Trump lawyer to seek halt to porn star's lawsuit

[webfact]

Trump lawyer to seek halt to porn star's lawsuit

 

FILE PHOTO: Stormy Daniels, an adult film star and director whose real name is Stephanie Clifford is interviewed by Anderson Cooper of CBS News' 60 Minutes program in early March 2018, in a still image from video provided March 25, 2018. CBSNews/60 MINUTES/Handout via REUTERS

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, will seek on Friday to halt porn star Stormy Daniels' defamation lawsuit, and Daniels' attorney said he expected Cohen to refuse to testify if the effort fails.

 

Cohen notified U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Thursday he intends to request a stay in Daniels' lawsuit against him and Trump "on the grounds that an ongoing criminal investigation overlaps with the facts of this case," a reference to the possibility that his testimony could be used by prosecutors to build a related criminal case against Cohen.

 

Cohen, who has denied wrongdoing, has been at the centre of a controversy surrounding a $130,000 payment to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. She has alleged that she had sex once in 2006 with Trump and was paid shortly before the 2016 election to keep quiet about it. Daniels claims Cohen's denials portray her as a liar and sued for defamation.

 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Cohen's offices and home on Monday as part of a probe into possible bank and tax fraud and possible campaign law violation connected to the payment, a source familiar with the investigation told Reuters.

 

In the defamation-case filing, Cohen raised the possibility of invoking his constitutional right under the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination if the stay is not granted, which would allow him to refuse to testify.

 

Michael Avenatti, lawyer for Stormy Daniels told Reuters that Cohen's attorney told him that Cohen will plead the Fifth if his application for a stay is denied.

 

Cohen's attorney Brent Blakely said, "No decision has been made for Mr. Cohen to assert his Fifth Amendment rights."

 

"It is common for a civil case to be stayed under these circumstances, and that is what we will be requesting of the U.S. District Court tomorrow," Blakely said in an email.

 

The judge in the suit has given Cohen until Friday evening to formally request the stay.

 

Daniels has until Monday evening to file her opposition, and then Cohen will have through Tuesday evening to respond to her.

 

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert and Karen Freifeld; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-04-13

[Andaman Al]

8 minutes ago, webfact said:

The judge in the suit has given Cohen until Friday evening to formally request the stay.

 

Daniels has until Monday evening to file her opposition, and then Cohen will have through Tuesday evening to respond to her.

The lawyers must be loving' it. Keeerching! Oh wait, Stormy's lawyer is charging pro bono, no win no fee. What will Cohen do to pay his own legal fees, he clearly has zero money as he already remortgaged his home to pay off Stormy for Trump (How given the above does a lawyer like Cohen find himself in a position where he has to remortgage his home for anything?)

 

Funny how they are trying to put a stay on a civil case when Trump and Cohen say nothing happened. If that's the case what's the worry?

[BuriramSam]

A prostitute suing for defamation. I'm guessing some people may need to look up the definition.

 

[phantomfiddler]

This bag should be in jail or else heavily fined for betraying a paid-for non disclosure agreement !

[Becker]

On 4/13/2018 at 9:04 AM, BuriramSam said:

A prostitute suing for defamation. I'm guessing some people may need to look up the definition.

 

A man-child supporter posting with a deflection. I'm guessing some people are getting mighty worried.

[bristolboy]

1 hour ago, phantomfiddler said:

This bag should be in jail or else heavily fined for betraying a paid-for non disclosure agreement !

Except of course  that once  that "stable genius" called Donald Trump denied he had anything to do with that agreement, it meant  the lawyer could not have been acting on his behalf. Therefore the agreement is invalid. Donald Trump, once again playing one-dimensional chess.

[BuriramSam]

I agree with Trump on somethings and disagree on others. 

Edited April 14, 2018 by BuriramSam

[jonstarjon]

Seems like a good number of trump supporters are resident bar flies in Thailand, Trump should start a campaign in Thailand to repatriate these Americans who have already shown their allegiance to their flag by voting with their feet many years ago. It really does define what voting for trump really means in the US

[Expatthailover]

POTUS is only going after her because she refused to turn on the water like the russian girls did ( per comey's revelations).

Trump eh..making usa great again.

What a role model 

[Expatthailover]

2 minutes ago, jonstarjon said:

Seems like a good number of trump supporters are resident bar flies in Thailand, Trump should start a campaign in Thailand to repatriate these Americans who have already shown their allegiance to their flag by voting with their feet many years ago. It really does define what voting for trump really means in the US

Great and very true post

[Srikcir]

On 4/13/2018 at 8:22 AM, webfact said:

"It is common for a civil case to be stayed under these circumstances

I'd like to see evidence that such stays are common.

What is common is a civil suit following a criminal indictment wherein evidence developed in the criminal charge is used to buttress a plaintiff's civil suit.

 

Daniels' lawsuit against Cohen and Trump has already been accepted by the court. With regard to the federal criminal investigation, no indictment has occurred so judicially there is no overlap.

In any event I don't see the civil trial being delayed due to a possibility that Cohen's testimony could be used by prosecutors to build a related criminal case against Cohen. Cohen always can take "the 5th" in either case to protect himself from self-incrimination. Cohen is caught in a bind of his own making. The Fixer may become Fixed.

[IAMHERE]

I bet she didn't report that 160,000 to the IRS, or her state tax office.

 

[thaibeachlovers]

If Americans can't see that this farce is making them all look foolish and put an end to it, they deserve the derision of the rest of the world.

It's not like a president doesn't have anything better to do than be constantly responding to silly things like this.

 

Edited April 14, 2018 by thaibeachlovers

[Becker]

40 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If Americans can't see that this farce is making them all look foolish and put an end to it, they deserve the derision of the rest of the world.

It's not like a president doesn't have anything better to do than be constantly responding to silly things like this.

 

Couldn't agree more. It really is time to put an end to the farce that is the man-child presidency!

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, Becker said:

Couldn't agree more. It really is time to put an end to the farce that is the man-child presidency!

Just remember that if Trump goes, Pence takes over.

[bristolboy]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If Americans can't see that this farce is making them all look foolish and put an end to it, they deserve the derision of the rest of the world.

It's not like a president doesn't have anything better to do than be constantly responding to silly things like this.

 

And yet he doesn't do them.

[Jingthing]

8 hours ago, jonstarjon said:

Seems like a good number of trump supporters are resident bar flies in Thailand, Trump should start a campaign in Thailand to repatriate these Americans who have already shown their allegiance to their flag by voting with their feet many years ago. It really does define what voting for trump really means in the US

Let's not go there.

Being an expat doesn't make you a good or a bad citizen.

It's really a redneck thing to consider Americans living abroad as "less than" Americans. American expats of all political stripes should be opposing that kind of small mindedness. We may be very politically polarized about "trump" but that's one thing I think we can and should be unified about. 

Edited April 14, 2018 by Jingthing

[Becker]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Just remember that if Trump goes, Pence takes over.

Yes, and as disgusting a character as Pence is I'd MUCH rather have him as president for the next 2+ years than the hideous creature currently defiling the WH - no contest.

[Jingthing]

Pence is very awful in a more normal way.

"trump" is off the charts bizarre and a direct threat to American institutions and rule of law.

So yes, Pence is not to be looked forward to but less damaging to the USA and the world than the current totally unhinged wackadoo, and seems to be super easy to beat in 2020 as he has the charisma of a grey potato chip. 

[utalkin2me]

even if the worst case scenario happened, we are talking about a man who got away with arguing and insulting the pope, and with stating, on tape mind you so he couldnt deny it, that he loved to grab womens crotches and forced himself onto them. it just wont matter.... his next scandalous headline will just trump the current one, and the cycle will continue until the next election.