Stormy Daniels' attorney says Michael Cohen 'threatened' her to keep quiet

Stormy Daniels.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels told NBC News that President Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, has "threatened my client in an effort to prevent her from telling the truth" about the intimate relationship she said she had with Trump in 2006 and 2007.

On Tuesday, Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County, alleging that because the non-disclosure agreement she signed right before the 2016 election was never signed by Trump, it's invalid, and she is free to speak about their affair. In exchange for her silence in the matter, Daniels received $130,000, which was paid to the trust account of her attorney at the time.

On Feb. 27, Cohen obtained a temporary restraining order against Daniels from a private arbitrator, to keep Daniels from going public with "confidential information," NBC News reports. The arbitration proceeding was "bogus," her lawsuit said, and attorney Michael Avenatti told NBC News "we do not take kindly to these threats, nor will we be intimidated."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.