Stormy Daniels Sues Donald Trump Over Efforts to ‘Silence’ Her

Porn star contends that “hush agreement” is invalid because Trump didn’t sign it

Stormy Daniels Trump
Stormy Daniels pictured with Trump (from The Wall Street Journal)

Porn star Stormy Daniels, who reportedly had an affair with Donald Trump before he ascended to the U.S. presidency, filed a lawsuit against Trump on Tuesday, saying that Trump and his attorney Michael Cohen “aggressively sought to silence” her when she planned to make her story public in late 2016.

According to the suit, Daniels was presented with a “Hush Agreement” referring to Daniels — whose real name is Stephanie Clifford — as “Peggy Peterson” or “PP” and Trump as “David Dennison” or “DD.”

“Importantly, the Hush Agreement imposed various conditions and obligations not only on Ms. Clifford, but also on Mr. Trump. The agreement also required the signature of all parties in the agreement, including that of Mr. Trump,” the suit reads. “Moreover, as is customary, it was widely understood at all times that unless all of the parties signed the documents as required, the Hush Agreement, together with all of its terms and conditions, was null and void.”

However, the suit says, days before the election, Daniels and Cohen signed the agreement, Trump didn’t.

“On information and belief, despite having detailed knowledge of the Hush Agreement and its terms, including the proposed payment of monies to Ms. Clifford … Mr. Trump purposely did not sign the agreement so he could later, if need be, publicly disavow any knowledge of the Hush Agreement and Ms. Clifford,” the suit states.

TheWrap has reached out to the White House for comment on the lawsuit.

The suit says that, despite the lack of Trump’s signature, $130,000 was wired to Daniels.

Cohen has acknowledged the payment, but maintained that it was made from his personal funds, and that the Trump campaign and the Trump Organization were not parties to the transaction.

The suit contends that efforts to silence Daniels have continued unabated, and that in February of this year Cohen “surreptitiously initiated a bogus arbitration proceeding against Ms. Clifford in Los Angeles. Remarkably, he did so without even providing Ms. Clifford with notice of the proceeding and basic due process.”

“Put simply, considerable steps have been taken by Mr. Cohen in the last week to silence Ms. Clifford through the use of an improper and procedurally defective arbitration proceeding hidden from public view,” the suit reads. “The extent of Mr. Trump’s involvement in these efforts is presently unknown, but it strains credibility to conclude that Mr. Cohen is acting on his own accord without the express approval and knowledge of his client Mr. Trump.”

Daniels is seeking a court declaration that the agreements “do not exist, because, among other things,Mr. Trump never signed the documents.” Barring that, Daniels is seeking a declaration that the agreements “are invalid, unenforceable, and/or void.”

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