Stormy liable for US$20mil, says Trump’s lawyer
LOS ANGELES: Donald Trump’s lawyer claims porn actress Stormy Daniels is liable for at least US$20mil (RM78mil) for violating a nondisclosure agreement she says prevents her from discussing an affair with the president, according to a court filing.
A lawyer for Michael Cohen’s Essential Consultants limited liability company – which paid Daniels US$130,000 (RM508,680) under the agreement – made the filing, which said that Daniels violated the deal “at least” 20 times.
“The Settlement Agreement provides for liquidated damages of US$1mil (RM3.9mil) per instance of breach,” the court filing says.
Daniels signed the agreement pertaining to an alleged affair a decade earlier shortly before the 2016 election, leading to allegations that the payment amounted to an illicit contribution to Trump’s campaign. Lawyer Michael Avenatti filed a lawsuit on behalf of Daniels – whose real name Stephanie Clifford – earlier this month seeking to toss out the confidential settlement.
The suit alleged that Daniels began an “intimate relationship” with Trump in the summer of 2006 that continued well into 2007.
On July 12, court proceedings will get under way to decide whether Daniels can dissolve the agreement.
The White House has denied any sexual encounter between Trump and Daniels – who has offered to return the US$130,000 she received so that she can be free to “speak openly and freely about her prior relationship with the president and the attempts to silence her.”
She is also asking to be allowed to publish text messages, photos and videos relating to the president, Avenatti said in a letter to Cohen.