Stormy Daniels' terrifying recollection of a parking-lot ultimatum wouldn't be the first reported threat from a Trump associate
- Porn star Stormy Daniels alleged that a man threatened her to leave future President Donald Trump alone in 2011.
- The alleged threat came after Trump's top lawyer reportedly worked to shelve an interview she provided to a tabloid about a what she has said was an affair with Trump.
- BuzzFeed has reported on similar past allegations involving such threats or intimidation.
- The top Trump lawyer, Michael Cohen, called on Daniels to "cease and desist" and apologize for suggesting the man who threatened her was connected to him.
- Cohen and the Trump Organization have called the past instances reported by BuzzFeed "utter nonsense" and "utterly false."
Porn star Stormy Daniels is not the first person to allege threatening or intimidating interactions with someone close to President Donald Trump.
At least two other similar instances were reported by BuzzFeed last year.
In her "60 Minutes" interview Sunday night, Daniels said she was approached by a man in Las Vegas weeks after she agreed to tell a sister publication of In Touch about what she has said was an affair affair with Trump. She says the affair took place after they met at a Lake Tahoe celebrity golf tournament in 2006.
The story, which was eventually published earlier this year after it was reported that top Trump lawyer Michael Cohen facilitated a $130,000 payment to Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election, did not run originally because Cohen reportedly threatened to sue the publication.
Weeks later, a man approached Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, in Las Vegas. Clifford said the man approached her in a parking lot just prior to a fitness class she was taking with her then-infant daughter.
"Leave Trump alone. Forget the story," she recalled the man saying. She said he leaned in, looked at her daughter, and said, "That's a beautiful little girl. It'd be a shame if something happened to her mom."
Daniels said she took the comment as a direct threat. She never saw the person again, she said, but said she would "100%" be able to recognize the person if she did. She said she did not report the incident to police because she was scared.
Cohen's response to the "60 Minutes" interview focused on that allegation. He demanded she "cease and desist" after she spoke of the affair and the threat to remain silent. Cohen's attorney demanded in a Sunday letter that Clifford apologize for implying that Cohen was behind that 2011 parking lot threat and insisted that she stop making "false and defamatory statements" about Cohen in the future.
On Monday morning, Clifford's lawyer, Michael Avenatti, told NBC News that the man Daniels said threatened her "had to be someone that is related to Mr. Trump or Mr. Cohen."
'We know where you live'
"My name is Carmine," the attorney, Kristopher Hansen, said, suggesting that the man was a Trump bodyguard. "I don't know why you're f------ with Mr. Trump but if you keep f------ with Mr. Trump, we know where you live and we're going to your house for your wife and kids."
FBI case notes showed the call was placed from a New York City telephone booth across the street from the Ed Sullivan Theater, where Trump was set to be a guest on David Letterman's "The Late Show" later that day.
Hansen said he was so fearful following the call that the Holmdel Township Police Department send a car to monitor his home over a three-day stretch. Hansen additionally reported the call to the FBI's Newark field office, and was interviewed by the bureau.
In response to the story, Cohen emailed a statement to BuzzFeed saying he was not personally aware of anyone named Carmine who provided Trump with security. He added that he was also unaware of any law enforcement inquiry into Hansen's story.
Accusations of holding a 12-year-old boy and mother against their will
A second instance involved Trump's security guards shoving, threatening, and holding a 12-year-old boy and his mother against their will in the 1990s, BuzzFeed reported.
The alleged incident occurred after the boy's father promised to bring forth allegations of financial impropriety and misconduct against the Trump Organization, according to the family's account in FBI records and court documents.
The man, Daut Bajrushi, was a superintendent at one of Trump's buildings and claimed he could prove misconduct at Trump Palace, the Upper East Side Manhattan skyscraper in which he worked. He believed he had evidence that showed the Trump Organization had ripped off homeowners to the tune of $300,000.
Just before he was set to reveal the information, he fell ill and had his wife and son go to his office to pick up his belongings. As his family was gathering paperwork, someone busted the lock with a screwdriver, and a team of Trump security officials entered the room, according to Bajrushi's lawsuit.
The situation went on for an hour and a half before police arrived and the two were released, according to the suit.
"The allegations, from over 20 years ago, are completely inaccurate, ridiculous and utterly false," a Trump Organization spokesperson wrote in a statement to BuzzFeed. "This individual was rightfully terminated following a thorough investigation."
In response to the family's lawsuit, Trump's namesake company claimed that Bajrushi was not a loyal employee and had both committed fraud and embezzled money. Bajrushi's wife, Hatizbe Bajrushi, was in his office to destroy any evidence of that fraud and embezzlement, the Trump Organization alleged.