Adult film star Stormy Daniels reportedly sues Donald Trump
Adult film actress Stormy Daniels reportedly filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles on Tuesday against US President Donald Trump. It claims that she is free to publicly discuss her alleged relationship with Trump and that the nondisclosure agreement is not valid.
As reported by NBC News, the civil suit alleges that Daniels’ agreement not to disclose her "intimate" relationship with the POTUS is invalid as it was not signed by Trump. Daniels and Trump's attorney Michael Cohen signed it.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, signed the deal and a side letter agreement with her professional name on October 28, 2016. The document was signed by Trump's attorney on the same day. The agreements are appended to the lawsuit as Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2. The signing took place some days before the US presidential election in 2016.
A “hush agreement” has been mentioned in the suit, referring to Trump throughout as David Dennison and Clifford as Peggy Peterson, NBC News reports. The real identity of DD is blacked out in the side letter agreement. Michael Avenatti, Clifford's attorney, claimed that the individual is Trump.
Each document has a blank where "DD" was supposed to sign. Neither one has a signature.
Avenatti announced that Clifford and Trump had a relationship that lasted from summer 2006 "well into the year 2007,” according to the lawsuit. The relationship allegedly included meetings at the Beverly Hills Hotel and Lake Tahoe. The alleged tryst is believed to have taken place a year after Trump’s wedding with Melania Trump and months after their son Barron was born.
Avenatti and his client want the Los Angeles County Superior Court to proclaim that the hush agreement and the side agreement "were never formed” because Trump did not sign the agreements. “Earlier today, we filed this complaint seeking a ct order voiding the alleged hush agreement between our client S Clifford aka Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump,” Avenatti wrote on Twitter.
Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Cohen had brokered a payment to Clifford. Cohen has recognised that a payment was made, but it was unclear what it was for. Cohen has repeatedly declined to provide further explanation, according to NBC News.
The president has not directly addressed accusations of the relationship. Cohen, however, has denied an affair. John Dowd, Trump's outside attorney, declined to comment on the lawsuit.