Stormy Daniels Sues Trump Lawyer For Defamation

LOS ANGELES, CA — Following a months-long media blitz all but daring President Donald Trump to deny her allegations of an affair, porn star Stormy Daniels added to her lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court Monday, alleging Trump's personal lawyer defamed her by implying she wasn't telling the truth.

The actress's attorney has implied she has proof of the affair. If the president or his surrogates publicly called her a liar by denying an affair she could prove they knew about, Daniels could have grounds to sue. In addition to the defamation suit, Daniels also contends Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen broke federal election law by paying her to keep silent so that voters didn't find out about the alleged affair before the 2016 election.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, filed the 41-page complaint less than 24 hours after a "60 Minutes" interview in which Daniels claimed she had unprotected sex with Trump in 2006 shortly after his son was born. She claimed an unidentified man threatened her with physical harm if she didn't stay silent about Trump. The porn actress and director got rave reviews for her unapologetic interview, which earned huge ratings for "60 Minutes," and seemingly put the president on the defensive.

Cohen could not be reached for comment. Trump has not directly addressed Daniels' allegations. However, early Monday, Trump posted a cryptic tweet: "So much Fake News. Never been more voluminous or more inaccurate." White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, for her part, has denied that Trump had an affair with Daniels.

According to the Los Angeles Times, White House spokesman Raj Shah would not say whether Trump watched the show, but he attacked Daniels' credibility.

"The president doesn't believe that any of the claims that Ms. Daniels made last night in the interview are accurate," Shah told the newspaper. With respect to the allegations about breaking federal law with a hush money payoff, Shah added, "The campaign or Mr. Cohen can address anything with respect to their actions," Shah said.

Daniels initially filed suit March 6, alleging Trump never signed a "hush agreement" regarding their alleged affair, thus rendering the nondisclosure agreement "legally null and void." Daniels contends she received $130,000 for her silence, but claims the agreement is invalid because of the missing signature.

In response to that lawsuit, Cohen filed papers alleging he could seek as much as $20 million from the actress for breaches of the nondisclosure agreement.

The expanded suit alleges that both Trump and Cohen "aggressively sought to silence Ms. Clifford as part of an effort to avoid her telling the truth, thus helping to ensure he won the presidential election."

"And if she's not telling the truth, let the president take to the podium and call her a liar. Let the president come forward and say it never happened," Daniels' Newport Beach-based lawyer, Michael Avenatti told the "Today" show. "There is a reason why this $130,000 was paid, and it wasn't paid because she made this story up. It's absurd."

Avenatti, wrote that the nondisclosure agreement "was entered with the illegal aim, design and purpose of circumventing federal campaign finance law."

The suit's defamation allegations stem from statements Cohen made in February suggesting Daniels "is a liar, someone who should not be trusted," and that her claims about a relationship with Trump are lies, according to the complaint.

As a result of the statement, Cohen exposed Daniels to "hatred, contempt, ridicule and shame, and discouraged others from associating or dealing with her," Avenatti contends in the suit, which seeks punitive damages "in an amount to be proven at trial."

Daniels' lawsuit, originally filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, was transferred last week to federal court in downtown Los Angeles.

Also last week, a former Playboy model filed suit in Los Angeles seeking to nullify a 2016 agreement she says is preventing her from discussing an alleged affair she had with Trump before his presidency, around the same time Daniels claims she was involved with Trump.

According to the lawsuit, Karen McDougal contends she was misled into signing the 2016 agreement with American Media Inc., the parent company of The National Enquirer. AMI is controlled by David Pecker, a friend and supporter of Trump.

The lawsuit contends that AMI paid McDougal $150,000 for exclusive rights to her story for the purpose of keeping it out of the public eye -- a practice known as "catch and kill" -- to protect Trump. According to her lawsuit, McDougal had a 10-month relationship with Trump in 2006-07.

By FRED SHUSTER, City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.

Photo: Michael Cohen, a personal attorney for President Trump (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)