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Stormy Daniels lawyer: There were 'extensive communications' on settling hush-money deal before election
Jacqueline Thomsen
1 hr ago
© Provided by The Hill
Stormy Daniels's lawyer said late Thursday that there were "extensive communications" between President Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen and Daniels's then-lawyer about the need to finalize a payment to Daniels before the 2016 election.
"There were extensive communications between Michael Cohen and Keith Davidson in October 2016 relating to the timing of this payment and the need for this payment to be made prior to the election," Daniels's attorney Michael Avenatti told MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell.
"Extensive communications relating to the need for the payment to be made, when it was made and as to related to potential influence on the election," he added.
Avenatti asserted that everyone involved in the agreement "knew the importance of the payment as it related to the election."
"So any claim that the payment had nothing to do with the election is completely bogus," he said. "There's no question it had everything to do with the election."
The comments came a day after Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani said that the president had reimbursed Cohen for the $130,000 payment made to Daniels.
Cohen made the payment as part of a nondisclosure agreement with Daniels that she says was aimed at keeping her quiet about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier.
Giuliani, whose comments contradicted Trump's past statements denying any knowledge of the payment, insisted that the payment did not violate any campaign finance laws.
Keith Davidson, a longtime Los Angeles attorney, was Daniels's lawyer when she signed the nondisclosure agreement. She has since cut ties with him.
Davidson has been linked to Cohen and Trump in the past - he represented former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also alleges that she had an affair with Trump.
Davidson had negotiated McDougal's deal with American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer, to sell the rights to the story of her alleged affair with Trump.
McDougal claimed that her former lawyer was "working closely with representatives for Mr. Trump while pretending to advocate on her behalf."
She also alleged that Davidson was part of a "broad effort to silence and intimidate her and others." She reached a settlement with AMI last month to release her from the agreement.
Davidson has denied those claims.
Daniels is suing over the nondisclosure agreement on her alleged affair with Trump, claiming that it's void because Trump didn't sign the document.
Stormy Daniels lawyer: There were 'extensive communications' on settling hush-money deal before election
Jacqueline Thomsen
1 hr ago
Stormy Daniels's lawyer said late Thursday that there were "extensive communications" between President Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen and Daniels's then-lawyer about the need to finalize a payment to Daniels before the 2016 election.
"There were extensive communications between Michael Cohen and Keith Davidson in October 2016 relating to the timing of this payment and the need for this payment to be made prior to the election," Daniels's attorney Michael Avenatti told MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell.
"Extensive communications relating to the need for the payment to be made, when it was made and as to related to potential influence on the election," he added.
Avenatti asserted that everyone involved in the agreement "knew the importance of the payment as it related to the election."
"So any claim that the payment had nothing to do with the election is completely bogus," he said. "There's no question it had everything to do with the election."
The comments came a day after Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani said that the president had reimbursed Cohen for the $130,000 payment made to Daniels.
Cohen made the payment as part of a nondisclosure agreement with Daniels that she says was aimed at keeping her quiet about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier.
Giuliani, whose comments contradicted Trump's past statements denying any knowledge of the payment, insisted that the payment did not violate any campaign finance laws.
Keith Davidson, a longtime Los Angeles attorney, was Daniels's lawyer when she signed the nondisclosure agreement. She has since cut ties with him.
Davidson has been linked to Cohen and Trump in the past - he represented former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also alleges that she had an affair with Trump.
Davidson had negotiated McDougal's deal with American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer, to sell the rights to the story of her alleged affair with Trump.
McDougal claimed that her former lawyer was "working closely with representatives for Mr. Trump while pretending to advocate on her behalf."
She also alleged that Davidson was part of a "broad effort to silence and intimidate her and others." She reached a settlement with AMI last month to release her from the agreement.
Davidson has denied those claims.
Daniels is suing over the nondisclosure agreement on her alleged affair with Trump, claiming that it's void because Trump didn't sign the document.
