(CNN) President Donald Trump's longtime attorney denied that Trump had a sexual encounter with a porn star after a report by The Wall Street Journal on Friday alleged the lawyer helped facilitate a six-figure payment to the actress in October 2016 in exchange for her silence. Michael Cohen, Trump's personal attorney, said the President "vehemently denies" the encounter, but did not address the alleged payment in a statement to CNN. Cohen denies the sexual encounter took place. "President Trump once again vehemently denies any such occurrence as has Ms. Cohen, once one of Trump's most trusted aides, is no longer in regular contact with Trump -- a distance forced by the Russia investigations, in which Cohen has been entangled.

Source: CNN January 12, 2018 23:26 UTC