White House downplays Stormy Daniels lawsuit
Former adult movie star sues President Trump to invalidate non-disclosure agreement; Kevin Corke reports from Washington.
Adult film star Stormy Daniels sued President Trump on Tuesday, claiming the nondisclosure agreement she signed isn’t valid because it lacks Trump’s signature.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court. The complaint, which was posted online by her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, alleges the “Hush Agreement” — as it’s referred to in the lawsuit — Daniels signed regarding her relationship with Trump is invalid because he never signed it himself.
Daniels and Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, signed the non-disclosure agreement on Oct. 28, 2016, the suit said. Trump was elected president less than two weeks later.
A copy of the agreement shows Daniels, identified as “Peggy Peterson,” signed the paperwork, but Trump, identified as “David Dennison,” did not.
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The lawsuit claims the two had an “intimate relationship” during the summer of 2006 in Lake Tahoe, and it continued “well into the year 2007.” Daniels and Trump reportedly met at least once “in a bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel” during this time.
Cohen admitted last month that he paid Daniels $130,000 out of his own pocket in October 2016 to keep mum about her relationship with Trump. He said the payment was lawful and not a campaign contribution or campaign expenditure “by anyone.”
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“Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly,” a statement from Cohen read.
After Cohen released that statement, Daniels said the “hush agreement” was invalid.
“Everything is off now, and Stormy is going to tell her story,” Daniels’ manager, Gina Rodriguez, said.
Trump vehemently denies the affair, Cohen has said. A recent statement attributed to Daniels also denied the encounter, though she later seemed to challenge whether the statement originated from her.
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The adult film actress first detailed her account of an alleged extramarital affair with Trump in 2011 on the celebrity website The Dirty, and it was picked up before the 2016 election by The Smoking Gun.
In Touch Weekly published a 2011 interview last month in which the actress — whom the magazine said passed a polygraph exam — claimed the two had sex on one occasion and described subsequent in-person meetings, phone calls and discussions about a possible TV appearance.
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