No, Stormy Daniels didn’t ‘exonerate’ Donald Trump

As former President Donald Trump stands criminal trial for allegedly falsifying business records to cover up a payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels, some social media users are claiming Daniels has absolved Trump of wrongdoing.

An April 14 Facebook post said, "Stormy Daniels exonerated Trump herself!" (Daniels’ real name is Stephanie Clifford.)

In the comments, the post’s author shared a link to an April 10 article headlined, "NEW: Letter Allegedly Exonerating Trump In Stormy Daniels Case Resurfaces."

Another Facebook user shared the same article and said, "Stormy Daniels just told on herself."

(Screengrab from Facebook)

Conservative commentator Benny Johnson made a similar claim. In an Instagram post, he shared a photo of a Jan. 30, 2018, statement from Daniels that stated, "I am denying this affair because it never happened." In the post, Johnson said, "Never forget that Stormy Daniels said that the affair and ‘hush money’ never happened."

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

The criminal trial began with jury selection April 15. Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to Daniels made through Trump’s then-attorney Michael Cohen. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is prosecuting the case.

The Facebook posts linked to an April 10 article from conservative website Trending Politics News. The article called Daniels’ letter "a potentially game-changing document," noting that Trump shared it on Truth Social.

"Look what was just found! Will the fake news report it?" Trump said in the April 10 Truth Social post.

The posts omit that Daniels later recanted her statement denying the affair.

Daniels’ statement was first released Jan. 30, 2018, and it was widely reported on at the time.

Soon after the statement was released, Daniels began to cast doubt on it.

In an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show the same day the letter was released, Daniels said she didn’t know where the statement came from and suggested the signature on it was not hers.

The Associated Press reported Jan. 31, 2018, that Daniels’ publicist said Daniels signed the letter.

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On Feb. 14, 2018,  Daniels’ manager Gina Rodriguez told the AP that Daniels believed Cohen invalidated the nondisclosure agreement when he publicly confirmed making the $130,000 payment to her, so Daniels was free to tell her story.

Then, in March 2018, Daniels recanted her statement in a "60 Minutes" interview with Anderson Cooper, saying an affair had occurred. Daniels said her previous denials were because of a nondisclosure agreement and she felt pressured by her former attorney and former business manager to sign a statement denying the affair with Trump.

"So, you signed and released — a statement that said, ‘I am not denying this affair because I was paid in ‘hush money.’ I’m denying it because it never happened.’ That’s a lie?" Cooper asked Daniels in the interview.

Daniels replied, "Yes."

"If it was untruthful, why did you sign it?" Cooper asked.

Daniels responded: "Because they made it sound like I had no choice."

PolitiFact in 2023 fact-checked a claim that the 2018 letter "debunked" Bragg’s case and rated that False.

We rate the claim that a document shows Daniels "exonerated" Trump False.

RELATED: A fact-checker’s guide to Trump’s first criminal trial: business records, hush money and a gag order