Ex-porn star suing Trump wants public to “know the truth,” lawyer says

The lawyer for adult film star Stormy Daniels says his client should be free to give her account of her relationship with Donald Trump.  A lawsuit filed Tuesday says a nondisclosure agreement signed by Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is “legally null and void.” The suit alleges that since Mr. Trump himself never signed the agreement, Daniels should be free to discuss her “intimate relationship” with him in 2006 and 2007.  

In an interview on “CBS This Morning” Daniels’ new attorney, Michael Avenatti, said that Clifford will “absolutely not” be seeking to profit from her story but then qualified his initial assertion by saying, “I don’t know whether she’s gonna ultimately seek payment or not. What I do know is, she wants the public to know the truth.”

Pressed again with the question, Avenatti later said, “My client doesn’t have a desire to profit from her story.”

Avenatti also said she’s hoping to dispel some of the “misinformation” out there about the nondisclosure agreement and “set the record straight.”

The NDA included in Tuesday’s court filing is between “Peggy Peterson” and “David Dennison.” “Peterson” is identified as Clifford, while the identity of “Dennison” is redacted. Avenatti said that Dennison is “most certainly” an alias for Donald Trump.

“To conclude otherwise, you would have to conclude that Mr. Cohen, who represented Mr. Trump at the time, who’s admitted to the $130,000 payment, made the payment on behalf of some other party, some other individual, that went by that alias,” Avenatti said.  

Mr. Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen, maintains that then-candidate Trump knew nothing about the payment and that the money for the $130,000 payment came out of his own pocket.

When asked if he has information to suggest the payment came from someone else, Avenatti replied, “We do but we’re not in a position to disclose it quite yet.”

“These are very simple questions. Did he sign the agreement, did know about the agreement, payment, etc? It doesn’t take long to answer those questions.”

“CBS This Morning” reached out to the White House, the Trump organization, and Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, for comment on the suit, but have not received a response.