Stormy: Call me a liar in court, Mr President
STORMY Daniels’ lawyer issued a direct challenge to Donald Trump yesterday to deny the porn star’s sex claims in a court of law.
Michael Avenatti said the president should “take to the podium and call her a liar” if he insisted on saying the affair with Ms Daniels did not happen.
He said: “She was prepared to discuss intimate details relating to Mr Trump. She can describe his genitalia.
“She can describe conversations that they had that leave no doubt as to whether this woman is telling the truth.”
He added: “And if she’s not telling the truth, let the president take to the podium and call her a liar.” Mr Trump could be forced to testify under oath, placing his presidency in jeopardy if he is caught out.
Ms Daniels’ legal team is planning to lodge a motion in which the president will have to give a deposition and be grilled about his relationship with the mum-of-one.
Mr Avenatti said he would not focus on the alleged sex between the two in 2006, but on who directed the £94,000 hush-money agreement she signed days before the 2016 US poll.
The president has not responded to the 60 Minutes interview, but yesterday tweeted: “So much Fake News. Never been more voluminous or more inaccurate. But through it all, our country is doing great.”
Mr Avenatti believes Mr Trump has backed himself into a corner after his legal team tried to move a lawsuit filed by Ms Daniels to a federal court.
The adult actress had sued the 71-year-old in LA’s Superior Court of California claiming that, as he had not signed their non-disclosure agreement, it was “null and void”.
But the move by Mr Trump’s lawyers could backfire as, according to experts, a federal judge is far more likely to order the president to sit for a deposition than a state judge.
Ms Daniels, 39, says she had unprotected sex with the president and smacked his bottom with a magazine that featured a photo him on the cover. Meanwhile, Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer, yesterday sent Ms Daniels a cease and desist letter.
His legal team wrote to Mr Avenatti over an alleged incident in 2011 where Ms Daniels was threatened by a thug in a Las Vegas car park to stop her talking about Mr Trump.
The letter claimed Ms Daniels made false and defamatory comments in suggesting Mr Cohen sent the heavy.
It continued: “In truth, Mr Cohen had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with any such person or incident.”
Ms Daniels hit back by suing Mr Cohen, saying he was calling her a liar.