Trump calls sketch released by Daniels 'a total con job'

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump said Wednesday that a porn actress is pulling "a total con job" by promoting an artist's sketch of a man she says threatened her to keep silent about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump years ago.

The sketch depicts a white male in his 30s or 40s and carries a description of him as "lean but fit." Stormy Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, said in an ABC interview Tuesday that it's the man who menaced her and her young daughter and warned her in 2011 to stay quiet about a 2006 tryst with Trump.

In an early morning tweet from his Palm Beach estate, Trump said: "A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!"

Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti shot back on Twitter, calling Trump a "completely unhinged, undisciplined opponent who is prone to shooting himself in the foot." He added: "Always leads to BIGLY problems."

?Avenatti has increased a $100,000 reward to $131,000 for information leading to the man's identification. The figure could be a reference to the $130,000 that Daniels says she received from Trump's lawyer attorney, Michael Cohen, just before the 2016 election for her silence. Daniels is seeking to invalidate the nondisclosure agreement.

The case took on new significance last week when FBI agents raided Cohen's office, looking for information on topics including the payment to Daniels.

Trump answered questions about Daniels for the first time recently, saying he had no knowledge of the payment made by Cohen and didn't know where Cohen had gotten the money. The White House has consistently said Trump denies the affair.