Stormy Daniels is playing Donald Trump at his own game.
The adult movie star, who claims she had an affair with Trump and was paid $130,000 to stay quiet before the election by the President's lawyer, has drawn the White House into a politically damaging sexual melodrama.
Daniels turned her case from a side show muffled by multiple controversies battering the administration into a West Wing headache using methods that Trump, the high priest of self publicity, would recognize.
Building buzz with the garish theatrics of a reality show protagonist and offering suggestive interviews that hinted at hidden bombshells, Daniels then weaponized the courts to target a foe who has no desire to fight.
hat's how White House press secretary Sarah Sanders found herself sparring Wednesday with reporters demanding to know if her boss was trying to silence the porn star after an alleged liaison a decade ago.
Her answers only prolonged the drama and exacerbated its political toll. Trump was furious with Sanders over her responses on Wednesday, a source close to the White House told CNN's Jim Acosta.
"Sarah gave the Stormy Daniels storyline steroids yesterday," the source said.
Among the questions left hanging on Thursday morning: Did Trump's team try to stop a damaging scandal emerge just before the 2016 election? Did Trump know about the payment himself? Is the President still involved in what Daniels' lawyer says is an ongoing attempt to intimidate her?
If the mess isn't cleared up soon, it could ding Trump's already compromised image ahead of midterm elections that are crucial to his political fate.
There is so far no evidence of wrongdoing by the President and he has denied the alleged affair.
But as details emerge of a covert litigation battle between Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen and Daniels' representatives, Trump, already fuming at a special counsel probe, could find himself in yet more legal peril.
