Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

New Judge Assigned in Porn Star’s Lawsuit Against President Trump

Adult film star Stormy Daniels’s lawsuit to dissolve her agreement with Donald Trump so she can share details about an alleged affair was assigned to a new Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Wednesday.

LOS ANGELES (CN) – Adult film star Stormy Daniels’s lawsuit to dissolve her agreement with Donald Trump so she can share details about an alleged affair was assigned to a new Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Wednesday.

Attorney Michael Avenatti argued Superior Court Judge Elizabeth R. Feffer should not preside over the case, because she would be prejudiced against Clifford because she is trying to receive a federal judgeship. The case was transferred to Judge Howard Halm with a July 12 hearing.

Stormy Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, sued President Trump last week in Los Angeles Superior Court claiming their $130,000 “hush-money” contract is invalid because Trump did not sign it.

In documents submitted with the complaint, Trump’s name is blacked out, and he is listed with the pseudonym David Dennison and Clifford listed as Peggy Peterson, according to the 7-page lawsuit filed March 7 by Avenatti.

Along with Trump, Clifford sued Essential Consultants, a Delaware limited liability company formed by Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen on Oct. 17, 2016, allegedly for the sole purpose of paying Clifford $130,000 in exchange for her silence about a sexual affair with Trump.

Clifford says she “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.” On at least one occasion she and Trump met in a bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel, according to the complaint.

The parties to the hush agreement included Clifford, Trump and Essential Consultants.

Earlier this week, Clifford offered to return the $130,000 in a letter addressed to Cohen’s New York firm in order for her to drop her lawsuit and dissolve her nondisclosure agreement. But a deadline imposed by Avenatti passed.

Meanwhile, Clifford started a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for her legal bills to sue the president. Since launching the crowdfunding campaign on Wednesday morning, Clifford has received approximately $65,000.

In the campaign description, Clifford said, “I am attempting to speak honestly and openly to the American people about my relationship with now President Donald Trump and the intimidation and tactics used against me.”

Categories / Government, Politics, Trials

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...