LOS ANGELES—AVN Hall of Famer Stormy Daniels, who has been at the center of a scandal over an affair she allegedly had with Donald Trump a decade ago and the “hush money” payout she received weeks before the 2016 presidential election, buying her silence about the sexual relationship, filed a lawsuit against Trump on Tuesday over the scandal, according to a report by NBC News.
The lawsuit alleges that because Trump himself never signed a nondisclosure agreement—which was signed by Daniels and by Trump’s lawyer and “fix-it guy” Michael Cohen—the agreement is not valid and Daniels should no longer be “silenced” when it comes to discussing what happened between her and Trump.
The suit claims that Cohen attempted to intimidate Daniels into keeping quiet about the alleged affair as recently as two weeks ago.
“To be clear, the attempts to intimidate (Daniels) into silence and 'shut her up' in order to 'protect Mr. Trump' continue unabated,” says the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by NBC News. “On or about February 27, 2018, Mr. Trump's attorney Mr. Cohen surreptitiously initiated a bogus arbitration proceeding against Ms. Clifford in Los Angeles.”
The lawsuit, which may be read online by visiting this link, contains Daniels first public acknowledgement that the affair actually happened since the scandal broke with a Wall Street Journal report on January 12.
“[Daniels] began an intimate relationship with Mr. Trump in the summer of 2006 in Lake Tahoe and continued her relationship with Mr. Trump well into the year 2007,” the court document says. “This relationship included, among other things, at least one ‘meeting’ with Mr. Trump in a bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel located within Los Angeles County.”
The lawsuit says that after the now-infamous Access Hollywood tape became public in October of 2016, Daniels tried to reveal details of her affair with Trump to “various media outlets.” But Trump and Cohen then “aggressively sought to silence” Daniels, “thus helping ensure (Trump) won the Presidential Election.”
The lawsuit also states that when Cohen created a limited liability corporation to make the payment of “hush money” to Daniels, he did so with Trump’s full knowledge.
The lawsuit could lead to serious trouble for Trump, because multiple watchdog groups have filed complaints claiming that the payoff to Daniels was, in fact, an illegal campaign contribution, because it was intended to influence the outcome of the election.
Last week, two Democratic members of congress requested that the FBI investigate the payment, because if indeed it was meant to silence Daniels and help Trump win the election, making the payment would be a felony crime.
The allegations in the Stormy Daniels lawsuit against Trump would appear to confirm that the hush money payment did, in fact, violate election laws and could be the subject of criminal prosecution.
Above, Stormy Daniels at the 2018 AVN Awards Show; photo by Jeff Koga
