OAN Fully Retracts Debunked Story Alleging Michael Cohen Had An Affair With Stormy Daniels
Far-right cable news network, One America News, published a full retraction on Monday of a March 27th article regarding former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.
The retraction came following Cohen retaining the same legal counsel used by Dominion Voting Systems who sued Fox News and secured a settlement of $787.5 million in damages.
“OAN today has retracted its March 27 article entitled ‘Whistleblower: Avenatti Alleged Cohen Daniels Affair Since 2006, Pre-2016 Trump Extortion Plan,’ and is taking it down from all sites and removing it from all social media. This retraction is part of a settlement reached with Michael Cohen. Mr. Avenatti has denied making the allegations. OAN apologizes to Mr. Cohen for any harm the publication may have caused him,” read the opening paragraph of the retraction posted to OAN’s website.
The settlement with Cohen, procured by Justin Nelson, did not include any money paid to Cohen. The retraction made absolutely clear, however, that the article was false and included a line in all-caps that read, “NO PERSON SHOULD RELY ON THE MARCH 27 ARTICLE OR THE ALLEGATIONS CONTAINED THEREIN.”
“The article, quoting a source, falsely claimed that Mr. Cohen and Ms. Daniels ‘were having an affair since 2006’ and that, according to a source, ‘the whole hush money scheme was cooked up by [Mr. Cohen] to extort the Trump Organization before the 2016 election.’ These statements were false. OAN regrets their publication,” added the retraction.
Cohen is currently a key witness in DA Alvin Bragg’s case against Donald Trump over allegedly falsified business documents related to various hush money payments, including to porn star Stormy Daniels.
OAN, a pro-Trump network known for spinning conspiracy theories, appeared to be trying to discredit Cohen ahead of his testifying at the trial by insinuating that he and Daniels were both involved in some kind of scheme to damage Trump and extort him.
Read the full retraction here.
