- The Washington Times - Friday, March 9, 2018

The attorney for Stormy Daniels, a porn star claiming to have had an extramarital affair with President Trump, said Friday he is “highly confident” they will win the legal battle over a nondisclosure agreement that has prevented his client from talking about the alleged relationship.

Michael Avenatti represents Ms. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. Mr. Avenatti said he is going to prove that Michael Cohen, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, is not telling the truth when he claims that Mr. Trump had no knowledge of the $130,000 agreement that he signed on behalf of the businessman toward the end of the 2016 election.

“You’re talking about the the waning days of a presidential election, where everything mattered,” Mr. Avenatti said on CNN. “Mr. Cohen wants the American people to believe that he ran off half-cocked, negotiated a very detailed agreement with a signature line for his client, arranged this payment, made this payment in the waning days of the 2016 presidential election and all the time his client was in the dark, and Mr. Trump knew nothing about it.”

“It is laughable,” he said. “It is absurd and the mere suggestion is an insult to the American people.”

Mr. Avenatti said Mr. Trump never signed the agreement, making the deal null and void.

“We believe there was a reason why it wasn’t signed — namely so that Donald Trump would have deniability,” he said. “The same deniability that he is relying on now.”

• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.

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