When the news broke last month that U.S. President Donald Trump allegedly had an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels and paid her hush money, it didn't cause all that much of a hullabaloo.
Mr. Trump had lowered the morality bar so much with the infamous Access Hollywood tape and other assorted activities that nobody was terribly surprised. The alleged affair, unlike Bill Clinton's with Monica Lewinsky, took place before he came to the White House. It was submerged in the tidal wave of other controversies Mr. Trump routinely hatches.
But as is so often the case, it's not the deed that gets you, but the cover-up. The news this week from The New York Times that Michael Cohen, President Trump's long-time personal lawyer, paid US$130,000 to Ms. Daniels has vaulted the story from the tabloid press back on to the front pages. For the President, it now risks becoming, as one media wag put it, "the perfect Stormy."
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Remember those allegations that Mr. Trump was set up with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel and may have been videoed by Russians sleuths? And furthermore that the Kremlin might then have used it as a blackmail card – and that's why there's never a negative word from Mr. Trump about Vladimir Putin? It could be all hogwash. But the part about Mr. Trump having a taste for women of such reputation gains some credence from the alleged Daniels dalliance.
That's one problem. Another is that Mr. Trump's image with women is already low given the many who have alleged sexual harassment by him. The Daniels story will only feed the disrespect-for-women narrative, not to mention possible fallout it may be prompting with his wife, Melania.
In his statement Mr. Cohen said "neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction." The dodge sparked much guffawing. Mr. Cohen had previously denied on behalf of Mr. Trump the whole Daniels affair. What then could he be paying her the US$130,000 for?
In any case, if parsed carefully enough, his statement doesn't stipulate that Mr. Trump himself was not party to the transaction. Just his organization and his campaign.
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Ms. Daniels is now saying that the statement invalidated the non-disclosure agreement and that she is now free to come forward with details of her long-running romp with Mr. Trump. It's not what a sitting President wants to hear.
In fact she has already come forward. In a recent interview with In Touch Weekly, she said "the sex was nothing crazy. He wasn't like, chain me to the bed or anything. It was one position."
And she added, "I can definitely describe his junk perfectly, if I ever have to. He definitely seemed smitten after that. He was like, 'I wanna see you again, when can I see you again?'"
Noticeable in the wake of the allegations has been the recent scarcity in public appearances of the First Lady with her husband. Ms. Daniels, we recall, said the affair took place shortly after Melania Trump gave birth to son Barron. Melania failed to accompany the President to the World Economic Forum in Davos and rode in a separate car to his State of the Union address. The media also noticed that on Valentine's Day there was no exchange of mutual admiration between the two.
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Added to the President's woes is a possible FBI probe. A government watchdog organization, Common Cause, has filed a complaint to the Federal Electoral Commission over the US$130,000, saying it came before the election and could have influenced the outcome of the vote by keeping the scandal under wraps and should have been declared at the time.
In his time in office to date, Mr. Trump has been able to put controversies quickly behind him. Just after one detonates, another comes along that makes it old news. A recent example was his alleged statement describing poor nations as "shithole countries." It seems like it was ages ago.
The Daniels affair has many tentacles. Women's issues, legal issues, credibility issues, spousal issues. This one won't be easy to bury.