Stormy Daniels accuses Trump attorney Michael Cohen of defamation in newly amended lawsuit
Adult film actress Stormy Daniels (left, via Shutterstock) and Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen (right, via screengrab).
March 26, 2018
Adult film star Stephanie Clifford, whose stage name is Stormy Daniels, amended a lawsuit against Donald Trump to include allegations of defamation by his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, the Washington Post reports.
Monday, Daniels added Cohen as a defendant in a lawsuit, originally filed on March 6, 2018, that argues a "hush" agreement between Trump and Daniels is invalid because Trump did not sign the document. According to Daniels, Cohen--through his LLC Essential Consultants--paid $130,000 in exchange for her silence about the alleged affair.
Now the amended complaint explicitly names Cohen, accusing the longtime Trump attorney of defamation after he insinuated she lied about a decade-old affair with the president. It stems from comments Cohen made on Feb. 13, when he acknowledged he used his "own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000," but added, "just because something isn’t true doesn’t mean that it can’t cause you harm or damage."
As the Post reports, the new allegations also say "[Cohen's] payment violated federal laws that impose limits on campaign donations and require those donations to be publicly reported."