In the ongoing saga of Trump’s illicit affair with porn star Stephanie Clifford, aka Stormy Daniels, a new twist has emerged. Trump’s mistress is now taking legal action against him, and the timing couldn’t be worse for the beleaguered president.
According to NBC News:
‘Adult film star Stormy Daniels sued Donald Trump Tuesday, alleging that he never signed the nondisclosure agreement that his lawyer had arranged with her.
‘The civil suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by NBC News, alleges that her agreement not to disclose her “intimate” relationship with Trumpis not valid because while both Daniels and Trump’s attorney Michael Cohensigned it, Trump never did.’
FULL STORY: Stormy Daniels, the adult film star, sued President Trump, saying that her agreement not to disclose their "intimate" relationship was invalid because he did not sign it. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, was obtained by @NBCNews. https://t.co/4ROELsLigr
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 7, 2018
The lawsuit alleges that the nondisclosure agreement is invalid and the intimidation tactics used by Trump associates, including his lawyer, Michael Cohen, against Clifford are illegal. That intimidation has continued in recent days.
https://twitter.com/MichaelAvenatti/status/971186073517940737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Fpolitics%2Fdonald-trump%2Fstormy-daniels-sues-trump-says-hush-agreement-invalid-because-he-n854246
Cohen had previously confirmed that the money was paid to Clifford out of his own pocket just days before the election when he couldn’t reach Trump for the funds, but it was further revealed on Sunday that he complained about not having been reimbursed.
Michael Cohen's large payment to Stormy Daniels was labeled as suspicious by his bank. Cohen is also reported to have said he couldn't get ahold of Trump around the election as he needs to be reimbursed. https://t.co/TGODosfC5H #StormyDaniels
— NewsandGuts (@NewsandGuts) March 6, 2018
Clifford’s lawyer told reporters:
‘To be clear, the attempts to intimidate Ms. Clifford into silence and ‘shut her up’ in order to ‘protect Mr. Trump’ continue unabated. On or about February 27, 2018, Mr. Trump’s attorney Mr. Cohen surreptitiously initiated a bogus arbitration proceeding against Ms. Clifford in Los Angeles.” Binding arbitration is specified as a means of dispute resolution.’
BREAKING: Stormy’s suit is more evidence for our @CREWcrew complaint that Trump broke the law by failing to disclose info re the agreement on his SF-278 federal disclosures. For God’s sake, there was a signature line for him in the docs under a fake name! https://t.co/hZAOfk21rG https://t.co/wiAlVtgXqz
— Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) March 7, 2018
Trump is specifically named in the lawsuit because his lawyer is acting on his behalf.
‘The suit also says that Trump must know that Cohen is trying to silence Clifford, since rules for the New York bar, of which Cohen is a member, require him to keep his client informed at all times. “[I]t strains credulity to conclude that Mr. Cohen is acting on his own accord and without the express approval and knowledge of his client Mr. Trump.”‘
The president has never answered questions or addressed reports of the affair, and the White House had no comment when approached by reporters.
Featured image via Getty/Gabe Ginsberg