President Trump's lawyer secured a restraining order against porn star Stormy Daniels
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The White House said Wednesday that President Trump previously has won an arbitration case against adult film star Stormy Daniels, who alleges an affair with Mr. Trump and is suing him.
Time
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s legal team won a temporary restraining order last week against ex-porn star Stormy Daniels, who is fighting in court to tell her story about their alleged affair.
News of the secret restraining order emerged Wednesday after White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters an arbitration proceeding against Daniels “was won in the president’s favor.”Â
The White House’s disclosure about the case helped keep allegations about the president and the adult film actress in the national spotlight for a second day and marked the latest twist in the ongoing legal drama over Daniels’ efforts to abandon a confidentiality agreement.
On Tuesday, Daniels filed a lawsuit, claiming that a $130,000 settlement she reached with Trump’s longtime lawyer Michael Cohen to keep quiet about the alleged relationship was no longer valid because Trump had not signed the document. The lawsuit marked the first time Daniels had openly admitted to having a “hush” agreement.
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In the suit, Daniels claimed she had an affair with Trump in 2006 and 2007. Cohen and Daniels signed the agreement to secure her silence on Oct. 28, 2016, just days before the presidential election.
Cohen previously acknowledged arranging the payment to Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, but he did not disclose the purpose.
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In a Wednesday night statement about the restraining order, Cohen’s lawyer Lawrence Rosen said the arbitration judge concluded that Daniels “had violated the agreement and enjoined her from, among other things, filing this lawsuit.”
“We intend to pursue our recourse in the context of the arbitration as agreed to by the parties and continue to categorically refute the claims alleged by Ms. Clifford and her counsel,” Rosen said.
Reached by phone earlier Wednesday, Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti mocked Sanders’ claim of an arbitration win. “Yeah, and he also won the popular vote,” Avenatti said of Trump.Â
He declined further comment.
The lawsuit itself alluded to Cohen’s legal efforts to clamp down on Daniels, who indicated in recent weeks that she wanted to talk publicly about Trump.
The confidentiality agreement, included as an exhibit in the lawsuit, specifies arbitration to resolve disputes, and the lawsuit said Cohen began “a bogus arbitration proceeding” against Daniels on Feb. 27. Arbitration clauses are included in agreements as a way to resolve disputes without going to court. The details of the proceedings are usually kept confidential.
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Michael Cohen, an attorney for Donald Trump, arrives in Trump Tower in New York on Dec. 16, 2016. Stormy Daniels, the porn star whom President Donald Trump’s personal attorney acknowledged paying $130,000 just before Election Day, believes she is now free to discuss her alleged sexual encounter with Trump, her manager xtold The Associated Press Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, believes that Cohen invalidated a non-disclosure agreement after two news stories: One, in which Cohen told The New York Times that he made the six-figure payment with his personal funds, and another in the Daily Beast, which reported that Cohen was shopping a book proposal that would touch on Daniels’ story, said the manager, Gina Rodriguez. Â
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In an appearance on NBC’s Today show, Avenatti said “yes” when asked whether Daniels and Trump had a sexual relationship, and he said there was “no question” that Trump knew about the hush money payment when it happened in October 2016.
He also did not rule out the possibility that the ex-porn star would try to sell her story if she prevailed in court. “She’s looking to disclose the truth about what happened,†Avenatti said.
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According to a new report, adult movie actress Stormy Daniels, who denied having an extramarital affair with Donald Trump back in 2006, told a different story in 2011.
USA TODAY
Trump has denied the affair. On Wednesday, Sanders declined to answer most questions about the lawsuit. She said Trump had won “the arbitration” but also seemed to indicate that he may not have known about the settlement in the first place.
Asked whether Trump knew about the payment at the time it was made, Sanders said: “Not that I am aware of.”
Legal experts say it’s not clear that Daniels will prevail in court, even if the lawsuit proceeds.
Stephen Gillers, a New York University law professor and expert on legal ethics, called Daniels’ claim that the missing signature invalidates the agreement a “weak argument.”
“The fact is: She took the money, and she cashed the check,” he said.
But campaign-finance watchdogs say the lawsuit’s allegations about the timing and purpose of the payment — to hide a decade-old relationship from voters — could bolster their case that it ran afoul of federal election laws.
Contributing: Gregory Korte
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