Clifford told the Bolton Evening News: "He's got absolutely nothing to hide and, hopefully, over the next month or two we can get that message across far and wide.
"I'll be speaking to newspaper editors and TV people urging them to give him the right platform so that he can answer all the things that have been said and written about him recently.
"Image does matter. It matters to him and that is one of the reasons for him coming to me. A lot of people in Bolton and across the country have been good to him and he has been overwhelmed by that.
"Sam came to see me and said he owed it to the people of Bolton, and to other people around the country who have been supportive of him, to stand up and say exactly what he is all about and what has gone on.
"He wants to stand up and be counted and I can totally understand that."