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Lie detector test indicates Stormy Daniels truthful about Trump affair

In the opinion of the polygraph examiner, Daniels was truthful about having unprotected sex with Donald Trump in July 2006.

Adult film actress Stormy Daniels underwent a polygraph exam in 2011 about her relationship with Donald Trump, and the examiner found there was a more than 99 percent probability she told the truth when she said they had unprotected sex in 2006, according to a copy of the report obtained by NBC News Tuesday.

Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, took the lie detector test at the request of a magazine that interviewed her in 2011, but didn’t publish the content at the time.

The report is accompanied by a sworn declaration from the examiner, signed on Monday, March 19, 2018, attesting to the polygraph report’s authenticity. Details of the report were first published by The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

Image: Stormy Daniels during a polygraph exam conducted in May 2011
Michael Avenatti, lawyer for Stormy Daniels (Stephanie Clifford), has confirmed to NBC News that this photo is a from a video of Daniels during a polygraph exam conducted in May 2011 at which she was asked about her relationship with Donald Trump.via NBC News

Michael Avenatti, Clifford's attorney, has confirmed to NBC News that this photo is a from a video of Clifford taken during a polygraph exam conducted in May 2011 at which she was asked about her relationship with Trump.

"Long before Mr. Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency, Ms. Clifford passed a lie detector test confirming her relationship with Mr. Trump," Avenatti said. "Where are his test results claiming otherwise? Where are Mr. Cohen’s test results claiming otherwise? When this is over, the American people will know the truth about the relationship and the cover-up."

In an interview with NBC News today, Avenatti confirmed that he paid $25,000 to purchase the video of the polygraph exam along with related documentation.

“The reason why we did that was because we caught wind of the fact that there were number of third parties, some in the mainstream media, that were attempting to purchase the video and the file for use in what I would describe as nefarious activities," Avenatti said. "We purchased the materials and the video to make sure that they were maintained from an evidentiary standpoint for potential use in the case.”

Clifford is now locked in a legal battle with Trump and his team over a nondisclosure agreement she signed shortly before the 2016 election in exchange for $130,000.

The White House and Trump's attorney have denied that the president had a sexual relationship with Clifford. Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, says he "facilitated" the $130,000 payment with his personal funds and was not reimbursed by the Trump Organization or the campaign. Earlier this month, Clifford sued Trump, saying the secrecy agreement she signed isn’t valid because he never signed it. Trump and Cohen has since moved the suit to federal court and want a judge to push the matter into private arbitration.

Years before the agreement, Daniels gave an interview to InTouch magazine, which has said that she passed a polygraph. Details of that exam, however, have not been released until now.

The report, prepared by a Las Vegas company called Western Security Consultants, says the purpose of the polygraph examination was to "determine if Ms. Clifford had vaginal intercourse with Donald Trump in July 2006."

The examiner asked her a series of questions, three of which were relevant to the alleged affair:

"Around July 2006, did you have vaginal intercourse with Donald Trump?"

"Around July 2006, did you have unprotected sex with Donald Trump?"

"Did Trump say he would get you on 'The Apprentice'?"

Clifford answered "yes" to all three, according to the report.

The examiner used two methods to analyze the data, according to his report. The first, using an algorithm the report said was developed by Johns Hopkins University, found there was a 1 percent chance of deception for the three answers. A second analysis method found there was adequate evidence Clifford was telling the truth on the first two questions, and it was inconclusive for the third, according to the report.

The White House and Cohen did not immediately respond to request for comment about the polygraph results.

The report says the exam was requested by Life & Style, a sister publication of InTouch. Former employees of publisher Bauer told the Associated Press the interview with Clifford did not run in 2011 because Cohen threatened the magazine with legal action.

They did publish it in February, after news of the $130,000 payment to Clifford broke. In it, Clifford described meeting Trump — who was already married to Melania — at a charity event in Lake Tahoe and having sex in his hotel room.

In her lawsuit, she said only that they had an "intimate" relationship that began in 2006 and continued in 2007. She has taped an interview with “60 Minutes” that is scheduled to air on Sunday.

Cohen and his attorney have warned that they consider Clifford in breach of the 2016 nondisclosure agreement and a temporary restraining order they secretly obtained before her lawsuit was filed.

Court papers filed by the Trump team Friday say she is liable for $1 million in damages each time she violates the terms and is already on the hook for $20 million.

Although the White House has sought to distance the president from the Clifford dispute — press secretary Sarah Sanders said she doesn’t think he knew about the $130,000 payment — Trump consented to move the matter from state court to federal court in California.

Also on Tuesday, a former Playboy model who alleged she had an affair with Trump sued to be released from the 2016 agreement she signed with American Media Inc., the parent company of the tabloid The National Inquirer, NBC News confirmed.

The New York Times was the first to report that Karen McDougal, who went public in The New Yorker last month with what she says was a nine-month affair with Trump beginning in 2006, had taken legal action in order to try and invalidate the agreement, which her lawyers say is "illegitimate." AMI, whose CEO and chairman, David Pecker, is a Trump supporter who has reportedly described the president as a "personal friend," purchased the rights to her story but never published it, effectively silencing her, McDougal confirmed to The New Yorker.

A White House spokesperson denied that Trump had a relationship with McDougal, calling her claim "fake news."