According to Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, his client’s case is certainly not an isolated incident. On Sunday, Michael Avenatti suggested that Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen paid other women off to cover up the President’s numerous indiscretions.
“Women have come forward and contacted our office, George, as I’ve stated in the past. And we haven’t completed vetting those stories but I think at the end of the day, there’s going to be evidence of such payments,” Avenatti told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s ‘This Week’.
Cohen, Trump’s long-term, personal attorney, paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 in 2016, as part of a non-disclosure which covered the Daniels’/Trump alleged affair.
Despite Trump’s pleas of ignorance, Rudy Giuliani (former NYC Mayor and Trump legal confidante) revealed last week on Fox News that Trump had reimbursed Cohen for his actions. He explained that Trump was generally aware of the arrangement, permitting Cohen to “take care of things like this.”
This morning, Giuliani said Cohen would have paid other women as well “if it was necessary,” though he added he had no distinct knowledge of this happening.
Avenatti pointed to Giuliani’s admission saying it was proof that such protocol was “commonplace” for the President and his legal team.
“The president had effectively an extramarital affair slush fund that was administered by Michael Cohen, and that he would just be expected to take care of these things,” Daniels’ lawyer claimed.
“I mean, that in and of itself should be very disturbing,” Avenatti further added. “Most people of means, most people of wealth and celebrity, they don’t have extramarital affair slush funds and the suggestion is insulting.”
Rumours about Trump’s affair with former Adult star, Stormy Daniels (legal name, Stephanie Clifford) started to mill during the 2016 presidential election. In January, the Wall Street Journal published an article suggesting that President Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, had paid off Daniels in a bid to cover up the affair.
At the time, Cohen denied the payment. In a public statement, he called the allegations “outlandish”, and said they’d been “consistently denied by all parties” for years.
But in February he retracted his comments, admitting the story was true.
Right now, Stormy Daniels is in the process of suing Trump and Cohen claiming her nondisclosure agreement is void because the President never signed it. At the same time, she’s suing the pair for defamation.
Trump has denied the affair ever happened, and the White House has refuted accusations that the payment would qualify as a campaign finance law violation.
Not true, says Michale Avenatti. “Ultimately, he is going to be forced to resign,” the lawyer predicted in a statement on Friday.