Stormy Daniels Was Physically Threatened, Her Lawyer Says
NEW YORK (CBS) -- Stormy Daniels' lawyer claims she was physically threatened by someone. The adult film actress' lawyer, Michael Avenatti, said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Friday that someone physically threatened his client — but he declined to reveal who allegedly threatened her.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is suing Trump and Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen in an attempt to dissolve their non-disclosure agreement. Clifford claims the pact is invalid because Mr. Trump didn't provide his signature in a 2016 hush agreement. Avenatti, in a separate interview Friday with CNN's Jake Tapper, acknowledged that at least one of his client's accusations involves alleged behavior since Trump took office.
"Is there anything in the litany of accusations -- you would call them facts -- that surround this case that happened while Donald Trump was president?" Tapper asked.
"Yes," Avenatti responded.
A hearing for the lawsuit has been set for July 12 in Los Angeles.
The Stormy Daniels saga continues to plague a White House that would much rather not take questions about the story during daily White House briefings. The White House has denied the alleged 2006 affair. They denied it Friday as well.
Another Trump Organization attorney has been linked to Stormy Daniels litigation
In February, Cohen admitted to paying $130,000 of his own funds to Clifford in 2016, claiming the Trump Organization had nothing to do with it. But Cohen using a Trump Organization email to arrange the negotiations for the NDA.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said they take individuals' security seriously, but referred questions to Trump's personal attorneys.
"Obviously, we take the safety and security of any person seriously," Sanders said. "Certainly would condemn anyone threatening any individual but I have no knowledge of that situation and would refer you to the president's outside attorneys."
Late Friday, Cohen said he sought to move the case from the state level to a federal court. He also said he planned to file a complaint against Daniels for $20 million -- for allegedly violating a non-disclosure agreement at least 20 times.
CBS' "60 Minutes" will reportedly air an interview with Daniels on March 25. CNN anchor and "60 Minutes" contributor Anderson Cooper conducted the interview last week.
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