If adult film actress Stormy Daniels is allowed to sue Donald Trump, it could spell big trouble for Trump—even more trouble than you’d expect from a story headlined “porn star sues president over affair, hush money.” The “if” at the beginning of that last sentence is a big one, since presidents get a raft of protections the rest of us don’t, but as anyone who lived through the 1990s will know, those protections aren’t absolute. And if Daniels does get to sue, there are a couple of major danger zones for Trump:
But if her court case proceeds, Mr. Trump and his longtime personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, may have to testify in depositions, several lawyers said in interviews on Thursday. Ms. Clifford’s suit could possibly also provide evidence of campaign spending violations, which would bolster a pending Federal Election Commission complaint against Mr. Trump’s campaign. [...]
“A lawsuit opens the door, and judges almost always allow for a plaintiff to have a fishing expedition,” said Robert S. Bennett, the Washington lawyer who represented Mr. Clinton in the Paula Jones case. The questions could include, “Have you paid other people money?” he said.
And then there’s the ever-present danger of perjury any time Trump is under oath for any reason whatsoever.
The funny thing is, if Trump had paid other women money either to have affairs or to cover them up, that could potentially undo the argument that Cohen paid Daniels hush money specifically to help Trump in the 2016 election. But even if Trump’s extremely Christian supporters will never ever hit a breaking point in the conflict between their supposed morals and their support for him, such information could possibly cost him a fair amount in a divorce settlement.