Trump's lawyer defamed me, Stormy Daniels alleges in amended suit
Michael Cohen
Adult film star Stormy Daniels has amended her lawsuit to add a defamation claim against President Donald Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen.
The defamation claim was added Monday, the day after 60 Minutes aired its interview with Daniels, report the Wall Street Journal, the Hill, Politico and the Washington Post. Daniels’ suit, filed earlier this month, seeks to void her confidentiality agreement about her relationship with Trump because it was never signed by Trump.
The amended suit says Cohen defamed Daniels on Feb. 13 in a public statement that was reasonably understood to be about Daniels. Cohen said in the statement: “Just because something isn’t true doesn’t mean that it can’t cause you harm or damage. I will always protect Mr. Trump.”
Cohen released the statement when he acknowledged the confidentiality agreement with Daniels and said he had used his own money to pay her $130,000 under the agreement.
The statement was intended to convey that Daniels is a liar and that her claims about a relationship with Trump aren’t true, the suit says. Cohen’s statement was false, and he made it knowing it was false or despite having serious doubts about its truth, the suit says.
A lawyer for Cohen, David Schwartz, told the Wall Street Journal that Cohen’s defamation claim is “frivolous and ridiculous.”
Daniels said in the 60 Minutes interview that a man had approached her parked car in 2011 and warned her to “leave Trump alone.” The incident happened after Daniels tried to sell her story to a tabloid. The man saw Daniels’ daughter in the back seat and said it would be a shame if something happened to her mother, Daniels told 60 Minutes.
After the interview, another lawyer for Cohen, Brent Blakely, said Daniels should apologize and stop making false and defamatory statements. Blakely sent a cease and desist letter to Daniels’ attorney that said Cohen had nothing to do with the “alleged thug who supposedly visited” Daniels in the parking lot, Fox News reports.
White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah said Monday that Trump has “strongly, clearly and consistently” denied Daniels’ underlying claims.
