President Donald Trump’s lawyer ignored the offer from an adult-film star to return the $130,000 given to her as hush money so that she can speak freely about the alleged affair with Trump, her attorney said.
Actress Stephanie Clifford, who is known as Stormy Daniels, wrote a letter to Michael Cohen on Monday where she offered to send $130,000 to an account designated by Trump so she could be released from the non-disclosure agreement she signed in October 2016.
Under the new agreement, Clifford wanted to be able to use and publish any text messages, photos, and videos of her and Trump that she might possess.
Cohen, who has been a private lawyer for Trump even before he became president, has said that he paid Clifford $130,000 of his own money during the 2016 presidential campaign, adding that the President was not aware of such a transaction.
Clifford’s attorney, Michael Avenatti, told Reuters that Cohen had not responded to the offer by Clifford’s proposed deadline of noon on Tuesday.
“The President and Mr. Cohen have purposely ignored our settlement offer, thus doubling down on their efforts to muzzle Ms. Clifford and prevent her from telling the American people what happened,” Avenatti tweeted. “Time to buckle up.”
According to Reuters, Clifford could face a $1 million penalty if she breaks the nondisclosure agreement. Both Cohen and his lawyers Lawrence Rosen haven’t responded to a request for comment.
Avenatti filed a lawsuit last week in Los Angeles saying that because Trump never signed the nondisclosure agreement it should be nulled, thus making public the agreement and related documents should not be prevented.
On Friday, the lawyer filed a request for the judge assigned to the case to be removed, saying that it is not appropriate for Judge Elizabeth Feffer, now in Los Angeles Superior Court, to preside over a case in which the President is a defendant because she is pursuing a federal judgeship.
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