Judge denies Stormy Daniels’ bid to expedite Trump case
A federal judge on Thursday denied a request from Stormy Daniels, who says she was paid to remain silent about an affair with President Donald Trump, to expedite a jury trial in her lawsuit against the president.
The request for an expedited jury trial and limited discovery — including a deposition of Trump and his personal attorney, Michael Cohen — was deemed “premature and must be denied” because some questions may wind up being answered by a future petition from Trump and Cohen, wrote Judge S. James Otero of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
The ruling looked like a temporary setback for Daniels’ case, but it also opens Trump’s legal team to exposure.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, filed a lawsuit against Trump earlier this month, asking the court to declare her nondisclosure agreement reached in the final days of the 2016 presidential election invalid because the then-Republican candidate never signed it. The judge’s denial came a little more than a day after Michael Avenatti, an attorney for Daniels, filed the motion seeking to depose Trump and Cohen in the case. Cohen has said he paid Daniels the $130,000 out of his own funds, while the White House has denied that Trump had an affair with Daniels.
In his filing, Avenatti argued that his side told attorneys for Trump and Cohen last week that they would seek “limited discovery on an expedited basis” in the case that included deposing both Trump and Cohen as well as requesting certain documents. Avenatti wrote in the filing that the attorneys for Trump and Cohen “contend that no discovery should be conducted in the case, and no trial should be set, because the case should be summarily ordered to arbitration.”
Cohen has claimed in court filings that he has a right to seek at least $20 million in damages from Daniels for violating the nondisclosure agreement. Court filings made on behalf of Cohen’s limited liability company, Essential Consultants, and Trump also said they intended to push the case back into arbitration, which would be shielded from the public eye.
“While [Essential Consultants] and Mr. Trump have stated their intention to file a petition to compel arbitration, they have not yet done so,” Otero wrote in his order Thursday. “If such a of petition the questions were filed, raised a number in plaintiff ’s motion may be answered in the petition, thus limiting the need for discovery on these issues. If such a petition is never filed, plaintiff ’s motion is moot. Accordingly, plaintiff ’s motion is premature and must be denied.”