Stormy Daniels ordered by arbitration judge not to sue, Michael Cohen's lawyer says
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Adult film star Stormy Daniels was ordered by an arbitration judge not to sue Donald Trump, according to an attorney for President Trump’s longtime personal legal counsel.
The attorney for Trump lawyer Michael Cohen told Fox News that there was a settlement agreement involving an arbitration judge, which Daniels — whose real name is Stephanie Clifford — violated by filing her lawsuit Tuesday.
According to the suit that Daniels filed this week in Los Angeles Superior Court, Cohen tried to “intimidate” Daniels and “shut her up” by discussing what the lawsuit called a “bogus arbitration proceeding” against her in Los Angeles on Feb. 27, NBC News first reported.
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Cohen then reportedly obtained a temporary restraining order against Daniels, which barred her from disclosing “confidential information” related to the nondisclosure agreement signed in October 2016.
“The settlement agreement contained an arbitration clause that permitted EC, LLC to seek an injunction in the event of a breach or threatened breach of the agreement,” Cohen’s attorney Lawrence S. Rosen said in a statement to Fox News. “The designated judge from the arbitration tribunal found that Ms. Clifford had violated the agreement and enjoined her from, among other things, filing this lawsuit.”
The complaint, which was posted online Tuesday by her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, claimed the so-called “Hush Agreement” that Daniels signed regarding her relationship with Trump was invalid because Trump never signed it himself.
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Instead, just Daniels and Cohen allegedly signed the non-disclosure agreement on Oct. 28, 2016, the lawsuit said. Trump was elected president less than two weeks later.
A copy of the agreement showed Daniels, identified as “Peggy Peterson,” signed the paperwork, but Trump, apparently identified as “David Dennison,” did not.
The lawsuit claimed Daniels and Trump had an “intimate relationship” during the summer of 2006 in Lake Tahoe, and it continued “well into the year 2007,” despite past contradictory statements from Daniels.
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“We intend to pursue our recourse in the context of arbitration as agreed to by the parties and continue to categorically refute the claims alleged by Ms. Clifford and her counsel,” Rosen said in a statement to Fox News.
Daniels’ attorney said in a statement to Fox News that Cohen, through his attorney, “threatened” Daniels in an effort to “prevent her from telling the truth about what really happened.”
“We do not take kindly to these threats, nor will we be intimidated,” Avenatti said in a statement to Fox News Wednesday, again calling the arbitration “completely bogus.”
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Trump vehemently has denied the affair, Cohen has said. A recent statement attributed to Daniels also denied the encounter, though she later seemed to challenge whether the statement originated from her.
Fox News’ John Roberts, Kristin Brown and Nicole Darrah contributed to this report.