According to the report, Trump is trying to negotiate another hush money deal with Stormy Daniels before the election

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email to get exclusive U.S. reporting and analysis delivered to your inbox

Get our free Inside Washington email

Donald Trump has attempted to negotiate another hush money deal with adult film star Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence ahead of the 2024 presidential election, according to a report.

The former president's lawyers allegedly sent Daniels an offer that would lower the amount she owed him in a defamation lawsuit if she agreed not to make “defamatory or derogatory statements” about him.

The details were revealed in a special report by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, who received calls, documents and emails about the deal.

“Twenty days before this election, we can report that he is once again trying to pay Stormy Daniels to be quiet,” she said in a special broadcast Wednesday night.

In 2016, Trump's then-lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen paid Daniels a separate $130,000 hush money payment to keep her quiet about an alleged affair a decade earlier, when Trump was first running for the White House.

That payment was at the center of Trump's criminal trial in New York this spring. Daniels took the stand at his trial, and on May 30, Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records related to the payment.

His sentencing was originally scheduled for September 18, but is now expected to take place on November 26 – just weeks after the November 5 election.

Separate from the criminal case, Daniels sued the former president for defamation in 2018. She ultimately lost and was ordered to pay Trump's legal fees.

Following the criminal verdict, Trump's lawyer in Florida then tried to negotiate “another hush money deal” with the former porn star – involving the amounts owed in the defamation case, Maddow reported.

In a letter sent in July and obtained by the network, Trump's lawyers told Daniels's: “We do not believe that a payment of $620,000 would constitute full satisfaction of the three judgments.”

“However, we can agree to settle these matters for $620,000, provided your client agrees in writing to refrain from making any public or private statements related to alleged past interactions with President Trump or any defamatory or derogatory statements about him or his business.” and/or to give up any partners or his suitability as a presidential candidate.”

Citing a call from Daniels' lawyers, Maddow said that Trump and his lawyer “apparently planned this time to launder the new hush money payment to Stormy Daniels by paying a court judgment.”

“They would act as if Stormy Daniels owed Trump less money than they actually believed if she also signed an agreement not to talk about Trump,” she explained.

Audio of a phone call between Daniels and her attorney shows him saying, “They want to make a deal where they keep you quiet.”

Daniels rejected the deal but settled the case for $627,500, MSNBC reported.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told MSNBC that the “alleged documents were obtained as part of an illegal foreign hacking attack against President Trump and his team.”

The Independent has contacted spokespeople for Trump and Daniels for more information.