New Details of Trump Pulling the Strings in Stormy Daniels Hush Money Agreement

Stormy Daniels almost walked away from her secret hush money deal with Donald Trump, but Michael Cohen assured her the deal was solid and all he needed was Trump's approval ... this according to sources connected to the transaction.

The Manhattan U.S. Attorney has concluded Donald Trump ordered Cohen to pay Daniels $130,000 in return for her silence over their alleged sexual liaison. The U.S. Attorney says the payment was a felonious violation of campaign finance laws.

Our sources say, after Daniels' lawyer and Cohen negotiated the deal she signed in October 2016, days passed and Cohen had not put his pen to paper. We're told Daniels was frustrated and felt she was being double-crossed, and wanted to sell the story.

We're told Cohen assured Daniels' rep that his signature was forthcoming. We're told Cohen said the hangup was that his client was traveling, he was unable to get in touch with him and he needed final approval which he assured would happen when his client returned to New York.

There's no question ... Cohen's client was Donald Trump.

We're told at least one of Daniels' reps recounted the story to the FBI over the summer.