Stormy Daniels files has accused President Donald Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen for defamation over the lawyer’s continued insistence that she is lying about a sexual affair she said she had with Trump, the Washington Post reported Monday.
Daniels did not file a new suit but rather amended her current legal challenge against Trump to include a new accusation against Cohen.
The decision to add Cohen to the suit ups the ante for Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, as she attempts to force Team Trump to release her from an NDA she signed shortly before the 2016 presidential election. At the same time, Cohen wired Daniels $130,000 of his own money as part of the agreement.
Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti has made the rounds on television over the last week arguing that the agreement in null because Donald Trump never signed it. Avenatti has also spent considerable time on Twitter teasing various items his client might reveal in the event the NDA is lifted.
Cohen has stated in a filing that Daniels’ decision to violate the NDA made her personally liable for $20 million. He told Vanity Fair that he planned to use the money he expected to collect from her to take a long vacation.
“The only issue that will ultimately be decided is the amount of damages Ms. Clifford will owe,” Cohen told the magazine, using Daniel’s real name Stephanie Clifford. “The more I’m thinking about it, I might even take an extended vacation on her dime.”
Charles Harder, the lawyer representing President Trump in the Daniel’s suit, did not immediately respond to request for comment from TheWrap.
The White House has continued to deny that a sexual affair ever took place between Trump and Daniels and reiterated those denials at a press briefing on Monday.
“The president doesn’t believe that any of the claims Ms. Daniels made in the interview are accurate,” White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah told reporters at the briefing. “The president strongly clearly and consistently has denied these underlying claims. The only one who has been inconsistent is the one making the claims.”
“False charges are settled out court all the time,” Shah added before punting additional inquiries to Cohen.