Did Trump release a ‘bombshell’? No. Stormy Daniels quickly recanted this 2018 letter.

Did former President Donald Trump make a revelation that undercuts Alvin Bragg, the prosecutor investigating Trump for allegedly concealing a $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels?

That was the claim of a Facebook post that said:

"Trump just shared a bombshell letter from Stormy Daniels debunking DA Bragg's case."

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

Daniels’ 2018 letter is neither new, nor newly disclosed.

Soon after Daniels released the letter, she recanted what she said in it.

Bragg is the Manhattan district attorney; Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is an adult entertainment actress.

Daniels claims to have had a sexual relationship with Trump in the mid-2000s while he was married to his wife, Melania; Trump has consistently denied the affair. 

Trump initially denied making the $130,000 payment, then later acknowledged it, but said it was not from his 2016 presidential campaign funds.

Media reports and Trump’s recent statements suggest that Bragg may be close to filing charges against Trump for allegedly concealing the payment to Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.

The Facebook post and a link it includes suggest that Trump, in a Truth Social post March 23, made a revelation in Braggs’ case by sharing Daniels’ letter. 

But there’s nothing new here.

Featured Fact-check

John Matson

stated on April 26, 2012 in an interview on State of the State

"Jimmy Langevin is having a fundraiser . . . to retire the debt from his campaign for secretary of state, which was 12 years ago."

In the open letter, dated Jan. 30, 2018, Daniels denied having an affair with Trump. She said she denied it not because she received a hush payment, but because the affair never occurred.

The letter was publicly released and widely reported on the day it was released. 

But soon after, Daniels recanted, saying an affair had in fact occurred. She said her denials were because of a nondisclosure agreement and that she signed the letter because parties involved "made it sound like I had no choice."

Because the letter shared by Trump is not new information, and Braggs’ case against him has continued to build, we rate the Facebook post’s claim that Trump released a "bombshell" "debunking" the case False.

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