Against Trump lawyer day after high-ratings interview
Daniels made in the interview last night were accurate.”
Asked if Trump believed Daniels was threatened, Shah said, “No, he does not.”
Daniels’ 60 Minutes appearance also drew a denial from the President’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, that he was involved in the alleged threat of violence against her.
Daniels originally sued Trump on March 6, saying he never signed an agreement for her to stay silent about what she called their “intimate” re- lationship. Yesterday’s filing in US District Court in Los Angeles amended the original lawsuit to say Daniels was defamed.
Her attorney, Michael Avenatti, said Cohen “meant to convey that Ms Clifford is a liar, someone who should not be trusted, and that her claims about her relationship with Mr Trump” were not true.
Daniels’ defamation allegation was based on a February 13 statement by Cohen that she said hurt her reputation.
The latest filing also said US$130,000 ($178,195) Cohen paid Daniels in October 2016 just before the presidential election to secure her silence amounted to an illegal campaign contribution, and that the agreement should be declared void.
Cohen has said he paid Daniels out of his own pocket, but has not explained why or if Trump was aware of the payment.
Trump, meanwhile, has exercised uncharacteristic public restraint following the interview.
But privately, according to the Washington Post, the President has lobbed sharp attacks at Daniels and her media tour, calling her allegations a “hoax” and asking confidants if the episode is hurting his poll numbers. The president even has griped to several people that Daniels is not the type of woman he finds attractive.
The closest Trump skirted to weighing in came in a tweet yesterday that did not reference Daniels or the interview, but generally decried what he said were a spate of false media reports.
“So much Fake News,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Never been more voluminous or more inaccurate. But through it all, our country is doing great!” — Reuters