A judge has delayed the civil suit brought by a porn actress against President Donald Trump and his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, because he agreed the lawyer may likely be criminally indicted in connection with an related federal investigation.
U.S. District Judge S. James Otero ordered a 90-day pause on the lawsuit Friday after the defense successfully argued that Mr. Cohen risks criminal prosecution as a result of the related FBI raids this month of his home, office and hotel room.
Ruling from a Los Angeles federal courtroom, the judge agreed “there is a large potential factual overlap between the civil and criminal proceedings that would heavily implicate Mr. Cohen’s Fifth Amendment rights,” referring to the lawyer’s constitutional right against self-incrimination.
“This is no simple criminal investigation,” the judge wrote in a 9-page order granting the defense’s request for a delay. “It is an investigation into the personal attorney of a sitting president regarding documents that might be subject to the attorney-client privilege. Whether or not an indictment is forthcoming, and the court thinks it likely based on these facts alone, these unique circumstances counsel in favor of stay.”
Stephanie Clifford, a porn actress known professionally as Stormy Daniels, filed a civil suit against Mr. Trump in March seeking to dissolve a non-disclosure agreement she signed in 2016 drafted by Mr. Cohen.
Ms. Clifford said she was paid $130,000 by Mr. Cohen to stay quiet about an alleged affair she had in 2006 with Mr. Trump, and she attests the agreement is invalid because the future president never signed it. She subsequently amended the claim on March 26 to sue Mr. Cohen for defamation, but his attorneys asked for a delay Wednesday citing the FBI raids that occurred in the interim, when federal investigators in New York executed search warrants specifically seeking records related to the nondisclosure agreement.
Ms. Clifford’s attorney, Michael Avenatti, said he plans to file an appeal next week challenging the ruling.
“Justice delayed is justice denied,” Mr. Avenatti tweeted Friday.
Mr. Cohen previously said he paid Ms. Daniels out of pocket and that the payment was “lawful.”
Mr. Trump has denied the affair, but acknowledged Friday that Mr. Cohen represented him with regards to the “crazy Stormy Daniels deal.”
“And from what I’ve seen, he did absolutely nothing wrong. There were no campaign funds going into this,” Mr. Trump said in an interview Friday on Fox News.
Judge Otero has rescheduled the civil case to resume July 27.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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