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Porn Star Sues Donald Trump Over Hush Agreement

Donald Trump and his attorney sought to aggressively silence adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 after it was revealed she was going to share details of their sexual relationship with the media, but a hush agreement between the two was never signed by then candidate Trump, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday.

LOS ANGELES (CN) - Donald Trump and his attorney sought to aggressively silence adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 after it was revealed she was going to share details of their sexual relationship with the media, but a hush agreement between the two was never signed by then candidate Trump, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday.

Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, began a relationship with Trump in 2006 when the two met in Lake Tahoe and then at least one “meeting” in a bungalow at the Beverly Hills hotel in 2007, according to the lawsuit which asks the court to declare the agreement between Clifford and Trump as nonbinding.

After a video from the entertainment show "Access Hollywood" was leaked to the media where Trump could be heard boasting about grabbing women by their genitals, a number of women came forward to share their own personal stories about their sexual encounters with Trump.

That included Clifford within a few days of the video being leaked and in the process of sharing her story with media outlets, according to the complaint.

Those plans came to the attention of Trump and his attorney, Michael Cohen, who is generally referred to as Trump’s “fixer” according to the lawsuit. Cohen prepared a draft non-disclosure agreement that was presented to Clifford’s Beverly Hills-based attorney, stating she would not disclose information about her relationship with Trump in exchange for a payment of $130,000.

The agreement included the names of Trump, Cohen as a representative to Essential Consulting LLC and Clifford, but signed with aliases according to the lawsuit. Trump signed as “David Dennison” or “DD” and Clifford as “Peggy Peterson” or “PP.” With the agreement, obligations were imposed on both Trump and Clifford, including an understanding that if all parties did not sign the agreement, it would be null and void.

According to the complaint, on Oct. 28, 2016 only Cohen, as a representative from an LLC formed shortly before the contract agreement was finalized, and Clifford signed the agreement. Trump did not sign the agreement.

While Trump was aware of the hush agreement, and the payment of $130,000 Clifford received, he purposely did not sign the agreement “so he could later, if need be, publicly disavow any knowledge of the Hush agreement and Ms. Clifford,” the complaint said.

She still received the payment, according to the lawsuit, and Trump was elected President. Details of the agreement leaked in the news and in January 2018, Cohen, concerned the truth would get out, “through intimidation and coercive tactics” forced Clifford to sign a false statement where she stated that reports of her relationship with Trump were false.

On Feb. 13, 2018, Cohen released a statement regarding the hush agreement, and details of that agreement without notifying Clifford, thus indicating his position that no binding agreement was in place.

Clifford claims on Feb. 27, Cohen initiated an arbitration proceeding against Clifford without providing notice.

Cohen also said, “In a private transaction in 2016, I used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford. Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly.”

According to the lawsuit, Cohen added, “Just because something isn’t true doesn’t meant that it can’t cause you harm or damage. I will always protect Mr. Trump.”

The contractual obligations are null and void, according to the lawsuit, and would have been breached anyway by Cohen’s public statements to the media.

Clifford is represented by Michael Avenatti from Newport Beach in California. An email sent to the Trump organization seeking comment was sent after business hours and not immediately returned.

Categories / Courts, Government, Politics

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