Trump ends the charade, directly engages in Stormy Daniels lawsuit

Donald Trump and those closest to him have tried to “intimidate and bully” adult film star Stormy Daniels, according to her attorney, who said a move by the president to file a $20 million lawsuit filed against her late Friday is just the latest example. In an interview with MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti said the lawsuit is an attempt to silence Daniels, who says she had an affair with Trump in 2006. A separate legal motion filed by Trump’s attorneys late Friday also seeks to change the venue of a lawsuit filed by Daniels from state court to federal court. Both maneuvers, Avenatti said, clearly aim to keep the growing scandal out of the public eye. “They want this matter decided by a private arbitrator in a conference room in a private office building, as opposed to a public court house that is open to the people where people can actually judge for themselves the facts and the evidence,” Avenatti told O’Donnell. Earlier Friday, Avenatti told the Morning Joe show on MSNBC that Daniels — whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford — had been “physically threatened” by the president’s handlers. Daniels is expected to elaborate on those alleged threats in a 60 Minutes interview scheduled for Sunday, March 25. JUST IN: Stormy Daniels' lawyer Michael Avenatti tells @Morning_Joe that his client has been "physically threatened." "I think it will become apparent to people when they tune in to 60 minutes … the details related to the threat." pic.twitter.com/l3xGXjciS4 — MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 16, 2018 “I think it will become apparent to people when they tune in to 60 Minutes … the details related to the threat,” Avenatti said on Morning Joe. Daniels says she had an affair with Trump in 2006 and, days before the 2016 election, was paid $130,000 by a shell company set up by Trump’s personal attorney to keep quiet. The payment may have violated federal election law. Trump and his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, are trying to get the lawsuit by Daniels transferred to federal court. They claim she’s on the hook for at least $20 million for violating a secrecy agreement signed just before the election. In their court filing, attorneys for Trump as well as Cohen’s company, Essential Consultants LLC stated that Cohen’s company is aware of at least 20 violations by Daniels of the confidentiality provisions of a settlement agreement over the alleged affair. Stormy Daniels’ lawyer says 6 other women have come forward with similar stories At least two, he says, have non-disclosure agreements with Trump. Attorney Charles Harder — best known for representing Hulk Hogan in a successful lawsuit against Gawker, which resulted in its bankruptcy — is reportedly handling the legal case against Daniels on the president’s behalf. Avenatti told CNN Saturday that he had only learned the previous day that Harder had joined the legal team representing the president. Despite the newly-bolstered legal firepower aimed at his client, Avenatti said he is “not going to stand for” attempts by Trump to “gag and muzzle” Daniels’ telling of the affair. Stormy's lawyer Michael Avenatti on @TheLastWord reacts to news that Trump is trying to move lawsuit to federal court: "I'm not at all surprised … they do not want this matter public… this is more of the same … their attempts to gag and muzzle my client." pic.twitter.com/oT6CGnG13a — MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 17, 2018 Daniels sued Trump last week in California state court in an attempt to get the agreement nullified. One of the reasons she cited is that Trump, who went by the alias David Dennison in the nondisclosure pact, did not sign it. Avenatti noted how jaw-dropping it is that Cohen has a client — the president of the United States — who is using an alias to mask his identity in a case involving an X-rated actress. “I don’t think there has ever been in an instance in the history of the United States where you had a sitting president who undertook a personal vendetta against a private U.S. citizen who was merely looking for an opportunity to tell her version of events,” Avenatti told MSNBC Friday night. “It’s frightening, quite honestly.” source: https://thinkprogress.org/stormy-daniels-attorney-alleges-intimidation-e3874add0a78/ #Headlines by: Mark Hand

Original Post: https://thinkprogress.org/stormy-daniels-attorney-alleges-intimidation-e3874add0a78/