WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen filed for a restraining order late Thursday against Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, to prevent him from speaking to the press about the adult film star’s lawsuit.
“Avenatti’s actions are mainly driven by his seemingly unquenchable thirst for publicity,” the filing said, alleging that Avenatti “routinely denigrates” Cohen.
Avenatti’s “publicity tour,” the filing said, is “likely to result in Mr. Cohen being deprived of his right to a fair trial, and threatens to turn what should be a solemn federal court proceeding into a media circus.”
Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 days before the 2016 election, as part of a hush agreement to prevent the porn star from publicly discussing her alleged sexual encounter with Trump. In recent weeks, Trump also acknowledged that he personally reimbursed Cohen for that payment.
Daniels is suing the two men, as well as Essential Consultants, Cohen’s shell company, to try to nullify the 2016 hush agreement that sought to prevent her from speaking out about her alleged affair with Trump. Avenatti is representing her in the case.
Pointing to Avenatti’s dozens of television appearances, hundreds of tweets and various communications with the media over the past few months, Cohen’s request for a restraining order said Avenatti made predictions about legal troubles that Cohen might face.
Among the more than 120 media appearances that the filing cited included Avenatti’s appearance on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” and CBS’ “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”
Avenatti slammed the restraining order.
“The motion for a gag order is a complete joke and baseless. Mr. Cohen and Brent Blakely can’t deal with the truth, the facts, and the law, so they have to resort to unethical, meritless motions. This must be their birthday present to Mr. Trump,” Avenatti tweeted.