World

‘Serious Business’ as US Judge Unlikely to Gag Alleged Trump Lover’s Lawyer

The United States Constitution is "neither a trick nor an illusion" stated a US District Court judge to Michael Cohen’s lawyer, suggesting that no gag order will be forthcoming, adding that the request to silence Stormy Daniel’s lawyer was "serious business."
Sputnik

After listening to arguments from Brent Blakely, the lawyer for US President Donald Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen, asking for a gag order against Michael Avenatti — the brash barrister currently representing a professional sex performer who documented an alleged affair she had with POTUS in 2006 while he was married to First Lady Melania Trump — District Judge S. James Otero has indicated that he will not issue the rule to silence the outspoken Avenatti.

Cohen's New Revelations May Create Legal Risk for Donald Trump – Reports

Otero — who presides over some 19 million people in Southern and Central California, the federal judicial district with the largest population in the US — did not make a decision on whether to issue a gag order against Avenatti, but noted that proving the necessity of a gag rule was a tough hurdle and that the aggressive attorney for Daniels had not appeared to have cleared that legal boundary.

Daniels — whose real name is Stephanie Clifford — after detailing an alleged affair with Trump in 2006 while the president was married to his third wife, is suing to eliminate a nondisclosure agreement she signed just days before the 2016 presidential election that included a $130,000 payment handled personally by Trump's former personal lawyer Cohen.

Trump has denied that the affair took place.

Avenatti has hinted of an additional three as-yet-unidentified women who have come forward with allegations of sexual affairs they had with Trump and who were also "paid hush money prior to the 2016 election," cited by Politico.

Discuss