The Texas Secretary of State’s office is investigating the notary who stamped her approval on an adult film star’s non-disclosure agreement regarding an alleged fair with President Donald Trump, the Dallas Morning News reported Monday.
By now, that agreement is well known: Porn actress Stephanie Clifford, known professionally as Stormy Daniels, received $130,000 to stay mum about the alleged sexual relationship. Clifford has argued forcefully in recent weeks that she has the right to tell her story because Trump didn’t sign the document, and she’s launched a publicity tour reportedly to include a “60 Minutes” appearance.
But the News reported Monday on yet another complication with the agreement: According to a letter from the Texas Secretary of State’s office obtained by the paper, Erica Jackson, the notary public whose stamp appears on the non-disclosure agreement, did not sign or date it. Jackson also failed provide a required notarial certificate confirming that the people signing the document were who they claimed to be, the letter said.
“Attaching your seal to a document without a notarial certificate constitutes good cause for the secretary of state to take action against your notary commission,” wrote Maria Y. Morales of the Secretary of State’s office in the letter, which was attached to a formal complaint.
Jackson told the News Friday that she didn’t recall the document and declined to be interviewed, the paper said.
Notably, the non-disclosure agreement used fake names to refer to Clifford and Trump: Peggy Peterson and David Dennison, respectively. While Clifford’s signature appears above “PP,” Trump’s does not appear above “DD,” which Clifford argued last week invalidates the agreement.
Clifford’s lawyer, Michael J. Avenatti, told the News that Trump’s missing signature was still “the issue […] not any issue involving a notary.”
