Stormy Daniels Sues Trump’s Lawyer Michael Cohen for Defamation
Stormy Daniels is suing Donald Trump‘s lawyer Michael Cohen for allegedly defaming her by questioning her claims of a sexual relationship with the now-president.
In court documents filed by her lawyer Michael Avenatti and obtained by PEOPLE on Monday, porn star Daniels, who was born Stephanie Clifford, states Cohen and Trump “aggressively sought to silence her” from talking about the alleged affair with Trump in 2006.
Cohen admitted in February to paying Daniels $130,000 out of his own pocket one month before the 2016 presidential election as part of a nondisclosure agreement, which is being investigated as a potential illegal campaign contribution.
Along with his admission, Cohen publicly released a statement saying, “Just because something isn’t true doesn’t mean that it can’t cause you harm or damage. I will always protect Mr. Trump.”
In the recent lawsuit, Daniels is claiming that Cohen’s statement is defamatory.
“It was reasonably understood Mr. 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 is ‘something that isn’t true.’ Mr. Cohen’s statement exposed Ms. Clifford to hatred, contempt, ridicule, and shame, and discouraged others from associating or dealing with her,” the lawsuit states.
“Ms. Clifford has suffered damages … including but not limited to, harm to her reputation, emotional harm, exposure to contempt, ridicule, and shame, and physical threats to violence to her person and life,” the court document adds.
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Daniels’ lawsuit comes one day after she confirmed in Sunday night’s 60 Minutes interview that she had a consensual sexual encounter with the-then Celebrity Apprentice host.
She also claimed she was threatened by a “thug,” who approached her and her infant daughter in 2011 and threatened her to stay silent about the alleged affair.
WATCH: Trump Sexual Assault Accusers Find Unlikely Heroine in Stormy Daniels: ‘She’s Got a Lot of Guts’
On Monday, Cohen’s attorney, Brent Blakely, subsequently emailed Avenatti denying that Cohen sent the “thug” and expressed doubt that the incident even took place, according to USA Today. Blakely also sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding that Daniels and Avenatti stop “making any further false and defamatory statements” about his client Cohen.
In the letter obtained by PEOPLE, Blakely further demands that Daniels and Avenatti “retract and apologize to Mr. Cohen through the national media for your defamatory statements on 60 Minutes, and make clear that you have no facts or evidence whatsoever to support your allegations that my client had anything whatsoever to do with this alleged thug.”
Avenatti dismissed the letter in an interview with CNN on Monday, saying “we’re just getting started” with revelations. He said he did not believe the police were investigating the alleged threat against Daniels but added, “I think they should, I think it’s a serious matter.”
The White House and Cohen have denied the president had an affair with Daniels
