President Trump’s former lawyer and longtime fixer Michael Cohen is unlikely to succeed in silencing Michael Avenatti, the media-friendly attorney representing the former adult film actress known as Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against the president, a federal judge indicated Friday.
Entertaining arguments in Los Angeles federal court, U.S. District Court Judge S. James Otero expressed skepticism with respect to granting a gag order barring Mr. Avenatti from further attacking Mr. Cohen in the press, attendees reported afterwards.
“I’m not sure you really appreciate the significance of the order that you’re asking the court to issue,” Judge Otero told Brent Blakely, Mr. Cohen’s attorney, The Los Angeles Times reported.
“My court has to make sure it doesn’t make an order that chills First Amendment rights going forward. That’s the most sacred of rights,” Judge Otero added, New York’s Daily News reported.
Mr. Avenatti is representing Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, in litigation brought against both the president and his former lawyer, including efforts mounted in March aimed at invalidating a non-disclosure agreement she signed days prior to the 2016 election.
Ms. Clifford claims Mr. Cohen paid her $130,000 in Oct. 2016 in order to keep quiet about an alleged intimate relationship with Mr. Trump, and Mr. Avenatti sued on her behalf seeking to void the arrangement. He has since become a vocal critic of both Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen, and has repeatedly targeted either through a slew of cable news appearances and social media, decrying Mr. Cohen as “a dishonest thug,” a “moron” and a “screw-up,” spurring the request at the center of Friday’s hearing.
“You look at the conduct — it’s unprecedented,” Mr. Blakely told the court Friday, CNBC reported. “At what point does he stop. When does this court say enough is enough?”
The judge refrained from making a ruling during Friday’s hearing but said he’s “probably not going to issue” the gag order, Daily News reported.
“What you witnessed today was a continued effort by the president of the United States and Michael Cohen to silence me and to prevent the truth from being exposed,” Mr. Avenatti told reporters after exiting the court, CNBC reported. “We are not going to be silenced, my client is not going to be silenced.”
Lanny Davis, an attorney for Mr. Cohen, declined to comment directly on the hearing when reached following Friday’s hearing.
“Mr. Avenatti is an aggressive attorney doing his job in the middle of litigation,” Mr. Davis told Politico. “I have been there, done that. An attorney in litigation is just that, and until the litigation is over, I’m not going to comment on the words used.”
Earlier this week, meanwhile, Mr. Avenatti said he is now representing three other women who claimed they received similar supposed hush payments prior to the presidential election.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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