Senior Trump Organization lawyer signed Stormy Daniels gag-order documents

Emily Shugerman
Updated
The actress Stephanie Clifford, who uses the stage name Stormy Daniels, arrives to perform at the Solid Gold Fort Lauderdale strip club: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The actress Stephanie Clifford, who uses the stage name Stormy Daniels, arrives to perform at the Solid Gold Fort Lauderdale strip club: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A top Trump Organisation lawyer was involved in legal efforts to silence Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress who claims to have had an affair with President Donald Trump, newly released documents reveal.

The documents provide the latest connection between Mr Trump’s company and Ms Daniels, who claims the president paid her $130,000 to stay silent about their alleged affair in the run-up to the election.

Michael Cohen – Mr Trump’s personal lawyer and a former Trump Organisation employee – has claimed he paid Ms Daniels the $130,000 himself, in a “private transaction” of which the president was not aware.

Mr Cohen obtained a restraining order against Ms Daniels last month, in an attempt to keep her from speaking out about the alleged affair. A "demand for arbitration" filed in that case lists top Trump Organisation attorney Jill A Martin as the representative for EC, LLC – the same company Mr Cohen set up to pay Ms Daniels.

Ms Martin's signature appears at the bottom of the document, first obtained by the Wall Street Journal.

The address listed for Ms Martin is One Trump National Drive in Rancho Palos Verdes, California – also the location of Trump National Golf Club, Los Angeles. Her LinkedIn page previously listed her as vice president and assistant general counsel of the Trump Organisation, according to CNN. The page has since been deleted.

Michael Avenatti, a lawyer representing Ms Daniels, said the documents suggest strong links between the president and the $130,000 in “hush money” the actress claims she was given.

"These documents effectively show that contrary to Mr Cohen’s representations, there is little to no difference between EC LLC and The Trump Organisation/Donald Trump,’ Mr Avenatti told NBC.

Mr Trump, through representatives, has maintained that the affair never occurred. Mr Cohen and White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders have both said the president was unaware of the payment. He has given no indication to the contrary.

The Trump Organisation said in a statement that it was not representing anyone in the case.

“With the exception of one of its California-based attorneys in her individual capacity facilitating the initial filing pending the pro hac admission of Mr. Rosen, the company has had no involvement in the matter,” the company told NBC.

Ms Daniels is suing Mr Trump in hopes of invalidating the non-disclosure agreement she signed in 2016. Mr Avenatti has said her motivation is simply to tell the public the truth about her relationship with Mr Trump.

“We are uncovering more and more evidence that demonstrates that the American people have not been told the truth,” he told the Journal on Wednesday. “We will not stop until we get to the bottom of this.”