Earlier this year, after a cascade of scandals had already impacted the Trump presidency, it came out that Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen had facilitated a payment of $130,000 to an adult film star in an effort to keep her quiet about an alleged affair with his client, the man who is now president.
Cohen has claimed that the money and its associated nondisclosure agreement were all his own doing and that the president had nothing to do with it, but the adult film star — Stephanie Clifford aka Stormy Daniels — claims otherwise, although it’s mostly her lawyer Michael Avenatti doing the talking. Clifford is suing to be released from the nondisclosure agreement associated with the cash, claiming that it’s invalid because the president never even signed it.
Avenatti now has new revelations that call into question just how isolated and offset of an incident that it really was for Cohen to have facilitated the NDA and hush money to his client. The lawyer says that he has been approached by six women who have stories similar to his client’s, and although he has insisted that the women’s stories still need to be fully vetted, he’s said that he’s seen nondisclosure agreements held by at least two of them.
He revealed as much during appearances both on Thursday night’s edition of Anderson Cooper 360 and Friday morning’s edition of CNN’s New Day. Although he has made it clear that all of the allegations he’s learned of involve the president, he has not revealed the names of the women he’s been approached by or many specific circumstances of their alleged relationships with the president.
Avenatti has made no commitments to represent any of the women he’s been approached by, although the implication seems to be that in the future, pending the verification of their stories, he could decide to do so.
In the presently prominent case involving Stephanie Clifford, Avenatti is remaining defiant and undeterred in his efforts to score a win for his client in the face of efforts to silence her.
During his Friday appearance on New Day, he said that efforts to silence his client had reached the point of her being physically threatened over her commitment to the truth getting out. Although he did not provide details about the threat, he said that details would be included in Clifford’s sit down with 60 Minutes, which is set to air later this month.
A question that remains through all of this is whether or not the president was truly aware of the nondisclosure agreement Clifford signed and the hush money associated with it. If he was — and if he was similarly aware of the alleged nondisclosure agreements that women who have spoken to Avenatti privately signed — it would square up with his past behavior.
He has literally been caught on tape bragging about his supposed freedom to commit sexual assault, so for him, pressuring women to stay quiet about their relationships with him would be nothing.
https://youtu.be/tl5HJBnPitU
Also, remember that besides the allegations of the affair with Clifford and possible affairs with others, he’s credibly alleged to be guilty of actual sexual assault and harassment.
So, again, seeking to silence women who have had relationships with him would no doubt not be that big of a deal for him.
Featured Image via Kevin Dietsch-Pool/ Getty Images
