Adult film star Stormy Daniels filed a new lawsuit Wednesday accusing her former lawyer of having “colluded” with President Trump.
The lawsuit, first reported by NBC News and obtained by TheWrap, was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and accuses Keith Davidson, former attorney for Daniels (whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford), of betraying her and becoming a “puppet” for Trump as he “hatched a plan” with Michael Cohen, the president’s personal lawyer, to get the porn star to publicly deny she ever had sex with Trump.
“Mr. Davidson abdicated his role as an advocate and fiduciary of his client Ms. Clifford and instead elected to be a puppet for Mr. Cohen and Mr. Trump in order to advance their interests at the expense of Ms. Clifford,” the lawsuit states.
Daniels’ lawsuit also states that Davidson alerted Cohen of her plans to hire a new attorney — her current lawyer Michael Avenatti — which would be a breach of attorney-client confidentiality if true.
The lawsuit cites text messages between Davidson and Cohen from January 2018, after an “In Touch” Magazine interview, in which Clifford described her alleged affair with Trump, had resurfaced.
“I have her tentatively scheduled for Hannity tonight,” Cohen is reported to have texted Davidson in the lawsuit, referring to Trump ally and Fox News personality, Sean Hannity.
According to the suit, Davidson replied that “she cannot don’t [sic] today. She is flying to LA tomorrow. I’m trying to get her to commit for tomorrow.”
Soon after Daniels was scheduled to appear on “Hannity,” Cohen, the lawsuit claims, texted Davidson to say that “the wise men all believe the story is dying and don’t think it’s smart for her to do any interviews,” to which Davidson said,” “100%.” Cohen’s response: “Thanks pal.”
According to the complaint, the “wise men” reference included Trump, and accuses Trump of knowing of the plan to get Daniels to appear on Hannity’s show. The lawsuit does not include proof to substantiate the accusation.
“These text messages show that the prior denials by Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen relating to what Mr. Trump knew and about the honesty of my client were absolute lies,” Avenatti told TheWrap. “There was a significant coverup here as part of an attempt to deceive the American people and Mrs. Trump and we intend on getting to the bottom of it.”
A spokesman for Davidson, Dave Wedge, told TheWrap in a statement: “This outrageously frivolous lawsuit is yet another desperate attempt by Michael Avenatti to continue his ‘publicity tour,’ as well as divert attention from the recent allegations against him relating to bankruptcy proceedings and the failure to withhold millions of federal employee taxes. That said, Attorney Davidson is very happy that he has filed this lawsuit because he strongly believes that the filing constitutes a full and complete waiver of the attorney-client privilege. Thankfully, the truth can now finally come out to rebut the false narrative about Attorney Davidson that Mr. Avenatti has been pushing in his more than 175 television appearances and countless other media interviews. Attorney Davidson believes that the American people deserve to know the entire truth – and they soon will. This lawsuit has made that happen.”
Neither Cohen nor the White House responded to requests from TheWrap for comment on Wednesday. But the White House has repeatedly denied the affair.
Daniels has already filed a defamation lawsuit against the president after calling a sketch of a man Daniels said had threatened her a “con job.”
Cohen has been in the headlines recently over other legal challenges, after the FBI raided his home and office in April. He is under investigation for bank fraud and campaign finance law violations.
Davidson also represented former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who said she too had an affair with Trump more than a decade ago.