads, upon learning that the doorman was attempting to sell information that Trump allegedly had a child out of wedlock, AMI negotiated with the doorman for $30,000 to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
“AMI falsely characterized this payment in AMI’s books and records, including in its general ledger,” said the statement of facts, noting that AMI acquired exclusive rights to the story before verifying it. “AMI purchased this information from the doorman without fully investigating his claims.”
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After Trump won the election, the doorman was released from the non-disclosure agreement.
At some point between election day and his inauguration, Trump privately met with the CEO of AMI, David Pecker, who the statement of facts does not name, and thanked Pecker for “handling the stories of the Doorman and Woman 1, and invited the AMI CEO to the inauguration.” Later, once Trump was president, he invited Pecker for dinner at the White House to “thank him for his help during the campaign.”
Related: Tabloid paid Trump doorman Dino Sajudin $30K for salacious story it never wrote
Other hush-money payments
The payment to the doorman is another unexpected legal trouble for Trump when the indictment was expected to only focus on the hush-money payments made to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal.
At the center of those two payments is Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and fixer, who arranged those payments.
Trump "concealed crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election," said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump indictment details hush-money payment to Trump Tower doorman
